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Startup advice, briefly

blog.samaltman.com

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Re: Startup advice, briefly

#121

Post by confiscate »

pgroves wrote: post #43
kirinan wrote: post #2

Maybe 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…

It seems that way until you find yourself in a situation where none of this advice is being followed. The opposite of doing these things doesn't look terribly sinister, just has poor results. A founder/CEO that pressures the engineers to cut corners on the product to get a few more customers before the next fund-raising round is an easy trap to fall in to. The investors will often be providing this pressure directly.…

why would you feel that this is un-reasonable. If getting a less than perfect MVP out can help the company meet certain important deadlines, what's wrong with that?

Re: Startup advice, briefly

#122

Post by _abattoir »

ohashi wrote: post #120
hayksaakian wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the advice is look for X who can do Y, but provides little means of identifying if any given X can do Y the story is better in this case because i can draw my own maxims from it which directly apply to my business. the downside is the story doesn't fit in a tweet.

If that is the downside, perhaps we should stop catering towards the absolute lowest common denominator.

Should is a strong word. Like it or not. lowest common denominator is what get the most eyeballs.

Re: Startup advice, briefly

#123

Post by dkersten »

vog wrote: post #95
prawn wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would say "partly" rather than "largely". I think the reason luck seems to be such a significant factor is that everything else that depends on your idea, execution, networking, and so on are all tough, and exceptionally so en masse. So, to minimise the impact of luck, you'd need to hit home runs in every other aspect which is unlikely. If your idea is great, but the rest so-so, then luck might seem like a stronger…

I beg to differ. Take the best 10 people, which are all the most dedicated, hardest working, most compentent: If these compete on the same idea in the same field, only one of them can succeed. After all, running a startup means taking risks, and risks are just another word for stuff that you don't have under control, and which is best described by probability.

If these compete on the same idea in the same field, only one of them can succeed

I disagree. Its not a zero-sum game. Many markets (although certainly not all) are large enough for more than one company to be wildly successful.

Re: Startup advice, briefly

#124

Post by dirtyaura »

kirinan wrote: post #2

Maybe 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…

Lots of startup advice seems obvious once you have heard or read it a few times. But you only understand the value of such advice when you fail to follow it.. For example, I read the fantastic list "57 startup lessons" by Slava Akhmechet when it was published. But only after I personally failed in many of these, I really understood how hard it is to follow even simple, obvious advice. When I read this same list after my startup failure, the deep wisdom of this list really stung hard.

As a startup founder, you should go through this kind of list regularly to keep yourself in check.

http://www.defmacro.org/2013/07/23/startup-lessons.html

Re: Startup advice, briefly

#125

Post by rkrzr »

r00fus wrote: post #82
ryanSrich wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With the risk of sounding ignorant I'm going to go out on a limb and say one of the biggest missing pieces for most people is financial security - or at least the availability of a safety net. Based on my experience there are four scenarios where someone could start a company: - You have financial support from someone (whether you're in college or have a spouse that makes a good income - probably the most common) - Y…

Adding to your list: - Bootstrapping from a consulting/contracting gig into product company.

I think this approach is underrated and can highly recommend it.

If you are an engineer and you keep your living expenses low, you can most likely survive doing consulting/contracting for 1 day per week, leaving you the rest of the week to work on your startup. This minimizes your financial risk and leaves your savings intact, leaving you only with the opportunity costs (but if you are worried about those, you probably shouldn't be doing a startup in the first place).

Additionally this lowers the pressure to find investors quickly (or at all) and gives you the time to build something great.

Re: Startup advice, briefly

#126

Post by known »

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man." --George Bernard Shaw

Re: Startup advice, briefly

#127

Post by defenestration »

pan69 wrote: post #28
tomasien wrote: post #12

DON'T WORK WITH PEOPLE YOU HAVE A BAD FEELING ABOUT: I can not stress how dogmatically this should be adhered to enough.

This is probably the biggest piece of non-advice in the entire article. Feeling is bullshit. If I had followed this advice throughout my career... I've been introduced to people who I'd instantly hated but a weeks later had become my best mates and I've been introduced to people who I'd loved at first sight (oh, so social, funny and well spoken..) and they turned out to be completely useless. It often takes time to g…

I have learned that little things in a start of a relationship will multiply over time. If somebody is just a bit dishonest early on, the relationship might explode in a couple of years due to lack of trust. With the people who have the same core values as me, I have the best long-term relationships that are good for both of us.

Re: Startup advice, briefly

#128

Post by outericky »

jusben1369 wrote: post #74
DenisM wrote: post #55

One suggestion I would give Sam is to provide for each of the "bullet points" a couple of relevant stories about YC companies. Most public advice is devoid of context where it originated and unless stated very precisely is wide open to misinterpretation, forming a cargo-cult, or being ignored as too generic. Only a few people in the world can be that precise (I know just two), but adding a relevant story is available…

yes sadly this could be one bullet point. "Avoid acting in a meaningful way on advice in any startup advice post" Case in point here: 1) In general, avoid the kind of stuff that might be in a movie about running a startup—meeting with lawyers and accountants, going to lots of conferences, grabbing coffee with people, sitting in lots of meetings, etc. then 2) "Don’t underestimate the importance of personal connections…

I think by grabbing coffee, he was referring the time wasting that can happen when everyone becomes aware of your startup. Would be investors (as they should) want to meet, press, and a slew of others. The vast majority of those meetings will be a huge time suck. Better to focus internally first.

Re: Startup advice, briefly

#129

Post by outericky »

DenisM wrote: post #55

One suggestion I would give Sam is to provide for each of the "bullet points" a couple of relevant stories about YC companies. Most public advice is devoid of context where it originated and unless stated very precisely is wide open to misinterpretation, forming a cargo-cult, or being ignored as too generic. Only a few people in the world can be that precise (I know just two), but adding a relevant story is available…

the "bullets" were a short list (as noted). Want real examples? check out the startup school or Stanford course videos he has done.

Re: Startup advice, briefly

#130

Post by cubano »

MichaelGG wrote: post #96
tomasien wrote: post #12

DON'T WORK WITH PEOPLE YOU HAVE A BAD FEELING ABOUT: I can not stress how dogmatically this should be adhered to enough.

And get anything, no matter how small it seems, in writing. Even if the people involved seem like the nicest people you know and you have BBQs at their house every weekend. Just assume that at some point, though matters outside of anyone's control, they turn into agents that only seek your demise. Hopefully you won't need those provisions, but even for a few hundred K, it's surprising what people will do or turn into…

> Hopefully you won't need those provisions, but even for a few hundred K, it's surprising what people will do or turn into.

I've seen it happen for less than $1000.

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