You should be able to describe any employee as an animal at what they do. — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
The track record for founders that don't already know each other is really bad. — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
A single mediocre hire in the first five will often in fact kill a startup. — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
You're either not hiring at all or it's probably your single biggest block of time. — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
If you compromise in the first five, ten hires it might kill the company. — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
Firing people is one of the worst parts of running a company. Actually in my own experience, I think it is the… — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
A lot of people treat choosing their cofounder with even less importance than they put on hiring. Don't do this. — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
... if you talk to say any of the first 40 or 50 employees, they all feel like they were a part… — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
You also want to fire people who a) create office politics, and b) who are persistently negative. — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
People that are really smart and that can learn new things can almost always find a role in the company as time… — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
... but actually it sucks to have a lot of employees, and you should be proud of how few employees you have. — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
... you can think about that for everyone you hire: will I bet the future of this company on this single hire?… — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
If someone is getting every decision wrong, that's when you need to act, and at that point it'll be painfully aware to… — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
In addition to relentlessly resourceful, you want a tough and a calm cofounder. — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
For early employees you want people that have somewhat of a risk-taking attitude. — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
In YC's case, the number one cause of early death for startups is cofounder blowups. — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
One thing that founders always underestimate is how hard it is to recruit. — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
... We probably funded a rate of something like one out of ten solo teams. — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
Cofounder relationships are among the most important in the entire company. — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
You need unstoppable people. You want people that are just going to get it done. — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
You don't get to make their decisions but you do get to choose the decision makers. — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
... how much time you should be spending on hiring? The answer is 0 or 25 percent. — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
At the beginning, you should only hire when you have a desperate need to. — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
If you're not in college and you don't know a cofounder, the next best thing I think is to go work at… — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
I believe in fighting with investors to reduce the amount of equity they get and then being as generous as you possibly… — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
Many of the best YC companies have had phenomenally small number of employees for their first year, sometimes none besides the founders. — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
Later, you should learn to hire fast and scale up the company, but in the early days the goal should be not… — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
If someone is difficult to talk to, if someone cannot communicate clearly, it's a real problem in terms of their likelihood to… — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
You think you have this great idea that everyone's going to come join, but that's not how it works. — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
One thing that founders forget is that after they hire employees, they have to retain them. — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
One of the pieces of advice that we give at YC is: try to work together on a project rather than just… — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
One thing I tell startups all the time is that the best way to grow is to make their product better. — Sam Altman Copy Share
A winning team feels good and keeps winning. A team that hasn't won in a while gets demotivated and keeps losing. — Sam Altman Copy Share
You're either not hiring at all or it's probably your single biggest block of time. — Sam Altman Copy Share
Execution gets divided into two key questions: 1) can you figure out what to do and 2) can you get it done. — Sam Altman Copy Share
I prefer to invest in a company that's going after a small but rapidly growing market than a big but slow growing one. — Sam Altman Copy Share
Startups are not the best choice for work-life balance, and that's sort of just the sad reality. — Sam Altman Copy Share
One of the biggest advantages that start ups have is execution speed and you have to have this relentless operating rhythm. — Sam Altman Copy Share
One of the keys to focus, and why I said cofounders that aren't friends really struggle, is that you can't be focused without good… — Sam Altman Copy Share
Startups are very hard no matter what you do; you may as well go after a big opportunity. — Sam Altman Copy Share
