How Future Billionaires Get Sh*t Done 

What are your tricks to be more productive?

One of the biggest habits of billionaires is not watching RU-vid videos about billionaire habits

Being in a state of flow and solving and spending time with problems is the best way to manage time. A lot of times founders get busy with daily chores and can ignore the big picture.

This is the mentality that makes you take the hard decisions: "If you’re proud of the job you did and if you had heart and you gave it your all and you feel like you learned stuff then great job… you should view this as an affirmative experience."

I feel like these videos are the first time for me that the Y Combinator RU-vid channel has found product market fit. Nice job! Keep it rolling!

Man, YC content is so so good. This series, Paul Graham's blog posts, what "YC looks for", everything across the board is just so consistently good simply because YC keeps it real whilst still being optimistic.

Key insights: - Prioritize To-Do list, meetings, email and Slack in Manager mode - Avoid interruptions during Maker mode - Schedule 8 hour blocks for sales & talking to customers - Avoid social media as a black hole for time - Use tools to protect & organize time - Don't try to hedge bets by doing multiple things at once - Taking risks and failing is still an accomplishment - Be proud of the work you have done and view it as a positive experience - Don't split resources too thin Bullet points: - Maker mode should be an uninterrupted 8 hour block of time - Manager mode should prioritize To-Do list, meetings, email and Slack - For meetings, write down the agenda and notes to avoid having to have another meeting - Avoid email and Slack interruptions during Maker mode Have analytics dashboard or KPIs up on screen 24/7 - Stare at stats all the time and memorize them - Schedule 8 hour blocks for sales & talking to customers - Avoid social media as a black hole for time - Use tools to protect & organize time - Collecting mentors, advisors, credentials can be a bottomless pit of time suck Talk to customers and build/launch a product to de-risk a startup - Don't try to hedge bets by doing multiple things at once - Taking risks and failing is still an accomplishment - Be proud of the work you have done and view it as a positive experience - Don't split resources too thin, it's not a good strategy PS this summary was made with AI ;]

I may be rejected from this year's batch, but with quality videos like these guys, I almost don't mind!

Chapters (Powered by ChapterMe) - 00:00 - How Future Billionaires Get Sh*t Done 00:38 - PG Essay 01:18 - Maker Schedule 03:59 - The Right Time 05:01 - Structure of YC 05:59 - Manager Schedule 06:36 - Meetings 07:38 - Visible KPIs 09:38 - Your Main Focus 10:51 - Great founders not do 👇 11:01 - Social Media 13:33 - Tools for Time 14:10 - Startup Mentorship 16:00 - Hedging Bets

This conversation was much needed. Ive always meetings all day to be unproductive because i had not time to get my work done. I used to love staying late to get my work done ( esp when I was on salary). Also constant interruptions totally killed my productivity.

The last point about hedging bets is actually an internal struggle for me at the moment. Learned a lot from this

Was waiting for this week’s video. I’m sure with the new YC batch coming in times are busy. Thanks for still making the time to upload these.

Super productive people are abnormal on protecting their time. I thought I was crazy for thinking like that, but I'm so happy to hear someone else say it. Thank you for sharing this video, really enjoyed listening to you both!

The RU-vid algorithm knows me too well. I am glad that you popped out on my recommended videos page. Really like your way of thinking. Also I like the fact that you guys are super real with everything what you are saying! Imma keep up with other content now! Thanks guys!

I'm so glad I watched this to the end because I have to thank you for making me feel better about my "failures". I tired, I learned, and I just might try again!

Hands downs this is better than all the TEDx talks that I listened to. Thank you guys.

The content is so well organized and easy to understand. Keep up the great podcast!

Please post more of these insights from common challenges founders face when it comes to Productivity. Super insightful

Love this series! Keep it going Dalton & Michael!

O, I couldn't agree more - it's so challenging to explain the management folks on why it's hard to do both the things together - especially the way sizing of tasks is done. I loved to go to cafes or other public places where there were no distractions whatsoever!

I'm not sure what good deed I did in my previous life to have this incredible content for free. Thanks YC. I still dream, deep inside my heart, the fire still burns.

The hedging bets part really got to me. Thanks for the great content guys.

This is so insightful. I love the inbox vs. To do list driven schedule example. One of the effective ways for me to hit my goals daily/weekly/monthly is to sit down and put down tasks and assign time to it. Secondly, it’s to get my phone always on silent mode and turn off all notifications from social media and get to filter my emails for important stuff. This is a bit tricky especially in a world at fast pace, but, trust me, it’s doable and saves you all the headache. Thank you Dalton and Mike for this great conversation

The last bit was gold. Thank you.

My thought on hedging is that there is only so much time you can spend everyday. And doing anything complex to a degree that's considered great certainly need a lot of time. So unless you have the resources to exchange for the work done, you might want to spend your time wisely and actually do a great work.

So glad you made this video to explain M&M's to people who aren't Makers. ❤️

Amazing content! Please keep it going, it helps a lot 🙌

i love these series! please keep them coming

As a Maker (read: Sr. Analyst) I always know a good manager / founder when they are involved in defining / watching the KPIs. When a manager is involved and interested in WHAT we are measuring and HOW we are measuring the job is completely different. Analysts then get given much more important projects and tasks to accomplish instead of coasting through the day.

Great post! I’ve got a creative / arts based startup and totally screwed up the schedules with my “manager scheduling”

I'd love to hear more about the KPIs Dalton stared at continuosly. What were they and what platforms did you use for tracking them.

As a former designer at Vitaminwater, we suffered through this manager schedule model. Brand team meeting, then marketing team pre-meeting, followed but THE ACTUAL meeting, and then a reverse process of the beginning 😵‍💫🔫

Thank you for this podcast guys!

I always watch these. Thank you for sharing such great insights!

I really enjoyed this conversation. Thank you for your time and intentions 🤩

"How do you not know if your revenue went up this week" Ugh, that one hit home. Appreciate the perspective shift guys, I've got some things to work on.

To me, writing things down in a notebook isn't about being able to refer back to it (although I can) it's more about committing it to memory through writing

This is so true!! I had deactivated my FB Snap and Instagram and deleted the apps because they were too distracting so far so good it’s been months and I don’t even think about them

The maker schedule is key for sales and biz dev to because spending time in marketing or update meetings is time I could be spending prospecting and which does take a level of concentration to do well and craft strategies for the conversations

this was such a great video. I definitely struggle with time management and with hedging my bets

I put my tasks on yellow sticky notes on the wall. The current days ones are on the left lined up and I knock them out. I use digital notes and calendars but I find for the current day it's easier to have it up on the wall and it's satisfying to rip them down one by one. It's like a little dopamine seeing them disappear.

* write down agenda before meeting, and desisons made after meeting. * block 8 hours of focused uninterrupted work for hard staff (Maker schedule) * start with your todo list (controllable), then move to inbox-diveren tools (email, slack, meetings) * do visible KPIs, know your stats. * if someone watches you you will likely to spend less time on distractions like twitter * strategy to de-risk your startup #1: talk to customers =) * strategy to de-risk your startup #2: build and launch product =) * use every tool to protect your time (website/apps blockers, or delete them all) * focust on one thing, you cant get great at 2-3-4 things all at a time.

Once an employee in a fast-growing startup starts attending every meeting in his calendar - it's a straight way to become just an idea-generator and not actually a maker. And this is when companies start hiring more people that should not be the solution to that. The solution is to review the possible imput of an employee to a meeting, and free his time if you see that it can be done without him. Great way is also to get an automated note-taking tool like Meetgeek or Fathom that will record the transcript of your meeting and share it with your colleagues who couldn't have it done to the meeting

I actually love the final advice on trying not to hedge your bets, but rather to go all in...

Wow was just reading that post the other day. This video is great. Thanks!

how did I randomly find these video in my feed and how did my perspective on things just shift in 20m? Great videoo, very grateful for it

The videos are so comforting.

Another great video. Very helpful. Thank you, guys.

This is very good content. thank you and please keep this up. This was a very good use of my time

18:00 the thing that i have seen a lot from people facing failure in the real world that is so often forgotten, is that the failure is not the end. unless you are going to jail, or you were mangled for life in some horrible accident, you will take the experiences and successes that you accumulated with you. i think that this is a grieving process that is just part of the job, but failure is not the end, its a lesson that makes you more skilled and valuable for the next project or team you move to.

Great content. Thanks, Dalton and Michael.

This is what I exactly need now. Thank you for making this video.

So blessed to have access to this information.

I think where the trying to be a pro athlete analogy falls short is that in entrepreneurship, you can always launch another startup. Whereas the available spots at the top of any professional sports league are limited.

I feel like treating business less like sports and more like science helps. There is no win or lose. You just gain more information. I mean, there is inherent competition, but each lose does not need to feel like a defeat if you treat it like a science experiment.

dope the production was amazing with the little bar on the side and the cameras

Love your examples!

I've pitched that maker-meetings be only scheduled during mornings (9am-12pm), so makers have full afternoons to be productive.

A part of being productive making more time in my day to relax. That's why I use my dad's allowance to pay people to do house chores for me. It profit off other people's time with the money I earned from my dad. It's fantastic.

Remember that interruptions may be to seek or give useful information and that they are a normal part of being on a team. Be cautious, then, in how often and when you power through the interruptions of others.

Adopting the maker/manager schedule has completely changed the game for me.

Quick and productive. As all meetings should be!

I didn’t even come here for technical advice but I definitely got some. I’m terrible at keeping long-enough blocks of maker time.

Are they sharing airpods? 🤣

So on point with the Social Media part. I deleted those apps a while ago. I feel goofy installing them just to peek (Instagram) but overall just not having them installed is a huge way to get back time. I also feel like my mental health is MUCH better for it.

Just a quick note about the last item, Hedging Bets, I feel that a lot of people that try to have these multiple safety thresholds, unfortunately, do not put that much effort to build the path they want to and they end up in the phase of theirs life with the "What if" mentality, thinking about how their life could be different if they put more focus on it. Nice content Michael Seibel and Dalton Caldwell.

Another banger. What internal KPIs / data do find the most interesting and helpful to keep top of mind?

Interesting conversations. Aggressively be abnormal in protecting your time.

Nice 2 see you guys again 👍

Love the hedging bets section! Unexpected!

This is a business sermon...🔥🔥🔥

Thanks. I really needed this video today to pull myself up and out of the weeds. You guys rock. 🤙

Loving this content, thank you for making it!

Any tips on "founder burnout"? After let's say we're crushing to-do lists, seeing growth, long hours for months at a time... what do you advise founders to watch out for before it's too late?

Bullet Summary: - Well-managed to-do lists and notes are crucial for productivity. - Maker schedules involve uninterrupted blocks of time, while manager schedules involve back-to-back meetings. - Most companies operate on manager schedules, which is detrimental to programmers. - The founders of the writer's startup had to create a working environment that accommodated maker schedules. - Nothing productive got done before lunch, so the post-lunch time was made free of distractions.

im in africa tryin to build a startup and with all the criticism u guys give me peace

Thank you. This is really insightful. That's why I prefer coding in the evening! 🤔👍

Really helpful. Awesome advice guys.😅

Hedging bets was my favorite section and the line - it's not even a good strategy if you are trying to think strategically. I am personally facing this a lot, as a final year full-time student engineer. Working with early-stage deep tech startups, trying to get a job in a high-paying position, with learning other stuff that allows me to work independently remotely. Just trying to hedge things by working harder. It's also probably because I don't know if I am taking the right step or not. So I am kind of not putting all my eggs in one basket.

Great Business Entrepreneur discussion. Best of luck to you in the future. Thank You, Natasha Samuel

what are some of the tools you use to protect your time?

Amazing guys.Thanks for these awesome content

4:11 Would it make sense to dedicate some core hours a day for meetings/communications/socializing, and then, go to a quiet environment, with guaranteed lack of interruptions for the rest of the day?

Thank you for this!

For all of you out there, could you suggest what KPI software/app/excel you use? Be it for personal goals or work goals. Thank you.

Thanks for that great video!

Things I am going to work on from now on (as a developer):1) continuous 6-8 hours of undisturbed work, 2) block social media .

At last someone explains this to business people.

This is the best advice ever given.

The richest man in the world is addicted to Twitter. We have no chance.

As a Techstars alum, with a best friend who is a YC alum, just saying to other entrepreneurs: you can go your own way, you don’t need to emulate anyone or follow anyone else’s style / habits / dictums. Just build something people want, and distribute it at scale with good margins.

I used to be a really obsesive developer and hacker, sleeping a few hours, I was able to write software like a computer, solving task 5x more faster than others, some music 150-190bmp music and star typing. Since a few years a migrated to managment, energy required is a lot less but more human-2-human task will be involved, from talking to code day to day to talking to people day to day. To be productive just keep a KPIs moving weekly. Create a system an re-optimize, Dashboards and metrics on top

Can you dive deeper into the todo list / note taking part that you touched upon in the the first 30 seconds?

What kind of dashboard do you use for Visible KPIs

The last section is invaluable

The only thing that really matters is to built something people want and be motivated to do it.

I'm very busy I write in notebooks with fountain pen and I do process what I write and after process I don't look again at the notebook and info stays with me. If at certain point I need something and forgot I get back to the notebook.

"You have to aggressively be abnormal on protecting your time because if you don't, the world is gonna stole your time." GOLD

Great insights!

Awesome video!