Y Combinator Startup Podcast

In the first episode of the Lightcone Podcast, YC Group Partners dig into everything they have learned working with the top founders building AI startups today. They share the ideas that are working particularly well, mistakes to avoid, and take a look at the competitive landscape among the current AI giants.

Based on the thousands of companies YC has funded over the years, the biggest common element between all successful startups is having technical talent on the founding team. But what do you do if you don't know how to code? You may think you can get by using no-code tools, part-time consultants, or dev shops to bring your startup idea to life. But that thinking is wrong. In this episode of Dalton & Michael, we’ll discuss exactly why that is and why recruiting a technical co-founder is the single biggest way to create value as someone trying to start the next big thing. Apply to Y Combinator: https://yc.link/DandM-apply Work at a Startup: https://yc.link/DandM-jobs

Russ Roberts is the host of the podcast EconTalk (iTunes, RSS, and YouTube), a research fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution, and the author of several books, including How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life.
You can find Russ on Twitter @econtalker.
The YC podcast is hosted by Craig Cannon.
Y Combinator invests a small amount of money ($150k) in a large number of startups (recently 200), twice a year.
Learn more about YC and apply for funding here: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/
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Topics

00:00 - Intro
00:29 - What are his thoughts on “meaning, spirituality, or sense of belonging” in regards to creating your own company?
3:34 - Capitalism bearing the burden of human nature
4:04 - Why Russ started EconTalk
7:44 - Key economic concepts for founders after 700 EconTalk episodes
13:49 - Helpful methods for teaching economic concepts
18:09 - "Man naturally desires, not only to be loved, but to be lovely" - Adam Smith in The Theory of Moral Sentiments
19:39 - Why Russ wrote How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life
24:14 - How EconTalk has changed since the beginning
26:14 - Steve Adema asks - Russ Roberts has emphasized the limits of "only looking where the light is" when it comes to studying well-being. How
can economists incorporate the aspects of well-being that aren't easily quantified?
34:34 - Warren Buffett's gift to his son
36:09 - Founders and unintended consequences
39:44 - The emotional aspect of giving your company away
44:19 - Anthony Y. asks - Has a guest on his show ever made him change his mind on a topic?
50:54 - Has Nassim Taleb convinced him to deadlift?
52:59 - Russ often quotes David Foster Wallace's speech, “This is Water”. Specifically, he quotes the phrase, “everyone worships.” What does Russ worship?

Scott Aaronson is the David J. Bruton Centennial Professor of Computer Science at The University of Texas at Austin, and director of its Quantum Information Center. Before teaching at UT, he taught Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT. His research interests center around the capabilities and limits of quantum computers, and computational complexity theory more generally.
If you’ve listened to our other episodes about quantum computers and are curious to learn more, check out Scott’s book Quantum Computing Since Democritus.
And if you want to read Scott’s blog you can find that at scottaaronson.com/blog/.
Read the transcript on our blog.
The YC podcast is hosted by Craig Cannon.

Henrique Dubugras is the cofounder of Brex, which provides corporate cards for startups.
Anu Hariharan is a Partner at YC.
Brex went through YC in the Winter 2017 batch and just closed their Series B, which was led by YC Continuity.
In addition to discussing how the Brex team built out their service, Anu and Henrique also cover the specifics of what it takes to build a fintech startup in 2018. And Henrique shares advice for young founders, as he started his first company at 16.
Read the transcript on our blog.