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Founders are usually very stingy with equity to employees and very generous with equity to investors. I think this is totally backwards.

Sam Altman

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Sam Altman
Age: 39
Born: 1985
Born: April 22
Entrepreneur
Chicago
Illinois
Samuel H. Altman
Samuel Altman
Employee
Generous
Totally
Stingy
Usually
Equity
Team
Employees
Think
Founders
Thinking
Backwards
Investors

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As the company grows and about this 25 or so employee size, your main job shifts from building a great product to building a great company.
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Obsess about the quality of the product.
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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.
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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.
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You cannot create a market that doesn't want to exist.
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For most software startups, this translates to keep growing. For hardware startups, it translates to don't let your ship date slip.
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Founders need to figure out what the message of the company is going to be.
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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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So it's worth some real up front time to think through the long term value and the defensibility of the business.
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So you should always stay on top of people's vesting schedules.
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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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... you can think about that for everyone you hire: will I bet the future of this company on this single hire? And that's a tough bar.
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Remember that the idea will expand, and become more ambitious as you go.
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Press releases are easier to write than code, and that is still easier than making a great product.
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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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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.
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A small communication breakdown is enough for everyone to be working on slightly different things. And then you loose focus.
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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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One thing that founders forget is that after they hire employees, they have to retain them.
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Great execution towards a terrible idea will get you nowhere.
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