Everyone goes to YC Startup School to learn how to make money; I went to YC Startup School to do business.
大家去 YC startup school 學賺錢，我去 YC startup school 做生意
大家去 YC startup school 學賺錢，我去 YC startup school 做生意。
大家都以為去 YC ai startup school 看 Elon, Sam Altman, Microsoft CEO 等等會是人生的高點，但這些名人活動實質上叫好不叫座。要我排隊一小時才能入場，然後跟 3000 人一起坐在禮堂聽講，跟無聊的陌生人 network，老實說，都還沒開始我就想回家了。
於是，當我的新朋友們又要我再排一小時等 YC partner 的 office hour 時，我就轉頭對隔壁的陌生人說：「排隊、排隊、排隊，無聊死了，我寧可明天來這裡賣抹茶！」
結果那陌生的韓國人居然說：「噢！我很喜歡抹茶，我可以幫忙。」
於是即興抹茶店概念店誕生了。
但我要怎麼說服 YC 呢？要找誰說服呢？在場甚至沒有其他攤位，想必 YC 不讓其他公司入場。於是我靈機一動，在排隊的隊伍裡，腦海裡胡謅了一個用抹茶 Matcha ai Matching talent 的獨角獸 idea，然後走到 YC partner 前，說：「我明天想在這裡賣抹茶，我可不可以現在用 5 分鐘說服你幫我背書？」
他疲憊的眼睛突然亮了一絲的好奇，我拿出我唬爛的天賦，YC partner 在聽完我的 pitch 後，喜滋滋的說：「我超喜歡你的點子，但不是負責人，不能幫忙，主辦是潔西卡女士，這是他的信箱給你，噓～是個秘密喔！」指點迷津完就走了。
我頭痛了，如果是主辦人，即使見了本尊，要說服忙碌的他讓我明天搞飛機就很難了，他現在最好有美國時間看信箱，但是，這裡可是有 3000 人的大會，是要怎麼海裡撈出潔西卡女士？
（我有問其他朋友們他們會怎麼做，大家可以猜一下）
最後，我用了些奇謀巧計真的在 3000 人找到了潔西卡女士，他身材矮小，黑髮飄逸，但確也忙碌焦躁，獨角獸的演說一定行不通，於是我靈機應變，修改劇情也說服了他，即興抹茶店的生意正式和核可了。
我們決定賣 100 杯抹茶。從晚上七點開始，在日超和 costo 關門前，安排並選購食材、保鮮、物流、份量規劃，十一點找齊人手、半夜兩點做出草莓抹茶 MVP、半夜三點決定定價和行銷、半夜四點煮完所有草莓醬、五點半請床準備冰塊和運貨，七點場佈開賣，短短的 12 小時裡，我們做完了一個小型生意所需的大小事，結合 ai 的點子，在現場開始叫賣。其他 2999 個人坐在禮堂聽講怎麼創業的時候，我已經在實驗了。
結果，我們最後賣出了幾杯呢？
0 杯。營收 0 元。12 小時即興抹茶店，關門大吉。
Everyone goes to YC Startup School to learn how to make money; I went to YC Startup School to do business.
People think going to YC AI Startup School to see Elon, Sam Altman, Microsoft’s CEO, and other big names would be the highlight of their lives, but honestly, these celebrity events are all hype with little substance. If I have to wait in line for an hour just to get in, then sit in an auditorium with 3,000 people listening to talks and awkwardly network with strangers, honestly, I already want to go home before it even starts.
So when my new friends asked me to line up for another hour to attend a YC partner’s office hours, I turned to the stranger next to me and said, “Waiting, waiting, waiting! This is so boring. I’d rather come here tomorrow and sell matcha!” Surprisingly, that Korean dude said, “Oh! I really like matcha. I can help!”
And that’s how the spontaneous matcha pop-up store was born.
But then I wondered. How would I convince YC? Who should I even ask for permission? There weren’t even any other booths there. It’s clear YC doesn’t allow outside vendors.
Suddenly, an idea struck me. As I waited in line, I made up a ridiculous “unicorn” startup idea in my head—using matcha to match AI talent—and went up to the YC partner. I said, “I want to sell matcha here tomorrow. Can I pitch you right now for 5 minutes and convince you to back me up?”
His tired eyes lit up with curiosity. I tapped into my nonsense-spinning talents, and after hearing my pitch, the YC partner cheerfully said, “I love your idea! But I’m not in charge, so I can’t help you. The organizer is Jessica, and here’s her email address. Shhh—it’s a secret email!” And he walked away.
Now I had a headache. If it’s the organizer herself, even if I managed to meet her in person, convincing her to let me pull off this stunt tomorrow would be nearly impossible. Plus, I could only hope she’d check her email in U.S. time. But this was a conference with 3,000 people—how the heck was I supposed to fish out Jessica from the crowd?
(I asked some friends how they would handle this. Can weirdo friends guess?)
In the end, I pulled some clever tricks and actually found Ms. Jessica among the 3,000 attendees. She was petite, with flowing black hair, clearly busy and frazzled. I knew my “unicorn” pitch wouldn’t work on her. So I improvised on the spot, revised my story, and managed to persuade her. And just like that, the spontaneous matcha pop-up shop was officially approved.
We decided to sell 100 cups of matcha.
Starting from 7 PM, before the Japanese supermarket and Costco closed, we scrambled to plan and buy ingredients, figure out refrigeration, logistics, and portioning. By 11 PM, we had gathered the team. At 2 AM, we created the MVP—strawberry matcha. At 3 AM, we finalized pricing and marketing. By 4 AM, we finished cooking all the strawberry syrup. At 5:30 AM, we packed ice and prepped for transport. At 7 AM, we set up the booth and opened for business.
In just 12 hours, we completed all the tasks required to run a small business, combined with an AI-themed pitch, and started selling on site.
While the other 2,999 people were sitting in the auditorium learning how to start a company, I was already experimenting.
And how many cups did we sell in the end?
Zero.
Revenue: $0.
After 12 hours, our impromptu matcha shop closed down for good.
lmao, revenue is 0$ but it's kinda fun experience though =)))