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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
Trick
Unfortunately
Tricks
Great
Execution

More quotes by Sam Altman

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Later, you should learn to hire fast and scale up the company, but in the early days the goal should be not to hire. Not to hire.
Sam Altman
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In general, it's best if you're building something that you yourself need.
Sam Altman
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Be suspicious of any work that is not building product or getting customers. It's easy to get sucked into an infrastructure rewrite death spiral.
Sam Altman
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You think you have this great idea that everyone's going to come join, but that's not how it works.
Sam Altman
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The cost of getting an early hire wrong is really high.
Sam Altman
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It really is true that you become an average of the people you spend the most time with.
Sam Altman
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Growth and momentum are what a startup lives on and you always have to focus on maintaining these.
Sam Altman
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... for the top twenty most valuable YC companies, all of them have at least two founders.
Sam Altman
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In the beginning of a company, there is no management and this actually works really well.
Sam Altman
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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
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Most startups are not nearly focussed enough. They work hard...maybe, but they don't work hard on the right things.
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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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.
Sam Altman
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Remember that the idea will expand, and become more ambitious as you go.
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.
Sam Altman
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Be suspicious of any work that is not building product or getting customers.
Sam Altman
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Founders need to figure out what the message of the company is going to be.
Sam Altman
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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
Sam Altman
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You should always know how you're doing against your metrics. You should always have a weekly review meeting every week.
Sam Altman
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One thing that founders forget is that after they hire employees, they have to retain them.
Sam Altman