Startup Investor School Preview with Geoff Ralston

TL;DR

Y Combinator is launching its first Investor School, a four-day in-person and MOOC class teaching the basics of startup angel investing. The curriculum covers mechanics (convertible notes, cap tables), founder evaluation, portfolio thinking, and how to be a good (not terrible) investor. The goal is to help accredited investors avoid common pitfalls and become more effective, thoughtful angels.

Key insights

• The only qualification to attend Investor School is being an accredited investor as defined by the SEC; the program aims to increase diversity among investors.
• The most important factor in judging a startup is the founder's level of obsession/resilience – if that isn't present, nothing else matters.
• In initial meetings, a useful technique is to aggressively push on weaknesses in the idea to see how the founder reacts; this requires experience to calibrate.