27:03Ron Conway at Startup School 2013
From Y Combinator · Published Jul 23, 2014 · Watch on YouTube
TL;DR
Ron Conway recounts early investments in Twitter (via Evan Williams repaying Odeo investors), Facebook (via Sean Parker), Pinterest (via team discovery), and Snapchat (pattern recognition). He emphasizes investing in people first, product focus, and decisiveness.
Key insights
- Investing in a founder who demonstrates strong character (e.g., Ev Williams refunding investors after Odeo failed) is more important than the initial product idea.
- Pattern recognition across social apps (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat) reveals that these companies change how people communicate; the next big app likely also alters communication behavior.
- A startup can succeed without exploding instantly – e.g., Pinterest required 1.5 years of iteration with close user feedback (focus groups of women) before taking off.
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