How to Start a Startup

in Business on Startup


How to start a startup

Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator, and Dustin Moskovitz, Cofounder of Facebook, Asana, and Good Ventures, kick off the How to Start a Startup Course. Sam covers the first 2 of the 4 Key Areas: Ideas, Products, Teams and Execution; and Dustin discusses Why to Start a Startup.

Lecture 1 - How to Start a Startup (Sam Altman, Dustin Moskovitz)

Lecture video

1. Idea

  • Spend some time to think through ideas, the long term effect.
  • The idea comes first; the startup comes second.
  • Best companies are mission-oriented.
    • The company should feel like an important mission.
    • Good startups take ten years.
    • Derivative ideas do not excite people.
  • Best ideas seem terrible at the beginning.
    • Need conviction in your own ideas.
    • Don’t need to worry about sharing your ideas.
    • Unpopular but right ideas.
  • The growth of the market is more important than the growth of the company.
    • Can’t create a market
  • Why now? – Sequoia
    • Build something you need
  • If it takes more than a sentence to explain, it’s not a good idea.
  • Think about the market first.

2. Product

  • Build something users love.
  • Talk to users.
  • Better to build something small users love than something a lot of people like.
    • The amount of love is the same. It’s just about how it is distributed.
  • Don’t worry about competitors.
  • It takes some fanatics to build a great product.
  • Pick a small number of users by hand.

Lecture 2 - Team and Execution (Sam Altman)

3. Team

A. Cofounders: relentlessly resourceful. “James Bond”

  • Know your cofounders - tough & calm

B. Try not to hire: have a high bar. Get a small number of dedicated people.

C: Get the best people: 0 - 25% of your time.

  • Mediocre engineers do not build great companies.
  • Hire from people you already know (referrals).
  • Go for the aptitude, not experience in early days.
    • Are they smart?
    • Do they get things done?

    • Do I want to spend a lot of time around?

    • Good communication skills
    • Manically determined
    • Pass the animal test (Paul Graham): be able to describe as an animal
    • Would feel comfortable reporting to them. Enjoy working with them. Or at least respect them.
  • Equity: be ready to give up to 10% to employees

D. You’ve hired the best - now keep them around.

  • What motivates people: autonomy & mastery

E. Fire fast

  • persistently negative

4. Execution

  • CEO jobs
    • Set the vision
    • Raise money
    • Evangelize
    • Hire and manage
    • Make sure the entire company executes
  • Can you get it done?
    • Focus:
      • What are you spending time and money on?
      • What are the two and three most important things?
      • Say no. A lot.
      • Set overarching goals. Repeat them.
      • Communicate.
    • Intensity:
      • Relentless operating rhythm
      • Obsession with Execution Quality
      • Bias towards action - Indecisiveness is a startup killer.
        • Every time you talk to them, they’ve gotten new things done.
        • Do it incrementally
        • Quick
        • Do whatever it takes
        • Show up
        • Don’t give up
  • Always keep momentum: keep growing
    • Save vision speeches for when you are winning. When you are losing, you just have to have some small wins. Sales fix everything.
    • Shipping product
    • Launching new features
    • Reviewing/reporting metrics regularly
       The competitor to be feared is one who never bothers about you at all,
but goes on making his own business better all the time.
-- Henry Ford






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