
Ask HN: What are your favorite videos relevant to entrepreneurs or startups?  - compass-seeker
Here are a couple of mine:<p>- Vinod Khosla talks about the importance of team building, the startup life, and what it takes to be an entrepreneur. https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=U5J7bd7nzmw<p>- Marc Andreesen talks about venture capitalist and the future of startups. http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=pLNQZegq7KA<p>- Eric Ries gives a talk on his Lean Startup theory at Google. https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=fEvKo90qBns<p>- Harley Finkelstein CPO of Spotify gives a talk on unique marketing tactics. https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=sBDOq5B4nTo
======
patio11
The best talks I've ever heard on the SaaS business which I know are publicly
available:

[http://www.microconf.com/videos-2013.html](http://www.microconf.com/videos-2013.html)
\-- no individual hyperlinks but you want the three of them: Rob Walling's,
Jason Cohen's, and Erica Douglass'. Jason's is the best if you're pre-product,
Rob's if you're in "OK, so the SaaS clearly works, how do I scale it" phase.
(There are another few I would recommend from Microconf 2014 but they're not
up yet.)

Long Slow SaaS Ramp of Death: [http://businessofsoftware.org/2013/02/gail-
goodman-constant-...](http://businessofsoftware.org/2013/02/gail-goodman-
constant-contact-how-to-negotiate-the-long-slow-saas-ramp-of-death/) <\--
single best talk about running a SaaS business I've ever heard

I also like the Mixergy interviews. My favorite ever is Andrew's interview
with Team Wufoo. I don't believe it is publicly available anymore, as Mixergy
archives are available to paying subscribers only. (Well worth the money,
though I have to watch selectively because apparently Andrew can record them
faster than I can find downtime to watch/process them.)

~~~
dennisgorelik
Is there a way to download audio files of these Microconf presentations in
Vimeo?

~~~
kawsper
Last time I looked at downloading movies from Microconf, it wasn't possible. I
have used the tool youtube-dl ([http://rg3.github.io/youtube-
dl/](http://rg3.github.io/youtube-dl/)) to download movies/sounds from
Youtube, Soundcload and Vimeo.

Unfortunately, Microconf have marked their videos as embed-only, which you
probably need to workaround, the tools I have tried don't work.

Edit: Oh, it seems like they have opened up, you can download them with this
command: youtube-dl
"[https://vimeo.com/72140534"](https://vimeo.com/72140534")

------
nate
Clayton Christensen's Job to Be Done Analysis

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f84LymEs67Y](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f84LymEs67Y)

It's the famous, what do people hire a milkshake for anecdote from his book
Innovator's Solution.

That thinking has been instrumental in guiding me to make stuff (Draft) that
people have really connected to and helped spread like crazy - all because
I've spend considerable time studying the jobs people have and then tried to
make those jobs simpler. It's such a simple way of thinking about it, and I
think people ignore it because it sounds so simple, but then they routinely
create products that are small aesthetic variations of someone elses product.

~~~
livestyle
Agreed 100% Nate.

The aha moment really makes customer development make sense.

------
anthony_franco
\- David Heinmeier Hansson talks about the "secret" to making money online
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CDXJ6bMkMY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CDXJ6bMkMY)

------
mvleming
Thank you for posing this question! I'm going to love digging through these
videos.

Here are mine:

From PandoDaily, Fireside Chat With Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yPfxcqEXhE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yPfxcqEXhE)

From CoinSumm.it, Bitcoin Fireside Chat with Marc Andreessen and Balaji
Srinivasan:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iir5J6Z3Z1Q](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iir5J6Z3Z1Q)

From The Lean Startup Conference, Marc Andreessen, Chris Dixon, and Eric Ries:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpwSzyqTG0E](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpwSzyqTG0E)

And by far the one that made the biggest impression on me, from PandoDaily,
Fireside Chat With Nasty Gal CEO Sophia Amoruso:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y04gnM57Sow](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y04gnM57Sow)

From that interview alone Sophia Amoruso became a huge role model for me.

~~~
compass-seeker
Thanks for the suggestions. I'm looking forward to watching all of them,
especially the Lean Startup Conference talk.

------
pirer
I made a YouTube playlist of the videos on this thread, 22 hours!

[http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLr9dpcMyX8ls5Ry3hqCbQJ...](http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLr9dpcMyX8ls5Ry3hqCbQJnD5zKIpXXny)

~~~
compass-seeker
Awesome thanks!

------
rdl
The "YC Female Founders Conference" was aimed at females interested in
startups, but honestly the videos are applicable to everyone.

[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQ-
uHSnFig5PSIanlQ_x6...](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQ-
uHSnFig5PSIanlQ_x6FApB4cX84aKX)

------
josso
For those still in college, I think Zach Holman's talk ”If Only I Knew This
Shit in College” is pretty good. He describes why he thinks startups are
great, what they allowed him to do, what made him join GitHub, and how to keep
improving.

[http://zachholman.com/talk/if-only-i-knew-this-shit-in-
colle...](http://zachholman.com/talk/if-only-i-knew-this-shit-in-college/)
[http://vimeo.com/92087878](http://vimeo.com/92087878)

~~~
bennyg
I think most of this stuff applies if you're in industry as well. Basically
the gist is don't be a dick, keep improving, and here's how to tell if you
should jump ship or if the company you work for is worth sailing with.

------
refrigerator
Kevin Rose does awesome interviews with startup founders -
[http://www.foundation.kr](http://www.foundation.kr)

~~~
Splendor
Along those lines there's also the Small Empires series that Alexis Ohanian
did for The Verge. Here's all 10:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CE2TphJPgs&list=PLPCxoI2IU3...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CE2TphJPgs&list=PLPCxoI2IU3RJnYfqsyzbqXX5bSUH_bUuX)

------
joelrunyon
Elon Musk on doing work when you're "not motivated" \-
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOPgM7Sc2VQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOPgM7Sc2VQ)

------
natejenkins
5 Biggest Legal Mistakes That Startups Make by Scott Walker (we made 3 of
these):

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-F_vbfiScoA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-F_vbfiScoA)

------
pirer
Keith Rabois has helped build some of the most important companies in Silicon
Valley including PayPal, LinkedIn and Square.

This talk shows huge tips quite relevant for startups (the role of a COO, why
transparency matters, who to hire and more)

\- the article: [http://firstround.com/article/keith-rabois-on-the-role-
of-a-...](http://firstround.com/article/keith-rabois-on-the-role-of-a-coo-how-
to-hire-and-why-transparency-matters)

\- the video:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnvUtbIy5ts](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnvUtbIy5ts)

------
PointerReaper
For the small startup Mike Monteiro: F*ck You, Pay Me ;
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVkLVRt6c1U](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVkLVRt6c1U)

~~~
compass-seeker
The title alone was enough to get me to add it to my playlist.

------
huhtenberg
startup.com is a must watch for anyone day-dreaming of a startup. Not a video
though, but an 1.5 hour long documentary.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibuiUXOTE4M](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibuiUXOTE4M)

------
pallavkaushish
The awesome talk 'Do what you love(no excuses!)' by Gary Vaynerchuk at TED
pumps me up every time I watch it -->
[http://www.ted.com/talks/gary_vaynerchuk_do_what_you_love_no...](http://www.ted.com/talks/gary_vaynerchuk_do_what_you_love_no_excuses)

It's specially suitable for people who want to start something of their own
but aren't able to.

Another great TED video is by Larry Smith - 'Why you will fail to have a great
career' \-->
[http://www.ted.com/talks/larry_smith_why_you_will_fail_to_ha...](http://www.ted.com/talks/larry_smith_why_you_will_fail_to_have_a_great_career)

I love the part when he says, what would you like to have engraved on your
tombstone. I always had that feeling but this guy phrased it in words for me.

------
ConceitedCode
Derek Sivers talks about how ideas don't necessarily have value, but are
multipliers of value. This happens to me at least once a week.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgaBvEO2LYY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgaBvEO2LYY)

------
Spearchucker
Purpose -
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0257019/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0257019/)

While entertaining in its own right, it's interesting because (some people
say) the movie somewhat chronicles the history of the Internet Solution
([http://www.is.co.za](http://www.is.co.za)), the South African internet
service provider co-founded by Ronnie Apteker and eventually bought by
Dimension Data. Ronnie wrote the script for Purpose. He's up there with Elon
Musk and Mark Shuttleworth in terms of his impact on the South African tech
scene.

------
cjbarber
This is a fantastic thread.

However, as someone else mentioned below, videos are terrible - too hard to
scan, and far slower rates of information transfer than text.

So, I had an idea. I'm going to pay for transcription of some videos, and will
share the transcripts (free, of course).

I'm choosing a transcription service now and will try and have the first one
within the next 7 days.

If this is interesting to you, give me your email to help me validate it and
I'll send out the transcripts over email.

Videos I'm planning on getting transcribed first:

\- All of the videos in the OP

\- A few more Naval videos

\- A few more Andreessen videos

Link to Google Form: [http://goo.gl/Hy5ob1](http://goo.gl/Hy5ob1)

------
architbhise
Aaref Hilaly's keynote: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIsiWro-
Iao](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIsiWro-Iao)

Useful for anybody building an enterprise startup that does extensive B2B
sales.

------
kinj28
I love my collection of videos on app from
[http://www.bizpunditz.com](http://www.bizpunditz.com) They have library on
entrepreneurship to innovation to strategy...and many more directly from
industry leaders

You can view the free ones here
[http://www.bizpunditz.com/Library](http://www.bizpunditz.com/Library)

My personal favourite is [http://www.bizpunditz.com/Videos/How-to-build-a-
career](http://www.bizpunditz.com/Videos/How-to-build-a-career) by Tiger
Tyagarajan

------
sagargv
Yesterday, I saw Guy Kawasaki's talk on mistakes that entrepreneurs make.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHjgK6p4nrw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHjgK6p4nrw)

------
guybrushT
2.52 minutes of Alan Watts -
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UxrdQRODuc](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UxrdQRODuc)

------
i4i
My favorite, because it's so full of great stories, is the Chris Sacca
interview with Jason Calacanis on This Week In Startups. Pt.1
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VOQnK7O2To](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VOQnK7O2To)
Pt.2
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SK4ezQrTqFw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SK4ezQrTqFw)

------
davidw
If you like that kind of thing, both the Business of Software conference and
MicroConf put a lot of their videos on line.

[http://businessofsoftware.org/](http://businessofsoftware.org/)

[http://www.microconf.com/](http://www.microconf.com/)

Personally, I can't stand videos. Way too slow, impossible to scan, and
generally an inconvenient way of absorbing information.

~~~
alain94040
Agreed, which is why I prefer [http://mixergy.com](http://mixergy.com), it's
audio only, easy to listen in the background, and it has a full transcript for
quick scanning.

~~~
davidw
Transcripts are great, but audio suffers from the same problems as video. If
you're listening to it in the background, you aren't really listening to it.
Try, for instance, listening to your "significant other" in the background
while you stare at the screen and then attempt to gauge their opinion of your
listening!

------
_jss
Personal favorite is listening to Jerry Colonna on This Week in Startups. He
talks of trials and tribulations of the startup life, acknowledging the often
hidden fact that we're all humans: [http://thisweekinstartups.com/jerry-
colonna-independent-life...](http://thisweekinstartups.com/jerry-colonna-
independent-lifebusiness-coach-former-vc/)

------
dirktheman
Doug Engelbart showing the first computer mouse, networking, a word processor,
lists, a familiar UI, hypertext, basically all the modern computer stuff. In
1968, mind you!
[http://sloan.stanford.edu/mousesite/1968Demo.html](http://sloan.stanford.edu/mousesite/1968Demo.html)

------
Nikolas0
"Peter Jones How we made our Millions" is a very good one with great lessons.
Jones is trying to find out the DNA of an entrepreneur by interviewing two
British entrepreneurs
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foWMmY3xSuk](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foWMmY3xSuk)

------
dirtyaura
Eric Wahlfors of Soundcloud telling 4 stories about early phases of Soundcloud
and bootstrapping. Especially how they reached their core user base of
electronic musicians by (accidentally) organizing the coolest parties in
Berlin.

[http://vimeo.com/11420397](http://vimeo.com/11420397)

------
armansu
Chamath Palihapitiya (who led the user growth at Facebook and currently the VC
at The Social+Capital Partnership) at ThisWeekIn Startups. Very insightful! -
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHslS0QPMSc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHslS0QPMSc)

------
dosh
Fairly recent, but Nate Blecharczyk of airbnb at Startup School 2013.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ya0I6oz7q9U](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ya0I6oz7q9U)

Great to learn the early days of airbnb and how (great) entrepreneurs
persevere through the challenges.

------
asaddhamani
This link contains a lot of videos from TED that are relevant to
entrepreneurs.

[http://sujanpatel.com/productivity/23-must-see-ted-talks-
for...](http://sujanpatel.com/productivity/23-must-see-ted-talks-for-
entrepreneurs/)

------
systemtrigger
"Unlearn Your MBA" by David Heineimeier Hansson:
[http://ecorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=2351](http://ecorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=2351)

------
noir_lord
[http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspi...](http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action)

Not my usual cup of tea but I watch it once in a while.

------
hsx
Defintely The User is Drunk by SquareWeave, some developers Melbourne. Link:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2CbbBLVaPk](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2CbbBLVaPk)

------
adamzerner
Steve Jobs classic -
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=UvEi...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=UvEiSa6_EPA)

~~~
tommydiaz
This is my go-to video when I need inspiration. Really opened up my mind when
I first watched it a couple of years ago.

~~~
compass-seeker
Just watched this video, very inspiring indeed.

------
andygcook
One of my favorite's is David Cancel's no BS advice for startups:

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lQ1NBUU_Us](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lQ1NBUU_Us)

------
aaron695
I though 'Riot On!' was funny -
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427783/combined](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427783/combined)

------
kabisote
Jiro Dreams of Sushi.
[http://www.magpictures.com/jirodreamsofsushi/](http://www.magpictures.com/jirodreamsofsushi/)

------
AbhishekBiswal
Here, all of these :
[http://startupschool.org/speakers.html](http://startupschool.org/speakers.html)

( Their Youtube video are linked )

~~~
compass-seeker
I've already seen a couple of these but I'll be sure to watch the ones I
haven't. Thanks

------
userlabs
Xcopy.co
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kk6P9FU4A48](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kk6P9FU4A48)

------
adamzerner
pg talking about how business is like chess -
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDA0t49AaZ4&feature=youtu.be...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDA0t49AaZ4&feature=youtu.be&t=23m10s)

------
return0
Peter Thiel's talks are usually more philosophical but interesting.

------
liquimoon
BTW, Harley Finkelstein works for Shopify not Spotify.

