You need this sort of a tailwind to make a startup successful. — Sam Altman Customer Copy Share Image
The startups that do well are the ones that are working all the time. — Sam Altman Entrepreneurship Copy Share Image
Move fast. Speed is one of your main advantages over large companies. — Sam Altman Advantage 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
The thirteenth search engine- and without all the features of a web portal, most people thought that was pointless. — Sam Altman 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 Copy Share Image
... We probably funded a rate of something like one out of ten solo teams. — Sam Altman Football Copy Share Image
The best founders work on things that seem small but they move really quickly. They get things done really quickly. — Sam Altman Customer 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
The most common post YC failure case for the companies we fund, is they're incredibly focussed during YC on their company... and… — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
Two other things that we hear again and again from our founders, they wish they had done earlier, and that is... simply… — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
Be suspicious of any work that is not building product or getting customers. It's easy to get sucked into an infrastructure rewrite… — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
It's difficult to get large groups of people, to the extreme levels of focus and productivity that you need, for a startup… — Sam Altman Being successful Copy Share Image
You also really want to take the time to think about how the market is going to evolve.You need a market that's… — Sam Altman 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
The tenth social network, and limited only to college students with no money, also terrible. Myspace had won. — Sam Altman College Copy Share Image
It's become popular in recent years to say that the idea doesn't matter. — Sam Altman Ideas 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 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 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
Or a way to stay on strangers couches, that just sounds terrible all around. — Sam Altman Couches Copy Share Image
Growth and momentum are what a startup lives on and you always have to focus on maintaining these. — Sam Altman Customer Copy Share Image
Cofounder relationships are among the most important in the entire company. — Sam Altman Business Copy Share Image
So if you want a culture where people work hard, & pay attention to detail, focus on the customer, are frugal: you… — Sam Altman Attention 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
Later, you should learn to hire fast and scale up the company, but in the early days the goal should be not… — Sam Altman Business 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
More important than starting any startup, is getting to know a lot of potential co-founders. — Sam Altman Entrepreneurship Copy Share Image
A board member of mine used to say sales fix everything in a startup, and that is really true. — Sam Altman Board members Copy Share Image
You have to save the vision speeches for when the company is winning. When you're not winning, you just have to get… — Sam Altman Business 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
For most software startups, this translates to keep growing. For hardware startups, it translates to don't let your ship date slip. — Sam Altman Computers Copy Share Image
For early employees you want people that have somewhat of a risk-taking attitude. — Sam Altman Attitude Copy Share Image
