Paul Graham (@paulg)
@paulg
0 正在关注 0 粉丝
A recent YC startup spent 250k on a domain. I was slightly shocked. But when I asked how much they raised after YC, the answer was 6.5m. So 1/26 of their round. This is the time we live in; one shocking number counterbalances the other.
显示更多
We have multiple reasons for wanting to believe nurture is more important than nature and none for wanting to believe the opposite (unless we = the far right, which we ≠), so it's not surprising we overestimate its effect. But man are kids' personalities inborn.
显示更多
If you want to start a startup, don't learn "entrepreneurship." Learn how to build things. The hard part of startups is not "entrepreneurship" but product: to know what to build, and to be able to build it.
显示更多
Today is Social Media Day.
What is your favorite social media post of all time?
Step 1: Invent a new extra-bad category of crime, like "hate crime" or "terrorism", with extra-harsh punishments.
Step 2: Expand the definition of the new kind of crime to include anything, or anyone, that you want to punish extra harshly.
显示更多
The users who complain about the flaws in your product may seem annoying, but they are on the whole probably your most valuable users. They complain because they care, and I doubt a startup could ever get really big without users who care a lot about the product.
显示更多
A lot of the emails I get from founders are now written in a hard-hitting journalistic style. I know they're written by AI, because no founder ever wrote this way before. And once you realize something is written by AI, it's hard not to ignore it.
显示更多
@JoshBobrowsky If someone comes along and offers you money it's not necessarily a mistake to take it. The mistake it to be drawn into acting as if you were trying to convince them. Ditto with acquisition offers.
显示更多
If I could send my 18 year old self a message, it would have three parts:
1. Prestige is often mistaken. Follow curiosity instead.
2. There's no way to avoid hard work. It's not sufficient, but it is necessary.
3. Don't take your parents for granted.
显示更多
The harder the task, the less you care about people's race or sex or whatever, either in the racist sense or the diversity sense. You're so desperate simply to find anyone who can do it well that you don't think about anything else.
显示更多
A very common story from a startup's investor update:
"Our partnership with <big company> did not go as expected... It was pretty evident that they were trying to take advantage of us... We’re going to walk away from that situation for now. A lot of hard lessons learned."
显示更多
