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Who Is Scribd and Parse Cofounder Tikhon Bernstam? · Y Combinator

Y Combinator

The Challenges of a Repeat Founder

Tikhon Bernstam cofounded Scribd (YC S06) and Parse (YC S11). Read the transcript here .

Notes

  1. Who Is Scribd and Parse Cofounder Tikhon Bernstam? at 0:00

    Craig Cannon introduced Tikhon Bernstam on the Y Combinator podcast as a founder who did YC twice: summer 2006 with Scribd, and summer 2011 with Parse. Full answer

  2. How Did Tikhon Get Into Y Combinator at 0:49

    Tikhon was in graduate school in theoretical physics, when he read Paul Graham's essay on How to Start a Startup. Full answer

  3. How Did the Idea of Scribd Emerge at 2:36

    YouTube was a hot startup at the time, and everyone wanted to be the "YouTube of X," much like in the 2010s everyone wants to be "Uber for Y." Full answer

  4. How Did Scribd Benefit From Y Combinator Early on at 4:34

    Not knowing much about what they were doing early on, Tikhon and team found feedback from the Y Combinator team to be incredibly useful. Full answer

  5. How Much Money Did Scribd Raise After Y Combinator at 6:55

    Funding environment was very different back in the early days of Y Combinator than it is now, and after the demo day, Scribd team survived on savings, and the… Full answer

  6. How Did the Parse Team Come Up With the Idea at 10:15

    The founders did not want to waste time building products, so instead they spun out 12 different landing pages and launched them all, measuring which one… Full answer

  7. Why Does Tikhon Bernstam Look for Really Large Markets? at 32:27

    Tikhon Bernstam told the Y Combinator podcast that across about 60 angel investments, including Cruise, which sold to GM, plus Gusto, LendUp, Checkr… Full answer

  8. Why Does Tikhon Bernstam Invest in Solo Founders at 33:50

    A lot of successful founders had started as solo founders, and Tikhon says that startups are already hard, and if you are willing to persevere on your own… Full answer

  9. What Is the Optimal Investment Strategy at 38:40

    Invest in a big market, even if it's already crowded. A great product in a big market will outperform a novel product in a small market. Full answer

  10. What Is a Major Challenge for a Repeat Startup Founder at 43:52

    Repeat founders feel the pressure of having to work on a big idea. Unfortunately most big discoveries seem to come from people working on small things first. Full answer

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