What I’ve learned from 50+ YC mock interview sessions

Stilt was a part of YC W16 batch. Since then, we have talked to many founders preparing for Y Combinator mock interviews. Below are some of the common mistakes founders make in their YC interviews.

Stilt was a part of YC W16 batch. Since then, we have talked to many founders preparing for Y Combinator mock interviews. What I’ve learned from 50+ YC mock interview sessions:

Don't ask for permission or validation - Many founders are looking for permission to build their startups. - There is an inherent skepticism that if they are not accepted into YC, their business is not viable. - At the earliest stages when ideas are fragile, there is a need for this validation (which is understandable). - But founders don’t need YC’s validation or permission. YC interview process is a learning experience, their feedback is sometimes helpful and important.

• Our experience - when we started the company, we didn’t know much about YC and we didn’t expect to get in. So we continued to build the business assuming we won’t get in. Later I was told that one of the reasons YC accepted us is because we were already executing (without waiting for YC’s permission/ validation).

Don't downplay or hide efforts - A common mistake I’ve seen is that founders hide or fail to mention their efforts because they think their execution doesn’t sound impressive. - Based on our experience, YC is not looking for only impressive sounding execution. - In most cases, using fluffy words have the opposite effect. - Founders need to share their stories of grit and how they got to where they are step by step. - Most of the stuff that helps build the startup in the earliest stages doesn’t sound impressive at all like talking to customers, coding nights and weekends to implement an insight, and making progress every week.

• Our experience - Because we didn’t know how to make our efforts sound big, we explained every little thing we did, why we did it, and what we learned from it. It also showed that we are building on learnings. We think it was a positive for us.

Don't use fancy words - Some founders read VC blogs and media articles and start talking like them. - They use big words to describe their work and it makes them sound fake. - We found that talking in simple words to describe exactly what you do, what you’ve done in the past, how you’ve made progress, where you are, and where you plan to go was super helpful.

• Our experience - I think our naivety helped us (didn’t know big words or anything about VC). We used simple words to describe the problem, everything we had done to validate the problem, our insight into the market, and the progress we had made. There was no fluff and it was simple to understand. This made it simple for non-fintech folks to understand the market and our business.

Deeply know your customers and their problems - It’s not as much about facing the problem yourself, it’s about knowing the customer’s problem in excruciating detail. - This is true for many founders who try to talk about their great solution but not about their customers. - Some founders haven’t even talked much with their customers. - One of the biggest red flags is superficial knowledge of the problem (not the market size).

• Our experience - Stilt was focused only on international students who recently graduated. At best, there were 1 million students who could potentially need a loan. If we apply additional filters of country of origin, need for a loan product, credit risk, etc - the market was much smaller. But we knew our initial market really well. From what I recall, during the interview, at least half of the interview was focused on the problem.

Show progress - Continuing to make progress is a strong indicator to YC that the founders aren’t waiting around. - We think YC values progress/growth over most other vanity things. - Making progress between the interview call and the actual interview is a sign that founders are focused on execution.

• Our experience - we continued to execute as we thought we are unlikely to get into YC. We were asked questions on the growth of important metrics since we applied to YC. We were later told that our focus on execution with or without YC was one of the reasons YC accepted us. Because we were already executing the idea we believed in, YC believed in us.

Hope this helps future founders prepare for their YC interviews and irrespective of the outcome, they continue to build their companies.