Vendor
	Mohrbooks Literary Agency Sebastian Ritscher
Original language
English
Categories
Politics & government

THE LAUNCH PAD

Randal Stross

Inside Y combinator, Silicon Valley’s Most exclusive School for Startups

This is the first book to tell the story of Y Combinator and how it chooses and prepares the entrepreneurs---some of whom have not yet graduated from college. The book tells the story of one batch of companies, the class of Summer 2011, beginning with their interviews as finalists in May and following them through the summer as they prepare their products and then unveil them at Demo Day. The book also provides a compelling portrait of Paul Graham, Y Combinator’s founder and a guru for aspiring founders all over the world.

Twice a year, at the geographical center of Silicon Valley, a small investment firmed named Y Combinator selects an elite group of young entrepreneurs, drawn from around the world, for three months of intense work and instruction. The challenge given to each of these newly born two- or three-person software companies is to turn an idea into a viable business—quickly.

The Y Combinator experience culminates in Demo Day, when Silicon Valley investors fill YC’s hall to look over the companies. No place in the world offers more helpful connections for a young company. It is here that very smart entrepreneurs, YC partners, YC alumni, and first-hires are densely packed, sweating, consulting, problem-solving, pushing one another to go faster, staking out a piece of the future before anyone else gets to that place first. All know that every venture capitalist in the Valley and tech capitals in the world is waiting for the chance to invest in the companies that will emerge from YC.

Randall Stross writes the New York Times Digital Domain column and is a professor of business at San Jose State University. He is the author of several critically acclaimed books, including eBoys, Planet Google, and The Wizard of Menlo Park. He holds an undergraduate degree from MacalesterCollege, in St. Paul, Minnesota, and a master’s and Ph.D. in history from Stanford University.

Available products
Book Published 2012-09-01 by Portfolio
Book Published 2012-09-01 by Portfolio

Comments

Stross, a PhD historian from Stanford who writes the weekly Digital Domain column for the New York Times’ Sunday business section and teaches business at San Jose State University, decided back in March 2011 that he wanted to understand how this process works. Luckily for him (and for readers), Y Combinator gave him unprecedented access to the program, letting him observe the Summer 2011 batch all the way from the application process in April to Demo Day in August. Read more...

For many would-be tech startups, Y Combinator is the promised land — an elite pressure cooker where hackers can hone their ideas for 10 weeks surrounded by their own kind. Randall Stross takes a look inside the program, adapting part of his upcoming book The Launch Pad for Vanity Fair. The story takes us from the initial interviews to "Demo Day," showing us what’s going through the heads of young entrpreneurs struggling to come up with the world’s next hit service. Read more...

Ballinger’s story—featured in The Launch Pad, Randall Stross’s fly-on-the-wall account of how 64 start-ups hacked their way through the Y Combinator residency—perfectly encapsulates the emerging wisdom about how to launch a successful business. Read more...

Twice a year, close to 200 teams of aspiring tech entrepreneurs, most in their 20s, converge on Mountain View, in Silicon Valley, vying for a spot at Y Combinator, the seven-year-old seed-funding firm–cum–accelerator co-founded by venture investor Paul Graham. Their dream: becoming the next Y.C.-backed sensation, like Dropbox, Airbnb, or OMGPOP. In an adaptation from his new book, Randall Stross follows one of the summer 2011 start-ups from tryout to “Demo Day,” to see what it takes. Read more...

Y Combinator is a national treasure, a Silicon Valley seed fund that is mass-producing new startups. Randall Stross's behind-the-scenes look at YC offers a rare glimpse into what it really takes to conceive an idea and get it to market as quickly as possible. The Launch Pad is a must-read for anyone interested in the realities of modern entrepreneurship.

The Launch Pad is an intimate look at the white-hot center of the new Silicon Valleystartup ecosystem. Stross's account of the best new entrepreneurs and the exciting companies they're building at startup schools is a great read for founders and would-be founders alike.

Complex Chinese: Briefing Press Korean: Jinsung Books Japanese: Nikkei Business Publications

What numbers and a new book tell us about the Y Combinator way. The book does provide an interesting glimpse into the mentorship style of the YC partners, and shows just how many companies and founders have actually successfully come through YC’s doors. Read more...