How To Perfectly Pitch Your Seed Stage Startup With Y Combinator's Michael Seibel

Discover the best ways for a seed-stage startup to pitch to investors and successfully fundraise from Y Combinator’s Michael Seibel.

Any founder you talk to likely remembers every investor who said no to them.

Those founders hold a special kind of “not hatred,” says Michael Seibel, Managing Director and Group Partner at Y Combinator, but a special kind of something for those investors and a desire to prove them wrong.

If you’re a seed-stage startup, Michael shares the best ways for you to present your company to startup investors.

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[keithrandrade]

Been in SaaS sales for reputable pre and post IPO companies and can attest, this is spot on.

[Play-Date-Care]

Watching this right before I'm about to "design" my pitch deck, lol, saved me lots of time and avoided lots of unnecessary work

[owenmcallister]

Thank you Michael - I just won the London Business School Booster Pitch Nights and your advice was instrumental.

[wb]

This video came right after a fund asked me to submit a pitch for funding my company. The time couldn't be any more perfect.
Thank you.

[Leoninhk]

you can tell when advise is from someone who's been there, and this is it. great stuff

[muhammadufarouk]

Progress is progress, regardless if it is slow or consistent. Either ways one still goes up, credits to Lunvo

[rafaelvesga]

Timestamp Topic Description
00:00:03 Introduction - Why pitching is important but painful for founders
00:01:22 Key Principle: Standing out through conciseness and clarity
00:02:39 Common elements of a pitch (overview)
00:03:08 What Do You Do - How to explain your company in two sentences
00:04:36 Using specific examples (Airbnb case study)
00:05:05 Common mistakes in explaining what you do
00:07:55 Team slide - Purpose and key components
00:08:43 Common team slide mistakes
00:10:07 Traction - How to present accomplishments
00:11:15 Mistakes in presenting traction
00:12:31 Unique Insights - Sharing non-obvious learnings
00:13:13 Example of unique insights (Airbnb case study)
00:14:45 Common mistakes in presenting unique insights
00:15:01 Market Size - Focus on calculation method
00:16:42 The Ask - How to properly ask for investment
00:17:19 Three investor mindsets during pitches
00:19:57 Common errors in the ask section
00:20:10 Overall presentation strategy
00:21:31 Making your pitch conversational
00:23:56 Importance of reading investor reactions
00:24:44 Why to avoid distracting slide designs
00:25:56 Live example: YC pitch demonstration

[rugbyfrlife]

I just wrote a "life story" as part of my pitch deck, figured it seemed a bit long, then found this video.

Deleting it now and starting again!

[Tothefutureand]

22:52 when you see pick of interest in part of your pitch go with it, stick to it and get them talking.
Most important part of your this video.

[John-xvnt]

Just founded my Agritech Startup, this is a superb resource for me right now! Thank you, Sir.

[radical]

Awesome presentation! Pure gold starting at 7:09 - that's so true!

[Dt-qvwb]

Working on my own invention for the first time. Resources and help and finding people to help with the right path is tough. Your precise communication and very descriptive situations will help me and my company greatly. Just doing the pitch deck portion currently. Appreciate your video.

[Bumblewin]

I just created a social media app for my country. I’m about to pitch to potential investors, this video helped me with my pitch deck.

[chidigodwinchinewubeze]

Too profound!

I especially love how he just throws in expletives. Makes it all the more authentic and uncensored; like you're getting raw, unfiltered gold straight from the mine. I love it!

[dkia]

Michael you're such a G! Love watching you speak

[organizer]

Great points, thanks for valuable coaching!

[rembautimes]

Great talk and insights. KISS principles reinforced.

[Empoworth]

Thank you so much…I’ve already blown up my pitch 😢

[Wizdomlife]

again and again what you say on these videos of YC proves to be insightful and present simple truths - you guys are awesome for anyone who wishes to start a company (if a start-up in the wide sense of a "start-up" for people who make companies with high growth potential and required speed of execution to make sure the company gets anywhere.
wish I could apply and participate in YC but as a single father I can't afford to leave my kids for 3 months. hopefully the future will bring more of the online batches as they happened during Covid, so that founders who are restricted from a 3 month away program such as myself would be able to participate from a distance.

[onaopemipodara]

Fantastic. I could relate to a lot of this as a venture builder.