This Is How You Should Actually Make Launch Videos

There’s a misconception that a successful launch video needs to cost tens of thousands of dollars and feel like a high production commercial. But Farza Majeed has a radically different approach. Farza is the founder of Hey Clicky and previously Buildspace, one of the largest online schools for people building their own ideas. He’s been making videos for over a decade and his posts regularly get millions of views. He’s found a way to turn launch videos into an everyday part of his process and today he’s going to share his playbook. In this episode of Startup School, Farza sat down with YC’s Aaron Epstein to break down why every demo should be treated as a launch, how to script a video that sounds completely off the cuff, and which channels actually convert - including why a 20,000-view YouTube video can beat 3 million views on Twitter. Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply Work at a startup: https://www.ycombinator.com/jobs Chapters: 00:00 - A different approach to launching 02:56 - Demos, not launches 04:35 - The Hey Clicky launch video 06:58 - Why views don't matter 08:34 - The "did my eyes stop" test 09:58 - Scripting videos that sound unscripted 12:14 - The screen-aware dictation video 14:01 - "The worst video we've ever done" 17:25 - The Zip School videos that got 23 likes 20:30 - The 21 million view video 22:15 - Studying Reels for templates 24:53 - "Everything we built this week" 28:11 - You have to be cringe first 31:02 - Which channels actually convert 33:21 - Making videos for Twitter vs. Instagram 35:20 - The no-hands video 37:07 - Beats, not cuts 39:01 - Why the first hire was a filmmaker 40:49 - The gear, and why audio matters most 42:31 - The most important part of the stack is a person 45:41 - The 30-day challenge for the audience