Sam Altman - How to Succeed with a Startup

Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator, shares his thoughts on how you can succeed with a startup. Startup School is YC’s free online program for founders. Sign up to access the full curriculum and over $100k in deals! Chapters (Powered by ) - 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