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Kathryn Minshew

06/20/14

@ Y Combinator

I'm Kathryn Minshew, the founder and CEO of The Muse, which helps people discover their career paths and provides job opportunities, career advice, and insights into company cultures.

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Kathryn Minshew

06/20/14

@ Y Combinator

It's easy to overlook the failures that precede success in startups; most startups are works in progress, evolving from failure to improvement.

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Kathryn Minshew

06/20/14

@ Y Combinator

The Muse's first website, launched in 2011, was not great, but it attracted 20,000 users in the first month, indicating we struck a chord despite its flaws.

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Kathryn Minshew

06/20/14

@ Y Combinator

To build The Muse, we focused on creating valuable career content to attract users before we had job listings, which helped us establish a marketplace.

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Kathryn Minshew

06/20/14

@ Y Combinator

When we launched The Muse, I reached out to my contacts via email to ask for word-of-mouth support, which led to significant initial traction.

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Kathryn Minshew

06/20/14

@ Y Combinator

Creating great content on career issues helped us grow our audience and generate buzz around The Muse, as it appealed to a wider audience than just job seekers.

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Kathryn Minshew

06/20/14

@ Y Combinator

Despite early growth, we faced challenges in fundraising, pitching to 150 investors, with most rejecting us due to the perceived unsexiness of our content-focused approach.

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Kathryn Minshew

06/20/14

@ Y Combinator

Y Combinator was the first to give us a definitive yes, which was a turning point for us, as we felt validated and motivated to continue our journey.

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Kathryn Minshew

06/20/14

@ Y Combinator

After joining Y Combinator, we initially aimed too high with complicated ideas for The Muse, but were advised to focus on launching a simpler version first. I learned that you have to pick one idea, strip it down, and launch to start testing demand.

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Kathryn Minshew

06/20/14

@ Y Combinator

After launching, we grew from reaching about a hundred thousand people a month to a million and a half a month.

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Kathryn Minshew

06/20/14

@ Y Combinator

It's crucial to honor your word in agreements, not just rely on contracts, especially in the startup community where informal agreements are common.

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Kathryn Minshew

06/20/14

@ Y Combinator

I had to be transparent with my first hire about our financial struggles, and luckily, she was understanding, which helped us maintain our reputation.

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Kathryn Minshew

06/20/14

@ Y Combinator

Done is better than perfect; you can't win if you don't start, and the best ideas need to be tested by real customers.

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Kathryn Minshew

06/20/14

@ Y Combinator

You need to find the right users for your product, as feedback from those who don't care about you can be more valuable than that from friends and family.

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Kathryn Minshew

06/20/14

@ Y Combinator

The initial version of The Muse didn't look like a billion-dollar company, but getting it out there was essential for our growth.

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Kathryn Minshew

06/20/14

@ Y Combinator

Being persistent yet polite is key; most partnerships require multiple attempts to succeed.

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Kathryn Minshew

06/20/14

@ Y Combinator

When launching The Muse, I offered Forbes career content in exchange for traffic, which took several attempts to finalize.

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Kathryn Minshew

06/20/14

@ Y Combinator

It's important to find people who share your values, as misaligned values can lead to significant issues in a startup.

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Kathryn Minshew

06/20/14

@ Y Combinator

Startups require active marketing; having a great product alone won't attract users unless you actively seek them out.

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Kathryn Minshew

06/20/14

@ Y Combinator

Building a strong team is essential, and understanding what motivates potential hires beyond money can help attract talent.

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Kathryn Minshew

06/20/14

@ Y Combinator

Networking and speaking at events can lead to finding great team members who resonate with your vision.

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Kathryn Minshew

06/20/14

@ Y Combinator

You cannot believe the hype; focus on your product and your users rather than comparing yourself to others' successes.

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Kathryn Minshew

06/20/14

@ Y Combinator

Understanding your users and their needs is crucial, especially when facing rejection from investors.

Kathryn Minshew at Startup School NY 2014

Takeaways