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Startup Playbook (2015)

playbook.samaltman.com

31–40 of 60 posts

Re: Startup Playbook (2015)

#33
post #5

It seems so incredibly generous of this that I caught myself being so cynical as to doubt any ulterior motives at attracting just more companies to YC overall. But it seems to me that these resources and advice are made in earnest, thank you Sam Altman (and Gregory Koberger!) for the contribution of these materials.

It pays to be good seems to be one of the core philosophies.

>So I'm not suggesting you be good in the usual sanctimonious way. I'm suggesting it because it works. It will work not just as a statement of "values," but as a guide to strategy, and even a design spec for software. Don't just not be evil. Be good.

http://www.paulgraham.com/good.html

Re: Startup Playbook (2015)

#34
post #21

I just re-read this for the first time in years--it needs a re-write. I will try! But first this has inspired me to get to work on the forgotten Part II.

That would be deeply appreciated, thanks, Sam!

There's generally less great content on the idea/0 to 1 compared to the 1 to n stage imho. I've found work from Michael Seibel, Des Traynor, Mathilde Collin, Brian Balfour and others to have been very helpful for the super early product design thinking stage in addition to the playbook.

Re: Startup Playbook (2015)

#36
post #21

I just re-read this for the first time in years--it needs a re-write. I will try! But first this has inspired me to get to work on the forgotten Part II.

Hi Sam! Can you please interact a little more with the HN community? I realize you are an extremely busy man, but drop in here once in a while and just...comment. Not to stir up a hornet's nest, but weighing in on YC related news once in a while is not a bad idea. Eg- No doubt you and YC are well intentioned people and the YC china move, while controversial, is probably a reasonable move. A private company can only do so much when dealing with powerful nations, and as long as you are not directly aiding governments do all the controversial things you hear about in the news, that's about as good as you can do. What was disappointing for me was this: YC is starting to feel just like any other big company, staying silent on controversial topics and not responding to criticism. I'm starting to feel like there's a disconnect between the community and the company. This makes me sad since YC was pretty much the opposite of what big companies stand for. My advice : be open, respond to criticism, don't stay silent on touchy topics, encourage YC staff to share their opinions on controversial topics. It's ok if your own staff don't agree with you, it's ok to agree to disagree. In short : don't become just another big company. Please note that this comment was made in good faith and please remain respectful in the comments.

Re: Startup Playbook (2015)

#37
post #21

I just re-read this for the first time in years--it needs a re-write. I will try! But first this has inspired me to get to work on the forgotten Part II.

Hi Sam! Can you please interact a little more with the HN community? I realize you are an extremely busy man, but drop in here once in a while and just...comment. Not to stir up a hornet's nest, but weighing in on YC related news once in a while is not a bad idea. Eg- No doubt you and YC are well intentioned people and the YC china move, while controversial, is probably a reasonable move. A private company can only d…

> My advice : be open, respond to criticism, don't stay silent on touchy topics, encourage YC staff to share their opinions on controversial topics.

We already tried this in the larger tech community. At best the controversial or contrarian views were silenced, at worst, people’s lives were ruined.

Re: Startup Playbook (2015)

#38
post #24
post #3

Is this available as a podcast? I can't find it, but I'd like to listen to these as I drive to my non-startup job.

I'm the co-founder & CTO of VoxSnap. Here's a link to the podcast: https://data.voxsnap.com/podcast/ycombinator.rss It should be in Google Play & iTunes shortly

Thank You!

Re: Startup Playbook (2015)

#39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hi Sam! Can you please interact a little more with the HN community? I realize you are an extremely busy man, but drop in here once in a while and just...comment. Not to stir up a hornet's nest, but weighing in on YC related news once in a while is not a bad idea. Eg- No doubt you and YC are well intentioned people and the YC china move, while controversial, is probably a reasonable move. A private company can only d…

> My advice : be open, respond to criticism, don't stay silent on touchy topics, encourage YC staff to share their opinions on controversial topics. We already tried this in the larger tech community. At best the controversial or contrarian views were silenced, at worst, people’s lives were ruined.

Can you give me a tl;dr of what you are referring to. Links to articles would be great too!

Re: Startup Playbook (2015)

#40

If you would like to download the entirety of the audio to listen to later, I've grabbed each mp3 and collated them here: https://storytime.voxsnap.com/30/audio/2018/09/14/ycombinato... https://storytime.voxsnap.com/30/audio/2018/09/14/ycombinato... https://storytime.voxsnap.com/30/audio/2018/09/14/ycombinato... https://storytime.voxsnap.com/30/audio/2018/09/14/ycombinato... https://storytime.voxsnap.com/30/audio/201…

Feel free to use a podcast app. The feed URL is: https://data.voxsnap.com/podcast/ycombinator.rss
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