More important than starting any startup, is getting to know a lot of potential co-founders. Sam Altman More Quotes by Sam Altman More Quotes From Sam Altman One of the biggest advantages that start ups have is execution speed and you have to have this relentless operating rhythm. Sam Altman executionrelentlessspeed 1 of the hardest parts about being a founder, is that there are a 100 important things competing for your attention each day. Sam Altman each-dayimportantattention One thing I tell startups all the time is that the best way to grow is to make their product better. Sam Altman growsproductsway Starting a business is like riding a wave between life and death. If you can hang on long enough, you're bound to succeed Sam Altman ridinglife-and-deathlong The tenth social network, and limited only to college students with no money, also terrible. Myspace had won. Sam Altman social-networkstudentscollege The natural state of a start-up is to die; most start-ups require multiple miracles in their early days to escape this fate. Sam Altman fatemiraclenatural The startups that do well are the ones that are working all the time. Sam Altman working-all-the-timewells Companies that I've been very involved with, that have had a very bad first hire in the first 3 or so employees never recover from it. Sam Altman employeeteamfirsts Most of the best hires that I've made in my entire life have never done that thing before. Sam Altman teamdonemade There are 3 things I look for when I hire people. Are they smart? Do they get things done? Do I want to spend a lot of time around them? Sam Altman smartteampeople One of the pieces of advice that we give at YC is: try to work together on a project rather than just doing an interview. Sam Altman teamadvicegiving The way you get deals done and the way you get good terms, is to have a competitive situation. Sam Altman situationdoneway Really dig into projects people have worked on and call references; that is another thing that first time founders like to skip. Sam Altman teampeoplefirsts Developing a personal connection with anyone you're trying to do a big deal with is really important. Sam Altman connectionsimportanttrying The second part of how to hire: try not to. Sam Altman teamtrying For early employees you want people that have somewhat of a risk-taking attitude. Sam Altman teamattitudepeople The biggest PR hack you can do, is not hire a PR firm. Sam Altman firmhackscan-do If someone is choosing between joining McKinsey or your startup it's very unlikely they're going to work out at the startup. Sam Altman joiningwork-outteam You also want people who are maniacally determined and that is slightly different than having a risk tolerant attitude. Sam Altman teamattitudepeople You should be able to describe any employee as an animal at what they do. Sam Altman ableteamanimal
