#144 - Startup School Week 3 Recap - Anu Hariharan and Adora Cheung

We've cut down the third week of lectures to be even shorter and combined them into one podcast. First, a lecture from Anu Hariharan . Anu is a partner at YC. Her lecture covers nine common startup business models and the metrics investors want to see for each. Then, a Q&A with Anu and Adora Cheung . Adora is also at partner at YC. During their Q&A they’ll answer questions from Startup School Founders on how investors evaluate startups. Y Combinator invests a small amount of money ($150k) in a large number of startups (recently 200), twice a year. Learn more about YC and apply for funding here: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/ *** Topics 00:00 - Intro 00:39 - Anu Hariharan on Nine Business Models and the Metrics Investors Want 1:44 - Enterprise 4:09 - SAAS 8:55 - Subscription 11:33 - Transactional 14:44 - Marketplace 19:04 - E-commerce 21:14 - Advertising 23:12 - Hardware 23:44 - Common mistakes 25:35 - Anu Hariharan and Adora Cheung on How Investors Measure Startups Q&A 26:07 - Team, product market fit, and market opportunity 27:10 - What if the founder doesn't have experience in the are in which they're building a product? 28:19 - How do investors know you're moving fast? 29:40 - Local vs remote 30:40 - Evaluating solo founders 31:45 - Clarity of thought 33:35 - International founders 35:17 - Solo founders 36:21 - Should I fundraise? 38:33 - How does an investor evaluate a company with a heavy MVP? 39:36 - How do you avoid investors who say "it's too early for us"? 40:06 - Is it sensible to engage with investors before product market fit? 40:26 - How do you find the perfect investor? 41:21 - What are the best approaches for minority female founders to gain visibility within VC? 42:36 - How do investors come up with valuations?