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You have to be decisive. Indecisiveness is a startup killer.

Sam Altman

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Sam Altman
Age: 39
Born: 1985
Born: April 22
Entrepreneur
Chicago
Illinois
Samuel H. Altman
Samuel Altman
Killers
Indecisiveness
Decisive
Killer

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A small communication breakdown is enough for everyone to be working on slightly different things. And then you loose focus.
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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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The track record for founders that don't already know each other is really bad.
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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.
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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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The second part of how to hire: try not to.
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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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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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So always keep momentum, it's this prime directive for managing a startup.
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No growth hack, brilliant marketing idea, or sales team can save you long term if you don't have a sufficiently good product.
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You need conviction in your own beliefs, and the willingness to ignore others naysaying.
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Losing focus is another way that founders get off track.
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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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You also want to fire people who a) create office politics, and b) who are persistently negative.
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Employees will only add more value over time.
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In YC's case, the number one cause of early death for startups is cofounder blowups.
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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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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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As you grow, it feels hopelessly corporate but it really is worth putting in place these compensation bands.
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The way to have a company that executes well is you have to execute well yourself.
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