Michael Seibel

“Good founders can give me a picture of the future that I can believe. And the second that I believe your version of the future, you have leverage.”

“The first thing I learned is that campaigns are about money. I had this romantic idea that campaigns were about law and debates and so forth, which is just not true. It's about money.”

“For me, iPad 2 and tablets in general are really exciting from a front-facing camera perspective, making those short video clips where you're talking about where you are or what you're interested in, and your face fills up the entire screen.”

“Convince the investor that you guys are moving fast and that this isn't some long slog... you're thinking about it like a startup where you can move fast and make mistakes.”

“At its core, what's amazing about YC is you don't have to work to get in. You don't have to know anyone, so there isn't some type of old boys' club.”

“Increase your company's average talent with each hire - founders tend to be pretty smart but willing to take on risk. Employees should be a lot smarter and less risk averse.”

“Everyone appreciates good food.”

“Founders always say, 'I'm going to 'make my thing go viral' - that doesn't mean just adding a share button.”

“I tell founders all the time, 99.9 percent chance of failure.”

“It turns out that one of the biggest drivers of investors are both successful and non-successful startup founders.”

“I wanted a simple one-bedroom apartment that would impress people when they walked in but that was otherwise extremely comfortable and useful.”

“I've seen every idea. Ideas are irrelevant. You are judged on execution, and the number 1 way to prove that you can execute is by executing.”

“One of the most fun and interesting things about YC is that we are kind of a startup ourselves. We are constantly changing and evolving what we do.”

“What I Iove about Y Combinator is that it is a level playing field. If you get in, you immediately become a Silicon Valley insider.”

“I don't understand how you can have product-market fit and not a lot of people wanting your product. The two go hand-in-hand.”

“If you're a documenter, you're taking a video of something in the real world you want to capture. If you're a director, you're trying to create something in the real world.”

“Academically, I think things kicked off pretty late for me. I was kind of one of those kids who was in half honors, half regular. I was like a history/science kid, which was always weird. Around tenth grade or eleventh grade, everything started coming together.”

“Never put the investor in the ultimate position of power.”

“When someone posts a Socialcam video, all of their followers get an instant notification.”

“When I think about unique insight, what I think about is here's your opportunity to tell me something that I don't know.”