

Notes from YC Startup School Europe - nqureshi
http://theinflexion.com/blog/2014/07/26/notes-from-startup-school-europe-london/

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read

      The voices that interrupt the stillness are the ones
      that are the daemons.
    
      Redefine success as "learning something interesting".
    
      External success is a mistake.
    
      - Paul Buchheit
    

His goal for Gmail was to get to 100 happy users. "What would it take for your
to be a happy user."

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nqureshi
Yeah, that part of Paul's talk was amazing. He said most people thought Gmail
was a mistake, so he explicitly set a goal to make 100 users really happy, and
just went round asking them "What exactly can I make this product do to make
you happy?" Then he'd just pick things off the list and do them.

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Hacquoil
Expanding on the idea of 'redefining success', I love how he explained that if
the answer to the "What can I do to make you happy?" question was too complex
to implement, he'd just keep asking different people until he found problems
that were relatively easy to solve.

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jl
Thanks nqureshi for making these notes. Unfortunately, I couldn't travel to
this Startup School and am really missing it (missed live stream, too, because
I'm with my kids). I'm most curious to know if attendees enjoyed the talks and
the overall event. I'd like to start looking forward to the 2015 version if
there should be one :)

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nqureshi
Thanks jl! Everyone I spoke to loved the event, particularly because:

1\. The talks were awesome 2\. It was ridiculously well-organised (and the
food was superb) 3\. There was a really good crowd there

I look forward to more YC events in London!

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acrim
I also took notes, but at a key point/insight level. My notes are here for
anyone they are of use to...

[https://docs.google.com/document/d/14cGeSs5CgRIgMuwjmkq43hsg...](https://docs.google.com/document/d/14cGeSs5CgRIgMuwjmkq43hsgqDG_-
XKpYltnok9FKPg/pub)

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soneca
Thanks for the notes! I couldn't open the live stream.

About the notes, some of the advice feels great. But i just can't relate to
it. I mean: Stripe - they weren't getting a lot traction, then Peter Thiel
funded them. Homejoy - they were about to close, then Paul Graham gave them
some money.

Then everything else sounds like "good advice if you can get a meeting with
some of SV legends". Specially the Homejoy one sounds to want make you feel
guilty if you quit. Well, if I am that close to running out of cash to pay my
bills and in the edge of quiting, guess what, I can't get a meeting with a
legendary VC to get his money and endorsement. I will just quit.

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mhale
In my opinion, the hardest question really is when should you throw in the
towel?

There certainly are a lot of zombie companies out there with founders toiling
away on "bad" ideas with seemingly no hope of success, burning precious
opportunity cost with each passing week, month and year.

At the same time, one hears again and again that the successful founders are
the ones who don't give up. That success comes from facing down those doubts,
shaking the despair and finding a way to keep going even when it feels
everyone around you thinks you are going to fail.

I don't have an answer other than to say that for anyone it is a very
personal, gut-wrenching decision. If it is no longer worth it to you, then
that is your call and I don't think anyone else -- especially someone who
hasn't entered the same arena -- should think any less of you for it. Most
startups fail after all.

And, I think that is likely close to the answer to the question. The right
time to quit is when you no longer believe in the idea, or in your ability it
make it succeed, or even that the idea is superior to other opportunities
which might be available to you.

I'm not speaking as someone who has had huge success, but as someone who has
faced setbacks and doubts, has come close to running out of money multiple
times, but has somehow managed to get past those challenges and has become a
bit more comfortable riding this crazy roller coaster.

What I've found is that the drive to "find a way", that survival instinct to
keep going because you believe at your core in what you are doing -- that
triggers creative thinking. And when you open your eyes and look around you
see there are resources and people willing to help you that you didn't see
before. You see new paths that were not visible before. At least that's been
the case every time in my experience. Once you get past the doubt and are
determined to find a way, then you find it. I suppose, until the last time,
when you don't...

Ben Horowitz described it as "focusing on the road, not on the wall"[1] and
that rings very true to me. You can only see the opportunities around you when
are able to stop focusing on the wall (impending doom).

I don't believe founders should be guilted into chasing ideas they no longer
themselves believe in. There are certainly cases where quitting is going to be
the right call.

But human psychology is such that you will want to "flee the danger" and you
will see certain doom when there may very well be a way out.

My two cents (if it is worth even that) is to never decide to quit out of
fear.

Don't quit because you doubt your chances.

The time to quit is when you no longer believe that what you are working on is
what you really should be working on.

[1] What’s The Most Difficult CEO Skill? Managing Your Own Psychology --
[http://www.bhorowitz.com/what_s_the_most_difficult_ceo_skill...](http://www.bhorowitz.com/what_s_the_most_difficult_ceo_skill_managing_your_own_psychology)

EDIT: fixed typo

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soneca
Great comment. Maybe I rushed into a superficial critique of the advice, but
you wrote very well what My really doubt is. And gave me good new insignts
also... Thanks

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mhale
Thanks, and glad my comment helped.

Startups are REALLY FREAKING HARD, but you are not alone. ;-)

Good luck!

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jonvillage
Haha I laughed when I read "move to Buenos Aires". I am currently here with my
startup. If someone wants to grab a coffee and share ideas, you should tweet
me! Twitter: @jonvillage

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iKristjan
I couldn't watch the stream myself, but those notes were great! I especially
liked the summary parts. Thanks!

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nqureshi
Thanks Kristjan!

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pskittle
is there a recorded version which we could see, like the NY startup school?

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webignition
The whole event was filmed. I'd expect an edited version will be made
available.

