The second part of how to hire: try not to. Sam Altman More Quotes by Sam Altman More Quotes From Sam Altman You need unstoppable people. You want people that are just going to get it done. Sam Altman team people needs For most of the early hires you make in a startup, experience doesn't matter very much, and you should go for aptitude. Sam Altman aptitude team matter Experience matters for some roles and not others. Sam Altman roles team matter Most great companies in tech have been built by personal referrals for the first...at least 100 employees and often many more. Sam Altman referrals team firsts AirBnB spent 5 months interviewing their first employee, before they hired someone and in their first year, they only hired 2 people. Sam Altman team people years ... if you talk to say any of the first 40 or 50 employees, they all feel like they were a part of the founding of the company. Sam Altman employee team firsts One thing that founders always underestimate is how hard it is to recruit. Sam Altman founders underestimate team You think you have this great idea that everyone's going to come join, but that's not how it works. Sam Altman team ideas thinking To get the very best people- they have a lot of great options, and so it can easily take a year to recruit someone. Sam Altman team people years You want an idea about what you can say. I know it sounds like a bad idea but here's specifically why its actually a great one. You want to sound crazy but you want to ask to be right. Sam Altman crazy want ideas If you want something in a deal, just ask for it. Sam Altman deals want-something ifs By the way, that's my number one piece of advice if you're going to join a startup: pick a rocket ship. Sam Altman team numbers advice ... how much time you should be spending on hiring? The answer is 0 or 25 percent. Sam Altman team should answers You're either not hiring at all or it's probably your single biggest block of time. Sam Altman hiring block team If you compromise and hire someone mediocre you will always regret it. Sam Altman compromise regret team A single mediocre hire in the first five will often in fact kill a startup. Sam Altman team facts firsts If you compromise in the first five, ten hires it might kill the company. Sam Altman team might firsts ... you can think about that for everyone you hire: will I bet the future of this company on this single hire? And that's a tough bar. Sam Altman bars team thinking The best source by far for hiring is people that you already know and people that other employees in the company already know. Sam Altman source team people The thing that kills startups at some level, is the founders giving up. Sam Altman levels giving-up giving
