20 VC 016: Y Combinator, Twitch.TV and Socialcam with Mike Seibel

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The Twenty Minute VC

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4.4 • 637 Ratings

🗓️ 2 March 2015

⏱️ 23 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Mike Seibel has enjoyed the most incredible career in the technology industry on both the Founder and the VC side of the table. He was Co-Founder and CEO of Justin.TV which was part of the Y Combinator Winter Class of 2007, and was later acquired as Twitch.TV by Amazon for $970 million. In that time Mike also created a spin off from Justin.TV, SocialCam, where he was Co-Founder and CEO, culminating in their acquisition in 2012 for $60 million by Autodesk.

Items mentioned in Todays' Show:

Twitch.TV
SocialCam
Y Combinator
Dropbox

What you will learn in this episode?

How Mike got into the technology industry and later the tech accelerator business with Y Combinator?
Why Mike did not learn to code?
Mike's own experiences in Y Combinator.
What is it that Y Combinator does to produce such amazing and revolutionary companies?
What does Demo Day look like at Y Combinator?
What is the selection process for choosing which companies to back and which not to?
What do you look for in the interviews with the Founders?
Are top level University degrees necessary for entry into the Y Combinator class?
What are Mike's biggest red flags when looking at startups?
Why Mike would never outsource engineering?
What can startups do to prepare themselves for the Y Combinator process?
What sector is Mike really excited about and why?
What is a day in the life of a Y Combinator partner?

We then finish todays episode with a rapid fire round where we hear Mike's thoughts on the best piece of advice Mike has received, the hardest decision Mike has had to make in his career, how can an individual start a company with no technical skills or experience?

For all the resources mentioned in today's show, check out www.thetwentyminutevc.com

Likewise, we would love to hear from you, so if you have any questions you would like asked or VCs you would like to have on the show, send an email to [email protected]

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to episode 16 of the 20 minute VC. Now I'm very excited this week because this
0:06.8	week is Accelerator Week, where the 20 minute VC interviews the biggest and best accelerators from
0:13.2	around the world. Today is the turn of the world famous Y Combinator. A startup accelerator in
0:20.2	Mountain View, California. It helps early stage
0:23.1	startups launch, grow and raise seed capital for their business. Previous companies that have
0:28.5	attended Y Combinator include Dropbox, script, Reddit, that's just naming a few. Leading to my amazing
0:35.5	guest today, Mike Siebel, who is a partner at Y Combinator.
0:39.6	But before Y Combinator, Mike had an incredible career in the technology industry, being the co-founder
0:45.5	and CEO of Social Cam, which was acquired for 60 million by Autodesk in 2012. If that was enough, he was also the co-founder and CEO of Twitch.tv, which was sold for
1:00.5	$970 million to Amazon in 2014.
1:05.6	Having enjoyed amazing careers on both the founder and the VC side of the table. I can't wait to get his take on the accelerator business.
1:13.6	Three, two, one, zero. You have now arrived at your destination.
1:21.6	First, I'm really curious about how you got into the technology industry and then made your transition into the
1:28.6	accelerator world of Y Combinator. Could you tell us a little about that? Sure. So,
1:35.0	growing up, my dad was a programmer and my grandpa was very into computers. He was a professor.
1:45.6	And so basically I was just always around computers.
1:49.7	I was always around tech.
1:51.2	I got my first computer when I was in sixth grade.
1:55.6	And so it was something I was very comfortable with, but unfortunately, I never really went down the programmer path.
2:02.3	It's one of the things I'm sad about.
2:04.2	Why did you know?
2:06.8	You know, I don't know.
	...

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