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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.

Sam Altman

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Sam Altman
Age: 39
Born: 1985
Born: April 22
Entrepreneur
Chicago
Illinois
Samuel H. Altman
Samuel Altman
Trick
Tricks
Obsessed
Fast
Move
Quality
Moving
Easy

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 track record for founders that don't already know each other is really bad.
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In the beginning of a company, there is no management and this actually works really well.
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You don't get to make their decisions but you do get to choose the decision makers.
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I think as a rough estimate, you should aim to give about 10% of the company to the first 10 employees.
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If you compromise in the first five, ten hires it might kill the company.
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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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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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The company just needs to see you as like this maniacal execution machine.
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You can basically change everything in a startup but the market.
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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.
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Every company has a rocky beginning.
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Why now, why is this the perfect time for this particular idea, and to start this particular company?
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The thing that kills startups at some level, is the founders giving up.
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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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Unfortunately the trick to great execution is to say no a lot.
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Employees will only add more value over time.
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You should think about for the next 10 years, you're going to be giving out 3-5% of the company every year.
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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.
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What being a founder means, is signing up for this years long grind on execution - and you can't outsource this.
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