#251 Max: How Y Combinator Evaluates Billion-Dollar Startup Ideas (Part 1)

Is your idea the next Stripe or a "Tar Pit"? 🦄 We're breaking down the exact framework Y Combinator uses to evaluate thousands of startups, based on data from the top 100 companies.

We’ll talk about:

• The 4 Cognitive Traps that kill startups before launch: SISP (Solution in Search of a Problem), The Tar Pit, The Goldilocks Paradox, and Founder-Market Fit.
• The 10-Question Framework: The specific checklist YC partners use to determine if an idea has billion-dollar potential.
• Schlep Blindness: Why the hardest, most boring problems (like payroll or payments) are often the biggest opportunities.
• The Dropbox Paradox: Why having competitors is actually a good sign, and why "unique" ideas are often danger ...