Building in public, getting your pre-seed check, and launching lifetime deals: Masud Hossain (Queue, YC S20)
Welcome to the seventh episode/edition of YC Founder Stories. I started this experiment curious to learn from the best founders who went to YC and take this opportunity to narrate their stories.
The Format: The interview is divided into two parts: 1) Q&A and 2) BONUS CONTENT. I’m still experimenting, so bear with me as I iterate. Let’s get started.
Today’s guest is Masud Hossain from Queue (YC S20), which is an all-in-one platform for agencies and productized services to launch and grow their business.
Masud previously worked on cancer research at the University of South Florida, was the COO and Co-founder of Sense a Life, a way to alert and remind parents & caregivers to safely remove a child from the car immediately upon leaving the vehicle, and the Co-founder and President of Modern Village Project, a non-profit organization that supplies school materials, solar panels, computers, and internet access to village schools located in Bangladesh.
Queue is an all-in-one platform for agencies and productized services to launch and grow their business. We integrate with your website so your clients can purchase your services, access their client portal, submit tasks, review work, and everything else in between.
Read on to learn more about Hossain’s YC application and journey!
Q&A:
What was your startup idea when you entered YC?
Our platform is called Queue. Originally designed for esports coaches, it allowed them to showcase their services, sell them, and use our platform to coach students. Features like video review tools helped them provide feedback.
Since then, Queue has grown into a platform for anyone to turn their talent into a business. We've added features for reviewing websites, videos, and images, going beyond just esports coaching.
Overall, our goal is to provide a one-stop shop for launching your service-based business. You can customize it to fit your workflow and preferences. We simplify the launch process and help you grow your business along the way.
How did you come up with the idea?
Originally, about three to four months before we launched in YC, I took a long break after finishing grad school and wanted to get back into gaming. So, I hired one of my friends to coach me in a game called Overwatch. I was stuck in the Master role in Grandmaster and aimed to reach Grandmaster. The coaching process involved recording myself playing the game and paying him to review it.
Similarly, after my third and fourth years in grad school, I took a break and wanted to return to gaming. I hired a friend to coach me, aiming to improve in the game. This coaching process involved recording my gameplay and paying for reviews. It became bothersome, prompting me to support my friend's business by creating a website. This platform allowed him to have a profile, offer coaching services, and attract other students. It featured a video review tool for feedback.
As our platform gained traction in the esports space, we noticed a significant number of video editors not utilizing our platform. We reached out to them to understand their reasons. They found our platform easy to use with clients for feedback. This feedback led us to address additional issues, like better client charging methods and the ability to send documents for feedback.
We expanded our review tools to accommodate these needs, and the platform's usage grew organically. It became apparent that there was a significant problem in the creative space regarding feedback and business autonomy. This realization fueled our commitment to solving these problems.
Our primary goal is to enable people to build businesses, akin to creating a Shopify for service sellers online. We aim to streamline the process, allowing users to turn their talents into services seamlessly without the hassle of piecing together different software platforms.
When did you join YC?
We got to YC in the S20. I think it was maybe a month or two after we got first pre-seed check.
What are the key elements to focus on when applying to YC?
A common misconception about applying to Y Combinator (YC) is that you need specific milestones, revenue numbers, or market metrics. In reality, many applicants come with just an idea. However, there's a noticeable difference between YC founders and non-YC founders. YC founders tend to observe and ask precise questions during office hours or group events, which stands out.
YC partners value simplicity in applications. They look for clear descriptions of the product and its target market. Being able to explain things concisely and simply is crucial. When your message is clear and easy to understand, potential investors can grasp your vision and understand what you're trying to achieve.
Share your YC interview experience in 1-2 sentences.
Yeah, so it was 10 minutes. It didn't feel like 10 minutes, it felt more like three or four minutes. They were basically just launching questions at me. For example, they asked why we started with eSports, the potential of that market, and about video studios. They questioned how big we could grow and if we could control our company. They also inquired about our current pricing, retention rate, and turnover. These were the kinds of questions they asked.
We actually use this website called PG questions. It randomly asks questions similar to those asked during the YC interview. It's super simple. If you Google PG YC interview questions, it's one of the first three links. They have a timer, giving you less than five or 10 seconds to answer each question. If you don't answer, they give you a red flag indicating a mistake.
Did you pivot your idea before or during YC?
Yeah, it was right before YC. Yeah, we realized that the e-sports coaching market is just not that big right before YC. So we went in with YC targeting creatives.
And the funny part is to this very day, we still have like a lot of our early customers from the e-sports space. They still use our platform. They still paying us that $9 a month. We're still losing a little bit of money on them probably every single month, but it's okay.
How did YC help you go from 0 to 1 to N?
So I think a lot of people go into YC thinking YC is gonna magically make your company grow. It's not going to, that's pretty much your job. And I say that for pretty much any investors that invest in you. You're the expert here, you have to go figure out how to go get your customers.
What YC really did for us was it gave us direction on what really to focus on. We were on a three-month timeline to get a lot of growth progress. We already had built product, we already had revenue. So our primary focus was going out and doing cold calls, emailing, joining communities, and getting as much revenue as possible. And they kind of laid down that framework on how to think about it.
During YC, we have all of these talks, and the talks really varies depending on what your need is. So someone will give a talk on cold set, like sales, marketing, product, design. And you basically join whichever talk fits your need for that.
Share a “do things that don’t scale” story in your startup journey.
Yeah, so we do this till this very day. When we first started Queue, what we did was we joined a Discord servers of communities. And the reason why is because we were all active Discord people. So we just went on Discord servers. Every time someone asked a question that our product could solve, we just answer that question on the old way to do it. And then under it, we answered it in the new way to do it, which is to use Queue.
We don't directly go in and plug our product or be like, “Hey guys, we're Queue. This is what we do. Please sign up here.” No, instead we be helpful by providing some value and then saying how Queue can simplify it. And most importantly, we answer non-Queue related question as well. And you should always put your name and then at your website. They always see your website. So on this card, so they usually just go and find us themselves this way. You're not spamming, but you're letting them know you're from Queue.
How did you get your first 1,000 users?
It was all through the Discord server. Yeah, we just messaged everyone through the Discord server. And some of these Discord servers had like 10, 15,000 plus people. So it was a lot of people. After they joined our product, we would basically handhold them through the entire process, providing a very white-glove experience. We encouraged them to share us with all their friends because we had an affiliate program already set up.
Outside of that, I will give one more advice that I think a lot of founders are now utilizing, which is LTDs, Lifetime Deals. I actually went to a lot of my friends who are doing pretty well right now. We didn't do this, but LTDs, we did this recently, and it worked out really well. So Lifetime Deals, if you launch on AppSumo for example, they will set you up, do the video for everything, and you're going to get like hundreds of users really quickly. They're going to get a lifetime deal. But these are people that love early-stage startups.
They will give you feedback, they will care for us, and they will share your product with all their friends and family.
Share 3 tips for founders who are trying to get into YC.
Don't worry so much about your progress if you have an idea, just apply.
Make sure you really have a big market. As you know, AI is a really big space right now and the market you target obviously has to be a good space.
Just try to be as concise and simple as possible in your application. Don't use jargon, don't use fancy words, don't use too many technical words, because people are human beings.
That's what the most advice I heard from every YC founder. It's like be human, talk, talk normally. And it also simplifies the whole thought process. That's why I love just filling up YC application itself, regardless of applying or not, because before I ship an idea, it just simplifies the whole thought process and brings a lot of clarity.
BONUS CONTENT: Deep insights, more tactical advice, and an open discussion.
Talk to me about your vision for Queue and why you care so much about service-oriented businesses.
Back in my younger days, during high school and early college, I ran a one-man web development agency. It was a constant headache – juggling different tools like Trello, PayPal, and cobbled-together workflows. Even today, many agencies struggle with this complexity. Online courses teach you how to connect five different softwares, hoping for some semblance of functionality. This creates a nightmare scenario where every new client and employee needs to be trained on a convoluted system.
That's why we built Queue. We wanted to provide a systematic approach to agency management. The biggest issue with existing tools is their lack of client focus. They force clients to navigate multiple platforms for feedback, billing, project management, and website access. With Q, everything is centralized in one platform that integrates with your website. Your basic landing page transforms into a powerful software hub.
What is the product-led founder mindset for you?
Get customer feedback to guide your roadmap
The first thing any founder should do is create a project board where customers can directly provide feedback. This feedback is crucial for shaping your future product roadmap. Some founders worry that customer feedback might not align with their vision, but it's important to differentiate between feedback from paying and non-paying users.
Non-paying users will likely give you the most feature requests, but paying users tend to provide more focused feedback on specific details that enhance the overall product experience. Regardless, having a public project board is beneficial. It not only gathers feedback but also encourages people to offer it freely.
Use sprints to build features
We typically use two to three-week sprints to develop features based on the project board feedback. However, it's important to maintain a clear vision alongside this feedback loop. For example, right now we're building a website builder similar to how Shopify allows users to select, sell, buy, and edit themes.
Listen to user feedback, but filter it through your vision
Listen to your users, but ensure their feedback aligns with your product vision. Additionally, prioritize feature requests that can benefit a majority of your customers. Don't dismiss a request simply because no one else asks for it. For instance, one customer requested the ability to track credit usage per month for subscriptions. Initially, we thought this was a one-off request, but after building a minimal viable product (MVP) version, we discovered that 25% of our users adopted the feature. They simply hadn't considered the possibility of needing it.
How did building in public help you as a founder, as well as the product?
So, I'll be honest, we made a big mistake by not building in public during the early stages of our company. Building in public is essentially marketing – you're promoting your product directly to potential users.
Think about Elon Musk; he builds Tesla in public and gets a lot of views. The same goes for other founders like Brian Chesky – his tweets about Airbnb get more attention than Airbnb's own Twitter account.
We eventually learned the value of building in public. It allows people to understand what you're working on, your process, and the very existence of your company. This naturally leads to people following your journey and potentially trying your product.
In hindsight, I really wish we started building in public earlier. I actually did begin, but for some reason, I stopped after getting into YC and fundraising. Maybe things just got hectic, and I neglected my Twitter account.
But building in public can have real benefits. For example, it's how I got my first pre-seed check from Lucy Guo at Scale.com. She runs a fund and reached out to me on Twitter after seeing my tweets. She liked what I was doing and wanted to connect – that's how we secured our first investment.
What was that journey of getting the pre-seed check?
So, the pre-seed check came from Lucy. I believe she posted something saying, "Hey, if you're applying to YC, just drop me your application. I'll give you feedback on it." I sent her a link to a Google Doc containing my YC application. She read it, gave me feedback, and then asked to hop on a quick call because she had an opening at Capital.
We hopped on the call, and I think about 15-20 minutes later, she texted me saying, "Hey, listen, we're going to invest $100,000 in your pre-seed round."
I took that check, and she also recommended me to you. This was probably helpful for us getting into YC as well.
Now, for me, as soon as you take a check from an investor, things get real. You don't just have yourself on the line anymore, but other people too. Investors have expectations of you. So, I pretty much doubled down and started working way harder, pulling nights as much as possible.
Honestly, it's just the way it is. You have to put in the hours and see results. Everyone says "work smart, not hard," but if you're a fighter, you kind of have to be hard. You have to put in the hours.
Share some tips on how people can become better at Discord.
So, whenever you join a Discord server, remember: don't spam! Don't just talk about yourself. Instead, provide as much value as possible and give people a way to learn more about you. That's why I put "masudfromusequeue.com" on my Discord profile. People often shorten it to "usequeue.com" and then usually Google it on their own – I don't even need to mention it.
The key is to provide value. If you want to be a valuable member of the community, offer something helpful. In our case, the value we provide is access to data from highly successful agencies. This data helps us understand what works and what doesn't. We share this data and knowledge with everyone in the community. This builds trust and helps people get to know you.
I don't know the exact number of times someone needs to be exposed to a product before buying, but it's probably around six or seven. After seeing your helpful comments and messages, they'll eventually Google you and find your product. They might think, "Wow, this could be useful for my business. Let me try it out!"
It's true that people might be Googling less these days, especially with tools like ChatGPT. But many people still want to be part of communities where they feel welcome. Building a presence in these communities is a great way to grow your following.
How is Discord different from Twitter?
Overall, people on Discord are just a little nicer than people on Twitter. They're much more focused on the community and seem happy to receive feedback. They don't take it personally or feel like they're being attacked. That's the greatest thing! We get feedback from our Discord communities multiple times every single day, even to this day.
The only downside to Discord, I'd say, is that you can get friend requests and messages quite frequently. Be prepared for that. In fact, one of my employees even has access to my Discord account to respond to messages when I'm asleep or unavailable.
What was your experience and strategy launching Lifetime Deals?
So, we did a competitor of AppSumo. The strategy was really to see if it worked. Interestingly, the owner of the competitor company reached out to me – he was very persistent.
He convinced me that Lifetime Deals (LTDs) were worth exploring, arguing that the cost wouldn't be a major loss, and that the LTD community is known for being friendly and promoting the product to their network. It turns out, he was absolutely right. LTDs worked out very well for us.
Yeah, if I had to restart everything and rethink our approach strategy, I would definitely keep using Discord for community building. But, I would also leverage LTDs to help grow our initial customer base. We actually gained almost a thousand customers thanks to the LTD offer. It's been a super helpful strategy for everyone involved. So yeah, I think LTDs are extremely popular for a reason.
And how do you price an LTD? How do you manage unit economics?
Yeah, usually you just want to make sure you're not losing money if they use your product a lot. The primary way you lose money is with online storage, especially for startups. We priced ours in three tiers: $79, $199, and I believe $300. This allows users to base their storage needs on the pricing options, because servers aren't cheap. You know, using any product with high resource demands, like AI or video storage, is going to be expensive.
We priced ours in three tiers, with the second tier being $199 and the highest tier at $300, I believe. This allows users to choose a plan based on their storage needs. Servers are expensive, and so are products with high resource demands like AI or video storage.
However, in our case, offering Lifetime Deals (LTDs) wasn't that expensive. So, and the pricing is usually based on the market price. So that will usually help to determine how much to price it.
What is a question that you ask yourself as a founder constantly every day that helps you make progress, move the needle, and become better?
Before we build anything, we ask ourselves two questions:
Does this line up with the vision?
Is this actually going to be helpful for our users, or is it just something we want to build?
This is a constant struggle for me. New features can be super cool, and new tech is exciting! But then there are bugs to fix. That's why I gotta keep reminding the team to focus on what truly benefits our users.
Talking to users is key, but everyone says that, right? YC always talks about it. But here's the thing: not enough people actually do it. That's why we're all over Discord communities. We want to chat with folks and see what their problems are. It doesn't even matter if they're not using our product yet. We just gotta know what's bugging them. So, if you join a Discord server and see a hundred people freaking out about the same issue, that's a problem we should be trying to solve.
Sometimes, I gotta hold myself back from grabbing my MacBook and just building all these new features that might not even get used. It's all about focusing on what users truly need.
What are the communities people should join when they think about people who are selling their services on the internet?
Think of a product that this community would all use or something specific they'd have in common. For example, we target Webflow agencies with our product, or it could be media agencies.
So if you just Google '[Product Name] Community Discord' – like "Adobe Community Discord" or "Figma Community Discord" – you'll find them. Once you find a relevant server, joining is usually pretty straightforward. They might ask you a few questions, but that's just part of the process. Then you're in!
Any closing thoughts before we wrap up?
Yeah, focus on your users, talk to your users, and just build a great product. If you build a great product, they will share you with the whole world.
Thank you for sharing, Masud! Where can people find you?
That’s it for today. I have some awesome founders lined up for the next episodes, and I can’t wait to bring them to your inbox.
Meanwhile, if you like this interview, please share it with your founder friends - nevertheless, grateful for your time 🙏🏼
Let me know your thoughts and suggestions in the comments below 👇🏼