
Founder to CEO: How to build a great company from the ground up - dy
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZJZbv4J6FZ8Dnb0JuMhJxTnwl-dwqx5xl0s65DE3wO8/edit#heading=h.pdmqf3646hgt
======
typeliftr
I feel like there’s an ‘all or nothing’ attitude recently around starting a
business which doesn’t make sense to me. Either you’re making millions and
have 100 employees or nothing.

I work in a company that has 5-10 employees, nobody is working their ass off
and there’s steady income and gradual growth. Our CEO is not a millionaire,
but he enjoys his work and the company he works for. There is no plans for
fast growth or VC funding.

Can anyone explain to me where does this obsession with VC funding and huge
growth come from? I feel like if you grow your company by more then 50% YOY
you will end up with a totally different company culture, and you might end up
hating your own company.

~~~
xstartup
>> Can anyone explain to me where does this obsession with VC funding and huge
growth come from? I feel like if you grow your company by more then 50% YOY
you will end up with a totally different company culture, and you might end up
hating your own company.

Startups need an exit strategy.

Employees want to work 5-10 years max and end up with millions to retire
peacefully while working in an intense environment which serves as the story
of their accomplishment for the lifetime.

Then they plan to follow their other life goals like going on a world tour
with the family or watch their kids growing up or creating their own small
lifestyle business. It can be anything.

The key realization is that most employees do not want to work for you just
because they have found themselves in such place.

When I was new in the industry, I put a lot of blood/sweat into building a
company. Today, I can't force myself to put the same amount of efforts even if
I want to.

The idea is to raise money fast, hire experienced people for ancillary
services and develop the application in a way so that it is able to hold up
till IPO. Defer all costs (application maintenance, vendor lockins, IP
infringement risks) for post IPO. Create the Hype around the product which
gets you eyeballs, subscriptions, MAU and other metrics which translates into
the valuation. Once you've caught market attention, the solution can always
get more love post IPO.

The market pressure to produce returns post IPO results in the broad
application of the company's IP, resources, and talent. This might spin up new
industries.

Once the employees have cashed their equity, it's up to them to stay (if they
are enjoying the position) or leave (if they've other life goals).

A lifestyle business, won't be able to achieve this for each of their
employees. Even very few startups achieve this for most of their employees.

~~~
grosjona
>> Employees want to work 5-10 years max and end up with millions to retire
peacefully while working in an intense environment

This sounds like either it is an extremely unrealistic expectation or it's
extremely unfair.

I know lots of smart people who worked for at least 10 years in very intense
startup environments and got essentially nothing out of it. Often, they have
to fallback on a life of contract work for huge boring corporations.

~~~
xstartup
> I know lots of smart people who worked for at least 10 years in very intense
> startup environments and got essentially nothing out of it. Often, they have
> to fallback on a life of contract work for huge boring corporations.

Yes, it's not guaranteed by anything.

I also know of cases where founder alone ended up with billions and early
employees got nothing.

I just see those startups as poorly executed who decided to kill their army
after victory way home.

We should strive for execution where at least your comrades also win.

~~~
zeeshanm
"We should strive for execution where at least your comrades also win." \-->
this won my heart!

It is not a zero-sum game. You win when your comrades win. The glory is not in
taking it all but taking pride in what you have created and can potentially
create and expand on over and over again. :)

~~~
avn2109
From the perspective of all VC's and some founders, this is in fact the very
definition of a zero sum game.

Every dollar of an exit given to an employee is a dollar that the VC or
founder can't have.

------
skrebbel
I read the comments before clicking the link, and found myself agreeing with
commenters who complained about this line:

> _In addition, if people are working less than 8-10 productive hours per day,
> then they are clearly not being as productive as they could be._

I almost dismissed the book as a "yet another VC-driven, work-your-people-to-
burnout story" but really, there's more to that. I've found it an excellent
read so far and it's very concise, it wastes zero space on nonsense. I
realized that I don't have to agree with everything an author writes to be
able to get value out of a book. Warmly recommend you check it out.

~~~
cncrnd
Why is everyone disliking this statement about 8-10 hours a day? Excluding
weekends, this is 40-50 hours a week, nothing outrageous.

You're not that special folks, you have to work to get paid like everyone
else.

~~~
icebraining
It's almost impossible to be productive 100% of the time. Even with just 2h
for lunch and all other crap, to get 9h of productive time you're taking about
entering at 9AM and leaving at 8PM. No, thanks.

~~~
austenallred
Being a founder isn’t about writing code all day - you don’t have to be
operating at full mental capacity to be getting stuff done. You spend a ton of
time talking to people, recruiting, writing emails, etc. IMO the notion that
you can be more effective as a founder in < 8 hrs/day as if you work 8 hrs/day
is a pleasant sounding falsehood.

I’m sure there are diminishing returns at some point, but I don’t think it’s
before 8 hrs/day.

~~~
icebraining
Being a founder is irrelevant, he's talking about pushing his workers to work
those hours, not about his personal schedule.

~~~
austenallred
Ok fair, but are you aware of any position that is devoid of administrative
tasks or meetings?

The hardest part of being in a company is almost always coordination and
communication.

~~~
icebraining
That's exactly my point; he shouldn't expect 8-9h of productive time from his
workers, because there are always administrative tasks and meetings (not to
mention more lowly vital necessities), and so that implies they're basically
living in the company.

~~~
austenallred
The problem is that HN doesn’t consider “vital necessities” productive when
the author does

------
oldandlesswise
An interesting article; i was reading the replies to this. So here is my take.
A UK 40++ entrepreneur.

I have been there and done that - made good £££ from the first boom in 2000.
Since then tried a couple of startups all of which failed, for one reason or
another. Sadly we did burn through quite a lot of investor £££ in the process
and gained no personal value other than experience.

What I think I have learned is that building a small business with around 5-10
people and making a regular salary of £200k a year is a much more enjoyable
existence than trying for the millions and never quite getting there.

Working for a large corp, contracting etc is depressing (other than doing it
abroad which was fun for a few years and allowed me to travel in my 30's).

We now have a funky office, a very tight team of devs. I guess in some ways I
modelled on what Joel did.

After everything, I have learned "bootstrap" \+ "lifestyle business" is the
best route to have a happy and productive life. Our business is a digital
agency - mostly wordpress sites for SME market, a few apps etc. Its regular
and good money. it is no way as interesting as some of the "startup" ideas we
tried over the years, but no VC still on my shoulder anymore :)

~~~
austenallred
> What I think I have learned is that building a small business with around
> 5-10 people and making a regular salary of £200k a year is a much more
> enjoyable existence than trying for the millions and never quite getting
> there.

But what if you get there?

~~~
mooreds
Would you rather have a 1% chance of $100M/year or a 99% chance of $200k/year?

If all one thinks about is the math, they'd take the chance at 100M, because
it is a higher number when multipled by the probability. But you can't pay a
mortgage with a probability, and some folks want a mortgage (or other
lifestyle features).

~~~
oldandlesswise
But I think the point is - would you be up for earning £200k a year when it's
still your company doing what you want to do. I am not suggesting comparing a
£200k a year with having a job - that's very very different and I would never
want that. To me that really is a failure. I often ask the question - what
would I do if I had £100m++. maybe I would go travel for a few years, but as I
am still in my early 40s I would end up having a small company doing some cool
stuff in the latest tech. Its what I enjoy doing. You can only sit on so many
beaches!

What is the end game? having £100M+ in the bank account is only the start :) i
wondering if anyone who has made some big money reads hacker news - or is that
all now do :)

~~~
mooreds
That's fair. I remember talking to a co-founder of a successful company and he
said if he ever left, he'd love to run a small engineering team at a company,
take a salary, and leave some of the aspects of running a business to others.

It takes all kinds.

------
Nokinside
Requiring proposals and updates written down is a good idea. If you allow
people to bring up an issue or proposal that they have not already written up
in the meeting, someone always comes up with idea on the spot, and tries argue
it as something well thought. If they are clever people they can throw the
whole meeting off.

For the loudest voice in the room problem, speaking order that starts from the
most junior and ends with the most senior member is the best (I think it's
sometimes used in military). When junior members speak first it's easier for
them when the boss has not given his opinion.

~~~
EGreg
The Jewish Sanhedrin used it 2000-3000 years ago, starting from the most
junior people.

~~~
taneq
Some good psychology in that. If you start with the most senior people, then
the couple of people who are clearly officially leaders will talk and then
everyone else thinks they're next in the pecking order and will trainwreck it.

If the only way to talk is to admit that you're more junior than everyone else
who hasn't spoken, then you won't stick your two bob in unless you actually
have something important to say.

~~~
sp332
Or the most senior people will put an idea forward and all the juniors will
spend their time kissing ass and saying what a great idea it is.

~~~
kolpa
It's the seniors' job to seek out criticism and lead the way to criticizing
their own ideas.

------
rcfox
> In addition, if people are working less than 8-10 productive hours per day,
> then they are clearly not being as productive as they could be.

So, are people expected to be in the office for 12+ hours a day? Nobody is
100% productive from the moment they step in the door, every day. The fact
that the author even wrote the number 10 here makes me a bit angry.

I'm only about 1/4 of the way through, does he have a section on employee
burnout?

~~~
arsenico
You definitely should read the whole thing with more attention to this aspect
- getting productive hours out of employees is an extremely difficult task,
but it does pay off big time. This can be achieved with the "fun" environment
at work, with meals at the office, with very clear goals and alignment on
those goals, with a bigger ambition in mind, with creative compensation
schemes, flexible hours, remote work schemes, and with a lot of other things.
That's why there are "managers" (not necessarily) CEOs who can get this
productivity out of people, and those who cannot.

~~~
rcfox
I'm all for it if an employer wants to make it more attractive to stay at the
office. I have fun at work, I eat with my coworkers most days, and I'm not out
the door at the 8-hour marker. However, as it's worded, there's an implied
"problem" with an employee if they're not actively engaged with work for 10
hours a day.

Between meetings, chatty coworkers, meals, coffee breaks, and just periodic
mental fatigue, I think 5-6 hours of productivity is a much more feasible goal
for an 8-hour work day.

~~~
solatic
> meetings

If the meetings are productive meetings and not hour-long Facebook-browsing
snoozefests, then yes, meeting attendance is a form of productivity

> chatty coworkers

Get rid of the open floor plan, allow for remote work, other strategies to
promote the proverbial butts-in-seats instead of milling about the water
cooler

> meals

Delivered to the office

> Coffee breaks

Why coffee machines of whichever kind (Keurig, Nespresso, superautomatic
espresso machines) pay for themselves.

The point is that OP's point is that good management reduces (not eliminate,
that's impossible) distractions, to promote higher productivity.

~~~
NathanCH
I work a place where there is no interaction between employees. No coffee
breaks, no paid lunch, no meetings. It is hell. Enjoy.

~~~
solatic
Look, different places have different workers and cultures and management. If
you work in a place where everyone suffers from the lack of socialization,
then management should make things more sociable somehow. If you work in a
place where you're the only person who suffers from the lack of socialization,
then perhaps you should find another job.

------
ArtWomb
Author namechecks _Thirteen Days_ , the harrowing account of the Cuban Missile
Crisis and a world on the brink of annihilation. There is also a terrific
movie adaptation. In it, Secdef McNamara talks about how the positioning of
submarines and aircraft carriers about the open seas is actually a coded
language. And by making moves and counter-moves, what the US and USSR are
actually doing is communicating intent.

Another classic is Ron Howard's _Apollo 13_. One of the few movies that depict
the engineers as heroes. An inspiring watch for the whole team. And Damien
Chazelle's upcoming Neil Armstrong biopic might make for a similar outing.

Crisis management, perhaps more so than innate technological superiority, can
yield distinct competitive advantage. And this is where actually learning from
precisely the type of case study found in the YC network makes sense. Knowing
that you can stay calm, slow time, take deep breaths, and react rationally
because others have dealt with far more on their plate than you ever will.

I'll share an anecdote. A small independent media outlet once got wind of a
redesign I was working on and reported the story. The client was incensed as
they were planning a full marketing rollout and had "lost the narrative". We
were still months from launch. But rather than get into a blame game and lose
more time. I suggested a soft, beta launch with media blitz immediately. After
a week of jamming to polish our working prototypes for general availability,
we were public facing, with laudatory feedback and the client appearing on
CNBC ;)

Weeks later, as it turns out, it was revealed I was in fact the source of the
leak. An unscrupulous reporter had called my office posing as a contract
employee of the client and asked about a meeting time and place. In replying
that it would be at my office that afternoon, they had confirmation that in
fact the redesign was in progress!

~~~
firemelt
Sir did u have tldr for this?

------
chrisparton1991
I'm about a quarter way through this book and I'm enjoying it so far. This
line, however, didn't resonate with me:

> To encourage 8-10 productive hours, serve dinner 8-10 hours after morning
> stand-up.

As a person who enjoys life outside of work, the idea of having a job where
they were serving me dinner every day is baffling. Different strokes for
different folks, I guess.

~~~
askafriend
You don’t have to eat it.

They serve dinner every day where I work. I simply go home earlier than that.
Nothing happens. It’s quite simple really.

On days where I happen to need to stay late, it’s a really nice convenience.
For people who go to the gym after work and come back to eat, they save money
by grabbing a quick dinner meal at work.

~~~
sonnyblarney
"You don’t have to eat it."

Yes, but there's an inherent, almost clear expectation in this treatise that
you do in fact, 'eat it' or at least stay those hours.

If you're staying >10 hours at the office the least they can do is get you
dinner, but when it starts to be a cultural expectation it's going to be a
long term problem.

The way most equity is shared - if you are working 10-12 hours a day and the
company is not growing wildly, i.e. looking like a Unicorn - it's probably not
worth it, and you've drunk too much koolaid.

Koolaid and hard work are good, but I think the goal is kind of 'self aware
Koolaid' ...

~~~
askafriend
Speaking from personal experience, no there simply isn't this weird
expectation you seem to want to impose.

Every place I've worked at has had free food. People take it when it's
convenient for them. They leave it when they want to do something else.

Most parents never stay for dinner. And guess what, everything is fine.
There's no cultural crisis...

------
jcbrand
> Agenda > > Spouse > > Connect- listen to each other’s day for 5 minutes each

I had to laugh at this. Setting aside only 5-10 minutes a day for your closest
confidant and life-partner? Good luck with that marriage.

One of the ironies for me of people who slave away with the hope of scoring
the jackpot, is that they often justify it by telling themselves and others
what they'll do once they're financially independent, when in reality you can
probably do most of those things now already.

Want to travel the world? You can travel worldwide for a year for about $10k
to $20k.

If you have a wife and family, they're alive now. There's no guarantee they'll
be alive even tomorrow, or that you'll be.

Delayed gratification and sacrificing some of the present for the future are
both definitely good and necessary, but should be done within due measure.

~~~
fsloth
"One of the ironies for me of people who slave away with the hope of scoring
the jackpot,"

There are other reasons as well to work hard. Some people enjoy the prospect
of potentially denting the universe a bit. But yes, if financial gratification
and financial gratification alone is the goal it's a tad silly.

~~~
ErikAugust
Is a “dented universe” an admirable goal? Seems vague, and selfish. I get
people want to make some sort of impact while they are here, but let’s also
admit that that is driven by the ego.

~~~
newen
Yes? Isn't making a dent in the universe what everyone is trying to do? What
else is there in life? Just surviving until you die?

~~~
iamcasen
The purpose of life is to enjoy your time alive in this world. Typically one
does this by connecting with other living beings and balancing a life in
service of self with a life in service of others.

Will the founders of Snapchat be revered by humanity in the future? Highly
doubtful. The way to be remembered is to live a life worth remembering after
all.

~~~
newen
>The purpose of life is to enjoy your time alive in this world.

You don't get to decide what the purpose of life is. And wanting to leave your
mark on the world is just as validation a purpose of life.

>The way to be remembered is to live a life worth remembering after all.

Yeah that doesn't actually mean anything. There are plenty of people forgotten
by time and their ancestors who lived perfectly fulfilling lives with their
friends and family. They never got remembered in history books. Not that I'm
saying their choices were worse but if you want to be remembered in history
books, you don't just sit around making friends and family.

------
casca
Download as .doc:
[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZJZbv4J6FZ8Dnb0JuMhJxTnw...](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZJZbv4J6FZ8Dnb0JuMhJxTnwl-
dwqx5xl0s65DE3wO8/export?format=doc)

~~~
achairapart
Thank you, works as .epub as well:
[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZJZbv4J6FZ8Dnb0JuMhJxTnw...](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZJZbv4J6FZ8Dnb0JuMhJxTnwl-
dwqx5xl0s65DE3wO8/export?format=epub)

------
tail_risk
> the data shows that solo founders rarely succeed

Where is the data on this?

The only public exit / ipo yc has had to date was a solo founder.

~~~
sonnyblarney
A crude look at Crunchbase apparently indicates that 'one founder is best' and
'four founders is worst'. [1] Though it's not exactly a scientific assessment,
the numbers do paint a rough picture.

[1] [https://techcrunch.com/2016/08/26/co-founders-
optional/](https://techcrunch.com/2016/08/26/co-founders-optional/)

~~~
justinzollars
Applied (and was interviewed) to YC with 3 co-founders. It was a total
disaster. If I ever do it again I will be a solo founder and I'll hire those I
need.

~~~
siddharthdeswal
Can you give more detail please?

~~~
justinzollars
Sure. TLDR People have different motivations. You don't need to "find a co-
founder" in order to check some box in your application process. If you do
feel the need to apply with a team, don't split the equity evenly and define a
very clear leader. Also, Plan on most of your team just giving up if you are
rejected (despite what they say today). I applied with friends who who I knew
for a year AND had worked with on a few apps. I was surprised when they quit
after we were rejected.

Your biggest problem is finding a product market fit and defining a customer.
If you can do this you can certainly hire all the help you need.

------
mephitix
This is a fantastic resource.

>> ...the data shows that solo founders rarely succeed. The emotional burden
is just too high.

I am a solo founder and yeah, I completely agree with this. I severely
underestimated the emotional burden of going it alone. I am in a much better
state now, but it was definitely a struggle. If I had to do it over again this
is the main thing I would change - be more open towards and work harder
towards finding a co-founder.

~~~
danieltillett
I am a solo founder and I have been a non-solo founder in the past and being a
solo-founder is 100x better. I think it depends on the type of person you are
and what is important to you.

~~~
rejschaap
I think it boils down to something like

A solo founder who ticks all the boxes will beat an equally skilled team every
time

Most people don't tick all the boxes, so generally speaking you are better off
starting with a co-founder

------
codingdave
If you study coaching, or organizational development techniques, you'll find
that most practices are consultative -- defining goals, as well as how the
coach/consultant will work with an individual or organization. You then
evaluate where the person/org is at, where they want to go, and develop
various plans and interventions to get there.

I point this out because this document skips all that. It says so in the first
page - this is written by someone who targets young founders in SV. Quite a
narrow niche. This document is one specific playbook, for that specific niche.

Sure, young founders in SV may want this. And if you do, too, the info is good
for you. But there is more than one way to run a company, more than one
desired outcome, and more than one set of answers in what you should be doing.

------
AndrewWarner
Try this link to copy it to your drive so you can read or format it any way
you like:

[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZJZbv4J6FZ8Dnb0JuMhJxTnw...](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZJZbv4J6FZ8Dnb0JuMhJxTnwl-
dwqx5xl0s65DE3wO8/copy)

------
endlessvoid94
Does anyone have a PDF of this? Google docs has disabled most functionality
due to traffic volume.

~~~
chrisparton1991
You should be able to print it as a PDF via Chrome.

~~~
gnicholas
Chrome's PDF printing function gives you an image PDF, even if the content is
entirely text. So it's not searchable and is larger than a text PDF (which
Firefox will give you). I've uploaded a version here, which I don't think
requires cookies or block incognito:
[https://app.box.com/s/6mbbf3x1625uhcrm6t7tbld4jy1tnkjv](https://app.box.com/s/6mbbf3x1625uhcrm6t7tbld4jy1tnkjv)

~~~
ganeshkrishnan
Yesterday Internet Explorer is today's Chrome. I moved to firefox few months
ago and never looked back at Chrome.

~~~
godzillabrennus
Amen.

I’ve been converting folks back to Firefox and helping them setup containers
for Facebook and LinkedIn.

I hope Firefox integrates social media containers in by default in future
releases.

~~~
Hanswurst133742
Any good tutorials on that "setup containers for Facebook and LinkedIn." part
you can recommend? Am a Firefox User myself and very interested in getting
this to work.

~~~
godzillabrennus
Install this and it contains Facebook: [https://addons.mozilla.org/en-
US/firefox/addon/facebook-cont...](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-
US/firefox/addon/facebook-container/)

Install this and it contains LinkedIn: [https://addons.mozilla.org/en-
US/firefox/addon/linkedin-cont...](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-
US/firefox/addon/linkedin-container/)

It'd be great if Firefox were to integrate this into their out of the box
build of Firefox.

------
ganeshkrishnan
> YCombinator has a near-blanket policy of only accepting co-founder teams
> (ie- no solo founders), because the data shows that solo founders rarely
> succeed. The emotional burden is just too high.

But YC application FAQ states that this is not true. Although practically
speaking from speaking to other startups, I have noticed that only startups
with co-founders made it to the final round. This is just based off my
experience and talking to other startups

~~~
ztratar
Very, very few solo founders get into YC. I heard somewhere each batch of
companies has about 2 solo founder companies total.

------
denverkarma
Side tangent, if you’re looking to share a draft book like this with a bunch
of people, [https://betabooks.co](https://betabooks.co) is a good option.
Specifically designed to handle heavy load of readers and look great on
mobile, etc.

~~~
BadassFractal
Wow, that sound super useful. Now I just need to write a book.

------
foobaw
This is incredibly insightful and well-written.

~~~
Teeer
> In addition, if people are working less than 8-10 productive hours per day,
> then they are clearly not being as productive as they could be.

Yep, very insightful. I hope I never work for this guy

~~~
warent
8 productive hours per day is normal and expected. Are you working part-time
or getting paid to browse Reddit?

~~~
Teeer
> 8-10

Not sure why you bring up Reddit

------
memonkey
I just want to say that I really love that they're using the pronoun "she" in
the beginning. It is refreshing to hear when most business books are directed
using male pronouns.

~~~
ppbutt
"They" would be the proper term.

~~~
t0mbstone
Yeah, I find it annoying when people presume to refer to an unknown person as
'He" or "She". It's especially annoying when a writer randomly alternates
genders throughout their document. Pandering much?

The solution is the firmly established use of the singular "They":
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they)

The singular "They" has literally been used in the English language since the
14th century, and its usage is well-understood. Any English teacher who
dissuades you from its use should be stripped of their credentials, because
"they" are an idiot.

------
subashp
Amazing write up. I have been through it (now in a second startup) and can
relate to most of it. This is like the book I can read as summary of my
journey through startup world.

------
deedubaya
> “If we were to make you the following offer (state the offer in full detail,
> including cash, equity, benefits, etc), would you accept?” If they say yes,
> then make them offer.

This is most effectively done on a paper note, passed between classmates, so
that there is plausible deniability if they say no /s

~~~
sonnyblarney
This is a funny tactic because it should not work with a thoughtful
negotiator.

"If we were to make the offer" is de-facto an offer, it's just not official,
and though there might be a legal difference between an 'if we made it' and
'actual offer' ... for all intents and purposes, it's the same. It's the start
of the negotiation.

A half-smart negotiator would simply say: "Yes, if you included moving
expenses" or whatever they would say otherwise.

------
sah2ed
The book mentions "Percentage of tickets closed" as a metric by which
engineering should be evaluated, which IMO is incredibly short-sighted.

The Google Doc has all editing disabled at the moment, but does anyone know if
the author would welcome improvements to the text?

~~~
asafira
THey mention a more nuanced metric further down --- do you still feel it's a
poor metric?

~~~
sah2ed
Would you mind quoting the relevant bit? I'm on mobile at the moment.

My problem with including it at all is that, as he said in a preceding
chapter, he is in a unique position to shoot down myths that technical
founders believe about VCs and the converse, so the book presents a great
opportunity to do the same about the myth of closed tickets as an engineering
metric, particularly since it is largely well-written and will reach a much
wider audience than his coaching may permit.

~~~
koverda
I believe this is the relevant bit:

" As we learn from Andy Grove, former Intel CEO and author of the book High
Output Management, it is also important to define and track counter-metrics to
provide necessary context, because metrics are sometimes optimized to a fault.

For example, engineering tickets will vary in importance, so if your engineers
have closed the critical tickets, they’re doing better than if they close most
tickets but only the easiest ones. Similarly, if the half of candidates that
accept your job offers are less skilled than the half that decline, then
you’re doing worse than the raw percentage indicates. "

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j45
Parts of this book feel like a secret playbook that has been shared. Thanks
for that.

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msaharia
Is this book available as a printed book? Would love to buy a copy. I have
read disparate parts over the years, but this one is concise and covers a
gamut of topics. It might even help in running a research group!

------
Draiken
> In addition, if people are working less than 8-10 productive hours per day,
> then they are clearly not being as productive as they could be.

Am I the only one that immediately thought about employees as the Clueless on
the Gervais Principle[1]?

It looks to me like they need to sell this dream of exiting big for people to
sacrifice everything for the company. However everyone forgets how absurdly
low the chances of winning the lottery is.

It's essentially the carrot on the stick.

Maybe I'm wrong and it's easy to win on this "game"? I'd love to see some data
on how many actually become millionaires after killing themselves on the
startup grinder.

[1]: [https://www.ribbonfarm.com/the-gervais-
principle/](https://www.ribbonfarm.com/the-gervais-principle/)

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sus_007
_While there are many books out there with excellent and relevant knowledge
for the founding CEO..._

I'd love to know some of your's book suggestions for aspiring Tech Founder-
CEO.

~~~
FeynmanThomas
Recommended: "Before The Startup" by Paul Graham -
[http://www.paulgraham.com/before.html](http://www.paulgraham.com/before.html)

------
maximp
> 3\. Someday/Maybe: This is the list of things that you one day want to do,
> but don’t need to get done now (e.g. read a book).

Someday/Maybe

Schedule a guitar lesson

Order the book Getting Things Done by David Allen

\---

Man, this guy really gets me.

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tgb29
Thanks for the book! The succinct and direct style of writing makes it easier
for me to read. And for some reason, I like reading it from Google Docs.

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aytekin
Great insights. This should have probably been posted on Medium though. Google
Docs have horrible reading experience.

~~~
fefb
I just got a copy to my Drive, and I saved as epub where I can read as an
ebook.

~~~
monkeydust
Nice! Will do that.

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shock
> Hire an x-CEO to come in as a “1 day a week CEO” to implement this system.
> _She_ should be able to do so in 6-8 weeks. Have _her_ then watch you run
> the system for 2 weeks to ensure that you are doing it correctly.

I was under the impression that the accepted gender-neutral pronoun to use in
this case would be "they". Any idea why "she"/"her" is used? Is this a new
phenomenon?

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Dowwie
Who is the author, Matt Mochary? Why should I care what he thinks?

~~~
slap_shot
...this is literally the first topic covered....

> Who am I? Why am I writing this book?

I coach tech startup CEOs (and tech investors) in Silicon Valley, most of whom
are young technical founders. They include the CEOs of Coinbase, AngelList,
CoinList, TrustToken, Bolt, Shogun, Speechify, etc.

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philippz
Printed it, will read it on the next flights, thanks!

------
extralego
obsolete since GDPR

~~~
basejumping
why?

