Y Combinator Startup Library · Starting Up

▶️ Video

✓ Link checked Free Beginner

Why we picked it Michael Seibel's crisp framing of holding the problem and customer tightly while holding the solution loosely, the mindset that keeps competitor and problem research honest. Free and canonical.

How to Plan an MVP

On Y Combinator Startup Library by Michael Seibel ~15 min

Hold the problem and customer tightly, the solution loosely
Talk to a few users before building, a little research beats none
'No competitors' often signals a weak problem, not a blue ocean
Iterating changes the solution; pivoting changes the problem

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Answers Who are my real competitors once I think in jobs to be done? What if my customers say they have no competitors, is that good or bad? What actually counts as an MVP, and what's the smallest one I can get away with? How do I decide which features to cut from v1? How long should building an MVP take? How do I know when to stop researching an idea and just start building?

📄 Article

✓ Link checked Free Beginner

Why we picked it The canonical, no-nonsense overview of how seed fundraising works, written by a former YC president who has seen thousands of rounds. It's the single best starting point before you talk to a single investor.

A Guide to Seed Fundraising

From Y Combinator Startup Library by Geoff Ralston 20 min read

Only raise if the capital genuinely accelerates you toward a big outcome; fundraising has a real cost in time and control
Decide how much you need to hit a real milestone, and understand the instruments (SAFEs, notes) before negotiating
Run fundraising as a focused, time-boxed process rather than a background activity

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Answers Should I raise venture capital or bootstrap my startup? What kind of businesses are actually a good fit for venture capital? Can I build a big, profitable company without ever raising money? How do I decide the right time to start raising, if at all?

▶️ Video

✓ Link checked Free Beginner

Why we picked it A concise video lecture that walks through the key concepts and mechanics of running a fundraising process, from a YC partner who has coached thousands of founders. Great if you'd rather watch than read.

Fundraising Fundamentals (Startup School)

On Y Combinator Startup Library by Geoff Ralston 40 min

Warm intros and social proof (a strong first cheque) do most of the heavy lifting
Build a ranked target list and run the process concurrently to build momentum
Investors at seed underwrite team and market more than metrics

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Answers How does seed fundraising actually work, step by step? How do I find and get intros to angel investors and seed funds? What does an early-stage VC actually look for before writing a cheque?

📄 Article

✓ Link checked Free Intermediate

Why we picked it YC's fundraising library collects the canonical explainers on how SAFEs convert, how caps and discounts work, and how they dilute you. The most trustworthy free explanation of the instrument almost every seed round uses.

A Guide to SAFEs, Caps, and Discounts (Startup Library)

From Y Combinator Startup Library by Kirsty Nathoo / Y Combinator varies

A valuation cap sets the max conversion price; a discount gives a percentage off the next round
Stacked SAFEs at different caps all convert together and can add up to serious dilution
Model the conversion before agreeing terms, not after

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Answers What is a SAFE and how does it actually work? What's the difference between a valuation cap and a discount on a SAFE? How much dilution should I expect across seed and Series A?

▶️ Video

✓ Link checked Free Beginner

Why we picked it Michael Seibel, who ran YC, makes the blunt case for shipping something almost embarrassingly simple and learning from real users instead of chasing a perfect first version. His line that if it takes more than a month to build, it is not an MVP is a practical yardstick for anyone stuck polishing. Watch it when the urge to add one more thing before launch takes over.

How to Build an MVP

On Y Combinator Startup Library by Michael Seibel ~10 min video

An MVP is the fastest way to start learning what users actually want, so its job is speed to feedback, not completeness.
Keep the first version ridiculously simple: if it takes more than about a month to build, you are overbuilding.
The fear of losing customers to a rough product is usually overblown; you learn far more from shipping than from refining in private.

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Answers I keep polishing the design and refactoring instead of shipping. How do I know I'm gold-plating my MVP versus doing necessary work?

📄 Article

✓ Link checked Free Beginner

Why we picked it This is the plainest, most credible list of the traps that keep founders from their first customers, written by the people who have watched thousands of startups try. It names the exact failure modes you are asking about: not knowing where your first users will come from, not talking to users, and prioritizing press and hiring over getting the product in front of real people. Treat it as a checklist of what to not do, not a formula for success.

Biggest mistakes first-time founders make

From Y Combinator Startup Library by Y Combinator (Michael Seibel)

The founders who struggle usually have no concrete answer for where their first users will actually come from, so decide that before you build.
Talking to users is the work, not a distraction from it: skipping real conversations is how you build something nobody asked for.
Chasing press, hiring, and polish before you have paying users is a way to feel busy while avoiding the hard part.

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Answers What are the biggest mistakes founders make trying to land their first customers that I should avoid?

✍️ Essay

✓ Link checked Free Beginner

Why we picked it This is the canonical structure for the investor cold email, written by a YC partner who reads them from the other side. It is short and prescriptive: what to say, in what order, and why brevity beats a long pitch. Treat it as the skeleton you fill in, not a script to copy word for word.

How to Cold Email Investors

From Y Combinator Startup Library by Aaron Harris 5 min read

The goal of the email is a reply, not a term sheet, so keep it short and easy to say yes to.
Lead with real progress relative to how long you have been building; traction reads as confident, and confidence is the opposite of desperate.
Research the person first so the email shows you know why you are writing to them specifically.

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Answers How do I write a cold email to an investor without sounding desperate?

📄 Article

✓ Link checked Free Intermediate

Why we picked it This is the exact list a founder gets handed once a term sheet lands, written by YC Continuity's general counsel after hundreds of financings, so it is the request list itself and not a vendor's marketing checklist. It spells out the corporate, equity, IP, and financial documents investors ask for, and it makes the core point plainly: assemble the data room before you sign, and you cut about a week off closing. Treat it as a starting point to pre-build your folders, not a legal opinion on your specific deal.

Series A Diligence Checklist

From Y Combinator Startup Library by Jason Kwon (Y Combinator) ~10 min read

The scramble is avoidable: having board minutes, stockholder and option lists, incorporation docs, and recent financials ready before the term sheet saves roughly a week at closing.
Investors want the paper trail of your equity (who owns what, at what price, on what dates), so a clean cap table and signed option agreements sit at the centre of the ask.
This is post-term-sheet reality, so build the folder structure now while things are calm rather than reconstructing it under a deadline.

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Answers What financial records do investors actually ask for in due diligence, and how do I avoid a scramble when a term sheet appears?