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Unfortunately the trick to great execution is to say no a lot.

Sam Altman

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Sam Altman
Age: 39
Born: 1985
Born: April 22
Entrepreneur
Chicago
Illinois
Samuel H. Altman
Samuel Altman
Unfortunately
Tricks
Great
Execution
Trick

More quotes by Sam Altman

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Firing people is one of the worst parts of running a company. Actually in my own experience, I think it is the worst.
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The way to have a company that executes well is you have to execute well yourself.
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You only get points when you make something the market wants. So if you work really hard on the wrong things, no one will care.
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The second part of how to hire: try not to.
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Before product/market fit, your only job that matters is to build a great product.
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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.
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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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Founders are usually very stingy with equity to employees and very generous with equity to investors. I think this is totally backwards.
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The company just needs to see you as like this maniacal execution machine.
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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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One thing I tell startups all the time is that the best way to grow is to make their product better.
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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.
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Most good founders that I know at any given time have a set of small overarching goals for the company that everybody in the company knows.
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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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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.
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A single mediocre hire in the first five will often in fact kill a startup.
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Everyone starting a startup for the first time is scared, and everyone feels like a bit of an imposter.
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Startups are not the best choice for work-life balance, and that's sort of just the sad reality.
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For most software startups, this translates to keep growing. For hardware startups, it translates to don't let your ship date slip.
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The best people know that they should join a rocketship.
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