Quote

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
Execution
Trick
Unfortunately
Tricks
Great

More quotes by Sam Altman

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... how much time you should be spending on hiring? The answer is 0 or 25 percent.
Sam Altman
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... fire fast when it's not working. It's better for the company, it's also better for the employee.
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Employees will only add more value over time.
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If you don't need it yourself, and you're building something that someone else needs, realize you're at a big disadvantage.
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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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When it comes to starting startups, in many ways, it's easier to start a hard startup than an easy startup.
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The way to have a company that executes well is you have to execute well yourself.
Sam Altman
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1 of the hardest parts about being a founder, is that there are a 100 important things competing for your attention each day.
Sam Altman
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Most of the best hires that I've made in my entire life have never done that thing before.
Sam Altman
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Developing a personal connection with anyone you're trying to do a big deal with is really important.
Sam Altman
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You need to figure out what the 2 or 3 most important things are, and then just do those.
Sam Altman
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I really believe that the single hardest thing in business is building a company that does repeatable innovation... and just has this ongoing culture of excellence as it grows.
Sam Altman
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At the beginning, you should only hire when you have a desperate need to.
Sam Altman
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If you compromise and hire someone mediocre you will always regret it.
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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.
Sam Altman
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... and you can only have 2 or 3 things everyday, because everything else will just come at you you know fires in a day.
Sam Altman
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Don't let the company get distracted or excited about other things. A common mistake is that companies get excited by their own PR.
Sam Altman
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One of the biggest advantages that start ups have is execution speed and you have to have this relentless operating rhythm.
Sam Altman
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To get the very best people- they have a lot of great options, and so it can easily take a year to recruit someone.
Sam Altman
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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.
Sam Altman