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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

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Sam Altman
Age: 39
Born: 1985
Born: April 22
Entrepreneur
Chicago
Illinois
Samuel H. Altman
Samuel Altman
Worst
Hard
Pivot
Thing
Babies
Trying
Conviction
Fully
Kill
Baby
Bits

More quotes by Sam Altman

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Mediocre founders spend a lot of time talking about grand plans, but they never quite make a decision.
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One thing that founders always underestimate is how hard it is to recruit.
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Because so few people make an actual long term commitment to what they're building, the ones that do have a huge advantage.
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The way to have a company that executes well is you have to execute well yourself.
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The startups that do well are the ones that are working all the time.
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It really is true that you become an average of the people you spend the most time with.
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Long term thinking is so rare anywhere, but especially in startups. This is a huge advantage if you do it.
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You're saying no ninety-seven times out of a hundred, and most founders find they have to make a very conscious effort to do this.
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The single word that matters most I think to keep the company productive as it grows is alignment.
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The role of the board is advice and consent. If the CEO does not lay out a clear strategy and tries to get the board to set one, it will usually end in disaster.
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Some day everyone will find out everyone else's comp, if it's all over the place, it will be a complete meltdown disaster
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Unpopular but right is what you're going for.
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It's easy to move fast or be obsessed with quality, but the trick is you have to do both at a startup.
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Most of the best hires that I've made in my entire life have never done that thing before.
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The most common post YC failure case for the companies we fund, is they're incredibly focussed during YC on their company... and after they start doing a lot of other things. They advise companies, they go to conferences, whatever.
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In the early stage of a startup, hiring senior people is usually a mistake. You just want people that get stuff done.
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... the thing we see wrong with YC apps most frequently, is that people have not thought about the market first and what people want first.
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No growth hack, brilliant marketing idea, or sales team can save you long term if you don't have a sufficiently good product.
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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.
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Starting a business is like riding a wave between life and death. If you can hang on long enough, you're bound to succeed
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