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The track record for founders that don't already know each other is really bad.

Sam Altman

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Sam Altman
Age: 39
Born: 1985
Born: April 22
Entrepreneur
Chicago
Illinois
Samuel H. Altman
Samuel Altman
Already
Team
Really
Founders
Track
Record
Records

More quotes by Sam Altman

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One thing that founders forget is that after they hire employees, they have to retain them.
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The startups that do well are the ones that are working all the time.
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You think you have this great idea that everyone's going to come join, but that's not how it works.
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You certainly don't need to have everything figured out in the path from here to world domination.
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Growth and momentum are what a startup lives on and you always have to focus on maintaining these.
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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.
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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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Long term thinking is so rare anywhere, but especially in startups. This is a huge advantage if you do it.
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Another way of looking at this, is that the best companies are almost always mission oriented.
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Starting a business is like riding a wave between life and death. If you can hang on long enough, you're bound to succeed
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Ideas by themselves are not worth anything, only executing well is what creates value.
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You need conviction in your own beliefs, and the willingness to ignore others naysaying.
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Developing a personal connection with anyone you're trying to do a big deal with is really important.
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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 though, if you look at the track record of pivots, they don't become big companies.
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The second part of how to hire: try not to.
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The most common post YC failure case for the companies we fund, is they're incredibly focussed during YC on their company... and after they start doing a lot of other things. They advise companies, they go to conferences, whatever.
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The best people know that they should join a rocketship.
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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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When lack of structure fails, it fails all at once. What works totally fine from 0-20 employees, is disastrous at 30.
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