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Mediocre founders spend a lot of time talking about grand plans, but they never quite make a decision.

Sam Altman

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Sam Altman
Age: 39
Born: 1985
Born: April 22
Entrepreneur
Chicago
Illinois
Samuel H. Altman
Samuel Altman
Never
Mediocre
Time
Grand
Spend
Plans
Quite
Decision
Talking
Make
Founders

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You need this sort of a tailwind to make a startup successful.
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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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Great execution towards a terrible idea will get you nowhere.
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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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A single mediocre hire in the first five will often in fact kill a startup.
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If you compromise in the first five, ten hires it might kill the company.
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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
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One thing that founders forget is that after they hire employees, they have to retain them.
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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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In general, it's best if you're building something that you yourself need.
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The best ideas often look terrible at the beginning the truly good ideas, don't seem like they're worth stealing.
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At the beginning, you should only hire when you have a desperate need to.
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In YC's case, the number one cause of early death for startups is cofounder blowups.
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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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