
How and why to startup a startup - gibbiv
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoqgAy3h4OM
======
gibbiv
As an aspiring startup creator currently working on a project, I got so much
value form this first video course in YC's startup school
([https://www.startupschool.org/](https://www.startupschool.org/)). Sam
Altman, President of Y Combinator, and Dustin Moskovitz, Cofounder of Facebook
and Asana, both give succinct, memorable lectures.

Here are some of my takeaways from the course...

From Dustin:

\- Rather than starting a startup, it could be better to join a small or large
company with traction (more resources, more reach, better chance of success,
potentially equal payout if you join early) \- Starting a startup is fucking
hard (long hours, not glamorous, high chance of failure) \- You should only
start a startup if you “can’t not do it” (think of yourself 30 years from now
-- will you be saying to yourself, “Wow, I should have given that thing a real
shot?”) \- You should only start a startup if you have passion and aptitude
(you’re the best person to do it, you want to do it, and you’d be depriving
the world of something incredibly valuable if you didn’t do it) \- To not
fail, you need to be persistent in finding new ideas and accept when one idea
isn’t catching on with the market

From Sam:

\- What’s on your side as a founder is that it can be very expensive for
investors to write off crazy ideas \- Machine learning and A.I. are going to
be the next big things (like the Internet, smartphone, etc) \- It’s easier to
start a hard company than an easy company because you attract a lot of great
talent and interest when you have a big idea \- Cofounders are good, but only
have a cofounder that you have a shared history with \- A cofounder that
shares your vision is better than a cofounder with the skills you need \- When
you start a startup, go niche/narrow -- start with a smaller market that will
really love you \- Get to know your users really well (visit them, ask them
hard questions, spend the day with them) \- Only hire good people; don’t hire
mediocre people just because you need people now (“the team you build is the
company you build”) \- Don’t give up -- ever -- if you believe in what you’re
building and people want it (someone applied to YC seven times before getting
accepted) \- You have an obligation to yourself and your investors to take
care of your health

