Founders need to figure out what the message of the company is going to be. Sam Altman More Quotes by Sam Altman More Quotes From Sam Altman Investors will sort of like write the check and then, despite a lot of promises, don't usually do that much; sometimes they do. Sam Altman teamwritingpromise You should think about for the next 10 years, you're going to be giving out 3-5% of the company every year. Sam Altman givingyearsthinking We've seen a lot of data at YC now, and the most successful companies and the ones where the investors do the best... end up giving a lot of stock out to employees- year after year after year. Sam Altman datasuccessfulyears One thing that founders forget is that after they hire employees, they have to retain them. Sam Altman employeeteamforget You have to let your team get all the credit for all the good stuff that happens, and you take responsibility for the bad stuff. Sam Altman creditteamresponsibility I think the best thing you can do is be aware that as a first time founder you are likely to be a very bad manager. Sam Altman teamfirststhinking Firing people is one of the worst parts of running a company. Actually in my own experience, I think it is the worst. Sam Altman teamrunningthinking Every first time founder waits too long, everyone hopes that an employee will turn around. But the right answer is to fire fast. Sam Altman teamfirelong ... fire fast when it's not working. It's better for the company, it's also better for the employee. Sam Altman employeeteamfire You should be giving out a lot of equity to your employees. Sam Altman employeeshouldgiving As you grow, it feels hopelessly corporate but it really is worth putting in place these compensation bands. Sam Altman bandgrowsfeels Two other things that we hear again and again from our founders, they wish they had done earlier, and that is... simply writing down how you do things and why you do things. Sam Altman wishwritingtwo In the early days of a startup, people's compensation is whatever you negotiate with a founder and it's all over the place. Sam Altman compensationfounderspeople The most important thing is that there is clear reporting structure and everyone knows what it is. Sam Altman clearstructureimportant Unfortunately the trick to great execution is to say no a lot. Sam Altman executiontricks ... and you can only have 2 or 3 things everyday, because everything else will just come at you; you know fires in a day. Sam Altman everydayfireknows Every company has a rocky beginning. Sam Altman company Be suspicious of any work that is not building product or getting customers. It's easy to get sucked into an infrastructure rewrite death spiral. Sam Altman spiralsbuildingeasy It's better to have a few users love your product than for a lot of users to sort of like it. Sam Altman usersproductslove-you If you pivot, do it fully and with conviction. The worst thing is to try to do a bit of the old and the new-it's hard to kill your babies. Sam Altman convictiontryingbaby
