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The role of the board is advice and consent. If the CEO does not lay out a clear strategy and tries to get the board to set one, it will usually end in disaster.

Sam Altman

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Sam Altman
Age: 39
Born: 1985
Born: April 22
Entrepreneur
Chicago
Illinois
Samuel H. Altman
Samuel Altman
Advice
Consent
Usually
Board
Roles
Tries
Clear
Boards
Ends
Disaster
Doe
Lays
Trying
Strategy
Role
Ceo

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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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As you grow, it feels hopelessly corporate but it really is worth putting in place these compensation bands.
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Great execution towards a terrible idea will get you nowhere.
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Don't let the company get distracted or excited about other things. A common mistake is that companies get excited by their own PR.
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Because so few people make an actual long term commitment to what they're building, the ones that do have a huge advantage.
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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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The most important thing is that there is clear reporting structure and everyone knows what it is.
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You need conviction in your own beliefs, and the willingness to ignore others naysaying.
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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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If it works out, you're going to be working on this for 10 years.
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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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If you pivot, do it fully and with conviction. The worst thing is to try to do a bit of the old and the new-it's hard to kill your babies.
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Why now, why is this the perfect time for this particular idea, and to start this particular company?
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Cofounder relationships are among the most important in the entire company.
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You cannot create a market that doesn't want to exist.
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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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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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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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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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