Sam Altman Quotes
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Companies generally work better when they are smaller. It's always worth spending time to think about the least amount of projects/work you can feasibly do, and then having as small a team as possible to do it.
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Technology magnifies differences, and it's been replacing or obviating jobs for a long time. But what happens as that case accelerates? I'm not one of these doomsayers who says, 'There will be no jobs.'
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The thing about Y Combinator that's cool is that most companies won't happen if we don't fund them.
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Location is the sole difference between mobile and traditional Web.
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The way to really scale a venture firm is with software.
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I don't invest in companies where my mental model is that they need to get themselves acquired in the next few years - or ever.
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It's so important for startups to get their culture right at the start. They need to feel unique and that they are on their own important mission in the world.
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Generally, you want to raise capital either when you have to or when it's really easy. If the company desperately needs money, and they can't figure out any other way, then they need to raise money. Or if someone's offering you easy money on good terms, you should take it because you can use it for good things.
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People hate searching.
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All companies that grow really big do so in only one way: people recommend the product or service to other people.
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One of the things we urge Y-Combinator companies to do is to have profitability in grasp. If you need to get profitable before your A round of money, you ought to be able to do that.
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The biggest part of Loopt is about discovering the world around you, never replacing a social experience - only adding to it.
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There is a long history of founders returning to companies and doing great things. Founders are able to set the vision for their companies with an authority no one else can.
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With Loopt Star, consumers get to tap interactive rewards wherever they may be.
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If the Reddit community cannot learn to balance authenticity and compassion, it may be a great website, but it will never be a truly great community.
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I think the mistake people make most often when they invest in other kinds of startups is they say, 'This is totally different.' And so the things that matter, like making a product that people desperately want, like talking to customers, they throw this out the window. That is a recipe for heartache and tears.
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If a company is profitable, the founder is in control. If it's not, investors are in control.
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I don't think people spend nearly enough time thinking about what they like and what they're good at.
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Facebook and Instagram are spiritual brothers.
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I suppose if I didn't have Loopt, I'd have to, I don't know, pick up the phone and just start calling people, a lot more texting and certainly more Googling.
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There is a lot of stuff I like. I love backpacking. I love going to an island where I can just sit on the beach and read or scuba dive and sail. I do a lot of that. I still go backpacking around Europe in the summers and staying in hostels. I love that.
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Traditional local advertising is not what retailers want. They want not just for you to see an ad - they want you to come into the store, to be a repeat customer and to spread the word.
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All the reasons that have made software so successful are beginning to happen with hardware. So much can be done so quickly, prototyped so rapidly, and the costs are so low.
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Sometimes people think Y Combinator has big ideas about themes. But really, we just fund the best startups.