SPECIAL GUEST GUIDE
About the get-together
The YCombinator Alumni Group ($400B in valuations) meets every two weeks and invites very special guests.
This is a completely off-the-record conversation.
They are a place where we exchange best-practices. In order to ensure an intimate conversation the maximum number of attendees is 50 and it is designed as a Zoom call, not a webinar.
It’s carried out as a fireside chat for 30 minutes plus a 15 minute Q&A.
Sample questions for the fireside chat.
Attendees
The typical attendee is a venture-backed early stage YC founder ($1M - $400M raised).
25% of the attendees are women founders.
Sample Questions
1. Could you take us back to your early upbringing, and what initially attracted you to the tech/VC world?
2. If you were to break down your success into a couple of important moments/milestones, what would those be?
3. I’m sure you have a big notebook of “lessons learned & pitfalls to avoid”. What are some of your biggest lessons?
4. What keeps you at night now vs. when you first started?
5. Which one of your portfolio investments was the hardest to make or required the most convincing? Why?
6. What has been one of the biggest challenges that one of your portfolio companies has gone through and how did you guide them?
7. Of all the successful companies that you have seen, are there one or two traits or attributes that the founders have in common?
8. Given COVID did your investment criteria change? What are your thoughts on the startup investment landscape post COVID?