Paul Graham on startup advice
Graham argues that startups run on one rule that hasn't changed, even with AI: make something people want, because users can't be fooled. Most of what founders do on instinct (chasing growth hacks, polishing a private vision, launching late, attacking big problems head-on, building scalable machinery too early) is what they have to unlearn. His prescription: get a co-founder, start with a small, intense fire of users, do things that don't scale, ship the moment one person is glad you exist, always work on the single most important thing, and do what you can with the money you have.
13 points · 6 appearances · 2009–2025
How the view evolved
Make something people want → Growth hacks are bullshit; make something loved
At Startup School 2008 Graham told founders to make something people want and not worry about the business model at first. By his 2015 lecture the yardstick is growth: the best way to convince investors is a startup that's actually doing well, meaning growing fast.
Up next
2014–2026 · changed view
“It turns out it's not that important to be smart; it's much, much more important to be determined. If you imagine this hypothetical person who's like a hundred out of a hundred for smart and a hundred out of a hundred for determination, and then you start taking away determination, it doesn't take very long before you have this sort of ineffectual but brilliant person. Whereas if you take someone who's super, super determined and you start taking away smartness bit by bit, eventually you get to some guy who owns a lot of taxi medallions — but he's still rich. Or like a trash hauling business or something like that.”
2012–2025 · changed view
“Imagine he encounters this very beautiful attractive woman and he's like, and she says to him, here's the thing: if you ever got me, you wouldn't have a clue what to do with me. And that's what these really big ideas say to you. This phenomenon is one of the most important things you can understand about startups. You'd think really big startup ideas would be attractive, but actually they tend to repel you, and so you need to learn how to tack into that wind, essentially.”
2017–2025 · changed view
“Wealth is the thing that you really want. Wealth is assets that earn while you sleep. Wealth is the factory that with the robots as cranking out things. Wealth is the computer program that's running at night that's serving other customers. Wealth is even money in the bank that is being reinvested into other assets and into other businesses. Even a house can be a form of wealth, because you can rent it out — although that's probably a lower use of productivity — but land and actually doing some commercial enterprise. So my definition of wealth is much more businesses and assets that can earn while you sleep.”
2023–2026 · changed view
“The observation is that don't die is the most played game by everyone all over the world every day. You and I breathe every few seconds, we look both ways before we cross the street, we all play don't die. So it's played more than capitalism, it's played more than any religion. It's the most played game in the world.”