Startup Teams and Execution

Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator, talks about the last two topics of startups: Cofounders and Execution.

Notes

choose someone you know and trust
work at cofounder rich company (e.g. facebook rich like Stanford)
top companies had 2 founders
yc funds 10% of single founder cos
2 or 3 founders best, few more ok.
“relentlessly resourceful”
tough and calm (as well as smart and technical- coders start software cos, media ppl start media cos)
James Bond more than expert in particular domain
know founder and early hires for years
try not to hire
airBNB spent 5 months looking for first hire, then only 2 for first year; bad early hire can ruin co
time spent hiring: 0% or 25% ( not at all if not absolutely needed or substantial time, to get it right)
source of hires: usually personal referrals for at least the 1st 100 or more works out best
most of time aptitude more important than experience unless role requires it
are they smart, do they GTD, do I want to spend time w/ them
good communication skills; manically determined; pass animal test; would feel comfortable reporting to them
equity: roughly 10% to first 10 employees (over 4 years)
fire fast

culture of co set by watching founders execute day-to-day
ceo jobs: set vision; raise money; evangelize; hire and manage; make sure entire co executes
founder: focus (you and co): say no a lot; set overarching goals. repeat them; communicate
remote co-founding teams really hard
intensity (from founder) (startups not good for work life balance)
always keep momentum