Video

The Biggest Mistakes First-Time Founders Make

Michael Seibel · Y Combinator (YouTube) Free Beginner

Michael Seibel has watched thousands of early teams up close, and here he walks through the patterns that sink first-timers, including pouring months into building something before checking that anyone wants it. For a first-time founder it helps you hear the warning signs in a real voice rather than a checklist, so you recognize them live when your own build starts drifting. It is broad on purpose, which is useful when you are still learning what "wrong thing" even looks like.

• The most expensive mistake is building at length before validating, so the fix is getting something in front of real users early.
• Founder and builder need to stay close to the customer; delegating the whole product and going quiet is how teams end up shipping the wrong thing.
• Seibel frames these as recurring, avoidable patterns, which makes it easier to catch yourself repeating them.