Codecademy

Michael Seibel and Dalton Caldwell advise high school students interested in startups to build skills before rushing to found a company. They recommend learning to code and design, releasing low stakes projects, practicing social skills and empathy, and understanding how credentials and fads work. They also urge students to stay optimistic about technology, be honest with themselves and others, and commit to long term ambitions. The startup game will still be there when they are ready.

Michael Seibel recommends finding a technical co-founder by first approaching friends who can code, then compatible co-workers, and making each person a concrete offer that spells out equity and salary. If those routes fail, he suggests building a network by working at a small technology startup, where it is easier to meet engineers and their friends. Learning to code is another option, and college can be a valuable place to meet future co-founders. Seibel illustrates the college route with how friendships with Justin Kan and Emmett Shear led to his joining Justin.tv as a co-founder.

The talk features three startup office-hours discussions: a multiplayer game that teaches programming, a video platform for documenting daily progress, and Flexport, a software-enabled customs brokerage. Paul Graham and Sam Altman probe how each company attracts users, validates demand, chooses what to build next, and plans to make money. The discussions highlight practical lessons about starting with users’ actual knowledge, responding to early engagement, and learning from customers before committing to a business model. Flexport’s founder describes using software and licensed brokers to simplify import clearance, with a longer-term ambition to expand into logistics.