YC Sam Altman’s 7 pieces of advice for building a startup
I watched Sam Altman talk about what separates successful startups from the rest.
Here are the 7 things that stood out to me:
1. Build something people love
Not something people kind of like. Something they’d genuinely miss if it disappeared.
2. Pick a growing market
A great product in a bad market is still a hard business.
3. Create momentum
Startups that move quickly have a huge advantage.
4. Be relentlessly resourceful
The best founders don’t stop when they hit a problem. They figure it out.
5. Have a strong distribution strategy
Building something great isn’t enough if nobody knows it exists.
6. Stay focused and frugal
Do fewer things, but do them extremely well.
7. Be optimistic
A lot of startups are going to go wrong. You need to believe you’ll figure things out anyway.
Nothing revolutionary.
But putting all 7 together is probably what makes it so difficult.
Which one do you think matters the most?
Replies
5. I’ve seen good products sit at 0 because the founder treated distribution like a launch week task instead of the weekly work
Murmell
Thats a very very very important thing and that's part of the don't lose faith thing because you have to work everyday and it can be tough and not easy for everyone.
Murmell
For me to be optimistic and obsessed, it's the key to suceed