Y Combinator Startup Podcast
00:23:50 · Aaron Epstein, Farza Majeed
[00:23:50] S0: There's almost something, like, self deprecating about it. You know, yours is like, ah, I had this thing that I thought was terrible. And they're, ah, this is the stuff we should have launched six months ago. And this guy's like, ah, broke up with my ex girlfriend. [00:24:04] S1: Everyone wants a story. And so how can a demo just be a mini story or what you're saying be a mini story? [00:24:09] S0: Yeah. And you... I've heard you talk about this where it... It's not actually you in the video. It's the character, Farza. And and it's almost like all these people, they're a character that the audience can identify with and ultimately root for potentially. [00:24:22] S1: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think that, like, when a founder talks to the camera, like, you come off as a certain type of way. And so totally, sometimes I'm like, yeah, I am not playing a character, but I'm a character to the people. When someone watches me on their little TikTok feed or their Twitter feed, I'm just a random character in their eyes. I'm not a real... I'm a person, but I'm kind of a character. I'll show you guys this too, which is just something we've been doing that our users have been loving. It's not going viral, but our users have been loving it. And there's just these little... Actually, some of them have been going viral, which is pretty cool. This is everything we built this week.
00:24:22 · Farza Majeed, S3, Aaron Epstein
[00:24:22] S1: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think that, like, when a founder talks to the camera, like, you come off as a certain type of way. And so totally, sometimes I'm like, yeah, I am not playing a character, but I'm a character to the people. When someone watches me on their little TikTok feed or their Twitter feed, I'm just a random character in their eyes. I'm not a real... I'm a person, but I'm kind of a character. I'll show you guys this too, which is just something we've been doing that our users have been loving. It's not going viral, but our users have been loving it. And there's just these little... Actually, some of them have been going viral, which is pretty cool. This is everything we built this week. [00:24:56] S3: So Clicky had been... Had some problems about, like, the integration and orchestration of the agents. Now Clicky has a new brain, and it will feel way more smooth to spoil the agents, to control them, to pause them, and you're gonna see a lot of improvements overall. Lot of people complaining about, like, Clicky is keep following them, so I made a fix for them. [00:25:15] S1: So there's no there's no hook. Mhmm. There's no attention. There's no story. It's we're a group of people, and we wanna tell you what we're doing. This almost has a million views on Instagram. Why do you [00:25:25] S0: think these are so popular?
00:25:25 · Aaron Epstein, Farza Majeed
[00:25:25] S0: think these are so popular? [00:25:27] S1: I think that... This is the most important thing I think about, like, companies making content. What we are doing on a day to day basis at our companies is so far fetched from what most people think is actually happening at a company. Mhmm. And to just give them an inside look of what's actually going on in your process is so cool, and it gets them excited. It gets them interested in what you're doing. What I'm so against and so anti is talking about my life as a founder on the Internet. Mhmm. You'll never catch me making those videos about this is this is my day as a YC founder. Never. Like, I'm not trying to, like, tell you about my life and tell you about, like, my my my... That stuff. I'm trying to show you, like, what I'm doing and why in new ways. And I think that most companies just never show their process. For most companies, big companies, Apple, Meta, you just see Mark Zuckerberg on the stage, and he's showing you his Meta Glasses. But a lot of people, especially early adopters of of products that, you know, that I'm sure many YC founders are working on, are interested in just like, who are this random group of four guys and girls that are making this AI product, and how are they doing it? And just telling... We make these videos in ten minutes. And it's just, hey. Just get up. What are you doing today? And, yeah, it's interesting. It's funny when we started making these, we just made them just to stay accountable because it was was good to kinda tell the people what... It's kinda like stand
00:25:27 · Farza Majeed, Aaron Epstein
[00:25:27] S1: I think that... This is the most important thing I think about, like, companies making content. What we are doing on a day to day basis at our companies is so far fetched from what most people think is actually happening at a company. Mhmm. And to just give them an inside look of what's actually going on in your process is so cool, and it gets them excited. It gets them interested in what you're doing. What I'm so against and so anti is talking about my life as a founder on the Internet. Mhmm. You'll never catch me making those videos about this is this is my day as a YC founder. Never. Like, I'm not trying to, like, tell you about my life and tell you about, like, my my my... That stuff. I'm trying to show you, like, what I'm doing and why in new ways. And I think that most companies just never show their process. For most companies, big companies, Apple, Meta, you just see Mark Zuckerberg on the stage, and he's showing you his Meta Glasses. But a lot of people, especially early adopters of of products that, you know, that I'm sure many YC founders are working on, are interested in just like, who are this random group of four guys and girls that are making this AI product, and how are they doing it? And just telling... We make these videos in ten minutes. And it's just, hey. Just get up. What are you doing today? And, yeah, it's interesting. It's funny when we started making these, we just made them just to stay accountable because it was was good to kinda tell the people what... It's kinda like stand [00:26:50] S0: up Right.
00:26:50 · Aaron Epstein, Farza Majeed
[00:26:50] S0: up Right. [00:26:50] S1: But in front of the world. Yeah. And so that was kinda the idea. And now we now we do these every two weeks, and it's been really fun. [00:26:56] S0: Yeah. That's really cool. I I think another thing that comes across here is not even just the words that you're saying, but, like, the joy that is in the videos. And I think people see that in your personality, and I think they see that in the music that you choose. And everybody's kinda, like, clapping and supporting each other as they're giving their update, and it's just, like, positive vibes are coming through the video. And how do you capture that? [00:27:20] S1: See, this is so weird because this is where you just have to be yourself. I keep saying that. Mhmm. People always say, how do I start making videos about my company or videos about what I'm working on or have some presence? It's always the same feedback. Make... Take out your iPhone, click record, go go go selfie mode, and talk about what you're doing for thirty seconds and post that to your Instagram. Post that to your TikTok, and then post it to Reddit and Instagram... Or Reddit and YouTube or wherever. And you know how many people take me up on that? Almost, like, maybe 1%, 2% of the time, people will actually do it. Why, though? If I told you right now... I mean, maybe you're different. I don't I don't... You're probably different. You're you're Aaron Epstein. But if you... If I tell you to pull out your phone and record a video, how does that make you feel? And then post it to your personal Instagram.
00:27:20 · Farza Majeed, Aaron Epstein
[00:27:20] S1: See, this is so weird because this is where you just have to be yourself. I keep saying that. Mhmm. People always say, how do I start making videos about my company or videos about what I'm working on or have some presence? It's always the same feedback. Make... Take out your iPhone, click record, go go go selfie mode, and talk about what you're doing for thirty seconds and post that to your Instagram. Post that to your TikTok, and then post it to Reddit and Instagram... Or Reddit and YouTube or wherever. And you know how many people take me up on that? Almost, like, maybe 1%, 2% of the time, people will actually do it. Why, though? If I told you right now... I mean, maybe you're different. I don't I don't... You're probably different. You're you're Aaron Epstein. But if you... If I tell you to pull out your phone and record a video, how does that make you feel? And then post it to your personal Instagram. [00:28:01] S0: Oh, yeah. You're getting nervous about it. Like, what am I gonna say? Yeah. How am I gonna look? What if people think it's stupid? Yeah. And all these thoughts, I think, go through people's heads, and they're afraid