1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,749
[Miles] And I just stopped typing halfway through the traction slide.

2
00:00:04,049 --> 00:00:07,199
[Miles] None of this is the real reason we started the company.

3
00:00:07,649 --> 00:00:09,099
[Miles] That's what she told me,

4
00:00:09,549 --> 00:00:12,449
[Miles] sitting in her kitchen three weeks out from the deadline.

5
00:00:13,299 --> 00:00:15,849
[Grant] Three weeks to rewrite your own story.

6
00:00:16,249 --> 00:00:16,899
[Grant] That much runway.

7
00:00:17,399 --> 00:00:17,949
[Miles] Hey,

8
00:00:18,049 --> 00:00:19,649
[Miles] welcome back to Year One.

9
00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:20,899
[Grant] Good to be here.

10
00:00:21,099 --> 00:00:23,199
[Miles] We've got her whole arc today.

11
00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:24,400
[Miles] Application,

12
00:00:24,850 --> 00:00:25,500
[Miles] partner read,

13
00:00:25,550 --> 00:00:27,900
[Miles] and whatever happens after the decision date.

14
00:00:28,403 --> 00:00:31,653
[Grant] Which is the part that always gets me-the waiting.

15
00:00:32,454 --> 00:00:36,554
[Miles] She's submitted her Y Combinator application six days from now.

16
00:00:37,204 --> 00:00:39,153
[Grant] And what that first draft left out.

17
00:00:39,704 --> 00:00:41,353
[Miles] We'll get into the one minute video,

18
00:00:41,554 --> 00:00:44,353
[Miles] the single traction number everyone obsesses over,

19
00:00:44,654 --> 00:00:48,754
[Miles] and that five hundred thousand dollars SAFE shapes what she's optimizing for.

20
00:00:49,454 --> 00:00:53,804
[Grant] And there's a co founder dynamic buried under some pretty vague language in that draft.

21
00:00:54,054 --> 00:00:54,754
[Grant] I want to know why.

22
00:00:55,188 --> 00:01:01,737
[Miles] Later we'll hear how YC partners actually read an application like hers against one that's dead on arrival.

23
00:01:02,388 --> 00:01:06,538
[Grant] Plus how the odds shift if you miss July twenty seventh at eight p.m. Pacific.

24
00:01:07,188 --> 00:01:07,987
[Miles] So stick around.

25
00:01:08,338 --> 00:01:12,288
[Miles] By the end we'll know if her rewrite makes it in before the clock runs out.

26
00:01:12,838 --> 00:01:13,788
[Grant] Let's hear where she started.

27
00:01:14,844 --> 00:01:24,493
[Miles] I was on the phone with a founder this week and she just stopped talking mid-sentence, said she'd read her own one-liner so many times she couldn't tell if it was true anymore.

28
00:01:25,094 --> 00:01:27,794
[Grant] Six days out and she's questioning her own pitch?

29
00:01:28,243 --> 00:01:29,444
[Miles] Six days out,

30
00:01:29,743 --> 00:01:34,594
[Miles] three weeks of polishing and she suddenly realized the draft wasn't the real story.

31
00:01:34,944 --> 00:01:36,044
[Grant] What was wrong with it?

32
00:01:36,294 --> 00:01:37,344
[Miles] It was safe,

33
00:01:37,743 --> 00:01:38,694
[Miles] clean sentences,

34
00:01:38,944 --> 00:01:39,944
[Miles] no risk in them,

35
00:01:40,294 --> 00:01:41,644
[Miles] which is exactly the problem.

36
00:01:42,132 --> 00:01:43,981
[Grant] Right, safe doesn't get you in.

37
00:01:44,182 --> 00:01:45,832
[Miles] And the clock is real.

38
00:01:46,182 --> 00:01:48,332
[Miles] That startup laid out the dates plainly.

39
00:01:48,832 --> 00:01:52,782
[Miles] On-time applications close July 27th at 8 p.m. PT,

40
00:01:53,082 --> 00:01:54,682
[Miles] and if you're in before that,

41
00:01:54,832 --> 00:01:58,132
[Miles] Y Combinator promises a decision by August 28th.

42
00:01:58,420 --> 00:02:00,219
[Grant] Miss it and you're still red,

43
00:02:00,370 --> 00:02:01,969
[Grant] just no promised date attached.

44
00:02:02,370 --> 00:02:05,120
[Miles] That's the exact language Best Startup used.

45
00:02:05,570 --> 00:02:09,520
[Miles] Late applications still get considered but without a guaranteed response.

46
00:02:10,020 --> 00:02:13,620
[Grant] So every line has to earn its spot before the clock runs out.

47
00:02:13,876 --> 00:02:15,276
[Miles] That's what kills people.

48
00:02:15,426 --> 00:02:16,626
[Miles] From what's out there,

49
00:02:16,676 --> 00:02:22,926
[Miles] YC's funding something like 1-2% of the more than 10,000 applications it gets each batch.

50
00:02:23,176 --> 00:02:25,975
[Grant] One to two percent of ten thousand.

51
00:02:26,376 --> 00:02:28,276
[Miles] Maybe 200 spots,

52
00:02:28,426 --> 00:02:28,876
[Miles] if that.

53
00:02:29,491 --> 00:02:32,792
[Miles] Every sentence either earns its place or it's dead weight.

54
00:02:33,391 --> 00:02:35,542
[Grant] So what Ashley got cut from her draft?

55
00:02:36,042 --> 00:02:37,191
[Miles] The founding story.

56
00:02:37,591 --> 00:02:39,441
[Miles] The paragraph about why she cared.

57
00:02:39,591 --> 00:02:41,691
[Miles] The one she'd written first and loved most.

58
00:02:42,341 --> 00:02:43,641
[Grant] It's usually the heart of the thing.

59
00:02:44,091 --> 00:02:45,442
[Miles] Which is the mistake.

60
00:02:45,891 --> 00:02:52,942
[Miles] She replaced two paragraphs of feeling with one sentence on what the product does and one number on who's using it.

61
00:02:53,491 --> 00:02:57,442
[Grant] So the version going in six days from now barely looks like where she started.

62
00:02:57,876 --> 00:03:02,876
[Miles] Barely, and that's before anyone's touched the video or sat through the actual interview.

63
00:03:03,325 --> 00:03:06,725
[Grant] So what happens when four partners cut her off ten seconds in?

64
00:03:07,804 --> 00:03:09,104
[Miles] Building on that cut,

65
00:03:09,254 --> 00:03:10,954
[Miles] let's talk about the video itself.

66
00:03:11,404 --> 00:03:12,104
[Miles] Sixty seconds,

67
00:03:12,354 --> 00:03:13,504
[Miles] that's the whole runway.

68
00:03:14,004 --> 00:03:18,254
[Grant] Right; I keep telling founders production value doesn't matter and they never believe me.

69
00:03:18,604 --> 00:03:22,904
[Miles] My own batch video was shot on a laptop webcam at eleven at night.

70
00:03:23,204 --> 00:03:23,804
[Miles] Got in anyway.

71
00:03:24,304 --> 00:03:26,554
[Grant] So what changed in hers wasn't the shot,

72
00:03:26,654 --> 00:03:27,554
[Grant] it was the words.

73
00:03:27,854 --> 00:03:29,754
[Grant] She cut it down to one line on the problem,

74
00:03:30,204 --> 00:03:31,054
[Grant] one on what's built,

75
00:03:31,254 --> 00:03:31,754
[Grant] then the number.

76
00:03:32,154 --> 00:03:33,504
[Miles] Which number did she land on?

77
00:03:33,716 --> 00:03:35,016
[Grant] Weekly Revenue Growth.

78
00:03:35,316 --> 00:03:36,415
[Grant] She had three candidates:

79
00:03:36,716 --> 00:03:37,316
[Grant] Total Users,

80
00:03:37,566 --> 00:03:38,016
[Grant] Retention,

81
00:03:38,316 --> 00:03:38,915
[Grant] Revenue Growth.

82
00:03:39,266 --> 00:03:40,216
[Miles] Not retention.

83
00:03:40,616 --> 00:03:42,016
[Miles] That usually reads well to partners.

84
00:03:42,566 --> 00:03:46,915
[Grant] Her retention curve is only six weeks old-not enough data points to defend under pressure.

85
00:03:47,415 --> 00:03:47,716
[Miles] Yeah,

86
00:03:47,816 --> 00:03:51,316
[Miles] you don't want a partner asking "over what period?" and watching you stall.

87
00:03:51,665 --> 00:03:55,415
[Grant] The growth number she can repeat cold mid sentence if someone cuts her off.

88
00:03:55,415 --> 00:03:55,665
[Speaker 3] Mm hmm.

89
00:03:55,665 --> 00:03:59,665
[Miles] Because the interview itself is a stress test on whatever's written on the page.

90
00:03:59,508 --> 00:03:59,707
[Miles] Hmm.

91
00:04:00,008 --> 00:04:02,108
[Grant] YC's own interview guide lays it out,

92
00:04:02,308 --> 00:04:03,908
[Grant] 10 minutes, two to three partners,

93
00:04:04,308 --> 00:04:04,908
[Grant] no slides,

94
00:04:05,207 --> 00:04:07,957
[Grant] and they've read your application before you even joined the call.

95
00:04:08,372 --> 00:04:11,722
[Miles] I remember the first question landing before I finished saying hello.

96
00:04:12,272 --> 00:04:15,222
[Grant] One prep guy they came across puts the pace even sharper:

97
00:04:15,672 --> 00:04:17,722
[Grant] interruptions inside the opening seconds,

98
00:04:18,072 --> 00:04:19,021
[Grant] and they don't let up.

99
00:04:19,322 --> 00:04:25,072
[Miles] So the sentence on the page has to survive being read out loud live under that kind of pace.

100
00:04:25,521 --> 00:04:27,472
[Grant] Which is why the traction number leads.

101
00:04:27,771 --> 00:04:31,472
[Grant] What got cut to make room was the Why Now paragraph—two sentences,

102
00:04:31,771 --> 00:04:32,122
[Grant] gone.

103
00:04:32,521 --> 00:04:35,021
[Miles] Six days out and she's still cutting.

104
00:04:35,315 --> 00:04:39,315
[Grant] In the five hundred thousand dollars itself shapes what she's optimizing for.

105
00:04:39,615 --> 00:04:40,465
[Grant] It's two SAFEs,

106
00:04:40,765 --> 00:04:47,915
[Grant] a hundred and twenty five k on a post money SAFE for seven percent plus three hundred and seventy five k uncapped with an MFN

107
00:04:47,915 --> 00:04:48,015
[Miles] Right.

108
00:04:48,015 --> 00:04:48,415
[Grant] clause.

109
00:04:48,615 --> 00:04:52,065
[Miles] So every line in that app has to answer one question:

110
00:04:52,415 --> 00:04:53,765
[Speaker 4] Not is this exciting,

111
00:04:54,115 --> 00:04:57,865
[Speaker 4] but is it true and is it enough to be worth seven percent today.

112
00:04:58,265 --> 00:04:59,015
[Miles] That's the filter.

113
00:04:59,515 --> 00:05:01,615
[Grant] Which is exactly where I start pulling threads,

114
00:05:01,915 --> 00:05:02,865
[Grant] because choices like

115
00:05:02,644 --> 00:05:04,793
[Speaker 4] Does like these usually cover something up.

116
00:05:05,093 --> 00:05:05,744
[Miles] Like what?

117
00:05:06,579 --> 00:05:09,029
[Speaker 4] So here's what I keep circling back to in her app.

118
00:05:09,430 --> 00:05:12,029
[Speaker 4] The word she uses for her co-founder is support,

119
00:05:12,430 --> 00:05:13,029
[Speaker 4] not partner.

120
00:05:13,329 --> 00:05:13,729
[Miles] Huh,

121
00:05:14,129 --> 00:05:15,129
[Miles] I didn't catch that.

122
00:05:15,430 --> 00:05:17,680
[Speaker 4] I'm still solo on product decisions.

123
00:05:18,229 --> 00:05:22,329
[Speaker 4] That's not in the deck, but it's in how she answers the group question in her draft.

124
00:05:22,529 --> 00:05:23,529
[Miles] Does that sink her?

125
00:05:23,779 --> 00:05:24,930
[Speaker 4] Not by itself,

126
00:05:25,329 --> 00:05:27,879
[Speaker 4] but if a partner asks a follow-up and I hedge,

127
00:05:28,129 --> 00:05:29,430
[Speaker 4] that's where it gets bad.

128
00:05:29,629 --> 00:05:31,029
[Miles] You've seen this pattern before.

129
00:05:31,430 --> 00:05:35,479
[Speaker 4] Ziner.io ran the S26 deadline timeline back in April.

130
00:05:35,283 --> 00:05:35,634
[Speaker 4] In April,

131
00:05:36,134 --> 00:05:42,033
[Speaker 4] on-time cutoff was made 4th. Interview advice landed anywhere from 14 to 21 days out.

132
00:05:42,233 --> 00:05:44,483
[Miles] That's a long wait to sit with a soft answer.

133
00:05:44,783 --> 00:05:45,483
[Speaker 4] Exactly.

134
00:05:46,033 --> 00:05:49,933
[Speaker 4] And Ziner.io's coverage of that cycle kept flagging the same thing:

135
00:05:50,433 --> 00:05:56,233
[Speaker 4] founders getting caught contradicting their own written application the second a partner starts asking questions.

136
00:05:56,384 --> 00:05:58,584
[Miles] So the gap isn't the traction number,

137
00:05:58,783 --> 00:06:00,483
[Miles] it's the story not matching the paper.

138
00:06:00,683 --> 00:06:01,134
[Speaker 4] Right.

139
00:06:01,459 --> 00:06:02,509
[Speaker 4] Say your metrics' revenue growth; then get asked,

140
00:06:02,659 --> 00:06:04,409
[Speaker 4] 

141
00:06:04,759 --> 00:06:07,359
[Speaker 4] "Who has custody of the roadmap?" and-blink.

142
00:06:07,859 --> 00:06:08,659
[Grant] That's the tale.

143
00:06:08,959 --> 00:06:11,060
[Miles] So what does she do with six days left?

144
00:06:11,359 --> 00:06:13,159
[Speaker 4] That's the actual fight this week:

145
00:06:13,560 --> 00:06:15,459
[Speaker 4] ship something honest and a little rough,

146
00:06:15,759 --> 00:06:18,610
[Speaker 4] or polish something that reads clean and isn't.

147
00:06:18,709 --> 00:06:19,709
[Miles] You take Raff.

148
00:06:19,909 --> 00:06:24,860
[Speaker 4] Every time I've watched people overvarnish a pitch until there's nothing left to ask about,

149
00:06:25,110 --> 00:06:26,509
[Speaker 4] and that's worse than a gap,

150
00:06:26,810 --> 00:06:28,759
[Speaker 4] because then the interview has nowhere to go.

151
00:06:28,788 --> 00:06:31,088
[Miles] A perfect answer with no follow up room.

152
00:06:31,338 --> 00:06:31,987
[Speaker 4] Dead air,

153
00:06:32,088 --> 00:06:32,487
[Speaker 4] basically.

154
00:06:33,038 --> 00:06:34,388
[Speaker 4] Partners want a thread to pull.

155
00:06:34,638 --> 00:06:36,687
[Miles] So her homework isn't cutting more words.

156
00:06:37,088 --> 00:06:37,437
[Speaker 4] No,

157
00:06:37,737 --> 00:06:44,187
[Speaker 4] it's deciding what I'm actually willing to say out loud about the cofounder gap before someone else asks me to.

158
00:06:44,437 --> 00:06:46,487
[Miles] And if she doesn't figure that out by Monday—

159
00:06:46,487 --> 00:06:50,237
[Speaker 4] Then the application says one thing and she says another in week two,

160
00:06:50,638 --> 00:06:53,838
[Speaker 4] and partners have sat through hundreds of those exact ten minutes.

161
00:06:54,579 --> 00:06:55,680
[Miles] Shifting gears,

162
00:06:55,979 --> 00:06:59,829
[Miles] I keep thinking about what a partner's actually doing with a stack of applications.

163
00:07:00,101 --> 00:07:03,351
[Miles] Since on a Friday night they're not reading for the whole company,

164
00:07:03,701 --> 00:07:05,051
[Miles] they're reading for one thing:

165
00:07:05,601 --> 00:07:07,401
[Miles] is this worth ten minutes on a call?

166
00:07:07,701 --> 00:07:09,951
[Grant] So the bar's lower than founders think.

167
00:07:10,301 --> 00:07:11,151
[Miles] Way lower.

168
00:07:11,601 --> 00:07:14,551
[Miles] Acceptance sits around one to two percent industry-wide,

169
00:07:14,651 --> 00:07:17,451
[Miles] but the written app just has to clear one hurdle:

170
00:07:18,051 --> 00:07:19,201
[Miles] earn that interview slot.

171
00:07:19,601 --> 00:07:24,751
[Grant] Which means the honest but rushed app still has a real shot as long as it clears that hurdle.

172
00:07:25,301 --> 00:07:25,551
[Miles] Right,

173
00:07:25,951 --> 00:07:29,001
[Miles] and partners have watched this exact split play out hundreds of times.

174
00:07:28,825 --> 00:07:29,325
[Miles] of times,

175
00:07:29,675 --> 00:07:32,625
[Miles] honest but rushed this week versus smooth but empty.

176
00:07:33,075 --> 00:07:35,275
[Grant] What's the actual tell on the page?

177
00:07:35,425 --> 00:07:36,525
[Grant] What separates them?

178
00:07:36,875 --> 00:07:38,475
[Miles] One specific number.

179
00:07:38,875 --> 00:07:40,225
[Miles] Not a paragraph about momentum,

180
00:07:40,475 --> 00:07:40,925
[Miles] a number.

181
00:07:41,425 --> 00:07:44,325
[Grant] So rushed isn't automatically the kiss of death.

182
00:07:44,725 --> 00:07:45,825
[Grant] Not if the number's solid.

183
00:07:46,225 --> 00:07:47,625
[Miles] Rushed and vague together,

184
00:07:47,925 --> 00:07:50,425
[Miles] that's the combination that gets tossed in the first pass.

185
00:07:50,775 --> 00:07:51,975
[Grant] Give me the Doomed version.

186
00:07:52,475 --> 00:07:53,825
[Miles] Users love the product.

187
00:07:54,125 --> 00:07:55,325
[Miles] We're seeing great feedback.

188
00:07:55,321 --> 00:07:56,771
[Miles] BACK.--That's a vibe.

189
00:07:57,171 --> 00:07:58,821
[Grant] And the one that earns the callback?

190
00:07:59,225 --> 00:08:05,975
[Miles] Forty paying customers in nine days-zero paid marketing-a founder who did the work and wrote down what happened.

191
00:08:06,275 --> 00:08:06,625
[Grant] Huh!

192
00:08:06,975 --> 00:08:08,325
[Grant] No adjectives required.

193
00:08:08,875 --> 00:08:09,275
[Miles] None.

194
00:08:09,675 --> 00:08:12,675
[Miles] Adjectives are what founders reach for when they don't have the number yet.

195
00:08:13,025 --> 00:08:13,825
[Grant] Worth remembering:

196
00:08:14,125 --> 00:08:16,375
[Grant] Airbnb got rejected the first time it applied,

197
00:08:16,525 --> 00:08:17,425
[Grant] and came back anyway.

198
00:08:17,875 --> 00:08:19,725
[Miles] Which is the point partners keep making:

199
00:08:20,025 --> 00:08:22,175
[Miles] a lot of founders read rejection as final.

200
00:08:22,425 --> 00:08:23,325
[Miles] It rarely is.

201
00:08:23,725 --> 00:08:27,425
[Grant] How often do partners actually see this exact six day scramble?

202
00:08:27,769 --> 00:08:34,169
[Miles] Every cycle without fail; in their experience honesty under deadline tends to beat polish under deadline.

203
00:08:34,669 --> 00:08:38,769
[Grant] So what happens if she's still typing at seven fifty nine on the twenty seventh?

204
00:08:39,269 --> 00:08:40,869
[Miles] Best Startup US lay this out:

205
00:08:41,219 --> 00:08:48,419
[Miles] Late applications still get read—you see says so directly—but there's no promised decision by August twenty eighth once the window closes.

206
00:08:48,819 --> 00:08:51,819
[Grant] So the math changes the second that clock hits zero.

207
00:08:52,369 --> 00:08:52,969
[Miles] Completely.

208
00:08:53,419 --> 00:08:55,919
[Miles] On time she knows either way by the twenty eighth.

209
00:08:55,865 --> 00:08:56,015
[Miles] Late,

210
00:08:56,315 --> 00:08:57,615
[Miles] late; she's just waiting,

211
00:08:57,865 --> 00:08:58,515
[Miles] no date attached.

212
00:08:58,865 --> 00:09:02,115
[Grant] That's a different kind of pressure than wondering if they'll say yes.

213
00:09:02,515 --> 00:09:04,215
[Miles] It's wondering if they'll even tell her.

214
00:09:04,515 --> 00:09:05,465
[Grant] Six days,

215
00:09:05,665 --> 00:09:06,865
[Grant] one number to lock down,

216
00:09:07,015 --> 00:09:08,665
[Grant] and a countdown that just got real.

217
00:09:09,065 --> 00:09:09,915
[Miles] The question is,

218
00:09:09,965 --> 00:09:14,165
[Miles] whether that number is already sitting in the spreadsheet or if she still has to go find it.

219
00:09:15,115 --> 00:09:19,315
[Grant] So walk me through what's actually left on her list before Sunday night.

220
00:09:19,705 --> 00:09:20,655
[Speaker 3] Three things:

221
00:09:21,155 --> 00:09:23,555
[Speaker 3] Reconcile every number in that traction slide,

222
00:09:23,905 --> 00:09:24,455
[Speaker 3] actuals,

223
00:09:24,505 --> 00:09:25,005
[Speaker 3] not projections.

224
00:09:25,655 --> 00:09:28,455
[Grant] That's the revenue growth figure from Segment four.

225
00:09:29,055 --> 00:09:34,155
[Speaker 3] Same one; she's cross checking Stripe payouts against her own spreadsheet before she types it into the app.

226
00:09:34,655 --> 00:09:35,105
[Grant] Smart.

227
00:09:35,505 --> 00:09:37,655
[Grant] Partners pull on sloppy math fast.

228
00:09:38,255 --> 00:09:41,305
[Speaker 3] Then the one minute video; she hasn't recorded it yet.

229
00:09:41,755 --> 00:09:42,055
[Grant] Wait,

230
00:09:42,255 --> 00:09:42,705
[Grant] seriously,

231
00:09:43,105 --> 00:09:44,155
[Grant] with days left?

232
00:09:44,755 --> 00:09:45,105
[Speaker 3] Yeah,

233
00:09:45,455 --> 00:09:46,005
[Speaker 3] no script,

234
00:09:46,305 --> 00:09:47,555
[Speaker 3] just her and the cofounder,

235
00:09:47,755 --> 00:09:48,555
[Speaker 3] camera on a laptop.

236
00:09:48,409 --> 00:09:48,659
[Speaker 3] Top.

237
00:09:48,659 --> 00:09:49,009
[Miles] Mm hm.

238
00:09:49,109 --> 00:09:52,359
[Grant] I've watched founders blow that minute rambling about vision.

239
00:09:52,609 --> 00:09:54,809
[Grant] Just say what you built and who's using it.

240
00:09:55,209 --> 00:09:55,559
[Speaker 3] Right,

241
00:09:55,809 --> 00:09:59,009
[Speaker 3] and don't perform confidence you don't have-Partners can tell.

242
00:09:59,509 --> 00:10:00,009
[Grant] So,

243
00:10:00,259 --> 00:10:00,759
[Grant] Number,

244
00:10:01,059 --> 00:10:01,509
[Grant] Video,

245
00:10:01,809 --> 00:10:02,059
[Grant] Submit.

246
00:10:02,809 --> 00:10:04,959
[Speaker 3] Best Startup laid out the deadline plainly:

247
00:10:05,309 --> 00:10:09,159
[Speaker 3] applications close July twenty seventh at eight P M PT,

248
00:10:09,459 --> 00:10:10,609
[Speaker 3] for guaranteed decision.

249
00:10:11,109 --> 00:10:14,509
[Grant] And is she still fiddling with the deck at seven fifty nine?

250
00:10:14,841 --> 00:10:19,091
[Speaker 3] Submit anyway." A rough app in the window beats a polished one that misses it.

251
00:10:19,541 --> 00:10:21,541
[Grant] That's the whole tension of this episode,

252
00:10:21,691 --> 00:10:22,141
[Grant] right there!

253
00:10:22,741 --> 00:10:23,591
[Speaker 3] Six days,

254
00:10:23,891 --> 00:10:24,541
[Speaker 3] one Number,

255
00:10:25,041 --> 00:10:25,891
[Speaker 3] one minute of tape.

256
00:10:26,391 --> 00:10:29,391
[Grant] What happens if she nails the Number but the Video's shaky?

257
00:10:30,041 --> 00:10:30,441
[Speaker 3] Honestly,

258
00:10:30,841 --> 00:10:35,691
[Speaker 3] I've seen shaky Video get past Partners plenty of times; the Number carries more weight.

259
00:10:36,141 --> 00:10:39,791
[Grant] And if the co founder dynamic we flagged earlier comes up in an interview.

260
00:10:40,491 --> 00:10:42,141
[Speaker 3] That's a conversation for August,

261
00:10:42,391 --> 00:10:42,741
[Speaker 3] Not July.

262
00:10:43,439 --> 00:10:48,139
[Grant] Beststartup says interviews happen by video sometime in August for on time applicants.

263
00:10:48,839 --> 00:10:51,089
[Speaker 3] With decisions landing August twenty eighth,

264
00:10:51,489 --> 00:10:52,439
[Speaker 3] that's the date to circle.

265
00:10:52,989 --> 00:10:55,289
[Grant] So we don't know yet if she gets that interview.

266
00:10:55,889 --> 00:10:56,439
[Speaker 3] We don't.

267
00:10:56,789 --> 00:10:57,589
[Speaker 3] She hit Submit,

268
00:10:57,889 --> 00:10:59,089
[Speaker 3] and then it's out of her hands.

269
00:10:59,539 --> 00:11:02,439
[Grant] That's the part nobody prepares you for-the waiting.

270
00:11:03,089 --> 00:11:03,439
[Speaker 3] Yeah,

271
00:11:03,889 --> 00:11:07,639
[Speaker 3] Year One's checking back after August twenty eighth to see if the invite lands.

272
00:11:08,139 --> 00:11:08,839
[Grant] Until then,

273
00:11:08,989 --> 00:11:09,889
[Grant] she's got till Sunday.

274
00:11:10,105 --> 00:11:11,905
[Grant] eight p m to make her case.

275
00:11:12,305 --> 00:11:13,055
[Speaker 3] One number,

276
00:11:13,505 --> 00:11:14,055
[Speaker 3] one minute,

277
00:11:14,555 --> 00:11:15,005
[Speaker 3] one button.

278
00:11:16,011 --> 00:11:17,911
[Grant] So six days out,

279
00:11:18,061 --> 00:11:20,111
[Grant] she's still weighing her traction number.

280
00:11:20,411 --> 00:11:22,061
[Speaker 3] Revenue growth over retention.

281
00:11:22,211 --> 00:11:24,111
[Speaker 3] Her retention curve's only six weeks old.

282
00:11:24,461 --> 00:11:24,861
[Grant] Right.

283
00:11:24,961 --> 00:11:26,861
[Grant] Then there's the One-Liner video,

284
00:11:27,161 --> 00:11:28,111
[Grant] still unshot.

285
00:11:28,461 --> 00:11:31,361
[Speaker 3] Add the actual submit button and that's her whole weekend.

286
00:11:31,861 --> 00:11:33,861
[Grant] The deadline's July twenty seventh,

287
00:11:34,111 --> 00:11:36,311
[Grant] eight PT Pacific. No extensions.

288
00:11:36,811 --> 00:11:39,711
[Speaker 3] One to two percent of ten thousand applicants get in.

289
00:11:39,761 --> 00:11:41,211
[Speaker 3] The math doesn't wait for anybody.

290
00:11:41,611 --> 00:11:43,111
[Grant] So the lesson here,

291
00:11:43,361 --> 00:11:44,761
[Grant] a rougher, honest application.

292
00:11:44,665 --> 00:11:46,915
[Grant] Explication beats a polished hollow one.

293
00:11:47,215 --> 00:11:48,365
[Speaker 3] We're not leaving her there,

294
00:11:48,465 --> 00:11:48,615
[Speaker 3] though.

295
00:11:48,965 --> 00:11:53,865
[Grant] Nope; Year One's coming back once YC's August twenty eighth decisions land.

296
00:11:54,465 --> 00:11:56,765
[Speaker 3] Know a first year founder with a story like hers?

297
00:11:57,015 --> 00:11:59,715
[Speaker 3] Send them to yearone@heymerito.com.

298
00:12:00,065 --> 00:12:02,865
[Grant] And if this one got you thinking differently about startups,

299
00:12:03,115 --> 00:12:03,815
[Grant] leave us a review.

300
00:12:04,365 --> 00:12:05,965
[Speaker 3] Thanks for spending this hour with us.

301
00:12:06,315 --> 00:12:08,465
[Grant] We'll see you after the decisions come in.