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... the thing we see wrong with YC apps most frequently, is that people have not thought about the market first and what people want first.

Sam Altman

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Sam Altman
Age: 39
Born: 1985
Born: April 22
Entrepreneur
Chicago
Illinois
Samuel H. Altman
Samuel Altman
Wrong
Thought
Firsts
First
Thing
People
Apps
Frequently
Market

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Some day everyone will find out everyone else's comp, if it's all over the place, it will be a complete meltdown disaster
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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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Startups are very hard no matter what you do you may as well go after a big opportunity.
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Aim to be the best in the world at whatever you do professionally. Even if you miss, you'll probably end up in a pretty good place.
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I think as a rough estimate, you should aim to give about 10% of the company to the first 10 employees.
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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.
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No matter what you choose, build stuff and be around smart people.
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You should be able to describe any employee as an animal at what they do.
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Unpopular but right is what you're going for.
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The single word that matters most I think to keep the company productive as it grows is alignment.
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Developing a personal connection with anyone you're trying to do a big deal with is really important.
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Obsess about the quality of the product.
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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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A single mediocre hire in the first five will often in fact kill a startup.
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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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You want to sound crazy, but you want to actually be right.
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You have to be decisive. Indecisiveness is a startup killer.
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For most of the early hires you make in a startup, experience doesn't matter very much, and you should go for aptitude.
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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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