Quote

The natural state of a start-up is to die most start-ups require multiple miracles in their early days to escape this fate.

Sam Altman

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Sam Altman
Age: 39
Born: 1985
Born: April 22
Entrepreneur
Chicago
Illinois
Samuel H. Altman
Samuel Altman
Natural
Escape
States
Miracle
Fate
Early
Days
Start
Miracles
Dies
Multiple
State
Require

More quotes by Sam Altman

Image
For most software startups, this translates to keep growing. For hardware startups, it translates to don't let your ship date slip.
Sam Altman
Image
If someone is getting every decision wrong, that's when you need to act, and at that point it'll be painfully aware to everyone.
Sam Altman
Image
When it comes to starting startups, in many ways, it's easier to start a hard startup than an easy startup.
Sam Altman
Image
Everyone starting a startup for the first time is scared, and everyone feels like a bit of an imposter.
Sam Altman
Image
At the beginning, you should only hire when you have a desperate need to.
Sam Altman
Image
In the early stage of a startup, hiring senior people is usually a mistake. You just want people that get stuff done.
Sam Altman
Image
AirBnB spent 5 months interviewing their first employee, before they hired someone and in their first year, they only hired 2 people.
Sam Altman
Image
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.
Sam Altman
Image
Move fast. Speed is one of your main advantages over large companies.
Sam Altman
Image
Unpopular but right is what you're going for.
Sam Altman
Image
Because it's one of these sort of connections between nodes- every pair of people adds communication overhead.
Sam Altman
Image
Or a way to stay on strangers couches, that just sounds terrible all around.
Sam Altman
Image
A small communication breakdown is enough for everyone to be working on slightly different things. And then you loose focus.
Sam Altman
Image
If you want something in a deal, just ask for it.
Sam Altman
Image
As the company grows and about this 25 or so employee size, your main job shifts from building a great product to building a great company.
Sam Altman
Image
So it's worth some real up front time to think through the long term value and the defensibility of the business.
Sam Altman
Image
You don't need to make the structure complicated, in fact you shouldn't. All you need is for every employee to know who their manager is.
Sam Altman
Image
You have to be decisive. Indecisiveness is a startup killer.
Sam Altman
Image
If you have several ideas that all seem pretty good, work on the one that you think about, when you're not trying to think about work.
Sam Altman
Image
You have to let your team get all the credit for all the good stuff that happens, and you take responsibility for the bad stuff.
Sam Altman