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Words of Wisdom for Non-Technical Co-Founders (via Sam Altman)
by Scott Edward Walker on May 16th, 2021To Our Clients & Friends: Welcome to our series “Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed.” Every few weeks we share a favorite video clip of a successful entrepreneur, investor or business leader on a variety of topics. This week, we again present Sam Altman, the former President of Y Combinator and the CEO of OpenAI.
In this brief interview (from a few years back), Sam shares some solid advice for non-technical founders trying to launch a technical startup, including the following:
- In order to succeed as a non-technical founder, “you have to be able to convince really good technical people to follow you.” (at 0:38)
- If you’re not going to be technical, you have to be great at product and be a great leader.” (at 0:43)
- “I would not start a company with somebody I didn’t already know.” (at 1:18)
- “And I wouldn’t start a company with someone I hadn’t worked with on some project either.” (at 1:28).
I hope it’s helpful. Cheers, Scott
More Words of Wisdom from Jeff Bezos
by Scott Edward Walker on February 7th, 2021To Our Clients & Friends: Welcome to our series “Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed.” Each week or two, we post a favorite video clip of a successful entrepreneur, investor or business leader on a variety of topics. This week, we again present Jeff Bezos, an extraordinary entrepreneur.
In this brief clip, Jeff shares some solid advice for entrepreneurs and founders: “You need a combination of stubborn relentlessness and flexibility – and you have to know when to be which.” I hope you enjoy it. Cheers, Scott
More Words of Wisdom from Steve Jobs
by Scott Edward Walker on December 10th, 2020To Our Clients & Friends: Welcome to our series “Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed.” Every few weeks we share a short video clip of a successful founder, investor or business leader on a variety of topics. This week, we present an old interview of Steve Jobs discussing the importance of quality. My favorite quote: “We need to get back to the basics and go improve our products and services.” I hope you enjoy it. Cheers, Scott
Words of Wisdom from Geoff Ralston
by Scott Edward Walker on September 13th, 2020
To Our Clients & Friends: Welcome to our series “Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed.” Every few weeks we share a favorite video of a successful entrepreneur, investor or business leader on a variety of topics. This week, we present Geoff Ralston, the President of Y Combinator and a very solid former entrepreneur.
Words of Wisdom from Kevin Systrom
by Scott Edward Walker on June 21st, 2020To Our Clients & Friends: Welcome to our series “Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed.” Every few weeks, we share a favorite video of a successful entrepreneur, investor or business leader on a variety of topics. This week, we present Kevin Systrom, the co-founder and former CEO of Instagram.
Words of Wisdom from Sam Altman
by Scott Edward Walker on February 29th, 2020To Our Clients & Friends: Welcome to our series “Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed.” Every few weeks we share a favorite video clip of a successful entrepreneur, investor or business leader on a variety of topics. This week, we present Sam Altman, the former President of Y Combinator and the CEO of OpenAI.
In this interesting blog post, Sam shares some solid nuggets for founders, including the following:
- “The most counterintuitive secret about startups is that it’s often easier to succeed with a hard startup than an easy one.”
- “The most precious commodity in the startup ecosystem right now is talented people, and for the most part talented people want to work on something they find meaningful.”
- “If people care about your success because you seem committed to doing something significant, it’s a background force helping you with hiring, advice, partnerships, fundraising, etc.”
And below is an old clip for non-technical founders, with the following advice: “It’s very hard…to have a company [succeed] with no technical founders; it’s not impossible, but it’s a significant headwind.” I would also add that it’s very difficult to raise seed funds from sophisticated investors if your company is a tech startup and you have no technical founders (i.e., all the development is being outsourced).
Fundraising 101: Words of Wisdom from Aaron Harris
by Scott Edward Walker on November 3rd, 2019To Our Clients & Friends: Welcome to our weekly series “Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed.” Each week or two, we share a favorite video clip of a successful entrepreneur, investor or business leader on a variety of topics. This week, we present Aaron Harris, a partner at Y Combinator.
How Much Equity Should You Give Your Cofounder? (via Michael Seibel)
by Scott Edward Walker on June 30th, 2019
To Our Clients & Friends: Welcome to our weekly series “Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed.” Each week (or two), we share a favorite video clip of a successful entrepreneur, investor or business leader on a variety of topics. This week, we present Michael Seibel, CEO and a partner at Y Combinator.
(more…)Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed via Goldman Sachs
by Scott Edward Walker on April 14th, 2019
To Our Clients & Friends: Welcome to our weekly series “Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed.” Each week, we post our favorite video of a successful entrepreneur, investor or business leader on a variety of topics. This week, we present short clips from a number of successful business leaders and entrepreneurs via Goldman Sachs.
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Words of Wisdom from Travis Kalanick
by Scott Edward Walker on October 6th, 2018
To Our Clients & Friends: Welcome to our weekly series “Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed.” Each week, we share a favorite video clip of a successful entrepreneur, investor or business leader on a variety of topics. This week, we present Travis Kalanick, a brilliant entrepreneur and the co-founder and former CEO of Uber.
Words of Wisdom from Sam Altman
by Scott Edward Walker on September 3rd, 2018
To Our Clients & Friends: Welcome to our series “Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed.” Each week (or two), we share a favorite video clip of a successful entrepreneur, investor or business leader on a variety of topics. This week, we present Sam Altman, the President of Y Combinator and co-chairman of OpenAI.
Words of Wisdom from Jack Dorsey: Choosing Your Investors
by Scott Edward Walker on July 29th, 2018
To Our Clients & Friends: Welcome to our weekly series “Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed.” Each week, we share a favorite video clip of a successful entrepreneur, investor or business leader on a variety of topics. This week, we present Jack Dorsey, Co-founder and CEO of Twitter and Square.
Motivational Clips for Entrepreneurs: “No More Negative Folks”
by Scott Edward Walker on May 20th, 2018Welcome to our weekly series “Motivational Clips for Entrepreneurs.” Each week, we share a favorite video clip to inspire and motivate entrepreneurs. Why? Because we know how tough it is being an entrepreneur or founder — and whether you’re launching your startup, trying to iterate on your business model or raising funds, you need a little juice to help you push the ball forward. I hope these videos are a little juice. Cheers, Scott
More Words of Wisdom from Jeff Bezos
by Scott Edward Walker on February 11th, 2018
To Our Clients & Friends: Welcome to our weekly series “Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed.” Each week, we post a favorite video clip of a successful entrepreneur, investor or business leader on a variety of topics. This week, we present Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon and a truly extraordinary entrepreneur.
Words of Wisdom from Elon Musk: Launching a Startup
by Scott Edward Walker on July 2nd, 2017
Recruiting 101 for Tech Startups via Steve Jobs
by Scott Edward Walker on April 30th, 2017To Our Clients & Friends: Welcome to our weekly series “Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed.” Each week, we share a short video clip of a successful founder, investor or business leader on a variety of topics. This week, we again present Steve Jobs, who discusses the importance of hiring “A players” (i.e., superstar employees) for your startup. My favorite quote: “I found that when you get enough A players together… they really like working with each other… they don’t want to work with B and C players….” I hope you enjoy it. Cheers, Scott
p.s. Yesterday, I shared a Quora post via Twitter regarding recruiting (see http://bit.ly/2pJdVzX) and the following nugget: “[T]o be a great CEO, you need to find a way to force yourself to be a great recruiter.”