Google, Anthropic, and Databricks were all started by founders with PhDs. But they’re the exceptions. Most academic founders fail, because the instincts that get you published are the ones that can get you killed in a startup. Francois Chaubard knows both sides. He’s a visiting partner at YC and a current PhD student, and before that he was a researcher in Fei-Fei Li’s lab and the founder and CEO of Focal. In this episode of Startup School, Francois breaks down the ten mindset shifts you have to make to go from researcher to formidable founder. He’ll cover how to thrive without deadlines or grades, the difference between an interesting idea and an important one, and why being the first to an idea can actually be a disadvantage.
Chapters:
00:00 – Why academics struggle as founders
00:53 – Vanity metrics vs. what people want
01:45 – Interesting vs. important
02:27 – Novelty vs. plagiarism
03:54 – There is no finish line
04:32 – Get on a plane and talk to people
05:53 – Hyperbole is okay
06:28 – The 70% rule
07:11 – You can’t delegate the hard stuff
07:52 – Become a capitalist
08:16 – Nobody cares how smart you are
09:04 – Get out of your office
Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply
Work at a startup: https://www.ycombinator.com/jobs
