The Launch Pad: Inside Y Combinator, Silicon Valley's Most Exclusive School for Startups
Written by Randall Stross
Narrated by René Ruiz
4.5/5
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Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
Twice a year in the heart of Silicon Valley, a small investment firm called Y Combinator selects an elite group of young entrepreneurs from around the world for three months of intense work and instruction. Their brand-new two- or three-person start-ups are given a seemingly impossible challenge: to turn a raw idea into a viable business, fast.
Each YC session culminates in a demo day, when investors and venture capitalists flock to hear pitches from the new graduates. Any one of them might turn out to be the next Dropbox (class of 2007, now valued at $5 billion) or Airbnb (2009, $1.3 billion).
Randall Stross is the first journalist to have fly-on-the-wall access to Y Combinator. He tells the full story of how Paul Graham started this ultra exclusive institution, how it chooses among hundreds of aspiring Mark Zuckerbergs, and how it teaches them to go from concept to profitability in record time.
Randall Stross
Randall Stross writes the New York Times column Digital Domain and is professor of business at San Jose State University. He is the author of several critically acclaimed books, including The Wizard of Menlo Park, eBoys, and The Microsoft Way. He lives in Burlingame, California.
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Reviews for The Launch Pad
54 ratings7 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5An impressive look inside Y combinator, this show why Silicon Valley is so special, and this might as well trigger the idea of starting a business!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Highly recommend this book for entrepreneurs. Fantastic read! I learnt a lot
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5What I loved most about this book is the way it immerses one into the whole start-up mindset. You feel the conviction to quit making excuses and start work on that thing you really believe in, because if you believe enough, you'll pull in the right people to help you pull it off. Certainly worth the read.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Inspiration and another fact that faith favors the bold. Thanks
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5amazing insights and POV book about the greatest place to start an Startup
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Must read for anyone looking to apply for any accelerator programs. Provides an in depth review of YCs process with detailed examples.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Awesome and inspiring