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 Customer Copy Share Image
If it takes more than a sentence to explain what you are doing, it's almost always a sign that what you are… — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
In general don't start a startup you're not willing to work on for ten years. — Sam Altman Customer Copy Share Image
You need conviction in your own beliefs, and the willingness to ignore others naysaying. — Sam Altman Belief Copy Share Image
You don't need to make the structure complicated, in fact you shouldn't. All you need is for every employee to know who… — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
Most of the best hires that I've made in my entire life have never done that thing before. — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
You want to think about what is the path for my first 10 or 15 employees going to be as the company grows. — Sam Altman Business Copy Share Image
Remember that you are more likely to die because you execute badly than get crushed by a competitor. — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
There are 3 things I look for when I hire people. Are they smart? Do they get things done? Do I want… — Sam Altman 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
The most important thing is that there is clear reporting structure and everyone knows what it is. — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
As the company grows and about this 25 or so employee size, your main job shifts from building a great product to… — 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 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 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
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
Before 20 or 25 employees, most companies are structured with everyone reporting to the founder. It's totally flat. — Sam Altman Company Copy Share Image
The way you get deals done and the way you get good terms, is to have a competitive situation. — Sam Altman Competitive 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 Copy Share Image
To get the very best people- they have a lot of great options, and so it can easily take a year to… — Sam Altman People Copy Share Image
AirBnB happened because Brian Chesky couldn't pay his rent, but did have some space. — Sam Altman Airbnb 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 Copy Share Image
What you want to do is innovate on your product and your business model, management structure is not where I would try… — Sam Altman Business 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
Most great companies in tech have been built by personal referrals for the first...at least 100 employees and often many more. — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
When lack of structure fails, it fails all at once. What works totally fine from 0-20 employees, is disastrous at 30. — Sam Altman Employee 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
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
Facebook has this famous poster that says move fast and break things. But at the same time they manage to be obsessed… — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
In the beginning of a company, there is no management and this actually works really well. — Sam Altman Birth Copy Share Image
Long term thinking is so rare anywhere, but especially in startups. This is a huge advantage if you do it. — Sam Altman Advantage 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
In the early stage of a startup, hiring senior people is usually a mistake. You just want people that get stuff done. — Sam Altman Copy Share Image
