Startups
61 notes, 6 favorites. Often alongside agency, thinking and hiring.
Start here · 11 min
- Information Compression★(favorite)Alexandr Wang · 5 min
Wang's 2019 Scale memo argues companies slow down because people compress complex problems badly when handing them off, so the fix is shared context, vertical teams, and solving your own problems.
- Optimism Shapes Reality★(favorite)Alexandr Wang · 5 min
Wang's 2019 Scale memo argues that time estimates set how long work takes, since people aim just under any bar, so optimistic scopes make teams move faster.
- What I Wish Someone Had Told Me★(favorite)Sam Altman · 1 min
Altman's 17 lessons on building things: optimism and obsession get them started, while cohesive teams, focused bets, and fast iteration get them finished.
All 61 notes
Thomas argues that in unknown, unforgiving settings like startups, speed lowers risk, which is why Amundsen's fast, light team reached the South Pole in comfort while Scott's slow, cautious one died.
Related
- Don’t Edit Your ImaginationBrian Chesky
- Do Too MuchAlexandr Wang
- Optimism Shapes RealityAlexandr Wang
- Just keep goingWill Ahmed
Thomas argues that startup experiments should be designed to succeed or fail clearly, because a mediocre result, like two sales from 100 cold calls, teaches you nothing about whether to double down.
Related
- Information CompressionAlexandr Wang
- Incentives as selection effectsSebastian Bensusan
- Agency problemsChris Dixon
- Steve Jobs on problem solvingChris Dixon
A mechanical way for early-career, non-technical people to pick which startup to join: choose a few criteria, rank them, and use them to filter companies.
Related
- Projects and CompaniesSam Altman
- Advice for ambitious 19 year oldsSam Altman
- Startup options are much better than they lookBen Kuhn
- founding designer, explainedjerry
An insider's list of what made Stripe great around 2018, starting with nearly everyone being agentic, smart, and conscientious, and what that cost in energy.
Related
- Leader v Follower ModeSlava Akhmechet
- how to give feedbackSlava Akhmechet
- How to recruitSlava Akhmechet
- Stubborn Attachments On Getting Things DoneSlava Akhmechet
Firm rules for execution: every effort needs one owner for whom it's the main job, leaders and followers rarely swap roles, and you can only run as many things as you have leaders.
Related
- Braindump on what made Stripe greatSlava Akhmechet
- Gradient Descent ValleysSlava Akhmechet
- Don’t Edit Your ImaginationBrian Chesky
- Do Too MuchAlexandr Wang
Smart ideas get copied fast, so lasting advantage comes from doing what others won't, starting with the ability to learn faster than the competition.
Related
- Paying AttentionMorgan Housel
- One Big Web: A Few Ways the World WorksMorgan Housel
- The Dumber Side of Smart PeopleMorgan Housel
- Different Kinds of SmartMorgan Housel
- NewA QuestionSam Altman 1 min
Altman pushes back on complaints about a lack of innovation by pointing out that the phones, apps, and services people use to complain mostly didn't exist ten years earlier.
Related
- Electrons and AtomsSam Altman
- Hard StartupsSam Altman
- Idea GenerationSam Altman
- Startup AdviceSam Altman
Altman argues startups should chase growth only after some users love the product enough to recommend it unprompted, since growth hacking a half-liked product fools investors only until they check retention.
Related
- Premature optimizationSam Altman
- Do Things that Don't ScalePaul Graham
- Hard StartupsSam Altman
- Idea GenerationSam Altman
Altman argues retention becomes harder than hiring once a startup grows, and that mission, rocketship growth, and a great team keep people where perks and inflated salaries never do.
Related
- Greg BrockmanSam Altman
- Hard StartupsSam Altman
- Idea GenerationSam Altman
- Startup AdviceSam Altman
Altman argues democracy breaks down without economic growth, since voters in a zero-sum system can only gain at each other's expense, and that America's dysfunction traces back to slowing real growth.
Related
- A founder-friendly term sheetSam Altman
- Fundraising Mistakes Founders MakeSam Altman
- How To Invest In StartupsSam Altman
- Upside riskSam Altman
Altman argues you should think of a startup as a project for as long as possible, since low expectations free you to pursue slightly crazy ideas, the way Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Airbnb all began.
Related
- Advice for ambitious 19 year oldsSam Altman
- how to pick the right startup to join [full guide]Christian Levan
- Hard StartupsSam Altman
- Idea GenerationSam Altman
Altman shares the term sheet he uses as an angel and explains what he left out, from option-pool shuffles and investor legal fees to exploding offers and confidentiality, to win the best founders.
Related
- Fundraising Mistakes Founders MakeSam Altman
- How To Invest In StartupsSam Altman
- Growth and GovernmentSam Altman
- Hard StartupsSam Altman
Altman argues college, a job, or a startup can each be right at 19 as long as you build things, stay around smart people, and take the right risks, like joining a breakout company over a higher salary at Microsoft.
Related
- Projects and CompaniesSam Altman
- How things get doneSam Altman
- Value is created by doingSam Altman
- What I Wish Someone Had Told MeSam Altman
Startups don't take off on their own; founders have to push them early by recruiting users by hand and delighting them in ways that would never work at scale.
Related
- Before GrowthSam Altman
- Startup = GrowthPaul Graham
- Default blindSebastian Bensusan
- How to Raise MoneyPaul Graham
Altman notices that every breakout startup he tracks connects the online and physical worlds, like Uber and Airbnb, and argues that companies bridging the two tend to beat purely digital or purely physical ones.
Related
- A QuestionSam Altman
- Hard StartupsSam Altman
- Idea GenerationSam Altman
- Startup AdviceSam Altman
Altman lists common fundraising mistakes, from chasing high valuations and playing tricks to failing to create competition between investors, raising without a lead, and not knowing your own metrics cold.
Related
- A founder-friendly term sheetSam Altman
- How To Invest In StartupsSam Altman
- Growth and GovernmentSam Altman
- Hard StartupsSam Altman
Altman holds up Greg Brockman as the ideal cofounder, the force of will who committed to OpenAI on a car ride home, recruited the founding team, took every non-technical job, and kept everyone pressing on.
Related
- Employee RetentionSam Altman
- Hard StartupsSam Altman
- Idea GenerationSam Altman
- Startup AdviceSam Altman
Altman argues hard, meaningful startups are often easier to make succeed than easy ones, because an important mission attracts the talent, advice, and funding that a thousand photo-sharing apps compete for.
Related
- Idea GenerationSam Altman
- Startup AdviceSam Altman
- Startup advice, brieflySam Altman
- Super successful companiesSam Altman
Altman endorses Charlie Rose's theory that things get done through focus and personal connections, so founders should drop everything beyond two or three priorities and invest in relationships with smart people.
Related
- Value is created by doingSam Altman
- What I Wish Someone Had Told MeSam Altman
- Advice for ambitious 19 year oldsSam Altman
- Don’t Edit Your ImaginationBrian Chesky
Altman argues startup investing comes down to access, judgment, and getting founders to pick you, which means outworking other investors, backing fast-improving founders in possible $10B markets, and acting decisively.
Related
- A founder-friendly term sheetSam Altman
- Fundraising Mistakes Founders MakeSam Altman
- Growth and GovernmentSam Altman
- Hard StartupsSam Altman
Paul Graham's practical guide to early fundraising: when to raise, how investors think, and how to run the process without letting it distract from the company.
Related
- How to Make WealthPaul Graham
- Black Swan FarmingPaul Graham
- A founder-friendly term sheetSam Altman
- Fundraising Mistakes Founders MakeSam Altman
Altman argues good startup ideas come from being around optimistic, unfiltered people, projecting 20 years ahead, and spotting what became possible this year, and that a good idea sounds bad for reasons you can explain.
Related
- Hard StartupsSam Altman
- Startup AdviceSam Altman
- Startup advice, brieflySam Altman
- Super successful companiesSam Altman
Altman argues that A/B tests and funnel tweaks only matter once users love the product, so early startups should chase a step change in the product itself rather than incremental 10% gains.
Related
- Before GrowthSam Altman
- Growth and GovernmentSam Altman
- Vanity milestonesChris Dixon
- Why vanity metrics are dangerousEric Ries
A startup is a company designed to grow fast, and Graham explains why growth rate is the one metric that should guide nearly every decision a founder makes.
Related
- Do Things that Don't ScalePaul Graham
- Hard StartupsSam Altman
- How to Raise MoneyPaul Graham
- Idea GenerationSam Altman
Altman's 95 pieces of startup advice for a new YC batch, from make something people want and hire slow, fire fast to keeping burn low, moving fast, and staying optimistic when everything melts down.
Related
- Hard StartupsSam Altman
- Idea GenerationSam Altman
- Startup advice, brieflySam Altman
- Super successful companiesSam Altman
Altman's compressed guide to building a startup: start with a project, make something a few users love, keep burn low, hire well and fire fast, obsess over growth, and keep working hard for ten years.
Related
- Hard StartupsSam Altman
- Idea GenerationSam Altman
- Startup AdviceSam Altman
- Super successful companiesSam Altman
Altman lists what hugely successful startups do when young, from obsessing over product quality and talent to making something a few users love, keeping costs low, and moving fast on everything.
Related
- Hard StartupsSam Altman
- Idea GenerationSam Altman
- Startup AdviceSam Altman
- Startup advice, brieflySam Altman
Altman argues that tweeting, networking, and talking about the future only feel like work, since value comes from execution, so measure what you got done each day and work on what you actually care about.
Related
- How things get doneSam Altman
- What I Wish Someone Had Told MeSam Altman
- Advice for ambitious 19 year oldsSam Altman
- Don’t Edit Your ImaginationBrian Chesky
Altman's 17 lessons on building things: optimism and obsession get them started, while cohesive teams, focused bets, and fast iteration get them finished.
Related
- How things get doneSam Altman
- The days are long but the decades are shortSam Altman
- The Strength of Being MisunderstoodSam Altman
- Value is created by doingSam Altman
Brian Chesky shares the rejection emails Airbnb got from investors when it tried to raise $150,000 at a $1.5M valuation.
Related
- Don’t Edit Your ImaginationBrian Chesky
- Do Too MuchAlexandr Wang
- Optimism Shapes RealityAlexandr Wang
- Just keep goingWill Ahmed
Brian Chesky on how adults stop imagining things they can't yet see how to build, and why starting from an unedited imagination leads to bigger ideas.
Related
- 7 RejectionsBrian Chesky
- Do Too MuchAlexandr Wang
- Optimism Shapes RealityAlexandr Wang
- Just keep goingWill Ahmed
Chesky's 2013 letter to the Airbnb team on why culture comes first, prompted by Peter Thiel's one piece of advice after investing.
Related
- Employee RetentionSam Altman
- Greg BrockmanSam Altman
- Hire people who give a shit.Alexandr Wang
- Lieutenants are the limiting reagentSebastian Bensusan
Drawing on selling two B2B software companies to Google and Elastic, Dullien explains how your target market dictates funding, how VC incentives really work, and how to handle product, hiring, sales, and cofounders.
Related
- A QuestionSam Altman
- Electrons and AtomsSam Altman
- It all blossomed out of this tiny little seedChris Dixon
- What the smartest people do on the weekend is what everyone else will do during the week in ten yearsChris Dixon
Netscape's rewrite from scratch shows why throwing away working code is the worst strategic mistake a software company can make.
Related
- The Iceberg Secret, RevealedJoel Spolsky
- Strategy Letter I: Ben and Jerry’s vs. AmazonJoel Spolsky
- A QuestionSam Altman
- Before GrowthSam Altman
Wang argues a leader sets the ceiling on how much a company cares, so leaders must overdo everything, as Scale did by moving most of its team to LLM data within six months.
Related
- Optimism Shapes RealityAlexandr Wang
- Don’t Edit Your ImaginationBrian Chesky
- Just keep goingWill Ahmed
- The Perils of PrudenceAbraham Thomas
Wang's Scale memo argues the key hiring screen is whether candidates care about the company and have been obsessed with work before, warning that a growing startup risks becoming a credential instead of a mission.
Related
- Employee RetentionSam Altman
- Greg BrockmanSam Altman
- Don’t Fuck Up the CultureBrian Chesky
- Lieutenants are the limiting reagentSebastian Bensusan
Wang's 2019 Scale memo argues companies slow down because people compress complex problems badly when handing them off, so the fix is shared context, vertical teams, and solving your own problems.
Related
- The Worst Outcome is a Mediocre SuccessAbraham Thomas
- Incentives as selection effectsSebastian Bensusan
- Agency problemsChris Dixon
- Steve Jobs on problem solvingChris Dixon
Wang's 2019 Scale memo argues that time estimates set how long work takes, since people aim just under any bar, so optimistic scopes make teams move faster.
Related
- Do Too MuchAlexandr Wang
- Don’t Edit Your ImaginationBrian Chesky
- Just keep goingWill Ahmed
- The Perils of PrudenceAbraham Thomas
Bensusan argues software businesses are blind by default, since a paper shop clerk sees a Chinese New Year rush but an online store sees nothing unless someone asks, so people can stay lost for years.
Related
- Before GrowthSam Altman
- Do Things that Don't ScalePaul Graham
- Incentives as selection effectsSebastian Bensusan
- Lieutenants are the limiting reagentSebastian Bensusan
When you apply a new incentive, you select for a new population that prefers the incentive.
Related
- Information CompressionAlexandr Wang
- The Worst Outcome is a Mediocre SuccessAbraham Thomas
- Agency problemsChris Dixon
- Steve Jobs on problem solvingChris Dixon
Bensusan argues big tech ships few products for its size because the real bottleneck is lieutenants, agentic people who push through blockers outside their job description, and they grow scarcer as companies grow.
Related
- Employee RetentionSam Altman
- Greg BrockmanSam Altman
- Don’t Fuck Up the CultureBrian Chesky
- Hire people who give a shit.Alexandr Wang
- NewHow to Build a High-Growth Operating System: 9 Lessons from 9 Years at FaireDan Hockenmaier 12 min
Lessons on cadence, hiring, culture, and finding meaning at a high-growth startup.
Related
- Employee RetentionSam Altman
- Greg BrockmanSam Altman
- Don’t Fuck Up the CultureBrian Chesky
- Hire people who give a shit.Alexandr Wang
Big companies constantly fight misaligned incentives between employees and the firm, so selling to them means knowing what each decision maker is rewarded for.
Related
- Steve Jobs on problem solvingChris Dixon
- Vanity milestonesChris Dixon
- Information CompressionAlexandr Wang
- The Worst Outcome is a Mediocre SuccessAbraham Thomas
Steve Jobs in 1985 on watching kids grow up with Apple IIs and the leverage of an idea that a few people design and many others build on.
Related
- What the smartest people do on the weekend is what everyone else will do during the week in ten yearsChris Dixon
- A QuestionSam Altman
- Electrons and AtomsSam Altman
- Halvar’s Guide to EntrepreneurshipThomas Dullien
Steve Jobs on pushing past the convoluted middle stage of a hard problem to find its underlying principle and an elegant solution.
Related
- Agency problemsChris Dixon
- Vanity milestonesChris Dixon
- Information CompressionAlexandr Wang
- The Worst Outcome is a Mediocre SuccessAbraham Thomas
Mike Moritz on judging each startup on its own, and why generalizing about whole markets is dangerous when your job is finding the exceptions.
Related
- A founder-friendly term sheetSam Altman
- Fundraising Mistakes Founders MakeSam Altman
- How To Invest In StartupsSam Altman
- How to Raise MoneyPaul Graham
Extends Eric Ries's vanity metrics to milestones: celebrity investors, brand partnerships, and press that feel like progress but don't help the company.
Related
- Agency problemsChris Dixon
- Steve Jobs on problem solvingChris Dixon
- Premature optimizationSam Altman
- Why vanity metrics are dangerousEric Ries
- NewWhat the smartest people do on the weekend is what everyone else will do during the week in ten yearsChris Dixon 1 min
Engineers spend free time on interesting problems rather than near-term returns, which is why today's tech hobbies tend to become tomorrow's industries.
Related
- It all blossomed out of this tiny little seedChris Dixon
- A QuestionSam Altman
- Electrons and AtomsSam Altman
- Halvar’s Guide to EntrepreneurshipThomas Dullien
Gross numbers like "hits" feel like progress but hide who your customers are and what caused growth, so teams should track actionable metrics instead.
Related
- Premature optimizationSam Altman
- Vanity milestonesChris Dixon
- Information CompressionAlexandr Wang
- Take Something AwayTed Lamade
Ben Horowitz on what makes a good place to work: people can focus on the job and trust that doing it well benefits both them and the company.
Related
- Employee RetentionSam Altman
- Greg BrockmanSam Altman
- Don’t Fuck Up the CultureBrian Chesky
- Hire people who give a shit.Alexandr Wang
Greenfeld's notes from two 37signals podcasts, where DHH and Jason Fried argue you learn whether an idea works by shipping it, since the best business ideas can't be analyzed rationally up front.
Related
- Don’t Edit Your ImaginationBrian Chesky
- Do Too MuchAlexandr Wang
- Optimism Shapes RealityAlexandr Wang
- Just keep goingWill Ahmed
- NewFastPatrick Collison 7 min
Patrick Collison's list of teams that did ambitious things remarkably fast, from launching BankAmericard in 90 days to building the first USAF jet fighter in 143.
Related
- Don’t Edit Your ImaginationBrian Chesky
- Do Too MuchAlexandr Wang
- Optimism Shapes RealityAlexandr Wang
- Just keep goingWill Ahmed
Thompson defines aggregators as companies with a direct user relationship, zero marginal costs, and demand-driven networks, then ranks them by supplier cost, from Netflix and Uber to Google and Facebook.
Related
- A QuestionSam Altman
- Electrons and AtomsSam Altman
- Halvar’s Guide to EntrepreneurshipThomas Dullien
- It all blossomed out of this tiny little seedChris Dixon
Every company has to choose between slow organic growth like Ben and Jerry's and fast land-grab growth like Amazon, then build everything around that choice.
Related
- Things You Should Never Do, Part IJoel Spolsky
- The Iceberg Secret, RevealedJoel Spolsky
- A QuestionSam Altman
- Electrons and AtomsSam Altman
Non-programmers judge software by its visible interface, a small fraction of the real work, so make unfinished features look unfinished to keep expectations honest.
Related
- Things You Should Never Do, Part IJoel Spolsky
- Strategy Letter I: Ben and Jerry’s vs. AmazonJoel Spolsky
- A QuestionSam Altman
- Before GrowthSam Altman
Startup investing returns come from a few huge winners, and the best ideas look bad at first, so investors should bet on ideas that seem crazy rather than safe.
Related
- How to Raise MoneyPaul Graham
- How to Make WealthPaul Graham
- Growth and GovernmentSam Altman
- Startup = GrowthPaul Graham
Ahmed answers every doubt he heard while building Whoop, from having no experience to Nike, Apple, and Amazon killing him, with a single reply to keep going.
Related
- Don’t Edit Your ImaginationBrian Chesky
- Do Too MuchAlexandr Wang
- Optimism Shapes RealityAlexandr Wang
- The Perils of PrudenceAbraham Thomas
Ben Kuhn argues the usual complaints about startup pay miss how much stock options are worth once you count the option to leave and the chance of a big outcome.
Related
- Searching for outliersBen Kuhn
- What to care about in a jobBen Kuhn
- Salary Negotiation: Make More Money, Be More ValuedPatrick McKenzie
- how to pick the right startup to join [full guide]Christian Levan
A guide to judging founding designer offers by the founder, team culture, product, and real scope of the role rather than comp alone, with questions to ask current and former employees before signing.
Related
- how to pick the right startup to join [full guide]Christian Levan
- Before GrowthSam Altman
- Projects and CompaniesSam Altman
- Do Things that Don't ScalePaul Graham
Paul Graham on why starting or joining a startup is the most reliable way to get rich: wealth is created, not taken, and startups compress a working life into a few years.
Related
- How to Raise MoneyPaul Graham
- Black Swan FarmingPaul Graham
- A founder-friendly term sheetSam Altman
- Fundraising Mistakes Founders MakeSam Altman
Nike's ten founding principles, written by Rob Strasser in 1977, including that the business is change, results matter more than process, and doing the right things makes money nearly automatic.
Related
- Don’t Edit Your ImaginationBrian Chesky
- Do Too MuchAlexandr Wang
- Optimism Shapes RealityAlexandr Wang
- Just keep goingWill Ahmed