YC
Jessica Mah at Female Founders Conference 2014
@ Y Combinator
03/13/14
Takeaways
JM
Jessica Mah
03/13/14
@ Y Combinator
I founded my first company in middle school and started inDinero from my UC Berkeley dorm room while studying computer science.
JM
Jessica Mah
03/13/14
@ Y Combinator
I was the president of the Computer Science Undergraduate Association at UC Berkeley, and I loved inviting founders to speak to students to inspire them to start their own startups.
JM
Jessica Mah
03/13/14
@ Y Combinator
After being encouraged by founders like Drew Houston and Sam Altman, I applied to Y Combinator, despite my initial hesitation about giving up equity.
JM
Jessica Mah
03/13/14
@ Y Combinator
My co-founder Andy and I wanted to skip traditional jobs after college and dive straight into our startup, which we applied for with an idea similar to mint.com for businesses.
JM
Jessica Mah
03/13/14
@ Y Combinator
We were confident about our startup, thinking we would get a lot of PR and funding, and we did receive significant media attention and raised $1.2 million in funding.
JM
Jessica Mah
03/13/14
@ Y Combinator
Initially, we thought we were on the path to success, but I later realized that we were not converting users into paying customers because we were too focused on fundraising and PR instead of creating a product that people actually needed.
JM
Jessica Mah
03/13/14
@ Y Combinator
My mentor Steve Blank advised me not to be afraid to pivot when things weren't working out, which led me to reconsider our approach to the business.
JM
Jessica Mah
03/13/14
@ Y Combinator
I wrote a letter to my parents expressing my struggles with the company, feeling like I was successful on the outside but broken on the inside due to financial pressures.
JM
Jessica Mah
03/13/14
@ Y Combinator
My dad reminded me that it's normal to feel bad sometimes, but I needed to get over it because startups are inherently challenging and much of my pain was self-imposed.
JM
Jessica Mah
03/13/14
@ Y Combinator
When discussing my situation with a friend, I realized that my worst-case scenario involved downsizing significantly, including getting rid of our office and asking employees to find new jobs. I decided that we needed to pack up the office and let all employees know that this isn't going anywhere, giving them 60 days to find new jobs.
JM
Jessica Mah
03/13/14
@ Y Combinator
After admitting that I was failing, I felt a sense of relief, as it was like coming to terms with reality.
JM
Jessica Mah
03/13/14
@ Y Combinator
When things aren't going well, many founders try to work harder to solve their problems, but I knew we needed to take a break and hope for an 'aha' moment.
JM
Jessica Mah
03/13/14
@ Y Combinator
My co-founder and I never discussed failure or what-if scenarios, which helped us focus on moving forward without fear.
JM
Jessica Mah
03/13/14
@ Y Combinator
We realized we needed to charge businesses a few hundred dollars a month instead of just $20-$30 to make our business model viable.
JM
Jessica Mah
03/13/14
@ Y Combinator
We decided to become a one-stop shop for accounting, taxes, and payroll, charging a few hundred dollars a month for our services.
JM
Jessica Mah
03/13/14
@ Y Combinator
I took the initiative to learn how to do tax returns myself, eventually obtaining my IRS enrolled agent license to prepare tax returns for our customers.
JM
Jessica Mah
03/13/14
@ Y Combinator
After going through tough times, I stopped caring about what others thought of me, which allowed me to engage more openly with the community.
JM
Jessica Mah
03/13/14
@ Y Combinator
A prominent VC advised me to be careful with my strong personality, which made me realize I have unapologetic confidence and I'm proud of who I am.
JM
Jessica Mah
03/13/14
@ Y Combinator
Now, we have 50 full-time employees and celebrated our first profitable month in January, appreciating every aspect of our business.
JM
Jessica Mah
03/13/14
@ Y Combinator
I learned to be grounded and not take anything for granted, especially after experiencing failure with the first version of inDinero.
JM
Jessica Mah
03/13/14
@ Y Combinator
I encourage all founders to define what kind of leader they want to be, especially during tough times, and to do so with absolute and unapologetic confidence.