I Got Rejected From YC, Then Built a $200M Startup
Starter Story
May 7, 2025
This is the story of how Sabba Keynejad built a $40 million ARR startup after being rejected by Y Combinator.
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00:00 - Intro
01:20 - Background
02:24 - The Ember
04:00 - Going All In
06:43 - The Secret Tool Veed.io Uses
08:37 - Y Combinator
10:46 - Rejection To Revenue
12:32 - Reflections
14:14 - The Final Word
Chapters
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Transcript
Chapters
Stack
All
right
Saba
what's
your
story
Meet
Saba
I
grew
up
in
the
middle
of
nowhere
nowhere
I
was
just
always
like
relatively
entrepreneurial
but
never
had
any
major
direction
The
self
made
entrepreneur
who
transformed
no
money
No
validation
no
funding
into
a
multi
million
dollar
success
story
If
other
people
have
done
it
why
are
they
so
special
Why
can't
we
do
it
In
2018
with
his
co
founder
Tim
They
spotted
an
opportunity
to
start
an
online
business
Nothing
but
pure
Hustling
got
the
ember
started
It
was
just
brute
force
when
he
and
Tim
launched
their
video
startup
VEED
They
bet
everything
no
money
No
validation
No
funding
kicked
out
of
your
office
your
interns
quit
This
is
a
journey
of
persistence
and
brute
force
We
have
no
more
money
on
bank
accounts
not
being
able
to
afford
the
train
So
yeah
it
was
a
pretty
dark
place
Would
not
go
there
again
Chasing
your
own
dreams
ask
yourself
this
if
you
knew
how
hard
it
would
be
Would
you
do
it
This
is
the
story
of
how
Saba
Kennejad
turned
rejection
into
10
20
30
40
million
in
revenue
Welcome
to
starter
story
I
Grew
up
in
the
middle
of
nowhere
I
was
one
of
those
people
because
I
lived
in
the
middle
of
nowhere
who
just
spent
a
lot
of
time
on
the
internet
Everything
I
read
about
technology
was
like
super
exciting
and
through
getting
a
cracked
version
of
Photoshop
I
decided
to
learn
how
to
make
graphics
and
images
I
thought
that
was
quite
a
lot
of
fun
so
that
kind
of
led
me
into
Going
to
college
and
then
University
to
study
design
after
I
graduated
from
University
I
yeah
I
got
a
job
like
you
you're
told
to
and
in
my
first
week
at
the
job
I
wanted
to
quit
and
actually
just
do
my
own
thing
I
didn't
want
to
be
on
the
treadmill
I
didn't
want
to
have
a
job
I
didn't
want
to
have
a
normal
you
know
Semi
detached
house
in
the
suburbs
I
wanted
to
just
like
do
what
I
wanted
to
do
I'm
wanting
to
own
my
own
time
and
I
felt
like
starting
the
company
Was
probably
the
only
way
to
actually
do
that
and
then
I
read
in
a
free
newspaper
The
app
candy
crush
made
a
million
pounds
a
day
and
I
was
like
I
think
I
could
make
an
app
I
met
my
co
founder
Tim
a
year
after
University
through
this
like
global
hackathon
thing
We
met
online
not
for
a
coffee
Decided
to
work
on
some
stuff
I
Need
to
work
out
how
to
do
is
actually
are
we
capable
of
putting
something
together
And
I
know
that
might
sound
silly
But
like
the
first
thing
you've
got
to
do
is
actually
go
through
the
cycle
once
of
hey
we
bought
a
domain
cool
We
know
how
to
make
a
back
end
great
We
know
how
to
make
a
landing
page
Perfect
So
I
think
like
a
lot
of
the
early
tries
that
we
had
around
like
different
ideas
was
just
can
we
get
something
up
and
running
We'd
worked
on
projects
for
two
or
three
years
together
A
lot
of
those
early
ideas
failed
but
I
was
just
really
all
in
and
I
was
like
we're
gonna
make
it
work
The
early
days
were
really
simple
It
was
like
me
and
him
in
a
co
working
space
at
his
University
being
like
cool
We
know
we
want
to
make
something
in
video
Because
we're
both
really
passionate
about
that
space
and
we
and
we
see
like
the
early
signs
of
it
becoming
really
interesting
And
the
idea
was
like
super
simple
like
you
know
video
editing
I've
done
it
for
years
I'm
a
really
like
technical
person
but
I
find
it
quite
hard
Can
we
like
build
basic
video
editing
tools
in
the
browser
like
super
basic
I
was
like
really
inspired
by
Giphy's
gif
editor
It
was
just
like
upload
a
video
add
text
trim
it
done
I
was
like
can
we
do
something
similar
that
for
video
that
was
kind
of
like
the
initial
idea
We
just
thought
that
if
other
people
have
done
it
why
are
they
so
special
Why
can't
we
do
it
And
Yeah
we
went
all
in
We
Probably
had
about
enough
runway
for
a
year
We
literally
made
like
no
progress
So
I'd
normally
wake
up
at
6
in
the
morning
Get
on
my
bike
head
to
the
office
at
630
get
there
for
about
seven
and
again
Just
to
let
you
know
how
frugal
we
were
when
I
say
office
I
mean
co
working
space
and
what
I
mean
co
working
space
I
mean
me
and
Tim
shared
the
entry
card
and
then
yeah
We'd
do
that
until
what
7
8
at
night
go
to
the
gym
Cycle
on
the
bike
furiously
for
an
hour
come
back
work
again
and
then
try
and
pick
up
some
discount
food
on
the
way
home
Because
because
it
was
late
all
the
you
know
you
get
half
price
in
different
places
in
London
So
do
that
and
then
go
to
sleep
and
do
it
again
rinse
and
repeat
We
were
using
this
Crisp
chat
and
I
remember
emailing
me
like
hey
guys
we
can't
afford
a
hundred
bucks
a
month
He
do
less
that
I
yeah
2020
20
a
month
fun
So
everything
we
would
like
nickel
and
dime
every
single
purchase
To
just
keep
operation
expenses
as
low
as
possible
We
ended
up
in
this
like
VCS
Office
working
and
those
VCS
then
kicked
us
out
of
their
office
So
we're
now
like
office
this
the
interns
that
we
hired
both
quit
on
the
same
day
and
we
were
like
start
We
tried
to
get
funding
and
we
got
rejected
like
many
many
many
times
And
we
both
had
crypto
fortunately
and
we
have
to
sell
it
to
keep
the
company
going
right
two
years
of
no
money
No
validation
nothing
No
funding
kicked
out
of
your
office
your
interns
quit
It
felt
like
it
all
unraveled
It
was
like
a
really
really
tough
time
Even
like
going
to
see
friends
for
their
birthdays
not
being
able
to
afford
the
train
or
commuting
around
the
city
was
on
a
bike
Lunch
every
day
was
like
pre
made
I
Can't
afford
that
just
totally
scraping
by
and
everyone
at
the
same
time
is
you
Progress
you
know
they're
in
their
late
20s
They're
progressing
in
their
careers
They're
buying
houses
and
there's
me
who's
just
like
emptied
my
bank
account
So
we
both
now
have
jobs
at
this
point
and
that
was
nice
because
you
know
Finally
I
can
like
you
know
do
normal
things
with
normal
people
again
and
visit
my
friends
and
go
for
dinner
But
at
the
same
time
we
still
even
at
that
point
took
half
of
our
salaries
every
month
religiously
Put
it
back
into
the
company
account
and
then
use
that
money
to
hire
two
other
engineers
who
would
build
For
us
who
yeah
it
really
helped
us
build
the
company
today
and
over
the
next
like
eight
nine
months
Things
start
to
retake
off
We
went
from
like
zero
users
to
30
000
monthly
users
in
like
nine
months
We've
got
some
money
saved
up
now
We've
got
users
They're
not
paying
but
maybe
maybe
we're
onto
something
Hey
there
This
is
Pat
I'm
the
creator
of
this
channel
and
I'm
actually
working
on
this
video
right
now
What
happens
next
to
these
guys
is
actually
what
inspired
me
to
create
this
video
and
it
has
to
do
with
them
getting
Rejected
on
a
really
big
stage
What
also
inspires
me
is
the
sponsor
this
video
post
hoc
But
hold
on
before
you
fast
forward
I
want
to
show
you
something
crazy
right
now
on
my
computer
I'm
on
V
dot
iOS
site
right
now
the
company
that
Saba
founded
and
I'm
inspecting
the
code
and
look
what
they
use
Post
hoc
I'll
do
the
same
on
my
site
and
you
can
see
we
use
post
hoc
too
Why
because
it's
a
great
analytics
tool
that
all
startups
and
online
businesses
should
use
if
they
want
to
grow
I
can
tell
you
all
about
their
features
But
instead
I'll
just
jump
in
and
show
you
how
I
use
it
every
single
day
So
this
is
post
hoc
I
use
the
product
analytics
feature
the
most
but
they
also
have
amazing
stuff
like
web
analytics
Session
replay
baby
testing
and
way
more
anytime
we
launch
something
new
at
starter
story
I
go
to
post
hog
and
create
a
new
report
with
the
most
important
data
points
study
the
data
Make
changes
and
then
I
can
see
exactly
how
those
changes
actually
impact
the
data
I'll
pop
into
this
report
right
here
where
I
can
track
conversion
on
our
home
page
What's
also
cool
is
I
can
drill
down
by
source
run
a
B
tests
on
this
and
more
these
dashboards
fuel
our
business
I
mean
just
look
at
how
many
different
ones
I
have
saved
on
here
There's
just
no
other
tools
this
powerful
in
the
market
market
You
can
set
it
up
with
just
one
line
of
code
and
the
free
plan
is
super
generous
a
million
events
for
free
And
after
that
it's
fractions
of
a
penny
per
event
crazy
So
if
you
want
to
try
out
post
hog
and
you
should
because
why
not
hit
the
first
link
in
the
description
You
can
install
it
for
free
But
please
when
you
go
there
tell
them
you
came
from
starter
story
All
right
right
Let's
get
back
to
the
story
We've
got
about
30
000
monthly
users
we
both
have
full
time
jobs
we
have
these
two
guys
helping
us
out
on
the
side
We've
saved
up
enough
money
at
this
point
that
we're
like
maybe
we
should
try
to
apply
to
Y
Combinator
It's
like
famous
startup
accelerator
We've
got
good
traction
at
this
point
30
000
monthly
users
We've
shown
we're
like
super
gritty
because
we've
been
doing
it
for
two
years
We've
invested
all
our
money
in
it
multiple
times
over
and
we
think
that
maybe
this
is
our
like
big
break
We
apply
and
to
our
amazement
we
get
in
to
this
interview
round
and
you
know
We've
been
through
so
much
to
get
to
this
point
We
go
into
the
interview
to
come
out
the
way
that
Y
Combinator
works
is
really
simple
If
you
get
in
and
give
you
a
call
you
know
get
in
they
send
you
an
email
rejection
It's
that
evening
We're
like
refreshing
our
phone
waiting
for
the
email
and
we
think
to
ourselves
I
think
we've
got
it
I
think
we've
got
it
and
I
looked
at
this
email
and
it
was
like
sorry
you
know
that
you
know
That
first
line
it
always
gets
you
the
first
line
the
rejection
just
gets
you
Unfortunately
this
batch
you
haven't
been
selected
We're
looking
at
this
rejection
email
that
we've
got
and
there's
another
line
that
stood
out
to
me
and
it
says
you
don't
understand
why
You
haven't
charged
your
users
or
something
like
that
And
so
we
thought
to
ourselves
Why
don't
we
try
and
implement
their
feedback
over
the
weekend
And
then
email
them
on
Monday
or
basically
just
go
to
the
Y
Combinator
office
and
be
like
guys
we
saw
your
feedback
We
hear
you
we've
implemented
it
We've
actually
got
paid
users
Will
you
change
Yeah
will
you
reconsider
us
bang
on
9
a
m
Monday
morning
We
sent
them
an
email
like
hey
guys
Thank
you
so
much
for
feedback
We
implemented
it
We've
got
20
paid
users
Would
you
reconsider
We've
got
this
we're
here
for
it
Like
we
want
to
we
want
to
learn
We're
like
you
know
fingers
crossed
like
maybe
just
maybe
We're
in
for
another
shot
you
know
happened
Yeah
we've
got
another
rejection
email
And
still
to
this
day
I
help
kill
them
on
But
at
that
point
there
was
pre
Y
Combinator
Which
is
a
company
that
makes
no
revenue
and
now
there's
post
a
company
that
makes
some
revenue
Once
we
got
back
to
the
UK
after
California
I
did
one
thing
which
was
only
focus
on
growth
like
the
only
thing
I
had
to
do
was
make
traffic
higher
than
the
day
or
the
week
before
Make
revenue
higher
than
the
day
of
the
week
before
it
felt
like
every
four
to
six
months
I
was
learning
how
to
do
a
new
job
in
the
skill
set
that
really
made
it
fly
was
SEO
I
had
to
work
out
how
to
do
marketing
divide
that
what
does
that
mean
We'll
have
to
choose
what
kind
of
marketing
we're
gonna
do
because
I
had
no
money
It
was
only
like
SEO
Okay
how
do
you
do
SEO
We
have
to
write
landing
pages
one
very
dyslexic
but
I'm
gonna
have
to
work
that
out
anyway
Right
so
I'm
just
gonna
write
all
these
terribly
worded
you
know
misspelt
landing
pages
which
is
a
true
story
I
did
people
search
for
things
like
trim
video
crop
video
There's
actually
about
500
of
these
search
terms
So
I
built
a
landing
page
for
every
single
one
of
those
things
and
then
I'd
record
YouTube
videos
for
every
single
landing
page
It
was
just
brute
force
by
absolutely
brute
After
that
journey
things
just
started
growing
super
fast
at
that
point
It
was
just
like
off
to
the
races
zero
to
1
million
in
the
first
year
four
months
later
2
million
two
months
later
3
million
and
Then
six
months
after
that
it
was
6
million
So
it
was
0
to
1
1
to
6
this
like
proper
growth
phase
of
the
company
going
from
10
20
30
40
million
in
revenue
I
don't
know
It
was
like
a
bit
of
a
middle
finger
to
all
the
people
who
didn't
want
to
invest
in
me
or
why
is
he
telling
Me
down
It
was
a
bit
of
a
hey
we're
good
you
know
You
know
your
loss
The
founding
and
the
starting
of
the
company
is
definitely
like
the
most
interesting
Part
of
the
journey
and
it
becomes
this
like
marathon
This
is
like
an
endurance
sport
right
You're
not
on
the
rollercoaster
anymore
you're
in
like
day
to
day
combat
and
I
feel
like
at
the
start
It's
more
like
jumping
through
hoops
You
know
and
like
trying
to
work
out
the
next
trick
and
how
to
get
around
that
corner
and
then
once
it
starts
going
and
Scaling
it's
more
like
how
can
I
just
keep
drumming
the
beat
of
the
company
you
know
I
keep
keep
things
moving
and
keep
growth
up
and
it's
just
really
hard
to
run
a
business
like
dealing
with
people
and
Directing
them
and
trying
to
do
whatever
you
can
That's
like
in
the
best
interest
of
them
But
also
the
company
at
the
same
time
like
it's
genuinely
really
really
challenging
and
The
bigger
you
get
the
harder
it
is
and
you
only
feel
more
more
vulnerable
I
do
anyway
I'm
so
paranoid
all
the
time
about
the
company
What
we're
doing
are
we
doing
the
right
things
I
love
it
I
absolutely
love
it
I've
got
the
best
job
in
the
world
and
I'm
so
so
fortunate
to
be
able
to
do
But
yeah
it's
just
tough
the
company
could
have
failed
at
so
many
points
It
could
have
failed
when
the
two
interns
quit
It
could
have
failed
when
we
ran
out
of
money
It
could
have
failed
when
we
got
kicked
out
of
our
office
office
It
could
have
failed
when
we
didn't
get
into
YC
Right
like
there's
so
many
points
where
I
could
have
been
or
we
could
have
been
like
nah
Nah
like
it's
over
It
obviously
doesn't
But
every
single
time
we
kept
going
and
I'm
so
grateful
for
all
of
those
So
grateful
Thank
you
guys
for
watching
This
was
really
fun
to
put
together
Maybe
one
day
Saba
and
start
a
story
will
be
on
Netflix
This
story
particularly
hits
home
for
me
and
part
of
the
reason
why
I
wanted
to
create
it
was
because
I
was
rejected
from
YC
three
times
That
also
fueled
me
and
it's
cool
to
see
other
people
build
huge
multi
million
dollar
businesses
that
were
also
rejected
So
if
there's
any
lesson
there
keep
building
guys
keep
going
I'm
gonna
put
a
link
in
the
description
if
you
want
to
check
out
starter
story
build
Which
is
our
new
boot
camp
where
you'll
come
up
with
an
idea
build
it
ship
it
in
12
days
using
only
AI
tools
I
think
it's
really
cool
Okay
link
is
in
the
description
for
that
Otherwise
I'll
see
you
guys
in
the
next
one
peace
You
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