Dalton Caldwell's Whale AMA | Video Wiz

Dalton Caldwell, a member of Y Combinator, is interested in product categories such as food, transportation, housing, and healthcare. He believes there are opportunities to build companies as large as Uber and Airbnb in these areas. For entrepreneurs building content businesses on the internet, Caldwell advises having a clever plan for monetization and considering options such as native advertising or fan support. The admissions process at Y Combinator involves filling out an application and being invited for an in-person interview. Caldwell advises founders to focus on building a strong company with a great product rather than cold emailing investors in SF. Kanye West's support for Donald Trump sparks speculation about his potential presidential run. Founders who move to Mountain View for YC should not hire a founding team initially and should focus on building the entire product and executing with just the founders. A great YC application should have clear and concise communication. Failure should be assumed by default and it is the responsibility of the entrepreneur to prove otherwise. When starting a startup while still in school, founders should identify the perfect moment in time and answer the question "why now?" Y Combinator appreciates seeing applicants return with significant advancements in their businesses. To get into Y Combinator, having a social network of food with potential for monopoly and a big market is a good start, but the most important criteria are the team and their insights on the product. Building a successful competitor to Google with a different approach to making knowledge accessible can happen accidentally. Founders should focus on sharing the narrative of their problem-solving journey rather than just the specific insights gained from their MVP.

What product categories are you most interested in right now? Both as an investor and a founder.

Dalton Caldwell is interested in product categories such as food, transportation, housing, and healthcare.
He believes there are opportunities to build companies as large as Uber and Airbnb in these areas.
Caldwell sees potential in creating large-scale businesses that address issues and high costs associated with healthcare and food.

What's your advice to entrepreneurs building content businesses on the internet?

Have a clever plan for monetization
CPMs are decreasing, so find unique ways to monetize
Consider options such as native advertising or fan support
Relying solely on venture capital funding is not a viable strategy

What's the admissions process like at Y Combinator?

The admissions process at Y Combinator involves filling out an application and being invited for an in-person interview. Successful applicants are often strangers and it is advised to apply without seeking permission or networking with YC beforehand.

Fill out an application
Successful applicants are often strangers
Top percentile of applicants are invited for an in-person interview
It is advised to apply without seeking permission or networking with YC beforehand

You've been outspoken about being wary about starting startups in the music space. When and how will this change? How should startups in this space position themselves to succeed?

The music industry is unlikely to recover its previous size due to the decline of physical media and the inability to replace lost revenue.
Startups in the music space should not anticipate a future change and should explore other industries with greater opportunities.

For an app like Whale - what would you suggest their North Star, that one metric to improve 10% WoW be? Of course revenue is great, but could you optimize for revenue too early? If not revenue, DAUs?

Instead of solely focusing on revenue or daily active users (DAUs), it is important to analyze the data and understand why people want to use the app.
A clear vision for the product and growth in a specific vertical or use case is crucial.
Being solely driven by growth may not lead to long-term success.

What drew you to YC and how has it changed the way you look at startups? What would you do differently as a first time founder now that you have the background of YC?

Dalton Caldwell emphasizes that investors' decisions are not personal and advises founders to focus on building a strong company with a great product.
Founders should not solely rely on networking and connections to secure funding.
Building a strong company and product is key to attracting investors.

What are your thoughts on spending time cold emailing investors in SF? Assuming you have a good business and team but you're from a small town with a limited investor network. What else would you do?

Dalton Caldwell advises founders to prioritize working on their startup rather than cold emailing investors in SF.
Founders should focus on adding value to their startup by working on code and acquiring customers.
Y Combinator has an application process, so founders can apply directly on their website instead of cold emailing.
Spending time on cold emailing may not be the most effective use of time for founders from small towns with limited investor networks.

Kanye for president? What do you think?

Kanye West's support for Donald Trump sparks speculation about his potential presidential run.

Kanye West expressed support for Donald Trump during a concert in San Jose.
Some believe this indicates his potential interest in running for president in the future.

For founders that move to Mountain View for YC, are you recommending they hire their founding team in the Bay Area or where they are originally from?

Founders who move to Mountain View for YC should not hire a founding team initially
They should focus on building the entire product, doing sales, and executing with just the founders
Hiring should only be considered when the company is doing well and it becomes a bottleneck

How does a great YC application look like?

Clear and concise communication is key in a great YC application
The application should include a clear description of the company's purpose, the team's qualifications, and their unique insights
Clarity of thought and communication is highly predictive of success in getting an interview and succeeding in the YC program

We often hear about success stories out of YC, can you rather tell us about a big failure and what did you learn from it as a partner?

Failure is often a gradual realization that it is time to give up and move on
Failure should be assumed by default and it is the responsibility of the entrepreneur to prove otherwise
Failure is comparable to the null hypothesis in the scientific method

How should young founders answer the question "why now?" in regards to them starting a startup while still in school? How can a young founder stand out and separate themselves from their age?

Identify the perfect moment in time to start the startup
Consider factors such as what is happening in the world
Determine whether it is not too early or too late to start
Answer the question "why now?" when starting a startup while still in school

We create 3D printed sculptures of real people. I got rejected twice by YC. Should I keep applying?

Dalton Caldwell, a member of Y Combinator, advises applicants to focus on making genuine progress with their ideas and demonstrating tangible results.
Y Combinator appreciates seeing applicants return with significant advancements in their businesses.

I have a social network of food and I would like to know which specific figures in terms of growth, revenue, users & so on we need to have to get into YC - supposing a potential monopoly & big market

To get into Y Combinator, having a social network of food with potential for monopoly and a big market is a good start. However, the most important criteria for YC are the team and their insights on the product. Technical expertise, team dynamics, and knowledge of each other are crucial. YC is less concerned with specific growth, revenue, or user numbers compared to later stage investors.

Do you think new startups which have the same mission as that of Google i.e. of making knowledge more accessible but a different approach be successful? Also ideas?

Building a successful competitor to Google with a different approach to making knowledge accessible can happen accidentally.

In Silicon Valley, successful startups often create stories and myths about their mission.
Google's goal of organizing and making information accessible was not their initial mission.
Google's mission emerged from research they conducted at Stanford.
They developed a clever hack to determine the authority of a website using backlinks.
Initially, they tried to sell this technology but ended up starting Google.

Should founders say "We found this problem really hard to solve, but we dealt with it by.."" or ""Our MVP works like this because the insight..."?

Founders should focus on sharing the narrative of their problem-solving journey rather than just the specific insights gained from their MVP.
Sharing the narrative can lead to more valuable and unexpected insights.
The narrative should include initial ideas, user interactions, and market experiments.
Simply sharing insights gained from external sources is not as valuable.