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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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In general, it's best if you're building something that you yourself need.
Sam Altman
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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
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The most important thing is that there is clear reporting structure and everyone knows what it is.
Sam Altman
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... but actually it sucks to have a lot of employees, and you should be proud of how few employees you have.
Sam Altman
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Unpopular but right is what you're going for.
Sam Altman
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Most good founders that I know at any given time have a set of small overarching goals for the company that everybody in the company knows.
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Startups are not the best choice for work-life balance, and that's sort of just the sad reality.
Sam Altman
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Mediocre founders spend a lot of time talking about grand plans, but they never quite make a decision.
Sam Altman
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One thing that founders always underestimate is how hard it is to recruit.
Sam Altman
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Whatever the founder cares about, whatever the founders think are the key goals, that's going to be what the whole company focusses on.
Sam Altman
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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.
Sam Altman
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No matter what you choose, build stuff and be around smart people.
Sam Altman
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The single word that matters most I think to keep the company productive as it grows is alignment.
Sam Altman
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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.
Sam Altman
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You really want to know your cofounders for a while, ideally years.
Sam Altman
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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.
Sam Altman
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Growth and momentum are what a startup lives on and you always have to focus on maintaining these.
Sam Altman
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At the beginning, you should only hire when you have a desperate need to.
Sam Altman
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If it works out, you're going to be working on this for 10 years.
Sam Altman
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I really believe that the single hardest thing in business is building a company that does repeatable innovation... and just has this ongoing culture of excellence as it grows.
Sam Altman