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Companies that I've been very involved with, that have had a very bad first hire in the first 3 or so employees never recover from it.

Sam Altman

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Sam Altman
Age: 39
Born: 1985
Born: April 22
Entrepreneur
Chicago
Illinois
Samuel H. Altman
Samuel Altman
Company
Firsts
Recover
First
Employees
Never
Hire
Employee
Companies
Involved
Team

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One thing that founders forget is that after they hire employees, they have to retain them.
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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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If you want something in a deal, just ask for it.
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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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Mediocre founders spend a lot of time talking about grand plans, but they never quite make a decision.
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Most of the best hires that I've made in my entire life have never done that thing before.
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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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... you want to be proud of how much you can get done with a small numbers of employees.
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Move fast. Speed is one of your main advantages over large companies.
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In YC's case, the number one cause of early death for startups is cofounder blowups.
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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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You can basically change everything in a startup but the market.
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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.
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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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