Sam Altman
President of Y Combinator
Discussion
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Sam Altman
@sama · President, YC
Hi! I'm Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator and Co-chair of OpenAI. I'm excited to answer questions about startups or anything else!
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Sydney Liu
@sydney_liu_sl · Co-Founder of Commaful
Hey Sam!
Thanks for doing this AMA.
You talk a lot about the relentless focus on product & growth. Obviously, every great startup has these and cannot succeed without them. Another important part seems to be a person's network (which helps with hiring, fundraising, sales, and more, a big value of the YC network).
Most first time founders won't have this network. Especially for startups that don't have Facebook & Snapchat growth curves early on. If Brian Chesky didn't get into YC (and unable to raise from his own connections at the time), Airbnb's growth numbers alone wouldn't be enough to get them more meetings.
Where should building a network fit into a founder's focus? Should it? And if it should, how should he/she go about it if not plugged into the YC network?
Thanks!
Sydney Liu
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Sam Altman
@sama · President, YC
@sydney_liu_sl The best way to effectively build a network is to have a product that is at least somewhat interesting. To use Brian's example, he didn't have runaway growth, but he had actually built a product and had a few users which was enough for some people to be willing to meet with him and help him. Most people looking to "network" have just an idea, so this alone will make you stand out.
The YC alumni are a pretty friendly/helpful group of people. They're one of many good ways to get plugged into the YC network.
Jeff Needles
@jsneedles · BI @ Meerkat & Maker of Things
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Sam Altman
@sama · President, YC
@jsneedles The thing that impressed me about Ryan during YC was how quickly he got things done. This is one of the best early tells for a successful founder--successful founders produce results, bad founders produce excuses.
My favorite overall game is Go. My favorite game to play casually with friends is Settlers of Catan.
Ryan Hoover
@rrhoover · Founder, Product Hunt
Thanks, @sama. 😊 I was fortunate to have some awesome team members hustling during the 3 month sprint.
Nate Legler
@natelegler · Farmer, Founder, Cattle Producer
@sama @jsneedles https://youtu.be/PdXo4m5Q7g8 think this is fitting for the reply from Sam
Sebastian Nader
@sebastian_nader · http://nadersebastian.com
Hi @sama! Thanks for your time. What kind of products do you expect to surge from Latin America in the next few years?
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Sam Altman
@sama · President, YC
@nadersebastian I hope it will be new ideas that are especially good for Latin America instead of clones of companies that are working in Silicon Valley. One trend I've noticed traveling around the world is that a lot of entrepreneurs outside of Silicon Valley feel like they need to copy something that's already proven successful here. But that's obviously wrong. I'd love to see some new ideas turn into $100B companies elsewhere in the world.
Sebastian Nader
@sebastian_nader · http://nadersebastian.com
@sama @nadersebastian =) Yeah! ***STOP COPYCATS*** Thanks and have a great year!
Junius
@juniusfree
Hey @sama
My question is related to product development. How will you spend your time if you've got one hour to solve a user problem/need?
Thanks!
jack rometty
@rometty_ · student
@juniusfree interesting addition: how would you solve a 90 minute problem if you only had an hour?
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Sam Altman
@sama · President, YC
@juniusfree I would spend the entire hour talking to users and figuring out what they desperately need and would really love, instead of sort of need and would kind of like. I think this is one of the most important tips for startups.
Tarun Atrey
@tarunatrey · Software Engineer @Intel
@sama Hi Sam! Thanks for taking out time to do this.
I would like to know in what ways YC is helping skilled immigrants who aspire to be entrepreneurs? People working in Silicon Valley on H1B visa tend not to take much risks at least till they get green card. They need to maintain legal presence status to stay in the US, which discourages them from taking more risks and pushes them to more "stable" jobs since there is a lot at stake. I would like to know your thoughts on it. One of the primary requirements for all YC programs is full-time commitment to work on the idea. While I understand the need for this, it usually means one needs to resign from any other job and no legal status for a skilled immigrant. Do you think YC might consider a modification to this rule in future?
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Sam Altman
@sama · President, YC
@tarunatrey We're fairly good at helping the founders we fund with visa issues at this point. Though of course I'd love to see the government do something to make it easy for people to come to the US and start startups. It's a real shame our country still hasn't fixed this.
Ben Tossell
@bentossell · Community Lead, Product Hunt
@sama Hey Sam - thanks for taking the time :)
I recently asked @justinkan "If you were to recommend things do to/habits/etc in order for someone to be equipped enough to advise startups, what would you recommend?"
He said "Start a successful startup" - I know this is a common answer with a lot of people but other than that what else would you recommend?
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Sam Altman
@sama · President, YC
@bentossell Why do you want there to be answer other than that? The best way to learn how to do something is usually to do it yourself first.
Ben Tossell
@bentossell · Community Lead, Product Hunt
@sama Because it's not the only way. Many people in the industry don't whole heartedly agree with the statement either.
laur_ion
@laur_ion · CEO, gointersect.com
@sama Why do you think Loopt (and especially Loopt Mix) and every other similar social/dating hyperlocal app failed?
Do you still care about that mission?
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Sam Altman
@sama · President, YC
@laur_ion Most people are too boring I think--they're at the same places most of the time. No, I'm pretty burned out on that particular space.
laur_ion
@laur_ion · CEO, gointersect.com
@sama @laur_ion How about something like Loopt Mix, but tailored for teens that lock eyes on a crowded subway and would love a second chance to get introduced? Clearly it's something people want, yet it's difficult because of the chicken and egg problem. But doable, as we at intersectx.com are striving towards this and there's no way that we can fail unless we're fundamentally wrong as most people seem to think.
hakinen
@khakinen · Just Entrepreneur
@sama why are you passionate about helping entrepreneurs to grow up?
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Sam Altman
@sama · President, YC
@khakinen I think it's an extremely high-leverage thing to do to change the world (I get to advise people working on literally hundreds of problems), I personally find it fun and fulfilling, and I make enough money doing it I can support random other stuff I care about like OpenAI.
Ben Rahnema
@brahnema · Co-Founder at Returnbase
@sama, Scaling YC is obviously a big priority for you and enabling more startups is definitely a great thing. I know you've discussed the growing value of the YC network as the network itself grows, but are you worried that there will be a threshold at which the value of the network diminishes as it grows even more? It seems there is likely a point where the network becomes so large that the connections between nodes are too weak. How are you (and YC in general) thinking about / approaching this problem as YC scales?
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Sam Altman
@sama · President, YC
@brahnema That will only happen if the average quality of nodes goes down or the connections between the nodes weaken. So we work really hard to avoid those things.
