This Legacy speaker was a key mentor to the co-founders of Airbnb
Michael Seibel is currently a Partner and Managing Director of Y Combinator. He was also a key mentor for Airbnb and yes… he is speaking at Legacy this year!
He was CEO of Justin.tv (which later became Twitch). Also, he recently joined the Reddit Board and became their first African American board member.
NEVER HEARD OF Y COMBINATOR?
Okay let's break it down for you. Y combinator- or YC- is one of the top startup accelerators in the world. YC is dedicated to funding, mentoring and training entrepreneurs. They are designed to help new startups succeed and grow.
Since 2005, they have funded over 3000 startups, have a community of 6000 founders and their companies have a combined valuation of over $300 Billion.
Some of the startups they’ve funded include Airbnb, Dropbox, Instacart. Here are some others:
I’m sure you've recognized some of those super successful startups, but there's one in particular that our Legacy speaker had a significant influence on..
MICHAEL SEIBEL & AIRBNB
On December 9th 2020, Airbnb went public at an IPO of $68 per share but then ended the day up more than 112%. It is one of the companies to go public that YC has funded.
This online vacation rental company has undoubtedly made a huge impact on today’s gig economy. You probably already know that. But did you know that they credit a lot of their success to Michael Seibel and Y Combinator?
Back in November of 2008, Michael had dinner with now Airbnb Co-founders: Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia. He had been an advisor to the entrepreneurs for a long time.
The co-founders were in New York and wanted to host an “Air Bed and Breakfast”. They ended up being successful with around 80 customers for one weekend when a Democratic Convention was being hosted. But this was short lived, and had no business once the convention ended. To raise money to fund their startup, they sold cereal as part of the “breakfast” portion - Obama O’s and Cap'n' McCains. It was a rough time for them, they were basically living off what they made selling cereal.
That’s when Michael Seibel stepped in. He told them to apply to Y Combinator. At first, they pushed back - “Air Bed and Breakfast” had clients, they didn’t think they needed the help. But the truth was they were dying.
The deadline for applications had closed but Michael was persistent. The Airbnb co-founders were connected with Paul Graham (See below). They had until midnight that night to submit an application. Airbnb was (obviously) accepted and received $20,000 in seed funding. 12 years later, Airbnb now has a valuation of $75 Billion.
Airbnb revolutionized the industry and completely changed the playing field - but without Michael Seibel, this might have not happened.
[Paul Graham tweeted this screenshot the day after Airbnb’s IPO ]
Michael Seibel saw the potential in Airbnb when others didn’t. He saw and believed in their vision - this what he has done for a lot of other startups too.
Michael says a lot of being successful as a startup is about staying motivated. He believes starting a business is like being ready to be punched in the face every day. You have to stay motivated if you want to do this, you have to be passionate about what you’re working on. That, and having a strong relationship with your co founder will help turn your startup into a successful company and will help you get through being punched in the face everyday.
“First I want to talk about how startups fail. A lot of people think startups fail because they have a bad idea, and they think they even know what a bad idea is. In my experience in YC, bad ideas are not the thing that kill startups. One thing that often kills startups is that founders lose faith. That’s something that’s really important. Sometimes startups start working quickly, but more often than not they don’t. Somewhere between a year and 18 months in, if a founder doesn’t see something exploding, they start losing faith in their idea.”
Michael also loves mentoring - the whole point of YC is to launch startups through funding and advice. In an interview once, he said “I want people to feel as though anyone can reach out to any YC partner. That’s why I have this job.” He still keeps in contact with the founder(s) of these startups he’s helped. He also has essays and videos that include tips and tricks for young entrepreneurs like us, which are available to the public. You should check them out! (Links are below)
Michael tries to stretch his advice out to people who want to be an entrepreneur as much as he can - and we’re so grateful! Now if you want to learn more about Michael Seibel and hear what he has to say, come join us at Legacy on March 26th - you definitely don’t want to miss out!
SOME COOL STUFF TO CHECK OUT:
Podcast: Lessons from thousands of startups