There's at least a hundred times more people with great ideas than people that are willing to put in the effort to… — Sam Altman Effort 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 Best way Copy Share Image
One thing that founders forget is that after they hire employees, they have to retain them. — Sam Altman Employee Copy Share Image
Remember that the idea will expand, and become more ambitious as you go. — Sam Altman Ambition Copy Share Image
... the thing we see wrong with YC apps most frequently, is that people have not thought about the market first and… — Sam Altman Apps Copy Share Image
As long as you keep doing the right thing and have the best product, you can beat the bigger company. — Sam Altman Beats Copy Share Image
... fire fast when it's not working. It's better for the company, it's also better for the employee. — Sam Altman Business Copy Share Image
Mediocre founders spend a lot of time talking about grand plans, but they never quite make a decision. — Sam Altman Customer Copy Share Image
Wait to start a startup until you come up with an idea that you feel compelled to explore. — Sam Altman Come up Copy Share Image
The company just needs to see you as like this maniacal execution machine. — Sam Altman Business Copy Share Image
Great execution is at least 10 times more important and a 100 times harder than a good idea… — Sam Altman Execution Copy Share Image
Just put a little pin in your mind: when you cross 50 employees, there are a new set of HR rules that… — Sam Altman Crosses Copy Share Image
Companies that I've been very involved with, that have had a very bad first hire in the first 3 or so employees… — Sam Altman Company 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 Conscious Copy Share Image
We talk to a team they've gotten new things done, that's the best predictor we have that a company will be successful. — Sam Altman Being successful Copy Share Image
Or a way to stay on strangers couches, that just sounds terrible all around. — Sam Altman Couches Copy Share Image
Cofounder relationships are among the most important in the entire company. — Sam Altman Business 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… — Sam Altman Bigs Copy Share Image
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… — Sam Altman Competitors Copy Share Image
Momentum and growth are the lifeblood of startups. This is probably in the top three secrets of executing well. — Sam Altman Customer Copy Share Image
... We probably funded a rate of something like one out of ten solo teams. — Sam Altman Football Copy Share Image
You only get points when you make something the market wants. So if you work really hard on the wrong things, no… — Sam Altman Care Copy Share Image
You certainly don't need to have everything figured out in the path from here to world domination. — Sam Altman Domination Copy Share Image
If you don't love and believe in what you're building, you're likely to give up at some point along the way. — Sam Altman Believe 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 Bad man Copy Share Image
Startups are not the best choice for work-life balance, and that's sort of just the sad reality. — Sam Altman Balance Copy Share Image
If you can just learn to think about the market first, you will have a big leg up on most people starting… — Sam Altman Bigs Copy Share Image
You also want people who are maniacally determined and that is slightly different than having a risk tolerant attitude. — Sam Altman Attitude Copy Share Image
AirBnB spent 5 months interviewing their first employee, before they hired someone and in their first year, they only hired 2 people. — Sam Altman Airbnb Copy Share Image
In the early stage of a startup, hiring senior people is usually a mistake. You just want people that get stuff done. — Sam Altman Done Copy Share Image
Founders need to figure out what the message of the company is going to be. — Sam Altman Business Copy Share Image
Share results (financial and key metrics) with the company every month. — Sam Altman Business Copy Share Image
No growth hack, brilliant marketing idea, or sales team can save you long term if you don't have a sufficiently good product. — Sam Altman Brilliant Copy Share Image
It's easy to move fast or be obsessed with quality, but the trick is you have to do both at a startup. — Sam Altman Customer Copy Share Image
Most great companies in tech have been built by personal referrals for the first...at least 100 employees and often many more. — Sam Altman Built Copy Share Image
... for the top twenty most valuable YC companies, all of them have at least two founders. — Sam Altman Companies Copy Share Image
Starting a business is like riding a wave between life and death. If you can hang on long enough, you're bound to… — Sam Altman Between life and death Copy Share Image
The hard part is that this is a very fine line. There's right on one side of it, and crazy on the… — Sam Altman Crazy Copy Share Image
The thing that kills startups at some level, is the founders giving up. — Sam Altman Customer Copy Share Image
You need someone that behaves like James Bond more than you need someone that is an expert in some particular domain. — Sam Altman Behave Copy Share Image
