Billionaires Build

December 2020 As I was deciding what to write about next, I was surprised to find that two separate essays I'd been planning to write were actually the same.

2020 年 12 月 当我决定接下来要写什么时，我惊讶地发现我本来计划写的两篇单独的文章实际上是相同的。

The first is about how to ace your Y Combinator interview.

第一个是关于如何在 Y Combinator 面试中取得好成绩。

There has been so much nonsense written about this topic that I've been meaning for years to write something telling founders the truth.

关于这个话题已经有太多废话了，多年来我一直想写一些东西来告诉创始人真相。

The second is about something politicians sometimes say — that the

第二个是关于政治家有时会说的话：

only way to become a billionaire is by exploiting people — and why this is mistaken.

成为亿万富翁的唯一方法是剥削人民，以及为什么这是错误的。

Keep reading, and you'll learn both simultaneously.

继续阅读，您将同时学习两者。

I know the politicians are mistaken because it was my job to predict which people will become billionaires.

我知道政客们错了，因为我的工作是预测哪些人将成为亿万富翁。

I think I can truthfully say that I know as much about how to do this as anyone.

我想我可以诚实地说，我和其他人一样知道如何做到这一点。

If the key to becoming a billionaire — the defining feature of billionaires —

如果成为亿万富翁的关键是亿万富翁的定义特征

was to exploit people, then I, as a professional billionaire scout, would surely realize this and look for people who would be good at it, just as an NFL scout looks for speed in wide receivers.

是剥削人，那么我作为一名职业亿万富翁球探，肯定会意识到这一点并寻找擅长这一点的人，就像 NFL 球探寻找外接手的速度一样。

But aptitude for exploiting people is not what Y Combinator looks for at all.

但剥削他人的能力根本不是 Y Combinator 所寻找的。

In fact, it's the opposite of what they look for.

事实上，这与他们所寻求的相反。

I'll tell you what they do look for, by explaining how to convince Y Combinator to fund you, and you can see for yourself.

我将通过解释如何说服 Y Combinator 为您提供资金来告诉您他们在寻找什么，您可以亲自看看。

What YC looks for, above all, is founders who understand some group of users and can make what they want.

首先，YC 寻找的是了解某些用户群体并能够制作他们想要的产品的创始人。

This is so important that it's YC's motto: "Make something people want." A big company can to some extent force unsuitable products on unwilling customers, but a startup doesn't have the power to do that.

这一点非常重要，以至于 YC 的座右铭是：“创造人们想要的东西。”大公司可以在某种程度上将不合适的产品强加给不愿意的客户，但初创公司没有能力这样做。

A startup must sing for its supper, by making things that genuinely delight its customers.

一家初创公司必须通过制作真正令客户满意的产品来为自己的晚餐歌唱。

Otherwise it will never get off

不然永远下不了车

the ground.

地面。

Here's where things get difficult, both for you as a founder and for the YC partners trying to decide whether to fund you.

对于作为创始人的你和试图决定是否资助你的 YC 合作伙伴来说，事情都会变得困难。

In a market economy, it's hard to make something people want that they don't already have.

在市场经济中，很难制造出人们想要但尚未拥有的东西。

That's the great thing about market economies.

这就是市场经济的伟大之处。

If other people both knew about this need and were able to satisfy it, they already would be, and there would be no room for your

如果其他人都知道这种需求并且能够满足它，他们已经会了，那么你就没有空间了

startup.

启动。

Which means the conversation during your YC interview will have to be about something new: either a new need, or a new way to satisfy one.

这意味着 YC 面试期间的对话必须是新的：要么是新的需求，要么是满足需求的新方式。

And not just new, but uncertain.

不仅是新的，而且是不确定的。

If it were certain that the need existed and that you could satisfy it, that certainty would be reflected in large and rapidly growing revenues, and you wouldn't be seeking seed funding.

如果确定存在需求并且您可以满足它，那么这种确定性将反映在大量且快速增长的收入中，您就不会寻求种子资金。

So the YC partners have to guess both whether you've discovered a

因此，YC 合作伙伴必须猜测您是否发现了

real need, and whether you'll be able to satisfy it.

真正的需要，以及你是否能够满足它。

That's what they are, at least in this part of their job: professional guessers.

这就是他们的本质，至少在这部分工作中是这样：专业猜测者。

They have 1001 heuristics for doing this, and I'm not going to tell you all of them, but I'm happy to tell you the most important ones, because these can't be faked; the only way to "hack" them would be to do what you should be doing anyway as a founder.

他们有 1001 个启发式方法来做到这一点，我不会告诉你所有的，但我很高兴告诉你最重要的，因为这些是无法伪造的； “破解”它们的唯一方法就是做你作为创始人应该做的事情。

The first thing the partners will try to figure out, usually, is

通常，合作伙伴会尝试弄清楚的第一件事是

whether what you're making will ever be something a lot of people want.

你所做的东西是否会成为很多人想要的东西。

It doesn't have to be something a lot of people want now.

它不一定是现在很多人想要的东西。

The product and the market will both evolve, and will influence each other's evolution.

产品和市场都会发展，并且会相互影响。

But in the end there has to be something with a huge market.

但最终一定要有一个有巨大市场的东西。

That's what the partners will be trying to figure out: is there a path to a huge market?

这就是合作伙伴想要弄清楚的问题：是否有一条通往巨大市场的道路？

[ 1

[ 1