The Launch Pad: Inside Y Combinator, Silicon Valley's Most Exclusive School for Startups
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Description
Twice a year in the heart of Silicon Valley, a small investment firm called Y Combinator selects an elite group of young entrepreneurs from around the world for three months of intense work and instruction. Their brand-new two- or three-person start-ups are given a seemingly impossible challenge: to turn a raw idea into a viable business, fast. Each YC session culminates in a demo day, when investors and venture capitalists flock to hear pitches from the new graduates. Any one of them might turn out to be the next Dropbox (class of 2007, now valued at $5 billion) or Airbnb (2009, $1.3 billion). Randall Stross is the first journalist to have fly-on-the-wall access to Y Combinator. He tells the full story of how Paul Graham started this ultra exclusive institution, how it chooses among hundreds of aspiring Mark Zuckerbergs, and how it teaches them to go from concept to profitability in record time. Read more
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Top Amazon Reviews
Format: Hardcover
I've been a long time Hacker News (YC) reader, and when I saw this book for sale I immediately purchased it, although, to be honest, I didn't have high hopes for the content. I figured that since I'm already extremely familiar with the YC stories, this book would be more of the same. Luckily, I was completely wrong. This book is a MUST READ for any programmers, entrepreneurs, and aspiring business people hoping to start their own company, work hard, and build something great. This book is essentially an accounting of the experiences of a particular YC group. The book talks about: - How YC works. - Who the founders are (what are their backgrounds, how did they meet their co-founders, what are their personalities like?). - How these companies got into the program. - What advice is offered to the companies when they first get started. - How the companies cycle through ideas, trying to find a perfect business niche to pursue. - How conflicts cause issues (some founders don't heed YC warnings, some founders have family commitments that end up causing lots of personal issues, etc.). - How these companies mature as they're working on their products. - How the YC program works, in great detail (what advice is offered, how to raise money, how these companies should deal with investors, etc.). - The final progress that each company makes before the important YC 'Demo Day'. - How some companies raise money from investors, while others are unable to do so. - And lots more. What really makes this book great is that you (as a reader) are essentially getting a fly-on-the-wall, intimate view of YC, from start to finish. The author wrote this book while sitting in with YC companies, going to all of the YC dinners, meetings, office hours, etc., and essentially picking the most important parts of these meetings and condensing them down into a great story that anyone can benefit from. The book reads like a movie (almost)--you'll be introduced to the founders and their personalities, then you'll learn about YC and how it works, then you'll be taken on an adventure through the ups and downs of each company as they make their way through the program--all of them striving to do something great. I found this book extremely motivational. While reading through the book, I could see myself struggling with the same problems as these YC companies: working tirelessly, trying to beat the odds, attempting to stay optimistic even with the realization that the odds are greatly against you. If you plan on building a successful company, and aspiring to greatness, this is an extremely intimate book that serves to encourage and inspire you--definitely worth your time.
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Reviewed in the United States on December 26, 2012 by Randall Degges
Format: Hardcover
As someone who has followed ycombinator for many years now I couldn't go past a book like this that chronicled a batch going through the program. I thought it was quite a good read. In contrast to another reviewer who said it was a bit long and monotonous I think it was actually far to short. The book mainly focuses on a small batch of companies in the batch, maybe 5 and then does bits and pieces on probably another 10 to 15. It misses so many of the other really great companies and founders coming out of this particular batch though. I guess it is really a question of audience, depending if your writing for the startup founder audience that laps this stuff up or for a wider audience that may not already know the ins and outs of startups, accelerators and seed/ venture capital. I would definitely recommend reading though for anyone that even has a passing interest in startups.
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Reviewed in the United States on November 10, 2012 by Rob Ryan
Format: Hardcover
Disclaimer: I'm one of the entrepreneurs who participated in the Summer 2011 Y Combinator session that Randall covers in his book. Here's the deal. Silicon Valley is a really interesting as a hotbed for innovation and entrepreneurship. Y Combinator pioneered the "seed fund / accelerator" model and has scaled it to impressive levels. As an entrepreneur, it was a tremendous boost for me and my cofounders to participate in the YC program as we started our business. Randall got to see everything that went down and writes about it in a fair and honest way (which means I am left cringing numerous times when I encounter the sections about myself and my company). It also means I got to learn some really interesting things myself about the other companies in my "batch". The book is roughly chronological, but touches on various themes like female founders, generating ideas, acquiring customers, fundraising and risk in each chapter. As a professor and journalist, Stross makes the effort to explain the jargon and clarify the concepts behind startups. His prose is clear, sturdy and never overly dramatic. The Launch Pad shows how tech companies are built at the earliest stages, and more broadly shows how Y Combinator is influencing Silicon Valley and the broader tech community around the world.
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Reviewed in the United States on September 28, 2012 by Jason Y. Shen
Format: Kindle
This book is an excellent account of the journey that a batch of y-combinator startups take as they progress through the program. No part of this book was boring. Maybe the reason that I liked it so much is because I am interested in startups and technology, but I do think that it would be interesting to a wider audience than just techies. The author recounts conversations, has organized the book very well, and draws interesting conclusions. Highly recommend.
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Reviewed in the United States on August 19, 2013 by S. Jamal
Format: Kindle
I wanted to like it, but it felt as though I had read most of it before. I guess it was probably the Bloomberg Businessweek article that previewed/had a chapter of the book or ran a similar story very recently. If you've read other startup books like 'Founders at Work', or 'Do More Faster' (TechStar's- YC's competitors book), you've already heard these/similar stories before. Stories of the birth, growth and sometimes death of successful and well-known startups and of YC and YC companies are also chockful and free on Quora. If you haven't read the other books or are not familiar with the software startup world, this might be a good book, else its a so-so.
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Reviewed in the United States on October 2, 2012 by Customer
Format: Hardcover
This book is pretty cool. fully details what YC is like, and stories about select YC companies. The majority of YC stories have come out on blog posts through hacker news that mostly seem to be building links for YC companies. The author had access to interviews that nobody else had access to, and he tells stories that help you understand the economics and attitude around accelerators.
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Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2012 by Scooby Doo