> Don't worry about being a woman. Yes, it may be a little harder for you as a female founder. But it's not going to be so much harder that it will make the difference between success and failure. Startups at least have this advantage over the corporate world: they are already so hard that the additional difficulty imposed by being a woman is rounding error in comparison.<p>As a female founder of a YC startup (bottomless.com, YC W19), I totally resonate with this. While it is true that being a female in tech can be difficult, those difficulties don't even compare to how hard it is to get and sustain traction in a startup.
I mentioned this before, but I think jl's and pg's essays have been a bit hit-and-miss in the past few years. No doubt due to the fact that YC is no longer a scrappy incubator, but a venerable titan of industry. YC isn't like going to "summer camp" any more, but more akin to getting an MBA.<p>For example, this quote by Jessica: "A good way to ensure that you make something people want is to make something you yourself want." -- is at odds with the ethos of one of my favorite pg essays (all the way from 2005[1]) in which I feel he really gets to the <i>core</i> of "building what people want:"<p>> If you want to learn what people want, read Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People. When a friend recommended this book, I couldn't believe he was serious. But he insisted it was good, so I read it, and he was right. It deals with the most difficult problem in human experience: how to see things from other people's point of view, instead of thinking only of yourself. [...] Most smart people don't do that very well. But adding this ability to raw brainpower is like adding tin to copper. The result is bronze, which is so much harder that it seems a different metal.<p>I think building things that <i>you</i> want is a bit of a red herring. Every time I'm working on a project that solely solves <i>my</i> problems, the solution tends to be solipsistic and myopic. In any case, jl's essay is a great read, and I really do miss when HN had mostly startup content on the front page :)<p>[1] <a href="http://www.paulgraham.com/bronze.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.paulgraham.com/bronze.html</a>
Seems like a refined version of her earlier (<a href="https://www.ycombinator.com/library/5l-how-not-to-fail" rel="nofollow">https://www.ycombinator.com/library/5l-how-not-to-fail</a>), which I think is one of the best checklists of startup advice out there.
Jessica (the author of this article) is too nice to give this article the clickbaity title it deserves: "The 3 things it takes to be a successful startup founder".
The most effective advice is simple and to the point. Enjoyed reading this — indeed what matters is founders that get along, are skilled, and talk to their users.<p>From my own experience I would underscore Jessica’s point on an organic, strong relationship.<p>When your cofounder is a life-long friend, the effects are significant: you can emulate their thinking, you two have been through a lot in different scenarios, and make decisions that focus on the long term
I really appreciated this piece, Jessica. Primarily because of its focus. I've heard many of the points in it before, but the fact you narrowed it down to these three and then included practical and specific commentary (based on your deep experience with startups) on each was very helpful.<p>Thank you.
Jessica's advice is a bit different compared to other advice from other successful founders. I remember someone said, a startup needs a builder and a seller. But here, Jessica add one more person which is someone who has determination. Interesting!