“Seeking venture capital is like hiring people for your team,” says Instagram Co-Founder Kevin Systrom. Here he encourages aspiring founders to find funding from individuals that truly believe in what you are trying to achieve, rather than those seeking immediate boosts in valuation. According to Systrom, “Rather than optimizing for valuation, it’s far better to optimize for people.” In this clip, he recounts Instagram’s ability to launch with limited expenses and discusses the importance of working on prototypes rather than company slide decks.

Video clips from: From Stanford to Startup [Entire Talk]

3 minutes

The Equity Question

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4 minutes

The Co-Founder Working Relationship

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3 minutes

Combine and Share Ideas

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2 minutes

Building a Product is Just the Beginning

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4 minutes

A Problem with Stealth Startups

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4 minutes

Finding the Problem is the Hard Part

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4 minutes

Sink or Swim School of Engineering

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4 minutes

Trust Your Gut and Collect Experience

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2 minutes

Start Now

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4 minutes

Optimize for People, Not Valuation

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