A 16-Year-Old Takes on the Banks
Livingston: Patrick was working on some other idea first. We had high regard for him — he had a Wikipedia app, we knew he was a talented programmer. Then he introduced us to his 16-year-old brother.
When they said they were going to take on the financial industry, we were kind of like — do you realize how hard this is? You don't have connections. They were like — we don't have connections, we'll find connections. You think the head of a bank is going to take a 19-year-old seriously? It seems implausible. But they were good enough to convince these banks to work with them.
We don't have connections? We'll find connections. They convinced the banks to work with them.
Determination Is the Most Important Trait
Livingston: If I had to say the most important traits of the most successful founders — I've mentioned determination. That is by far the most important quality. More than intelligence. More than previous success in school.
When we started YC, our hypothesis was — we'll fund all the best hackers from MIT and Harvard and they'll be great founders. That is not true. That is absolutely not true.
Determination is by far the most important. Our hypothesis that great hackers make great founders was wrong.
The Full Stack
Livingston: Understanding your users and building with a great user experience is second most important. Being flexible-minded — you have to be able to say, I thought I was going to do this, but let's try this direction.
And then you have to be a good leader. You're going to be convincing employees to join, investors to invest, companies to do deals. Your whole world is convincing people why they should care about you more than any of the other hundreds of startups out there.
Your whole world is convincing people why they should care about you more than hundreds of other startups.