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How to Start Google

paulgraham.com

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Re: How to Start Google

#101

Post by sahila »

tomhoward wrote: post #69
alismayilov wrote: post #62

I'm wondering if there is a research about which percentile of these two groups became rich: People who started a company vs People who worked for Tech companies.

Unless you're very early (and/or very lucky), you can't get "rich" (i.e., can choose never to work again and can invest in many other things) as an employee (though of course a highly-paid employee can become very well off and comfortable). Yes you need to be lucky to get super-rich as a founder too, but you have a lot more control, i.e., you make the primary decisions that determine whether the company will make goo…

While agreed the chances are still low, if you joined Tesla or Nvidia in the last 10 years and especially before 2020, you very well and likely are rich if you're still working at either and kept all your stock.

Hell if you joined Facebook last year and got in when the stock was around 100, your initial equity grant just 5x.

Re: How to Start Google

#102

Post by mahogany »

evrimoztamur wrote: post #60
verelo wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

if i had a 1 in 100 shot of becoming google I'd just do it 100 times. I'm pretty sure its more like 99.99999%

It's closer to 63% (binomial distribution of 1% chance with 100 trials, P(X>=1) is 63.4%).

Fun fact, this converges quickly to 1-1/e ~ 0.632.

If you had a 1 in a million chance of winning something and you tried a million times, the chance of winning once is about 63.2%, not much different from when n=100.

Re: How to Start Google

#103

Post by dade_ »

eddieroger wrote: post #52
Scubabear68 wrote: post #23

This essay glosses over the fact that most startups die a horrible death and earn little to no money for the founders. Somewhere in this essay it needs to say “99% of you who try this will fail”.

I was sad to search for the word "luck" and come up empty. You can do everything right and still fail. You can do everything wrong and win. Sometimes you're just in the right place at the right time, and that external factor is completely out of your control and can be the difference you need.

“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” ― Seneca

Re: How to Start Google

#104

Post by ak_111 »

zeroxfe wrote: post #98
ak_111 wrote: post #90

Am surprised PG gave this talk at a UK school without mentioning an important assumption that they will need to migrate to the US in his opening paragraph. All the examples he mentioned Google, himself and the Irish Stripe founders had to do the same for their startups. Sadly in the UK all the current unicorn "startups" are a bit iffy: XTX (high frequency hedgefund), betfair (betting company), tripledot studios (Zyng…

> Am surprised PG gave this talk at a UK school without mentioning an important assumption that they will need to migrate to the US in his opening paragraph. Seems kinda reasonable for a motivational speech not to mention it (even assuming it's entirely true.)

No I think it was so obvious to him that he forgot to mention it, or he doesn't think it should be a problem for many young people to move to the US.

It would be dishonest if he intentionally left it out since for some (arguably a minority of young people) it is a deal breaker.

Re: How to Start Google

#105

Post by pylua »

confoundcofound wrote: post #35

It’s so deflating to see both YC & PG focus their content almost solely on the younger generations. As someone who came to tech later in their mid-30s, it’s not hard to feel like expired goods when the “thought leaders” of tech are unabashedly gunning for younger minds with little to no acknowledgement of those who may want to start ventures during later stages of life. The more I try to plug myself in, the more it s…

I had the same sort of reaction, even though I felt like the article was not intending to invoke that.

Looking back, when I was the age in the article I was way too insecure and nervous to be able to take this advice. Looking at it now I think it is great and want to set my children up with that way of thinking.

I am 34 and found the message inspiring.

Re: How to Start Google

#106

Post by tomhoward »

daveguy wrote: post #95
tomhoward wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

His advice is: - Work on a personal project that is motivating to you (obviously you won't work on it if it's not motivating to you) - It's a good sign if the project you're motivated to work on solves a problem that you and your friends care a lot about, because there's a good chance many more people will also want that problem solved and will buy/use your product. Sure, plenty of big companies were started via diff…

> Sure, plenty of big companies were started via different paths, but not many were founded by kids barely out of high school. And neither was Google. Sergey Brin and Larry Page both hold masters degrees in Computer Science from Stanford.

He's giving advice to school kids on what to do during their remaining school years or early college years.

Re: How to Start Google

#107

Post by munificent »

ak_111 wrote: post #90

Am surprised PG gave this talk at a UK school without mentioning an important assumption that they will need to migrate to the US in his opening paragraph. All the examples he mentioned Google, himself and the Irish Stripe founders had to do the same for their startups. Sadly in the UK all the current unicorn "startups" are a bit iffy: XTX (high frequency hedgefund), betfair (betting company), tripledot studios (Zyng…

You say all this like it's a bad thing, but maybe it's ultimately better for a society if there isn't a financial lottery that enables a small number of people to become insanely wealthy and powerful.

I'd rather a government that enables a thousand mid-sized companies with moderately well-paid executives and employees than one that enables a single monopolistic mega-corporation with billionaires whose power rivals states and whose incentives are not aligned with most of the world.

Re: How to Start Google

#108

Post by munificent »

tomhoward wrote: post #69
alismayilov wrote: post #62

I'm wondering if there is a research about which percentile of these two groups became rich: People who started a company vs People who worked for Tech companies.

Unless you're very early (and/or very lucky), you can't get "rich" (i.e., can choose never to work again and can invest in many other things) as an employee (though of course a highly-paid employee can become very well off and comfortable). Yes you need to be lucky to get super-rich as a founder too, but you have a lot more control, i.e., you make the primary decisions that determine whether the company will make goo…

I live in Seattle. There are plenty of early Microsoft hires around here who are "fuck you money" rich.

Re: How to Start Google

#109

Post by noufalibrahim »

scarface_74 wrote: post #73
noufalibrahim wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're being overly harsh. 14 year old need good role models (preferably from their trusted social circles). These people should, ideally before the child turns 14, give him or her a strong moral framework to judge advice that they might come across. On the topic of being rich (which can be a good goal if pursued along with a strong moral compass), it's much better to take advice from a Paul Graham rather fro…

So in that case he might as well show lottery winners as good role models. He could tell the truth instead about how most startups fail miserably and the founders see nothing. Not to mention that the only way this works is if you have parents as a financial back stop.

Yes. I think this is genuinely under emphasised. However, when one's risk tolerance is high, there's a lot to be gained from even a failed startup. There's not much to be gained from repeatedly buying and losing at the lottery.

Re: How to Start Google

#110

Post by palata »

brigadier132 wrote: post #88
eddieroger wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was sad to search for the word "luck" and come up empty. You can do everything right and still fail. You can do everything wrong and win. Sometimes you're just in the right place at the right time, and that external factor is completely out of your control and can be the difference you need.

It's luck in the same way that poker is luck.

Do you not know poker at all?
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