24:02Kathryn Minshew at Startup School NY 2014
From Y Combinator · Published Jul 23, 2014 · Watch on YouTube
TL;DR
Kathryn Minshew, founder/CEO of The Muse, argues that startups are an evolution from "suck to suck less" rather than a sequence of brilliant breakthrough moments. She details her journey from a failed first startup through 148 investor rejections to Y Combinator acceptance, emphasizing that early versions of The Muse were ugly and minimal.
Key insights
- Most startups present a polished final product while hiding the prolonged failure and flat growth that preceded it (e.g., Minshew’s first startup had nearly flat growth at ~3,000 users/month for 8–9 m
- The origin of The Muse was slow and iterative, not a lightning-strike idea; their first website was "a piece of crap" that nevertheless attracted 20,000 users in month one, 26,000 in month two, and 70
- Starting with content (rather than a full marketplace) allowed them to build an audience cheaply and test job-market appetite before recruiting companies.
Want the full analysis - every claim cited to the second it was said?
This page only shows a teaser. Sign up to chat with the complete, cited breakdown of "Kathryn Minshew at Startup School NY 2014".