How to Grow a Sustainable Startup: Advice from Y Combinator President Sam Altman

At the end of the summer, an online school for startups, Startup School, was launched by the famous accelerator Y Combinator, which was an early investor in Airbnb, DropBox, WhatsApp, Reddit and others. One of the lectures was given by the president of Y Combinator, investor, programmer, blogger and a person who believes that the era of the singularity has already arrived, Sam Altman.

The Bell, in partnership with the Russian non-profit online school of startups Russol and with vc.ru publishes the main theses of these speeches in Russian. You can help the Y Combinator in Russian project here . The purpose of this initiative is to share the experience of creating IT companies and inspire entrepreneurship.

Lecture by Sam Altman with Russian subtitles

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-v15s_DHNY&feature=youtu.be

Lecture summary - briefly

Create a product that is talked about. The product should be so good and understandable that the first users would recommend it to their friends. Like Android, easy to use? And now the whole world knows about it.

See real trends. If users buy new platform products, such as VR glasses, but do not use them, then this is a fake trend. And vice versa, when they buy and use, this is a real trend. This is how the iPhone became.

Understand the business model. A startup must understand not only how its product is changing the world, but also who benefits and will pay. Also, the founder must have a clear vision of how users will use the created product in the future.

Set an ambitious goal. It is easier to launch a company with a complex product and an ambitious goal. It serves as a guide for the team and fuels the desire to implement it. In addition, such a goal is a magnet for talent.

Burn with the project. The founder preaches and loves his product. He also makes first sales, recruits team members, talks to the media, and raises funds.

Move forward. On the way there will be many words that nothing will work out, and no one needs the product. This is wrong. It is important not to give up, not to despair and move towards victory. It is also important to keep your foot on the pedal and keep pace. Otherwise, it will be difficult to get back on track and actually have to start from the beginning.

Generate ideas. The team should have a person who creates many more ideas than can be implemented. Many of them will be downright stupid, but that's okay. The flow of ideas should never stop.

Assemble a team. It's incredibly hard to find the right people. This is almost the same as finding a companion or life partner. We must be prepared to hear "no" and make the wrong choice.

Work without rest. There will be no time for the founder and team to stop and recharge. For example, the Facebook team is constantly looking for growth points. To experience less stress, you need to learn to delegate and, therefore, grow.

"Let's figure it out." Such responses to challenges lead the team to success. And the phrases "It's impossible" or "That's not how it's done" - to failure. Money and experience are not as important as the answer "We'll figure it out."

More “yes”, less “no”. A startup beats sluggish corporations because it can change strategy several times a day. To innovate in large companies, you need to go through many levels.

Following the example of Y Combinator, the public school of startups Russol holds public lectures given by the founders of Russian companies - using the example of the founders of YouDo, Cinemood, ModulBank, Kabanchik, Flacon and others, you can learn how to find ideas and first customers, create a product and attract investment. The school is recruiting for 2019-2021 experts in areas such as marketing, PR, sales and management. If you are ready to share your experience with others, you are here .

Yuri Yartsev (for The Bell)