_Note: Inspired by Stanley Tang - https://www.stanleytang.com/blog/the-rise-and-fall-of-buzzblaze/ and Andrew Liu - https://azliu.cc/logs/rise-and-fall-of-honeycomb
I applied and came to MIT with one goal - to build a startup. My first week there, I did a freshman program called DEAL (Discover Entrepenurship and Leadership) where they brought in a bunch of student founders who had achieved "success" (they were in YC)
They even got Michael Siebel! I'll never forget what he said: "MIT people always think they're the smartest in the room ... Startups are this weird game where you get punced in the face repeatedly and learn to enjoy it."
These statements didn't mean much to me then, but it was interesting and I started to believe I was finally at the place where I could build a generational company.
#Meeting my Co-Founder
Around the same time as DEAL, I was going to a bunch of first week events and meeting a bunch of new people. One of these events was MIT Entrepreneurship Club (MEC), where I would meet my co-founder. I still remember his introduction - "Hi my name is Ayush, and in high school I did research on bleeding edge 3 bit quantum dot transistors to generate and design new molecules and drugs."
What? I didn't understand any of that, but it sounded interesting and hard. I had to learn more.
A couple of lunches later: we had aligned on some core vales:
We were builders. We were at MIT to build a company. We thought AI Agents had insane potential.
#Hacking Away
We started exploring like any MIT student would - building at hackathons. HackMIT, HackHarvard, TreeHacks, we made sure that either Ayush or I was going. And from these hackathons, we got dirt on our hands and started to understand what interesting products could look like. These experiences ended up being the demos that got us accepted into the batch, fulfilling our wildest dreams. Now the startup was real, and it was go time.
#The Batch
The batch was the greatest
#Thinking about the future
The future is always an unknown: will I be labelled a successful founder, or just another resume maxxer in the crowd? I've made my pick - we'll see when the rest of the world makes theirs.
#Co Founder
Regardless of what you believe right now, this will be the reason your startup succeeds or fails. Make sure you are 101% content with your team - there should be no red flags or mistakes burried in the past.
One particular example that burns in hindsight - cramming for the YC interview in a day because one of us was too busy partying at Yale. When there is a consistent demonstration of other priorities than the company, you must break it off right then and save your time.
I had considered calling it off, but thought the opportunity cost was too great - don't be fooled by status games and PR.
#The Reality of Startups
Startups are ugly. Think about the anxiety you get before a test - the adrenaline and fear of the unknown. Now imagine that 24/7. Startups are a game of consistently vearing into the unknown, unsure whether anything you're doing is correct or not.
The team needs to be fully aligned and bought into this stark reality. Building is hard, not prestigious, and often seems futile. Startups are not logical, there is no set outcome. "I'm going to allociate a gap semester for the startup, if we're not at 100K by December then I'm quitting because OpenAI is waiting".
Moments like these made me realize my team wasn't going to work out.
Qualities of Good Teams During the Batch:
Genuine Friends outside of their interest in startups. Known each other for multiple years. Truly admire and are grateful to be working with the team.
#The Future
#Action Seems Logical, but Patience Pays in the Long Term
Post is from YC's Launch YC forum. Represents idea #5 during the batch._