Samuel H. "Sam" Altman (born April 22, 1985) is an American entrepreneur, investor, programmer, and blogger. He is the president of Y Combinator and co-chairman of OpenAI.
We've seen a lot of data at YC now, and the most successful companies and the ones where the investors do the best. . . end up giving a lot of stock out to employees- year after year after year.
A related advantage of mission oriented ideas, is that you yourself will be dedicated to them.
Obsess about the quality of the product.
For most of the early hires you make in a startup, experience doesn't matter very much, and you should go for aptitude.
It's become popular in recent years to say that the idea doesn't matter.
More important than starting any startup, is getting to know a lot of potential co-founders.
Most investors are obsessed with the market size today and they don't think about how the market is going to evolve.
You have to be intense. This only comes from the CEO, this only comes from the founders.
Long term thinking is so rare anywhere, but especially in startups. This is a huge advantage if you do it.
Good startups usually take 10 years.
You have to find a small market in which you can get a monopoly and then quickly expand.
If you compromise and hire someone mediocre you will always regret it.
Stay focused and don't try to do too many things at once. Care about execution quality.
Aim to be the best in the world at whatever you do professionally. Even if you miss, you'll probably end up in a pretty good place.
Press releases are easier to write than code, and that is still easier than making a great product.
Firing people is one of the worst parts of running a company. Actually in my own experience, I think it is the worst.
If you pivot, do it fully and with conviction. The worst thing is to try to do a bit of the old and the new-it's hard to kill your babies.
You need this sort of a tailwind to make a startup successful.
A lot of people treat choosing their cofounder with even less importance than they put on hiring. Don't do this.
It's difficult to get large groups of people, to the extreme levels of focus and productivity that you need, for a startup to be successful.