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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
Talking
Make
Founders
Never
Mediocre
Time
Grand
Spend
Plans
Quite
Decision

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One of the biggest advantages that start ups have is execution speed and you have to have this relentless operating rhythm.
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Don't let the company get distracted or excited about other things. A common mistake is that companies get excited by their own PR.
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... but the pendulum has swung way out of whack here. A bad idea is still bad, and the pivot happy world we're in today feels suboptimal.
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The best people know that they should join a rocketship.
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... you want to be proud of how much you can get done with a small numbers of employees.
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Or a way to stay on strangers couches, that just sounds terrible all around.
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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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In general, it's best if you're building something that you yourself need.
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The most important thing is that there is clear reporting structure and everyone knows what it is.
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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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The other piece besides focus for execution is intensity. Startups only work at a fairly intense level.
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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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If you want something in a deal, just ask for it.
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In addition to relentlessly resourceful, you want a tough and a calm cofounder.
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... the thing we see wrong with YC apps most frequently, is that people have not thought about the market first and what people want first.
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Most investors are obsessed with the market size today and they don't think about how the market is going to evolve.
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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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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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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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