Sam Altman - How to Succeed with a Startup

00:00:00 Introduction
00:00:11 A product so good people tell friends
00:00:53 Easy to understand
00:01:13 Exponential growth in market
00:02:00 Real trends vs Fake trends
00:03:30 Evangelical founder
00:04:04 Ambitious vision
00:04:22 Hard startup vs Easy Startup
00:05:34 Confident and definite view of future (but flexible!)
00:06:10 Huge if it works
00:06:30 Team (non-obvious insights)
00:07:20 - Optimists!
00:07:47 - Idea generators
00:08:16 - ‘We’ll figure it out’
00:08:50 - ‘I’ve got it’
00:09:08 - Action bias
00:09:34 - The blessing or inexperience
00:10:16 Momentum
00:11:04 Competitive advantage
00:11:46 Sensible business model
00:12:04 Distribution strategy
00:12:20 Traits of best founders - Frugality, focus, obsession, love
00:12:46 Why startups win
00:13:13 - One no vs One yes
00:14:06 - Fast-changing markets
00:14:43 - Platform shifts
00:15:46 End

[chapterme]

Chapters (Powered by ChapterMe) -
00:00 - Introduction
00:11 - A product so good people tell friends
00:53 - Easy to understand
01:13 - Exponential growth in market
02:00 - Real trends vs Fake trends
03:30 - Evangelical founder
04:04 - Ambitious vision
04:22 - Hard startup vs Easy Startup
05:34 - Confident and definite view of future (but flexible!)
06:10 - Huge if it works
06:30 - Team (non-obvious insights)
07:20 - - Optimists!
07:47 - - Idea generators
08:16 - - ‘We’ll figure it out’
08:50 - - ‘I’ve got it’
09:08 - - Action bias
09:34 - - The blessing or inexperience
10:16 - Momentum
11:04 - Competitive advantage
11:46 - Sensible business model
12:04 - Distribution strategy
12:20 - Traits of best founders - Frugality, focus, obsession, love
12:46 - Why startups win
13:13 - - One no vs One yes
14:06 - - Fast-changing markets
14:43 - - Platform shifts
15:46 - End

[rickr]

It is so crazy that basically every point he is talking about applies to himself in OpenAI now. Congrats Mr. Altman :)

[wasimullah]

This lecture was like a crux of years of hard work. Incredible!

[OctopussianJubilee]

Wow.
This guyyyy spoke everything into existence.
I know there has been some drama at OpenAI lately, but the entire staff rallied around him. It tells me he is doing something right at the company.

[usman]

Sam Altman honestly shared cores to succeed in competitive environment as well as personal adviosry. Steve Jobs also had such courage & expressed openly as mentor for all.

[WordPressU]

I had to master frugality before my latest startup and now I got it! I was so comfortable until I pushed myself into an uncomfortable space (read: broke!!!) refusing work from anyone other than for my business, I learnt the value of a dollar, I know what things cost, and I think of how can I solve problems without spending a dime...and now I know I can win. If you are comfortable and starting a startup (have savings, rent paid for 3 months, etc.) you must figure out how to sacrifice that comfort for hunger because without that hunger you won't be BIG.

[haroldpierre]

Now that he is at OpenAI, this visionary speech is proving prophetic. He has delivered everything he mentioned in this speech.

[MB]

I'm critical about almost everyone. But sam altman is one of the few you just listen and learn. Sam is impressive. Such good knowledge comes from him.

[andresbf]

Thank you Sam Altman in particular, and YCombinator in general
for the effort you are putting into this MOOC. THIS IS GOLD

♥ ♥

[saiz]

His entire speech is so dense, like he intuitivly think and speak this efficient. Probably for a lot programming and time being a CEO

[mallorygurecki]

I have come to realize this man has so much wisdom and strength. He’s given me a lot to digest about the future.

[marcelchastain]

Best video I’ve seen so far on the mindset needed for a successful startup.

[rasputin]

A real value bomb.
Lucidly explained and will surely act like wake up call for the hard days.
Thanks YC and Thanks Sam.

[quintacaylor]

This is really great stuff! Had to keep pausing to digest, then rewind to re-ingest. Listening all over again this weekend to take notes. Thanks so much for sharing such rich knowledge with the world

[simonserna]

I had to restart this video and start taking notes! I didn’t plan to stumble across absolute gold

[jamesmcginn]

Wow. This one video is better than 50 books. (And a lot easier to digest.)

[diegomiranda]

Great, thank you. Wistful to put everything on test the next winter. Congratulations for the hard work Sam (bigger and better).

[Sondre]

Wow. This is extremely high quality, so many new and good ideas!

[dresnicetv]

Great punch line: Build what is cool; remarkable and easy to describe!

[wallstreetvision]

Great summary and love the mental models Sam used here. Valuable themes to think about for any content creator or startup founder.