Key Moments
Startup Technology - Technical Founder Advice
Y CombinatorKey Moments
Technical founders share insights on building V1, balancing speed with best practices, and team structure.
Key Insights
Prioritize speed and iteration for V1; robust processes can be developed later.
User feedback is crucial; build prototypes to test ideas early and often.
Technical debt is inevitable; manage it by prioritizing core functionality and refactoring strategically.
Embrace flexibility in engineering methodologies, adapting them to the company's stage and needs.
Hiring full-time employees for core competencies is generally preferred over contractors in early stages.
Remote hiring offers access to broader talent pools but requires strong communication and documentation.
Non-technical co-founders can be valuable for testing and project management, but require clear communication about timelines.
BUILDING THE MINIMUM VIABLE PRODUCT (V1)
The initial version of a product (V1) should prioritize speed and technical feasibility. For PlanGrid, the V1 involved putting blueprints on an iPad, a seemingly simple task that revealed significant technical challenges with image processing on early devices. Segment's V1 evolved from a failed lecture tool to a core platform feature developed in just one week after identifying a stronger market need. Escher Reality focused on making complex AR algorithms work on mobile devices, iterating rapidly to achieve functional performance. Second Measure spent significant time defining their product offering before development, realizing users needed guided data exploration rather than raw data access.
ITERATION AND USER FEEDBACK
A core theme across all founders is the paramount importance of rapid iteration and continuous user feedback. Segment's journey involved multiple pivots, burning through a seed round before landing on their current product concept, which was validated by quickly launching an open-source library. Escher Reality used developer sign-ups as an indicator of product-market fit. Second Measure initially built a system for investors but quickly learned through user testing that it was too overwhelming, leading them to pivot towards a self-service platform. The consensus is that building in a vacuum is less effective than putting prototypes in front of users early.
BALANCING SPEED WITH ENGINEERING BEST PRACTICES
In the early stages, speed and shipping a functional product often take precedence over extensive testing and scalability. However, this balance shifts as the company grows. PlanGrid acknowledged that some V1 code still exists, representing technical debt. Segment moved from a 'hackathon mode' with no tests to implementing CI/CD and rigorous testing as their team and customer base grew, especially with the advent of enterprise clients. Escher Reality rewrote their codebase when acquired by Niantic to meet stringent quality standards for large-scale games. Second Measure gradually introduced unit tests, CI/CD, and code review processes about 1.5 years post-launch.
CHOOSING TECHNOLOGY AND METHODOLOGIES
The choice of technology for V1 often leans towards what the founding team knows best to enable rapid development, with the understanding that it may be refactored later. Companies like Segment and Second Measure adopted frameworks they were most familiar with, even if not the trendiest. Methodologies like Agile are often adopted loosely ('agile-ish'), with teams incorporating sprints and stand-ups but adapting processes to their specific needs and growth stage. The emphasis is on flexibility and evolving processes as the team expands and complexity increases, with OKRs becoming a framework for goal setting at Segment.
WORKING WITH NON-TECHNICAL CO-FOUNDERS AND DEADLINES
Dealing with non-technical co-founders involves leveraging their strengths, such as early user testing, and managing expectations around deadlines. PlanGrid's co-founder inadvertently provided valuable product testing by breaking the software, highlighting the benefit of external perspectives. Padding estimates and establishing lightweight processes for testing and releases are crucial for managing timelines. While Segment's co-founders were technical, they employed a strategy of asking individuals for their predictions in one-on-ones to get a more realistic sense of upcoming work. The transition for technical founders often involves shifting focus from coding to building an organization.
TEAM STRUCTURE: HIRING AND REMOTE WORK
For core competencies and intellectual property, founders generally advocate for hiring full-time employees rather than relying heavily on contractors, though contractors can serve as a trial for potential hires. PlanGrid and Escher Reality prioritized local, full-time teams initially. Segment found success hiring remote engineers from open-source communities, but later emphasized local hires to foster culture before opening remote positions again. The decision between remote and local hiring depends on the desired company culture and the need to tap into diverse talent pools, with remote work often necessitating better documentation and communication practices. Ultimately, the advice is to hire the best talent, whether local or remote, as the company scales.
Mentioned in This Episode
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Tactical Founder Advice: Key Takeaways
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Common Questions
Speed of development and getting users are paramount for V1. It's more important to iterate and incorporate learnings than to have a perfectly robust or scalable product from the start. The goal is to find something people will pay for.
Topics
Mentioned in this video
A company that builds software for the construction industry, using AWS, Python, Go, and native development for multiple platforms.
A customer success tool that Segment integrates with.
A company that analyzes credit card data to provide daily insights into company performance, primarily using AWS and columnar data stores.
A brand that uses Second Measure's data for trend analysis.
A company offering a single API to collect, organize, and adapt customer data into downstream tools, built on AWS and using Go for its backend.
Diana's former company, acquired by Niantic, which focused on building backend technology for augmented reality.
Mentioned as a company that allows individual engineering teams to self-organize and choose their own development processes.
The company that announced ARKit, posing a challenge to Asher/Niantic's AR technology development.
Used as an analogy for 'the GitHub for construction' by Clean Grid, highlighting version control and collaboration.
A tool that Segment was initially a competitor to, and which Segment's early internal tool could send data to.
A competitor to Mixpanel, mentioned in the context of Segment's early product development.
A columnar data store used by Second Measure on the backend.
Ralph Judy's former employer, where he gained graphics experience used in developing the first mobile blueprint viewer.
The company that acquired Asher, known for making Pokémon Go, and continuing to build AR backend technology.
An accelerator program that Segment and Asher/Niantic participated in, influencing their early development and strategy.
The company that developed the OKR model, which Segment uses for goal setting.
A programming language used for Android native development by Plain Grid.
A web development framework used by Plain Grid and Second Measure.
A tool that Segment's early internal tool could send data to.
A framework used by Second Measure for their first application, chosen due to the team's existing expertise.
A project management tool that teams at Segment can choose to use.
An operating system for which native development was done by Plain Grid and cross-compilation was used by Asher/Niantic.
A backend programming language used by Plain Grid.
A programming language used for iOS native development by Plain Grid.
The platform where Segment's co-founder launched their cleaned-up library, leading to significant traction.
A project management tool that teams at Segment can choose to use.
An operating system for which Plain Grid developed a full application.
The container service used by Segment to run its infrastructure on AWS.
The cloud platform used by Niantic, where Asher's technology was migrated.
Apple's augmented reality framework, announced around the time Asher/Niantic joined YC, presenting a competitive challenge.
A backend programming language used by Plain Grid and primarily by Segment.
A mobile development language mentioned as something the speaker loved but might differently approach in future ventures.
A messaging system used by Segment for its microservices.
A programming language used for efficiency in developing AR backend technology at Asher/Niantic.
A development platform mentioned in relation to Asher/Niantic's technology, allowing developers to build AR apps easily.
The cloud infrastructure provider used by Plain Grid, Segment, and Second Measure.
An analytics tool that Segment integrates with.
An email tool that Segment integrates with.
A service leveraged by Second Measure for its data pipeline.
A mobile development language mentioned as something the speaker loved but might differently approach in future ventures.
The device used for the initial prototype of Clean Grid's software, presenting challenges with loading large images.
A computer whose processing power in 2013 was comparable to an iPhone 7, highlighting advancements in mobile computing.
A smartphone whose processing power in 2017 was comparable to a 2013 MacBook Pro, enabling more complex mobile applications.
A business methodology mentioned in discussion about agile development.
A development methodology discussed by the panel, with varied opinions on its application.
A software development methodology discussed by the panel, with most companies adopting an 'agile-ish' approach.
A goal-setting framework used at Segment, adopted from Google, for company-wide planning and execution.
A city where some founders of Plain Grid and their co-founders worked remotely from for periods.
A development methodology mentioned in discussion about agile development.
A city where Segment has an office.
A city where Segment has an office.
The location of headquarters for Clean Grid and Segment, and a place Plain Grid initially aimed to hire locally from.
A city where Segment has an office.
The city where Segment's co-founders initially built and deployed their classroom lecture tool.
The region Segment's co-founders moved back to after a year in Boston.
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