#61 - Sam Altman on Masters of Scale - Y Combinator  ## Metadata - Author: **Y Combinator** - Full Title: #61 - Sam Altman on Masters of Scale - Category: #podcasts - URL: https://share.snipd.com/episode/0c184382-d8be-4b57-aceb-e5155ba321bf ## Highlights - Working on a Startup Summary: "It started as just a project that we worked on after class in the night. And it would not have been a startup if it went on for a white commentator," Graham says. "We actually first got me ever funded by YC, and that was how then it just kept going." Transcript: Speaker 1 Work on a startup. I worked somewhere after my freshman year in the Stanford CS department as a researcher, and I loved that. And out of that, grew a project which eventually developed into looped. But it started as just a project that we worked on after class in the night. And it would not have been a startup if it went on for a white commentator. So it kind of got to the point where we had worked on it during a spring quarter. And it was really fun. I'm very ashamed to say that I had been planning to go be an intern at Goldman Sachs that summer. I accepted a job offer. And I realized that was much more fun. We were all, there were three of us working on this project. And we all kind of knew who Paul Graham was. We had followed him online. And he posted this thing saying, hey, not excited about your summer job. Come back on your project. And you can make a startup. And it seemed like it would be more fun than being an investment banker. So we applied to YC and flew out and interviewed and got funded. We actually first got me ever funded by YC. And that was how then it just kept going. Speaker 2 And is there anything that, in this, the very beginning, ([Time 0:01:10](https://share.snipd.com/snip/ef9ba479-5aa8-4ca3-bb66-98a29f4b6f3e)) - YC - Is There Anything That You Would Tell Yourself to Do Differently? Summary: "I think most people worry way too much about risk," he says. "When you're young and you have nothing to lose, it's absolutely the time to take risk" The idea that most things are not nearly as risky as they seem is a powerful one, YC founder adds. Transcript: Speaker 1 Funded. We actually first got me ever funded by YC. And that was how then it just kept going. Speaker 2 And is there anything that, in this, the very beginning, is there anything from now having done looped and a bunch of things we're going to get into that if you could call that younger Self of yours going into YC, that you would tell yourself to do differently, like key things? Speaker 1 Well, I think one general thing that I didn't understand then and learned pretty quickly but would have saved me quite a bit of heartache is about how to calibrate risk. I think most people worry way too much about risk. You know, when you're young and you have nothing to lose, it's absolutely the time to take risk. And it's the time, unfortunately, that most people are the most risk-averse in their lives. They need to say they just want to work for a few years, build up savings, and they're going to start out. They want to do what their parents want, whatever. And I ended up in the right place, but it could have gone either way. And I was very totally stupidly nervous about the risk. And so this idea that most things are not nearly as risky as they seem is a powerful one, and one that I always try to tell people in that position. You know, you're ([Time 0:02:19](https://share.snipd.com/snip/7b604c2c-e514-49b5-9b80-cab5f5ca5de3)) - Why Don't You Think I'm Super Easy to Work With Today? Summary: I was infamously difficult to work with when I was 18 or 19. A lot of it is how you set and communicate expectations with others. It's actually much harder to wait and let your life ramp up and then do it. Transcript: Speaker 1 Up in the right place, but it could have gone either way. And I was very totally stupidly nervous about the risk. And so this idea that most things are not nearly as risky as they seem is a powerful one, and one that I always try to tell people in that position. You know, you're like a poor college student with no money and no reputation. And if you do a startup and fail, you're like two years older with no money and no reputation, and it's fine. It's actually much harder to wait and let your life ramp up and then do it. So that's one thing. I think another thing is why don't you think I'm super easy to work with today? But I was like sort of infamously difficult to work with when I was 18 or 19. And I would have put more effort into trying to be better about that. Speaker 2 And what specifically would you have done to be easier to work with? Speaker 1 I think a lot of it is how you set and communicate expectations with others, and also realizing that if you're the founder of the company and you want to work 100 hours a week and be super Focused and productive, that's cool. But most other people you hire, especially as you get bigger, have other lives and you need to understand ([Time 0:03:19](https://share.snipd.com/snip/d7f91e4f-32d8-4b96-ad39-bcf340991608)) - YC Is Going to Die, Going After a Heart Attack Summary: "I had a lot of conviction that we could apply the same thing that made YC work so well for software companies," he says. "By the time it was like, this is a really dumb thing ... I think you just have to ignore all of that and just say, I have a high level of conviction,. We're going to try this thing." Transcript: Speaker 1 Software companies. But I had a lot of conviction that we could apply the same thing that made YC work so well for software companies to companies in a lot of the areas that I cared about. And AI, synthetic biology, energy, and that the same model would work, which now people are like, oh, yeah, a heart attack. Everyone wants to invest in a heart attack. By the time it was like, this is a really dumb thing. One of the things is funny is a side note. And just as a note to anyone that tries to do anything where you take a company in a different direction or scale it is, that it is always funny to read the articles from the same journalists That when you say you're going to do these things, say, like, Sam is crazy, completely unqualified. This is not going to work. YC is going to die, going after a heart attack. And it's so stupid. To a year, 14 months later, this is great. Sam is a genius. It was predestining. He was going to take over YC. It's ridiculous that YC is doing any software companies at all. It's all that other stuff. So I think you just have to ignore all of that and just say, I have a high level of conviction, we're going to try this thing. And most people will tell you it's not going to work. If it's something new, most people are afraid of things that are new. And you just do ([Time 0:12:45](https://share.snipd.com/snip/cc94a08e-107b-4d0f-999e-06299ecd4c4f)) - Scaling YC Summary: In terms of the efforts to scale YC, like this global geography, there's early and late stage. There's research that you also are taking non-profits through YC as well as part of it. I think we are good on the vision in culture. One is a very clear vision in culture and the other is a reasonably clear org structure. The world that don't fit as a for-profit company that we still want to do. But basically, fundamentally, YC is sort of this new university. Transcript: Speaker 1 The world that don't fit as a for-profit company that we still want to do. But basically, fundamentally, YC is sort of this new university. We are a collection of smart people that have some sort of shared vision of the world we'd like to build and the tools that we think work to get there. And that's a very flexible structure. So we've been able to do all these things. Speaker 2 And in terms of the efforts to scale YC, like this global geography, there's early and late stage, there's research that you also are taking non-profits through YC as well as part of it. When you think about it and you say, OK, I saw this potential, I had to have a massive scale impact that I went in. Which were the things that you kind of wish you would double down on earlier? And which are the things that you would have changed in that scaling process? Speaker 1 I think one thing that is really, the two things are really important to get right when you're going to try to scale an organization a lot. One is a very clear vision in culture and the other is a reasonably clear org structure. I think we are good on the vision in culture. ([Time 0:16:07](https://share.snipd.com/snip/4348dea1-2a7a-4bea-9f22-c3e01f0ea9fd)) - Do Things That Don't Scale? Summary: Paul Graham wrote an essay called Do Things That Don't Scale. He says it is in the top four most important essays for a new founder to read. It's actually a sign of bad entrepreneurs in my experience when people that have a company with no users, no product, no revenue, say they won't do something because, well, that's not going to scale. Transcript: Speaker 2 Said, go to New York, go door to door, explain to people, just get them into it. Speaker 1 Yeah. Paul Graham wrote an essay out of that experience and a stripe experience. There's some way we can talk about an essay called Do Things That Don't Scale. And I think it is in the top four most important essays for a new founder to read. The... This is almost universal among, not perfectly, but almost universal among our best companies where, initially, you have to go get users manually or do things that you could never do With 10 million users. And it's actually a sign of bad entrepreneurs in my experience when people that have a company with no users, no product, no revenue, say they won't do something because, well, that's Not going to scale. It's what that means is I am lazy and don't want to go get my hands dirty or I think knocking on doors and taking photos is below me and the Airbnb guys' case, which is not what they did. Speaker 2 They actually went and did all those things. Exactly. Exactly. Speaker 1 So I think the way that you build a really great product is to be very close to your customers. And the way that you do that is to do things that ([Time 0:30:58](https://share.snipd.com/snip/f2fa1a88-ffe3-496c-8400-b3e01f93ceab))