Startup advice, briefly
blog.samaltman.com
Startup advice, briefly
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Re: Startup advice, briefly
#2Maybe Ive read too many blogs. Maybe its because I watched the class but Im starting to feel like this is the "generic" advice for startups. It doesn't make it any less true or valuable, but everytime I read it I feel somewhat empty; as if there is something critical missing that everyone but me knows but doesn't write down because it feels like common sense. I'm not sure other people feel this way or how to not feel this way. It seems really obvious, almost too obvious that you should work really hard on ideas that other people want. Maybe thats all there is too it; It just feels hollow.
Re: Startup advice, briefly
#3It it contradictory to recommend that a founder a) prefer making something a small number love to making something a large number like but also b) obsess over growth? I took these to be valid for different stages - first a), then b).
Obviously this is all very insightful and has been discussed before as these ideas were developed. Nice to have the 20k ft view in one place.
Re: Startup advice, briefly
#4Honest question: Who is the intended audience for all these startup/advice articles? Wouldn't the best founders be too busy building stuff instead of reading articles on the web. Wouldn't the majority of the audience of these articles be procrastinators (like me)? If so, wouldn't the best advice for such people be to stop procrastinating on the web, and to build stuff instead?
PS: The advice by Sam is great. I'm questioning the medium.
Re: Startup advice, briefly
#5It it contradictory to recommend that a founder a) prefer making something a small number love to making something a large number like but also b) obsess over growth? I took these to be valid for different stages - first a), then b). Obviously this is all very insightful and has been discussed before as these ideas were developed. Nice to have the 20k ft view in one place.
as you said, it's first a and then b. if you build something a small number of users love, you'll find growing is far, far easier than if you don't do that first.
Re: Startup advice, briefly
#6Maybe Ive read too many blogs. Maybe its because I watched the class but Im starting to feel like this is the "generic" advice for startups. It doesn't make it any less true or valuable, but everytime I read it I feel somewhat empty; as if there is something critical missing that everyone but me knows but doesn't write down because it feels like common sense. I'm not sure other people feel this way or how to not feel…
that really is all there is to it. if you've read enough that all of this strikes you as obvious, then you don't need to read anymore--get to work! :)
i wrote this because i think it's useful for people thinking about startups for the first time to have an outline of the advice all in one place--the startup class i did last fall is good but long.
Re: Startup advice, briefly
#7Maybe Ive read too many blogs. Maybe its because I watched the class but Im starting to feel like this is the "generic" advice for startups. It doesn't make it any less true or valuable, but everytime I read it I feel somewhat empty; as if there is something critical missing that everyone but me knows but doesn't write down because it feels like common sense. I'm not sure other people feel this way or how to not feel…
Seconded. Good reminder for those of us actually in the trenches to skip over the vast majority of fluff written out there in startup land.
Re: Startup advice, briefly
#8I always wonder about this: "Obsess about your growth rate, and never stop. The company will build what the CEO measures. If you ever catch yourself saying “we’re not really focused on growth right now”, think very carefully about the possibility you’re focused on the wrong thing."
There was a point in my current startup where it wasn't prudent to focus so much on growth, as we were transitioning from MVP to v1 product. Being bootstrapped and with a small team, spending money and time on acquiring users for the MVP would've been a bit of a waste. Maybe that's b/c we don't buy into the vision to grow fast and sell faster.
Re: Startup advice, briefly
#9It it contradictory to recommend that a founder a) prefer making something a small number love to making something a large number like but also b) obsess over growth? I took these to be valid for different stages - first a), then b). Obviously this is all very insightful and has been discussed before as these ideas were developed. Nice to have the 20k ft view in one place.
Growth can be relative. The overall numbers in a niche may be small/medium, but your growth rate within that niche can be big/fast.
Re: Startup advice, briefly
#10Maybe Ive read too many blogs. Maybe its because I watched the class but Im starting to feel like this is the "generic" advice for startups. It doesn't make it any less true or valuable, but everytime I read it I feel somewhat empty; as if there is something critical missing that everyone but me knows but doesn't write down because it feels like common sense. I'm not sure other people feel this way or how to not feel…
Had the same thoughts lately. There is way too much high level generic advice passed around.
Like 'you need to find product market fit'...well how the hell do you do that?
So I started a little blog series where I attempt to go a little deeper: https://medium.com/@matthiaswagner/you-can-t-be-the-muhammad...
Let me know what you think