Sam Altman
Sam Altman
Samuel H. "Sam" Altmanis an American entrepreneur, programmer, venture capitalist and blogger. He is the president of Y Combinator and co-chairman of OpenAI...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBusinessman
CountryUnited States of America
momentum prime
So always keep momentum, it's this prime directive for managing a startup.
team solo founders
It's better to have no cofounder than to have a bad cofounder, but it's still bad to be a solo founder.
team college thinking
If you're not in college and you don't know a cofounder, the next best thing I think is to go work at an interesting company.
team track records
The track record for founders that don't already know each other is really bad.
team people treats
A lot of people treat choosing their cofounder with even less importance than they put on hiring. Don't do this.
team numbers causes
In YC's case, the number one cause of early death for startups is cofounder blowups.
team important company
Cofounder relationships are among the most important in the entire company.
writing easier release
Press releases are easier to write than code, and that is still easier than making a great product.
real worry thumbs
Here's a good rule of thumb: don't worry about a competitor at all, until they're actually beating you with a real shipped product.
momentum competitors one-thing
One thing that often disrupts momentum and really shouldn't is competitors.
winning vision speech
You have to save the vision speeches for when the company is winning. When you're not winning, you just have to get momentum back...
team phrases resourceful
At YC we have this public phrase, and it's relentlessly resourceful.
team firsts employee
... if you talk to say any of the first 40 or 50 employees, they all feel like they were a part of the founding of the company.
effort saying-no seven
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.