What are some strategies of getting started with Entrepreneurship And Tech Startups?

My advice on YC: if you're a first-time founder and you get into YC, you'd be stupid not to take it. It's 100% worth it.

YC is more dilutive than other funding options, but most VC-backed startups are binary outcomes. You should definitely take the dilution hit to meaningfully increase your chance of success.

I think OnDeck is pretty good, but it's all about the people. Check to see other people who went through ODF and see if they're interesting for you.

You should also join my next office hours on this topic: Starting A Startup - Idea Feedback And Sharing

Could you provide some insights into what are strategies of finding co-founders?

Common startup wisdom is to start a company with someone who you know well. Starting a company is pretty tough, so you’ll need to rely on close bonds to get through those hard times. Cofounder breakups are a major cause of startups failing. Look into your network and see who you know well. Prioritize people who know how to code, but don’t be too worried about their coding skills as they’ll figure it out. The most important thing to look for in a cofounder is mainly enthusiasm and how well you know them. My cofounders were college classmates who I took classes with and worked on many school projects with.

Moreover, what are your thoughts on working on side projects or trial work with potential co-founders before fully committing to a startup? How effective is this approach for building strong, collaborative teams and testing ideas?

It can definitely work if you don’t have other options. I haven’t had any experience with this method so others can chime in. From first principles it seems like it’ll give you a sense of how you work with this person in a controlled environment. Only issue is it doesn’t test how you guys deal with setbacks, but a trial run is better than nothing.

I also got accepted to On-Deck Program for their next cohort for 1 intensive week and thinking about applying to YC in the future with future co-founders. How beneficial are these resources for someone in the early stages of startup planning?

They definitely help in terms of networking and recruitment. many of my friends who work in VC say these accelerators (like YC) pay below market rate but they give a lot of brand name. I even have one who advised me that YC’s the only accelerator really worth taking since the brand is so powerful. So make sure you keep in mind when you join On-Deck. Another thing to be careful is to go through at most one accelerator. Going through more than one accelerator will not only dilute yourself, but is also a signal to investors that you’re inexperienced and have low confidence on your product.

The best way to find a cofounder is through work. This makes sense as you are trying to create a professional environment with a startup, and you obviously have signal on your coworkers on how well they collaborate with you in a professional environment. Rahul and I were pretty confident we could work well together on a startup, because we had great synergy working together at Meta.

Another thing Rahul and I did to derisk the cofounder relationship is to work on side projects together beforehand. Before Taro was Taro, it was a free community called Tech Career Growth. I cover the story in-depth here: "How did you decide to quit your job and make a startup?" - 9/13/2022

So if you don't have current or past coworkers who could be a cofounder, then I recommend going through your friend network. You just want some amount of trust beforehand. If that fails too, then you need to do cofounder "dating", which OnDeck can help with (I heard good feedback about their program that does that, ODF [OnDeck Fellowship]).

When it comes to incubators, YC is truly world-class (and is easily The Golden Standard), at least 2x better than any other competition (and usually 5x or more better). Taro wouldn't exist with YC. Rahul and I were honestly sort of spinning our wheels and not doing much before YC - They really whipped us into shape. 100% recommend.

Another good player in the space is Pear VC: https://pear.vc/

Techstars is decent too, but I think the advisor quality is lower than YC and they give you less money: https://www.techstars.com/

Lastly, I just want to reiterate how critical finding a good cofounder is. Startups die way more often from suicide, not homicide. One of the leading causes of that "suicide" is cofounder infighting, which I have seen a surprising amount of time (including among my YC batch). It is a long-term relationship, a step below marriage. If the company does well, you will need to work alongside this person for 5-10 years. That is a huge portion of your life.

While there is a velocity component to starting a startup (the earlier the better, especially for an experienced engineer like yourself), you don't want to rush the cofounder piece. That will throw all your efforts down the drain.

I recommend amping up your networking more and seeing if you can find someone from within yours: [Masterclass] How To Build Deep Relationships Quickly In Tech