- The founders of Squire, Edlift, and Promise saw a lack of technology addressing certain industries and problems.
- They realized that many people, including themselves, were initially intimidated by computer science and lacked support to pursue it.
- They started their tech companies to create technology and support systems for those who want to pursue tech and live better lives.
- Y Combinator provided structure and a timeline for their startups to succeed.
- They faced challenges and had to go through early trials to make it to the other end.
- The YC community provided support and mentorship.
- They believe that diversity in technology is important to solve a wider range of problems and bridge the racial wealth gap.

Squire is a business management and point-of-sales software focusing on barbershop owners. Read more about Squire at https://blog.ycombinator.com/squire-co-founder-and-ceo-songe-laron-powering-barbershops-of-the-future/. 
The company is led by Co-Founder and CEO Songe LaRon and Co-Founder and President Dave Salvant.

Edlyft is a platform that helps STEM students excel in their toughest classes through mentoring and group tutoring sessions. Read more about Edlyft at https://blog.ycombinator.com/edlyft-on-community/. 
The company is led by Co-Founder and CEO Erika Hairston and Co-Founder and CTO Arnelle Ansong.

Promise is a payments platform that modernizes and humanizes government payments — helping government agencies increases revenue and efficiency and residents navigate payments with dignity and ease to avoid the negative consequences of non-payment.
The company is led by Co-Founder and CEO Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins and Co-Founder and CLO Diana Frappier.

Apply to Y Combinator at www.ycombinator.com/apply.

My co-founder Dave and I didn't have any history working in the barbershop industry or in tech for that matter.

Both of us had been going to barbershops for years.

I started going as a kid around 6 or 7 with my dad and it was like 20 years later and the process of getting a haircut really hadn't changed at all.

Very inefficient, long wait times, often a cash-based business and it seemed like software was really touching every other part of modern life except this 1 experience of getting a haircut, was being totally unaddressed.

My co-founder and I, we went to high school together over a decade ago, and back then we never imagined ourselves in computer science.

I never saw anyone who looked like me in computer science.

A lot of people just don't consider themselves quote like computer science people.

However, despite that, we both ended up like pursuing CS given tons of really great mentors and ample academic support, where we ended up becoming engineers at Facebook and Google.

And we realized there were so many people who were just like us, who were initially intimidated by computer science, but they never actually got the support to pursue it themselves.

And so the reason I wanted to start a tech company is because I wanted to understand how could I create technology and work with others to help the people I grew up with live better lives.

And so we started EdLift because we realized There were way more people who could pursue tech and be engineers, but who didn't have the support systems to help them make it through.

And Squire is a business management and point of sale software focusing on barbershops.

I'm Erica Hairston and I'm the co-founder and CEO of Edlift.

My name is Arnelle Ansong and I'm the CTO of Edlift.

Promise is a cost-effective way for people to pay off their government debt.

The most important process in deciding if you want to start a company is the self-reflection around what's important to you and what things will help you feel confident.

When I talked on the phone with Phaedra, it was just so validating to hear from this badass black woman who has created such an impactful company, that's mission-driven, creating profit in the startup world, raised venture.

She had done all of these things that I aspire to do.

My job is to like make the room wider, right?

So that we create opportunity for more people and then to shine a light in any room they're not in to talk about how remarkable they are.

It was 1 of those things that kind of shut down that nagging voice in my head that told me I couldn't do it.

And it gave me something to reach for that I could see.

If we're gonna try to spend this much money, this much time, this much energy, we wanna shift an institution that will be here long after we are.

If we're starting any company, whether that's a pizza store on the corner, or a venture-backed startup, there's always going to be risk as an entrepreneur.

We thought to ourselves if we were to quit our jobs and pursue solving this problem, how can we best set ourselves up for success?

We did research essentially on like top companies and What did they all have in common that we could make sure we had in place to make sure Edlif was successful?

The thing that we realized was the common thread around a lot of successful startups was Y Combinator.

So it just put us on a timeline of when we needed to achieve things by.

So like, okay, by this date, by demo day, we need to have the following things done.

You know, build a quick prototype of it, see if it's actually solving their problem and then iterate on it with them.

1 way we thought we could get our first users was, what if we stand outside of the classrooms of really big computer science classes on campus?

And once classes end, we'll walk up to students and kind of ask them about, you know, what's hard about your CS class?

And that is actually how we got our first like 5 to 10 students.

We would literally haul this heavy barber chair to different coworking spaces and bring the barber to the customers because we couldn't get the barber shops to use it.

And you know, we did that summer, winter, through the snow, through the mud.

I mean, it was not fun, but that's the process.

You've got to go through those early trials to make it out on the other end.

Whenever we have a problem, we know that there's someone in the YC community that we could reach out to and they would help us.

as a YC community to create space and place for people.

The more people who get involved in creating the future of technology, the more diverse solutions we will have to solve so many problems that are going unsolved now.

It's another reason I think it's very important to bring diversity and, you know, frankly, like I would like to see more successful black founders and more black founders getting funded in particular.

Because I think that in terms of looking at the racial wealth gap in this country, I think that technology could be a means to help bridge that if people are given opportunities.

You are solving a really big problem that you felt and is not being solved right now.


Speaker 0: My co-founder Dave and I didn't have any history working in the barbershop industry or in tech for that matter. Both of us had been going to barbershops for years. I started going as a kid around 6 or 7 with my dad and it was like 20 years later and the process of getting a haircut really hadn't changed at all. Very inefficient, long wait times, often a cash-based business and it seemed like software was really touching every other part of modern life except this 1 experience of getting a haircut, was being totally unaddressed.

Speaker 1: My co-founder and I, we went to high school together over a decade ago, and back then we never imagined ourselves in computer science. I never saw anyone who looked like me in computer science.

Speaker 2: I didn't see myself in that space. A lot of people just don't consider themselves quote like computer science people. And so they don't try it.

Speaker 1: However, despite that, we both ended up like pursuing CS given tons of really great mentors and ample academic support, where we ended up becoming engineers at Facebook and Google. And we realized there were so many people who were just like us, who were initially intimidated by computer science, but they never actually got the support to pursue it themselves.

Speaker 3: And so the reason I wanted to start a tech company is because I wanted to understand how could I create technology and work with others to help the people I grew up with live better lives.

Speaker 1: And so we started EdLift because we realized There were way more people who could pursue tech and be engineers, but who didn't have the support systems to help them make it through.

Speaker 0: My name is Song Laron. I'm the CEO and co-founder of Squire. And Squire is a business management and point of sale software focusing on barbershops.

Speaker 1: I'm Erica Hairston and I'm the co-founder and CEO of Edlift.

Speaker 2: My name is Arnelle Ansong and I'm the CTO of Edlift.

Speaker 3: My name is Phaedra Ellis-Lampkins. I'm the CEO and co-founder of Promise. Promise is a cost-effective way for people to pay off their government debt.

Speaker 1: The most important process in deciding if you want to start a company is the self-reflection around what's important to you and what things will help you feel confident. When I talked on the phone with Phaedra, it was just so validating to hear from this badass black woman who has created such an impactful company, that's mission-driven, creating profit in the startup world, raised venture. She had done all of these things that I aspire to do.

Speaker 3: My job is to like make the room wider, right? So that we create opportunity for more people and then to shine a light in any room they're not in to talk about how remarkable they are.

Speaker 1: It was 1 of those things that kind of shut down that nagging voice in my head that told me I couldn't do it. And it gave me something to reach for that I could see.

Speaker 3: For us, it is hard. If we're gonna try to spend this much money, this much time, this much energy, we wanna shift an institution that will be here long after we are.

Speaker 0: There is a high degree of risk. If we're starting any company, whether that's a pizza store on the corner, or a venture-backed startup, there's always going to be risk as an entrepreneur.

Speaker 1: We thought to ourselves if we were to quit our jobs and pursue solving this problem, how can we best set ourselves up for success? We did research essentially on like top companies and What did they all have in common that we could make sure we had in place to make sure Edlif was successful? The thing that we realized was the common thread around a lot of successful startups was Y Combinator.

Speaker 3: The benefit for us was structure. So it just put us on a timeline of when we needed to achieve things by. So like, okay, by this date, by demo day, we need to have the following things done.

Speaker 0: Building your MVP.

Speaker 2: You know, build a quick prototype of it, see if it's actually solving their problem and then iterate on it with them.

Speaker 1: 1 way we thought we could get our first users was, what if we stand outside of the classrooms of really big computer science classes on campus? And once classes end, we'll walk up to students and kind of ask them about, you know, what's hard about your CS class? And that is actually how we got our first like 5 to 10 students.

Speaker 0: We would literally haul this heavy barber chair to different coworking spaces and bring the barber to the customers because we couldn't get the barber shops to use it. And you know, we did that summer, winter, through the snow, through the mud. I mean, it was not fun, but that's the process. You've got to go through those early trials to make it out on the other end.

Speaker 1: Whenever we have a problem, we know that there's someone in the YC community that we could reach out to and they would help us.

Speaker 3: I think it's important for us

Speaker 1: as a YC community to create space and place for people. The more people who get involved in creating the future of technology, the more diverse solutions we will have to solve so many problems that are going unsolved now.

Speaker 0: It's another reason I think it's very important to bring diversity and, you know, frankly, like I would like to see more successful black founders and more black founders getting funded in particular. Because I think that in terms of looking at the racial wealth gap in this country, I think that technology could be a means to help bridge that if people are given opportunities.

Speaker 1: You are solving a really big problem that you felt and is not being solved right now. And the more you

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Squire, Edlyft, Promise: The Journey, Challenges, & Impact