How and why to startup a startup

As an aspiring startup creator currently working on a project, I got so much value form this first video course in YC's startup school (https://www.startupschool.org/). Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator, and Dustin Moskovitz, Cofounder of Facebook and Asana, both give succinct, memorable lectures.

Here are some of my takeaways from the course...

From Dustin:

- Rather than starting a startup, it could be better to join a small or large company with traction (more resources, more reach, better chance of success, potentially equal payout if you join early) - Starting a startup is fucking hard (long hours, not glamorous, high chance of failure) - You should only start a startup if you “can’t not do it” (think of yourself 30 years from now -- will you be saying to yourself, “Wow, I should have given that thing a real shot?”) - You should only start a startup if you have passion and aptitude (you’re the best person to do it, you want to do it, and you’d be depriving the world of something incredibly valuable if you didn’t do it) - To not fail, you need to be persistent in finding new ideas and accept when one idea isn’t catching on with the market

From Sam:

- What’s on your side as a founder is that it can be very expensive for investors to write off crazy ideas - Machine learning and A.I. are going to be the next big things (like the Internet, smartphone, etc) - It’s easier to start a hard company than an easy company because you attract a lot of great talent and interest when you have a big idea - Cofounders are good, but only have a cofounder that you have a shared history with - A cofounder that shares your vision is better than a cofounder with the skills you need - When you start a startup, go niche/narrow -- start with a smaller market that will really love you - Get to know your users really well (visit them, ask them hard questions, spend the day with them) - Only hire good people; don’t hire mediocre people just because you need people now (“the team you build is the company you build”) - Don’t give up -- ever -- if you believe in what you’re building and people want it (someone applied to YC seven times before getting accepted) - You have an obligation to yourself and your investors to take care of your health