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If you have several ideas that all seem pretty good, work on the one that you think about, when you're not trying to think about work.

Sam Altman

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Sam Altman
Age: 39
Born: 1985
Born: April 22
Entrepreneur
Chicago
Illinois
Samuel H. Altman
Samuel Altman
Good
Think
Several
Thinking
Seem
Pretty
Seems
Ideas
Trying
Work

More quotes by Sam Altman

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The natural state of a start-up is to die most start-ups require multiple miracles in their early days to escape this fate.
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The thing that kills startups at some level, is the founders giving up.
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It really is true that you become an average of the people you spend the most time with.
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You're saying no ninety-seven times out of a hundred, and most founders find they have to make a very conscious effort to do this.
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Unpopular but right is what you're going for.
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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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The most common post YC failure case for the companies we fund, is they're incredibly focussed during YC on their company... and after they start doing a lot of other things. They advise companies, they go to conferences, whatever.
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... for the top twenty most valuable YC companies, all of them have at least two founders.
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The biggest PR hack you can do, is not hire a PR firm.
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If someone is getting every decision wrong, that's when you need to act, and at that point it'll be painfully aware to everyone.
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... fire fast when it's not working. It's better for the company, it's also better for the employee.
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In general though, if you look at the track record of pivots, they don't become big companies.
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One thing that founders always underestimate is how hard it is to recruit.
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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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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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The company just needs to see you as like this maniacal execution machine.
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In addition to relentlessly resourceful, you want a tough and a calm cofounder.
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Firing people is one of the worst parts of running a company. Actually in my own experience, I think it is the worst.
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When lack of structure fails, it fails all at once. What works totally fine from 0-20 employees, is disastrous at 30.
Sam Altman
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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