Small-business customers are very conservative and very cheap. We don't have to explain ourselves for the most part. — Paul Graham Cheap Copy Share Image
“Don't ignore your dreams; don't work too much; say what you think; cultivate friendships; be happy.” — Paul Graham Dream Copy Share Image
One startup I dream of funding is the one that kills the record companies. — Paul Graham Business Copy Share Image
You know your business model is broken when you're suing your customers. — Paul Graham Broken Copy Share Image
“To be happy I think you have to be doing something you not only enjoy, but admire.” — Paul Graham Admire Copy Share Image
“It’s hard to do a really good job on anything you don’t think about in the shower.” — Paul Graham Good job Copy Share Image
If you really understand something, you can say it in the fewest words, instead of thrashing about. — Paul Graham About Copy Share Image
“If you can’t find ten Lisp hackers, then your company is probably based in the wrong city for developing software” — Paul Graham Cybersecurity Copy Share Image
“If a writer rewrites an essay, people who read the new version are unlikely to complain that their thoughts have been broken… — Paul Graham Humor Copy Share Image
“Object-oriented programming offers a sustainable way to write spaghetti code. It lets you accrete programs as a series of patches.” — Paul Graham Programming Copy Share Image
“Few smart kids can spare the attention that popularity requires. Unless they also happen to be good-looking, natural athletes, or siblings of… — Paul Graham Nerds Copy Share Image
“In practice I think it’s easier to see ugliness than to imagine beauty. Most of the people who’ve made beautiful things seem… — Paul Graham Beauty Copy Share Image
“Being strong-willed is not enough, however. You also have to be hard on yourself. Someone who was strong-willed but self-indulgent would not… — Paul Graham Determination Copy Share Image
“Just fix things that seem broken, regardless of whether it seems likes the problem is important enough to build a company on.” — Paul Graham Broken Copy Share Image
“The phrase “personal computer” is part of the language now, but when it was first used it had a deliberately audacious sound,… — Paul Graham Computers Copy Share Image
Everyone by now presumably knows about the danger of premature optimization. I think we should be just as worried about premature design… — Paul Graham About Copy Share Image
“You might find contradictory taboos. In one culture it might seem shocking to think x, while in another it was shocking not… — Paul Graham Shocking Think Copy Share Image
“At every period of history, people have believed things that were just ridiculous, and believed them so strongly that you risked ostracism… — Paul Graham Beliefs Copy Share Image
“Let's start with a test: Do you have any opinions that you would be reluctant to express in front of a group… — Paul Graham Think Copy Share Image
If you imagine someone with 100 percent determination and 100 percent intelligence, you can discard a lot of intelligence before they stop… — Paul Graham Before Copy Share Image
“There are plenty of other ways to get money, including chance, speculation, marriage, inheritance, theft, extortion, fraud, monopoly, graft, lobbying, counterfeiting, and… — Paul Graham Corruption Copy Share Image
“In almost any group of people you’ll find hierarchy. When groups of adults form in the real world, it’s generally for some… — Paul Graham Common purpose Copy Share Image
“There is all the more reason for startups to write Web-based software now, because writing desktop software has become a lot less… — Paul Graham Entrepreneurship Copy Share Image
“The people most likely to grasp that wealth can be created are the ones who are good at making things, the craftsmen.… — Paul Graham Computer programmers Copy Share Image
“The difference between design and research seems to be a question of new versus good. Design doesn't have to be new, but… — Paul Graham Different directions Copy Share Image
“If you leave a bunch of eleven-year-olds to their own devices, what you get is Lord of the Flies. Like a lot… — Paul Graham Books Copy Share Image
“Of course, figuring out what you like to work on doesn't mean you get to work on it. That's a separate question.… — Paul Graham Artist Copy Share Image
“This is the kind of possibility that the pointy-haired boss doesn’t even want to think about. And so most of them don’t.… — Paul Graham Business Copy Share Image
“When I was in art school, we were looking one day at a slide of some great fifteenth century painting, and one… — Paul Graham Art Copy Share Image
“I’ve programmed in all kinds of languages, said the tough old hacker as he eased up to the bar, and it don’t… — Paul Graham Cybersecurity Copy Share Image
“As for building something users love, here are some general tips. Start by making something clean and simple that you would want… — Paul Graham Programming Copy Share Image
“When I was a kid I was constantly being told to look at things from someone else’s point of view. What this… — Paul Graham Empathy Copy Share Image
Like having a child, running a startup is the sort of experience that's hard to imagine unless you've done it yourself. — Paul Graham Child Copy Share Image
