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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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Sam Altman
Age: 39
Born: 1985
Born: April 22
Entrepreneur
Chicago
Illinois
Samuel H. Altman
Samuel Altman
Nearly
Maybe
Enough
Right
Hard
Work
Things
Focussed

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You can have a startup and one other thing, you can have a family, but you probably can't have many other things.
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I believe in fighting with investors to reduce the amount of equity they get and then being as generous as you possibly can with employees.
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One of the great and terrible things about starting a start up is that you get no credit for trying.
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Cofounder relationships are among the most important in the entire company.
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Employees will only add more value over time.
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Founders need to figure out what the message of the company is going to be.
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If it takes more than a sentence to explain what you are doing, it's almost always a sign that what you are doing is too complicated.
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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.
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Because it's one of these sort of connections between nodes- every pair of people adds communication overhead.
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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.
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We talk to a team they've gotten new things done, that's the best predictor we have that a company will be successful.
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When lack of structure fails, it fails all at once. What works totally fine from 0-20 employees, is disastrous at 30.
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Remember that the idea will expand, and become more ambitious as you go.
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You want to sound crazy, but you want to actually be right.
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You need conviction in your own beliefs, and the willingness to ignore others naysaying.
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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 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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No matter what you choose, build stuff and be around smart people.
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