Justin Kan: I'm starting a new startup incubator, Zero-F
twitter.com
twitter.com
//edit: but that link might just be a "Greatest hits" thing or something? Idk. I might go steal an iOS test device from one of my coworkers.
We will eventually build an Android version but replicating work doesn't make sense for us at the moment while we are still figuring things out.
I wish I had a better answer than "we're still figuring things out and I don't want to duplicate work yet", but that's where I'm at. We are a really small team (1 designer, 3 engineers, 1 community manager, 1 ceo, 1 professional snapchatter (me)) so right now we are conserving our meager engineering resources until we really believe that it is worth replicating on Android. But we will eventually.
They make their own products/teams/companies then spin them out as appropriate, rather than having pre made teams and products apply to a program.
[EDIT] Elucidation
Playground
Idealab
A year ago I looked at my life and realized I really enjoy and get fulfillment out of three things:
1) learning about new industries and thinking about how technology can improve them
2) developing products and consequently seeing numbers go up (users, revenue, anything really)
3) mentoring people I really enjoy the company of over extended periods of time (years)
Zero-F is my attempt to build a thing where I maximize my ability to do those things. It isn't a program or application based. It's me opportunistically building 1 to 2 startups a year with friends or people in my extended network or even new people. I provide business building insight, product knowledge, capital, recruit talent, and they bring grit.
And the aftermath by the winner of the competion: https://hackernoon.com/how-to-make-20-000-on-snapchat-and-ge...
- Zero-F[unding]
- Zero-F[ounders]
- F-Zero (the game) backwards
Here is the link to the question asked in the AMA. https://askwhale.com/q/2c3505
Its viewable in the browser.
I wonder if he's leaving YC because he didn't find what he wanted or maybe something changed that inspired him to go out on his own.
Inspiring to see a fellow Asian American make it.
Q: What's the mission behind Zero-F?
A: Empower entrepreneurs to start amazing startups and get back into building companies more hands-on which I haven't been able to do as much as I'd like to in the past couple of years. I am particularly interested in startups in industries where technology hasn't been applied yet. I think a lot of easy wins have already been taken and my goal is really to focus on industries where you can use tech to innovate their processes and improve efficiency. That's what gets me up every morning and that's what I'm excited about.
Q: Did you raise money for Zero-F?
A: Didn't raise money for it, it's fully self funded right now. So we'll see, maybe one day I'll run out of money and I'll have to beg Nick for an investment. (Asks Nick) What do you think Nick, want to be my first LP? Nick: I think we're in trouble if I'm your first LP.
Q: Can you share with us if you will be the sole investor for all ideas in 0-F or there are others too? Only consumer software or enterprise too?
A: So for new companies that we start through Zero-F, we generally raise money from other funds of mine, other investors that I have a connection with, when it's the right time. That's definitely something we do. It's a mix of startups, not just enterprise or software startups. I have an idea for an enterprise startup right now in the legal space that I'm currently thinking about. So we're always looking for new investors to partner with.
Q: What will you do differently at Zero-F that you couldn't do at YC? I.e. Why leave YC to do this? And why would they invest if you are competing with them?
A: Zero-F is not in competition with yC, we're not opening up applications for start ups. Zero-F is more about a vehicle for me and Nick to co-found start ups with some of my friends, people in my extended networks, people who have worked for me or my friends before, and basically start one or 2 startup opportunistically a year. So there's no program, there's no $150,000, there's no demo day. It's really just about starting startups that I'm interested in industries that I think are interesting where there's innovation to be had by applying technology and so it's very different from YC or 500 Startups or anything like that. I love YC, I think I could work there forever, it was basically like being an university professor and I think it was a really exciting challenge for me but what I really really wanted to do is go back to starting companies myself and so that's why I left.
Q: What are you hoping to enjoy most in this next stage of your journey? Any particular focus on the startups?
A: I think there are 3 things I know I really like in startups and I'm hoping that in this next stage I will get to focus on those 3 things particularly. Number 1: I love learning about new industries and thinking about how technology can be applied to improve them. Number 2: I really like seeing numbers go up, it doesn't matter what but I like iterating on a product or company and seeing something improve wether it's revenue or users. And number 3: I like working closely with a small set of founders to build a business and then mentor them on growing a company over a long period of time. And so I'm hoping with Zero-F, my new vehicle for creating startups I'll be able to focus on those 3 things, and only those 3 things and that's what I'm really excited about.
Q: Why start another incubator? The market seems pretty saturated and YC dominates the market. How will Zero-F differentiate? Also, explain the name!
A: So YC is not an incubator, in fact, PG always hated that whenever anyone would call it an incubator. YC is a seed fund that invests in early stage startups and it takes applications and gets founders from all over the world. What I'm imagining for Zero-F is a really company that help start companies with friends of mine, people in my extended network for ideas that are mine or theirs. It's not a public facing incubator like YC or 500Startups or Techstars, really it's just a vehicle start a few startups opportunistically, probably just one or two a year and mostly things that I'm interested in and interested working on. So I think it quite different from what else is out there, it's more like a startup lab, something like Expa or Betaworks, but even smaller scale, it's just me and Nick over here.
Worth the downvotes? Absolutely.