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Before product/market fit, your only job that matters is to build a great product.

Sam Altman

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Sam Altman
Age: 39
Born: 1985
Born: April 22
Entrepreneur
Chicago
Illinois
Samuel H. Altman
Samuel Altman
Fit
Matters
Market
Build
Products
Jobs
Matter
Great
Product

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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.
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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.
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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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You need to have a culture where people have very high quality standards in everything the company does, but still move quickly.
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At the beginning, you should only hire when you have a desperate need to.
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As you grow, it feels hopelessly corporate but it really is worth putting in place these compensation bands.
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In the beginning of a company, there is no management and this actually works really well.
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... for the top twenty most valuable YC companies, all of them have at least two founders.
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We talk to a team they've gotten new things done, that's the best predictor we have that a company will be successful.
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Most investors are obsessed with the market size today and they don't think about how the market is going to evolve.
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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.
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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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If you don't need it yourself, and you're building something that someone else needs, realize you're at a big disadvantage.
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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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The cost of getting an early hire wrong is really high.
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As the company grows and about this 25 or so employee size, your main job shifts from building a great product to building a great company.
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One thing that founders always underestimate is how hard it is to recruit.
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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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You should think about for the next 10 years, you're going to be giving out 3-5% of the company every year.
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