
Sam Altman: How to Build the Future (2016) - simonebrunozzi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYMqVwsewSg
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simonebrunozzi
Jack Altman interviews Sam Altman in September 2016.

Here's a summary of the interview. (I am thinking about building a service
that does this for interesting comment; your ideas/suggestions on that are
most welcome)

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1) Jack: What to work on?

Sam: It's worth looking for the intersection of what you're good at, what you
enjoy, where you can create value for the world; otherwise it's hard to have
an impact.

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2) J: How to select who to work with?

S: Hard, I don't have a great answer. Willing to move, be near people that
work on similar things. When I help people, later it benefits you a lot.

==

3) J: How to accomplish big things?

S: Charlie Rose quote: things are done through focus and personal connection,
and I'd add also self-belief.

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4) J: You are known to work hard. Suggestion for people in their 20s?

S: Work hard at the beginning of your career, there's a compound effect.

Say yes to many things, meet people.

Work harder than most people think you should.

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5) J: How to decide when it's time to quit?

S: Challenging. Most people give up too early.

Satirical version of this: 23 year old people that have starte 14 startups.

Most successful founders spent a very long time on their idea.

Framework: it should be an internal decision, not just based on external
feedback.

==

6) J: How to find motivation to work on something for a long time?

S: You need motivation, otherwise you can't handle the hardship.

Enjoyment in what you do, people you do it with.

Also, sometimes people find a deeper mission.

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7) J: Noticed changes in you over the last few years?

S: I focus on things that are really important. It's not much about money at
this point.

Also, on burn-out: it comes mostly from lack of momentum. I find energy to
work on things that are working.

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8) J: How do you take risks in your career?

S: People have terrible risk calculus in general.

Answer is almost always: you're wrong about your perception, and you don't
take enough risk early in your career.

Risk: not doing something you will regret not doing for the rest of your life.

The wrong kind of risk to take is when people don't commit because they fear
failure.

In your career, strive to be a doer, not a talker.

People usually don't do stuff because it's hard and risky.

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9) J: People fear being told "no" a lot.

S: Ask for what you want. People are not "aggressive" enough.

Also, each crisis gets less scary that the one before.

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10) J: Money and long-term view of it, especially when you're young.

S: Story: our grandmother gave each of us some company stock, Apple and
Applebees. I think we never sold it.

One of the few arbitrage opportunities in the market is time.

I think you can beat the market with long term commitments.

Go against the quarterly results.

For a startup, a long term commitment is important.

You get paid to create value for other people and the world, usually over long
periods of time.

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11) J: How much people should have strong opinions?

S: Strong opinion high level, flexible on details.

Refinement vs pivoting, e.g. Facebook has a strong idea and changed a lot in
the details.

Strong opinions about the future are really important.

E.g. diversify in investing, or having a balanced portfolio: I don't agree at
all, for example I would rather own stock vs bonds.

Ok not to be diversified in portfolio or career.

==

12) J: Advice for young people who want to have a big impact.

S: I don't want to give a specific field. Instead: think hard how you're going
to make the biggest contribution, go learn about that field, have the courage
of your convictions.

If you fail, go try the next thing. It's important to take risks.

