Paul Graham
Essayist, Y Combinator
The essays, numbered. What they mean when you are picking a seat.
From paulgraham.com essays. Not Paul Graham. Not affiliated.
01
Make something people want
“The most important thing is to make something people want.”
A company that cannot say who wants this on Tuesday is paying you in hope.
02
Default alive
“A startup is default alive if it has enough money in the bank to reach profitability.”
Ask: if the next round died, would they still make payroll. If no, price the paper accordingly.
03
Do things that don't scale
“The most common unscalable thing founders have to do at the start is to recruit users manually.”
Early IC work is unscalable on purpose. If you want process, wait for the Series C.
04
Schlep blindness
“There are great startup ideas lying around unexploited right under our noses.”
The ugly job next to the chemist or the desk is often the one that compounds.
05
Maker's schedule
“A meeting can blow a whole afternoon, by breaking it into two pieces each too small to do anything hard in.”
Count meetings in the loop. More than two a day is a different job than the title says.
06
The fatal pinch
“You can be default dead for a while. Then you hit the fatal pinch.”
A refresh that only works if the next mark is up is a pinch. Take more cash.
07
Relentlessly resourceful
“What they look for is people who are relentlessly resourceful.”
That is the interview. Not the leetcode. Did you already try the ugly path.
08
Keep your identity small
“The more labels you have for yourself, the dumber they make you.”
Do not become 'an OpenAI person.' Become someone who can sit the next loop.