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A board member of mine used to say sales fix everything in a startup, and that is really true.

Sam Altman

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Sam Altman
Age: 39
Born: 1985
Born: April 22
Entrepreneur
Chicago
Illinois
Samuel H. Altman
Samuel Altman
Members
True
Used
Sales
Everything
Board
Really
Boards
Member
Mines
Mine

More quotes by Sam Altman

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You can create value with breakthrough innovation, incremental refinement, or complex coordination. Great companies often do two of these. The very best companies do all three.
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You don't need to make the structure complicated, in fact you shouldn't. All you need is for every employee to know who their manager is.
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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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You need unstoppable people. You want people that are just going to get it done.
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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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Most founders have not managed people before, and they certainly haven't managed managers.
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... you want to be proud of how much you can get done with a small numbers of employees.
Sam Altman
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The biggest PR hack you can do, is not hire a PR firm.
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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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You also want to fire people who a) create office politics, and b) who are persistently negative.
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Momentum and growth are the lifeblood of startups. This is probably in the top three secrets of executing well.
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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.
Sam Altman
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You need to have a culture where people have very high quality standards in everything the company does, but still move quickly.
Sam Altman
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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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Move fast. Speed is one of your main advantages over large companies.
Sam Altman
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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.
Sam Altman
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If you want something in a deal, just ask for it.
Sam Altman
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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.
Sam Altman
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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.
Sam Altman
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Aim to be the best in the world at whatever you do professionally. Even if you miss, you'll probably end up in a pretty good place.
Sam Altman