The thing that kills startups at some level, is the founders giving up. — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
It's better to have no cofounder than to have a bad cofounder, but it's still bad to be a solo founder. — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
Whatever the founder cares about, whatever the founders think are the key goals, that's going to be what the whole company focusses… — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
We hear again and again from founders, that they wish they had waited to start a startup until they came up with… — 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
1 of the hardest parts about being a founder, is that there are a 100 important things competing for your attention each day. — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
Founders are usually very stingy with equity to employees and very generous with equity to investors. I think this is totally backwards. — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
You're saying no ninety-seven times out of a hundred, and most founders find they have to make a very conscious effort to… — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
We pretty much won't fund a company now where the founders don't have vested equity because it's just that hard to do. — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
In the early days of a startup, people's compensation is whatever you negotiate with a founder and it's all over the place. — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
Founders need to figure out what the message of the company is going to be. — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
More important than starting any startup, is getting to know a lot of potential co-founders. — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
Mediocre founders spend a lot of time talking about grand plans, but they never quite make a decision. — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
One thing that founders always underestimate is how hard it is to recruit. — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
You have to be intense. This only comes from the CEO, this only comes from the founders. — 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
What being a founder means, is signing up for this years long grind on execution - and you can't outsource this. — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
... for the top twenty most valuable YC companies, all of them have at least two founders. — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
I think the best thing you can do is be aware that as a first time founder you are likely to be… — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
Most founders have not managed people before, and they certainly haven't managed managers. — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
Every thing at a startup gets modeled after the founders. Whatever the founders do becomes the culture. — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
Most good founders that I know at any given time have a set of small overarching goals for the company that everybody… — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
Really dig into projects people have worked on and call references; that is another thing that first time founders like to skip. — 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 Image
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 Image
You're either not hiring at all or it's probably your single biggest block of time. — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
The thing that kills startups at some level, is the founders giving up. — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
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 Image
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 Image
Startups are not the best choice for work-life balance, and that's sort of just the sad reality. — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
