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You don't get to make their decisions but you do get to choose the decision makers.

Sam Altman

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Sam Altman
Age: 39
Born: 1985
Born: April 22
Entrepreneur
Chicago
Illinois
Samuel H. Altman
Samuel Altman
Makers
Decisions
Choose
Team
Decision
Make

More quotes by Sam Altman

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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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If you want something in a deal, just ask for it.
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The other piece besides focus for execution is intensity. Startups only work at a fairly intense level.
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A board member of mine used to say sales fix everything in a startup, and that is really true.
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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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1 of the hardest parts about being a founder, is that there are a 100 important things competing for your attention each day.
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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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Most startups are not nearly focussed enough. They work hard...maybe, but they don't work hard on the right things.
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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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Growth and momentum are what a startup lives on and you always have to focus on maintaining these.
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What being a founder means, is signing up for this years long grind on execution - and you can't outsource this.
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... for the top twenty most valuable YC companies, all of them have at least two founders.
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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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You cannot create a market that doesn't want to exist.
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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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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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In the beginning of a company, there is no management and this actually works really well.
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You can have a startup and one other thing, you can have a family, but you probably can't have many other things.
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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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One thing I tell startups all the time is that the best way to grow is to make their product better.
Sam Altman