Startup School

Orientation
W2020
Startup School is a free online
course that teaches you how
to start a company
> 8 weeks
> Best startup advice
> Community of founders
> $30k+ of deals
Still time for your friends to
sign up, tell them!
 MOTIVATIONAL STATS
📈 9,000 companies launched
 MOTIVATIONAL STATS
📈 9,000 companies launched
50% of YC interviews
 MOTIVATIONAL STATS
📈 9,000 companies launched
50% of YC interviews
📣 120 SUS companies in YC now
GET THE MOST OUT OF
STARTUP SCHOOL
GET THE MOST OUT OF
STARTUP SCHOOL
1. Set a hard goal
GET THE MOST OUT OF
STARTUP SCHOOL
1. Set a hard goal
2. Be honest about what isn’t working
GET THE MOST OUT OF
STARTUP SCHOOL
1. Set a hard goal
2. Be honest about what isn’t working
3. Participate!
GET THE MOST OUT OF
STARTUP SCHOOL
1. Set a hard goal
2. Be honest about what isn’t working
3. Participate!
4. LAUNCH!!
We listened to
your feedback!
Tips from SUS 2019
founders
Be clear and concise
Make progress each week
Now for your first
office hour
What is your one-liner?
Information is the
lifeblood of the modern
organization. The ability
to channel information
quickly and efficiently to
those who need it is
critical to a company’s
success. A company that
achieves an edge in the
Information is the
lifeblood of the modern
organization. The ability

X
to channel information
quickly and efficiently to
those who need it is
critical to a company’s
success. A company that
achieves an edge in the
Indy Cloud is a
know-how and
synergy platform.
 X
Indy Cloud is a
know-how and
synergy platform.
> Conversational
> No Jargon
> No Preamble
> Concise
Tandem is building a
virtual office for remote
teams.
Dropbox synchronizes
files across your/your
team's computers.
Set your 8 week goal
Course Format
Our Software

Required for
graduation
Weekly Updates
● Update is about the previous week
● Should take <15 mins to fill out
● Purpose
○ Reflect on key metrics
○ Track own progress
● We start asking Mondays at 12am Pacific
● Due Wednesday by 4pm Pacific
● Used to schedule group sessions
Group Sessions
● Video calls to discuss weekly progress
● 5/8 weeks. Only 2 required
● Groups formed Wednesdays
● Sessions on Thursdays
● Default time Thurs evening; can request a different time
but match may not be as good
● Done via video on our website
Group Sessions: Discussion Format
● One company tapped as moderator
● Everyone intros self/gives 1-liner
● Discuss any change in primary metric
● Discuss biggest obstacle
Group Sessions: Matching Algorithm
● 4-8 companies combined in group
● Base matching on proximity, timezone, vertical, progress,
commitment
● Match companies seeking cofounders together
● Matching changes every week
Lessons
● 18 lectures by YC partners
● Videos live now at startupschool.org/videos
● Follow along with course or pick and choose
Forum
● Post what helps community
● If expert, help others!
● Search before you post
● Don’t spam or scrape
● Expert AMAs (announced in weekly email)
● Channels for 114 cities: meet nearby founders
● Launch on Show SUS and ask for help!
Forum: Live AMAs
● Question thread goes live Monday in forum
● Link goes out in start-of-week newsletter
● Answers live-recorded weekly (usually Weds morning)
Deals
● Over $30K worth of deals/credits for SUS companies
● AWS, Brex, DigitalOcean, Google Cloud, Retool, Stripe,
etc.
● Some deals increase after graduation
● Do NOT share with others outside the course
Library
● Contains essays and articles by YC partners, alumni, and
other experts
● Organized by topic/startup stage
● No required reading, but recommend taking a look
Need Help?
● startupschool@ycombinator.com
● The Startup School forums!
● Tweet me: @corbtt