AE will soon roll out a software that catches anyone who does not declare taxes.
Y Combinator’s observations on talking to users:
Talk about them, not your product.
Talk specifics, not hypotheticals.
Listen, don’t talk. Ask about problem, and current solutions.
Identify best first customers and ask a lot of questions.
Numerical questions:
How much does this problem cost them?
How frequent is the problem?
How much is their budget?
Ask for phone number in the signup. So you can contact them directly and ask about their experience.
Discard bad data (compliments, fluff, hypotheticals).
Don’t design by committee.
Y Combinator’s observations on leadership:
Leaders are different. Be yourself. Be authentic.
Great leaders share 3 attributes:
Think and communicate clearly and simply. It takes preparation to communicate in a concise and memorable way (establish pillars).
Good judgement about people. Make good choices on who you should empower. Meet a lot of people to have a context about who’s good and who’s bad. Self-reflective about the development of people in the organization.
Strong personal integrity and commitment. If all the stuff you did would be visible to everyone in the company would you feel embarrassed?
Earning trust. Trust in employees, investors, users, etc. Make right choices and right things most of the time. Show empathy, good judgement, good timing, strive for something bigger than yourself. View every challenge as a trust-building opportunity.