Quote

Firing people is one of the worst parts of running a company. Actually in my own experience, I think it is the worst.

Sam Altman

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Sam Altman
Age: 39
Born: 1985
Born: April 22
Entrepreneur
Chicago
Illinois
Samuel H. Altman
Samuel Altman
Running
Think
Firing
Thinking
Parts
People
Team
Worst
Company
Actually
Experience

More quotes by Sam Altman

Image
Mediocre founders spend a lot of time talking about grand plans, but they never quite make a decision.
Sam Altman
Image
You don't get to make their decisions but you do get to choose the decision makers.
Sam Altman
Image
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
Image
... how much time you should be spending on hiring? The answer is 0 or 25 percent.
Sam Altman
Image
It really is true that you become an average of the people you spend the most time with.
Sam Altman
Image
I believe in fighting with investors to reduce the amount of equity they get and then being as generous as you possibly can with employees.
Sam Altman
Image
Unfortunately the trick to great execution is to say no a lot.
Sam Altman
Image
You only get points when you make something the market wants. So if you work really hard on the wrong things, no one will care.
Sam Altman
Image
The track record for founders that don't already know each other is really bad.
Sam Altman
Image
... but actually it sucks to have a lot of employees, and you should be proud of how few employees you have.
Sam Altman
Image
Startups are very hard no matter what you do you may as well go after a big opportunity.
Sam Altman
Image
So it's worth some real up front time to think through the long term value and the defensibility of the business.
Sam Altman
Image
One thing that founders forget is that after they hire employees, they have to retain them.
Sam Altman
Image
You have to be decisive. Indecisiveness is a startup killer.
Sam Altman
Image
Because so few people make an actual long term commitment to what they're building, the ones that do have a huge advantage.
Sam Altman
Image
You certainly don't need to have everything figured out in the path from here to world domination.
Sam Altman
Image
At the beginning, you should only hire when you have a desperate need to.
Sam Altman
Image
Most startups are not nearly focussed enough. They work hard...maybe, but they don't work hard on the right things.
Sam Altman
Image
The best ideas often look terrible at the beginning the truly good ideas, don't seem like they're worth stealing.
Sam Altman
Image
You can have a startup and one other thing, you can have a family, but you probably can't have many other things.
Sam Altman