Michael Seibel is a group partner at Y Combinator and the managing director of YC's startup accelerator. He evaluates thousands of startups a year and sees hundreds go through YC, which means he has better data on startup success than just about anyone in tech. He’s also the cofounder of Twitch.

In this episode, Michael and I dive into the startup landscape and the inner workings of Y Combinator. As a partner at YC, Michael sheds light on the top qualities he seeks in applicants, drawing from his experience of sifting through a staggering 20,000 yearly applications to their accelerator program.

We also discuss Michael’s journey as co-founder of Twitch (formerly known as Justin.tv), which now boasts an impressive 140 million monthly active users and was acquired by Amazon for roughly $1B. Michael delves into the mistakes Twitch made along the way and the surprising advice that saved the company from collapse.

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You can find me on Twitter at @auren and Michael on Twitter at @mwseibel.