Lecture 1 - How to Start a Startup (Sam Altman, Dustin Moskovitz)

Lecture Transcript: tech.genius.com/Sam-altman-lec...
Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator, and Dustin Moskovitz, Cofounder of Facebook, Asana, and Good Ventures, kick off the How to Start a Startup Course. Sam covers the first 2 of the 4 Key Areas: Ideas, Products, Teams and Execution; and Dustin discusses Why to Start a Startup.
See the slides and readings at startupclass.samaltman.com/courses/lec01/
Discuss this lecture: startupclass.co/courses/how-t...
This video is under Creative Commons license: creativecommons.org/licenses/b...

[@hoodasaurabh]

I had to stop lecture every few minutes, take a break and digest things that were said. This lecture is like *firehose of startup advice :)*

[@datofadzlishah7566]

sure you did.

[@AndyLimantoroCom]

same.

[@GyanenderSharmaigurugyan]

+Saurabh Hooda Damnn !! I'm doing exactly same thing. Its too fast to digest in one go :D

[@caninho1]

That's good to read. I just started watching.

[@muskannarang2661]

Hey saurabh! How is lenro going on?

[@AndreNorbim]

00:01 - Sam Altman - How to start a startup 2:05 - four areas You need to maximize your chance of success. 2:16 - 1 - Idea, 2 - Product, 3 - Team, 4 - Execution 3:06 - why start a Startup 3:49 - 1 - Idea 6:16 - The idea should comes First and the startup should come second. 7:05 - Develop a mission oriented organization- have an important mission 10:26 - You need something that sounds like a bad idea , but its a good idea 12:28 - Why start now? 13:55 - While you are a student: think of new ideas, meet potential founders 14:43 - What customers want? What are the demands of your market? 15:08 - Product - Build something that people love. 20:45 - Build easy to use, simple products 22:10 - Fanatical products and user feedback 23:31 - Transform user feedback into decisions 24:43 - Create metrics that focus on growth 25:31 -Dustin moskovitz - why building a startup? 26:08 - Outline 26:30 - Common reasons 27:46 - Start a company is really stressful 30:35 - Ugly side of being a founder 32:50 - You will be the boss idea 35:46 - You will make more and have more impact 40:47 - what is the best reason 43:33 - Recommended books

[@FrancoRodriguez-qx9ty]

You're a local internet hero.

[@irvingzamora1837]

wheres the likes to this hero?

[@LNJP13579]

Wow ! Thanks for the effort.

[@ruthchelimo6751]

Not all heroes wear capes. Thank you!

[@XinTian100]

Thank you

[@kevinflo]

"...every guest speaker has been involved in the creation of a $1billion+ company." Talk about legit.

[@emmanuelezele7281]

very credible

[@im_ritik]

I can't believe that this gem content is absolutely *FREE* to watch and learn from!! What else can we expect better, we're having Stanford course taught by billion dollar company owners at 0 fees!!! KZbin and internet really made a revolution in learning. We're living in the best generation in terms of the ease of SUCH GREAT CONTENT AND GREAT PEOPLE and their teachings. Thank you stanford. Thank you YC. Thank you KZbin🙂 Love♥️ From India

[@GuillermoFretuchino637]

Absolutely useless you mean? This guy is uneducated.

[@rahulshendre7089]

so true man

[@badsanta7356]

What's your startup?

[@blowstudy1460]

Now he is founder of CHAT GPT 😮

[@walterwhite8384]

cringe bro

[@MargaretBouse]

Not everyone is charismatic or a great presenter, but his content is like someone handing you gold. He obviously took time and care in organizing his content and in making it understandable. When someone is handing you gold, do you reject it because they hand it to you in a tin cup when you would prefer crystal? No. You say... "Thank you for sharing your gold with me. I will put it to good use. " His content is fantastic. Brilliant. Tried. True. Honest. And given for the benefit of the listener. So I say, "Thank you for the gold" :) awesome preso! :)

[@muhammadumerjavaid6663]

makes ton of a sense.

[@mohammedmahfoud7230]

You sweet words are the Gold. Thank you

[@rohitk9954]

Yes , this is truly gold. Thanking youtube to make this gold available to all of us.

[@gaurav7047]

This comment is gold

[@MargaretBouse]

Just to clarify... on the day I wrote this ~6 years ago, comments prior to mine criticized his delivery. I think that his content was superb and the criticism was unwarranted. This content is very valuable... and has proved to be timeless.

[@lilianapacelli4301]

It always amazes me how much some people are willing to give. Even if you don’t learn anything, you have to be thankful of them because by doing this they are showing that free education is possible. Kudos to them!

[@kral3046]

His lecture aged very well, just like you!

[@ankitanarvekar3779]

yesss i agree, thank you so much for saying this out loud

[@recursion.]

@@kral3046 youtube is not a tinder lil bro

[@vladstorey6284]

It's gold. The most full and useful material about this topic I've ever read

[@tupilwesinyangwe5098]

It's interesting how what the first guy said in the first 10 minutes just summarised about 6 books I have read on startups. Yes his public speaking might not be as good but the content, the content is powerful.

[@gabriellainezaramita3231]

ikr!

[@gabriellainezaramita3231]

ikr!

[@gabriellainezaramita3231]

ikr!

[@aybmnn]

usually people with 'not so good' public speaking skills have better content because they spend most of the time getting that content than trying to improve their speaking skills. Also they tend to be more direct when speaking, which is way better in my opinion.

[@abdrahimdjerar7441]

Tupilwe Sinyangwe can you gîve me thé titles of 6 books !!

[@ConeTheOne]

Please write this down in a book. There is so much good advice in those videos that I feel I'm missing out on lots because I can't memorize everything as quickly. Really love the videos!

[@steveaitken1424]

Absolutely amazing! Thanks Sam, Dustin, and Stanford for putting this on for everyone world wide!

[@horaciodavila3300]

15 of April, 2023. Indeed pure Gold in a ton cup! I'm sharing his views and info to anyone who will listen to wisdom and best practices in starting a startup! Kudos to you Sam Altman for your generosity.

[@bluecuracao6478]

Oh this should be youtube gold and this applies to lots of businesses, not just technological startups, the most valuable part was about idea, good product, passion and motivation. Those things might seem to be quite obvious but they are not in fact. Thank you for sharing your experience! that's a great value!

[@dalnayak]

This guy seems talented. He should start some AI company, or he should lead some ai research group at Microsoft

[@myname2462]

😂

[@ramlarahman5079]

😂

[@wassupnick]

🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@Scorpioyehtut]

He was simply reading from the paper. Not a good presenter. He may get fired by his own company one day.

[@rishabhjain8319]

And then rejoin that company again as CEO

[@morenomt27]

I had been repeating the video, to absorb the concepts. This video is gold. Thanks Sam Altman!

[@alecdickinson]

Almost 5 years since this was posted and it's still great material and as relevant as the day it was posted. Priceless.

[@sonalagarwal724]

Holds true even after 7yrs now!!

[@corail53]

@@sonalagarwal724 Some good stuff and some very self-indulgent crap.

[@jamesbrendan5170]

@@corail53 where is the "self-indulgent crap" you talked about???

[@Shortstories32900]

9 years now

[@mdshahzad839]

Its good bcoz he is what now, unless it's really boring for everyone, what everyone knows

[@delroycameron4705]

Lots of valuable advice from both Sam and Dustin. Liked their candor about the reality of startups. I enjoyed the presentation!

[@thehari75]

Covid got me into a Stanford class.

[@JoshuaMartens1977]

It would be nice if you would continue filming the Q&A. It's always nice to see experienced entrepreneurs offer off the script insights.

[@user-qz7lu9kq1y]

It's really too good i can't even imagine that this level of content absolute free on KZbin

[@betonitcso]

This is the most intensive video I've ever watched on youtube. So great.

[@eason7936]

This course is so amazing, I'm in the early stage now. I just have my first prototype, and really worried about finding marketing. This video helps me a lot, and I gained some confidence!

[@samuelmosley60]

I am definitely looking forward to this class as a whole.

[@josephbrolly7232]

This is incredible. Priceless info from these smart guys. Wish I saw this before my first startup.

[@bonesjones5152]

Great talk and thank you for sharing this publicly! A lot of startups would never have access to this type of information. Great job guys:)

[@SauraJohnston]

LOVED this first lecture and I can't wait to watch the rest. This revealed for me why my startup isn't working -because I'm doing it out of order. It was so refreshing to hear someone speak on how it it really is to become an entrepreneur! I work 100 hour weeks and definitely don't have the flexibility that is so often portrayed as the life of a typical founder. Looking forward to rebuilding parts of my foundation.

[@NekidraE2bmine]

Hi Lady.. Glad #google can #unite wanted to send this for you.. just in case... Come Please ! #takingYOURadvice www.icloud.com/pages/AwBWCAESECdt8hhOXepgBF-Y8Ul5zRIaKgoywVcS7huho4o_8shqSjvSjqRPr5atd6-Yc299s7YjjpSIvMRjfFZuCgMCUCAQEEIMzEjOba4x10aZKlxDstOu0ETzLHtMiKPhyhyNRt-h_P#For_Sale_Flyer

[@dedhuntgaming5613]

What did you do?

[@tleuzhansharipullayev7907]

HOw your startup doin now?

[@K4nj]

how's your startup now?

[@dungmxh2115]

I have never been in a business school or studied a MBA course so this video series is so valuable to me as I'm trying to start my startup! Thank you for sharing this series - I'll watch all 18 videos and hope to learn a lot!

[@KingsleyOkeze]

It's 8years already, how's it going with you now? Curious!

[@kopamed5024]

Also curious

[@shelterrockisland]

Excellent - was so looking forward to this. People who have actually done something and can teach how they did it. Thank you!

[@MrMuratDidin]

böyle değerli kaynakları bize sunanlara ayrı türkçe çevirisini yapanlara ayrı teşekkür etmek istiyorum.insanın ufku açılıyor

[@armanimitchell1934]

I needed this!! I am only in the idea phase of starting up a streetwear brand and I have been focusing so much time on networking and trying to find partners and a team when I need to be focused on my ideas, products, and executing. Thank you so much for this amazing lecture!

[@gauravramawat3318]

so how's going on ?

[@arrowmaster7018]

yeah, wassup w/ the company

[@ZEWUHE]

Thank you guys! LOve this. Hope to join you guys someday.

[@user-ud9hu7kh7i]

I've been watching some startup journey lately. I wanna have more control over my quality time and my life. I'm glad the KZbin show me this.

[@steveiskfc]

So far so good. This lecture series sounds like it will pan out to be an excellent collection of ideas, tips, and guidance.

[@techstacker5361]

I know it sounds obvious, but damn you get so much more out of these lectures if you listen to them a couple of times - at least. Repetition helps to reinforce some of the key points and it makes it easier to actually apply their advice to my own work. The one with Kevin Hale was spectacular, and probably the lecture that most people should listen to if they struggle with UX Design.

[@ClaudioCarnino]

Finally YC opens up a bit to the world. I've enjoyed the quality of the talk, well done guys!

[@mayankpatel97]

You gonna read this comment again and suddenly realise ,it was Sam Altman

[@nancymargried]

I am so happy that they are reading the text while teaching!

[@quangminh9575]

8 years and it is still gold

[@PeopleVoicesForObama]

Stop complaining people. I don't care about his presentation style. All I care is about the content. And this is great content for people who want to do start-ups.

[@nerdrulez3842]

9 years ago: Who is this guy? 9 years later: This Guy: Terminator is a documentary.

[@olublessed3044]

Sam shared some very priceless startup ideas. I don't mind the presentation style, I know everyone is different. I think we should focus on the content of his delivery. At least you are not paying for the ideas he is sharing. Good job Sam!

[@dindovarona4733]

Yes! Found you guys! Can't wait to watch these lectures.

[@StartupVince]

Timestamps 0:22 - Introduction 2:00 The Four Areas to Accel at to Maximize a Startup 3:00 - Why You Should Start a Startup 3:48 - 1. Idea 6:14 - The Idea comes first. / How do you pick an idea? 7:01 - The company should feel like an important mission. 8:19 - The best ideas look terrible at the beginning. 10:29 - Think about how will the market evolve. 12:20 - Why now? 13:07 - You should be able to explain your startup in one sentence. 13:52 - While you are a student - Think about new ideas / Meet potential cofounders 14:28 - 50 Cent and Vitamin Water 15:05 - 2. Product 16:38 - Build something users love. / Talk to users. 17:02 - Build something a small # of users love. 19:15 - Growth through word of mouth. 20:29 - Make something simple. 21:23 - Fanatical Founders. 23:28 - The feedback loop. 24:40 - Metrics: Focus on growth 25:25 - Dustin Moskovitz on Why You Should Start a Startup 26:43 - Common Reasons to Become a Tech Entrepreneur It's Glamorous You'll be the Boss Flexibility You'll Make more $$$ & Have More Impact These are not really good reasons. 27:44 - Startups are really stressful. 29:06 - It's Glamorous 30:34 - Ugly Side of Being a Founder 31:51 - You'll be the Boss 34:03 - Flexibility 35:38 - You'll Make more $$$ & Have More Impact 40:47 - So What's the Best Reason? 43:38 - Recommended Reading

[@BobBobberon]

Very well informed 👌 this guy should begin a startup, he knows his stuff

[@amitsamdarshi9686]

He's the ceo of open ai 😂

[@FizerKhan]

Thanks. I think, i must watch this video 10+ times to get all those points. So much valuable information, Great lecture.

[@angelawho727]

Great 1st lecture! I am very new to start up so this is really helpful to understand the start up world better!

[@socialign0457]

Sam Altman: 18 years ago: Was a Stanford Student then dropout to start a company 9 years ago: President of Y Combinator 2024: OpenAI CEO & One of influential people about AI Phenomenal..

[@husstroit]

Great startup advice. Thanks for putting it together.

[@mayankpatel97]

You gonna read this comment again and suddenly realise ,it was Sam Altman

[@Grey2969_YT]

Great intro to startups. Thanks to Sam and Dustin (and all the lecturers) for providing their insight. Looking forward to the other lectures.

[@mayankpatel97]

You gonna read this comment again and suddenly realise ,it was Sam Altman

[@servantofthelord8147]

I can’t believe that this is free. Thank you so much.

[@2099Ai]

8 years ago and it's now the world knows him. I'm clearly never giving up on my dream!!

[@sampharo76]

I feel like a guy came with all the ultimate wisdom that was distilled in entrepreneurship, poured it all in a big brewery tank, and when you clicked on this link the tap just blew off and the whole tank just emptied right in your face. I can't even breathe from all the a-ha moments that are smacking me in the face every 15 seconds, have to pause constantly just to sit and process. And this stuff is 6 years old, damn.

[@elijahbe]

Thank you!! This is priceless!!!

[@elijahbe]

Richard Zulu Outbox

[@nukulrana3494]

''You should only start a startup if you feel compelled by a particular problem ''. Damn man

[@mamtapal00]

Going to establish a very great and impactful company.😀 Thank you from all the listeners for providing us gold🌟🌟🌟

[@ZahidHussain-wk1zl]

Yup... Finally got real Pearl... Thank you soo much Pratham and Ranveer sb... Milna hai aap jaise logo se...

[@tyrones3535]

Although I've never been a college student...I feel I just experience a lecture on entrepreneurship.

[@harijay2410]

Well said Tyrone.

[@entrepreneurnit5989]

14:28 is the key message of this talk: "Making and selling something that a lot of people are eager to buy"

[@davemac7826]

I'm listening from Australia and excited to be a part of this!

[@chaitanyatanwar8151]

Thank you for such insightful video

[@-vinash7557]

After BeerBiceps podcast...love to Ranveer bhaiya and Kunal Sir❤️❤️❤️

[@pratikshitbhandari9478]

:0 same

[@mayankpratap9634]

Same

[@genius7953]

Same

[@gana6004]

Yeah

[@bookleer1782]

Same

[@artviykyk]

This lecture series is awesome and compared to a Stanford education the price is lovely!

[@rakshikabawari6116]

watching it 9 years later, seems so relevant and apt.

[@AvinashDeshpandej]

This is an amazing 👏 course which is still relevant a decade later

[@ibrahimahmedbacha]

Find here my notes for this lecture. Lecture 1: How to Start a Startup Section 1: Ideas, Products, Teams and Execution Part I Four areas that we must excel at to maximize our chances to have a successful startup: - Idea: - Working on a good idea is very important and we should allocate a reasonable amount of time to find one. - Long term thinking is a huge advantage in startups. - Mission-orientd ideas are the ones who gets the maximum of focus, dedication and support. - Great ideas tend to look terrible at the beginning. - When evaluating an idea we must think of the size and especially the growth of the merket, the growth strategy for the company, the defensibility strategy and not just the product. - Product: - Build a product and get it as good as possible by talking to your users, nothing else matters. - Build something that a small number of people love rather than a big number of people like (my favorite part :)). - Start with something simple. - Find your users of the feedback cycle by hand and make them love the product. - The indicator of a great product is the growth. - Team: - Execution: Section 2: Why To Start A Startup - Starting a startup needs hard work, responsibility, dedication and commitment. - The most difficult skill to learn as a CEO is managing your own psychology. - Have a passion for the idea.

[@syllight9053]

Thank you for this!

[@tapasbanerjee1583]

Hey do you have this written for every video in the series probably in a doc or something that you could share here?

[@iahmedbacha]

@@tapasbanerjee1583 sorry dude I don't

[@stacksmasherninja7266]

He should add a section on how to be consistently candid in communications with the board

[@minhaj1812]

Thanks Ranveer Ahallabadia for introducing me this course which you mentioned in a recent podcast.

[@JUNGLENIGHTS1]

"Its easier to expand from something that a small number of people love to something that a lot of people love, then from something that a lot of people like to a lot of people love" BARS!!!

[@AlexandriaRohn]

Guest Speaker Dustin's speech: 25:25 Dustin on "Why you should start a startup" 26:00 Entrepreneurship is glamorized. In truth it's stressful, tedious, hard work, etc. 30:40 Ugly side of being founder: Stress, always on call, fundraising, unwanted media attention, you can't just leave your own startup, people are dependent on you. 32:40 "Being your own boss" is a myth as presented. In reality, everyone is your boss. Your employees, customers, partners, etc. 35:40 "You'll make more money" and "have more impact" are myths as presented. 40:43 So what's the best reason to start a startup? You can't not do it. Passion: You NEED to do it. Aptitude: The world needs it. 43:35 Recommended reading list.

[@aaronstone6183]

tysm for time stamps..

[@shubhaaaa]

❤

[@fianancequotes110]

Is anyone here after Ranveer Alabadhia's TRS podcast with Pratham Mittal?

[@Milindsaini]

Yes i am 😊

[@yogeshgulgule4089]

Yes I m

[@parasthakur9558]

Yess

[@kirtisinghrawat46]

Yaah

[@shraddhapawar1745]

Yes👍

[@n0MC]

great advice, thank you for sharing this

[@Elitepay-ai-vivian-v]

thanks for posting these lectures they have come at a great time

[@DanielKoss]

12.44

[@zxcvbnm-pb1we]

You should only start a startup if you feel compelled by a particular problem. And you think starting a company is the best way to solve it. The specific passion should come first, and the start up second.

[@abhayahluwalia9317]

Bless you YC for existing!

[@zohayer.mehtab]

So much value packed in!

[@Sunevel]

great info.. but the UMs and UHs get quite tiring from a listeners perspective

[@emildahlman7701]

It is sad that this has 300k views while the last video has 15k. If you read this: Please stay the course, there are very good advice in all of the videos (except maybe the one with the chinese cleaning lady)

[@davineuskens21]

lol that's where i'm at

[@allaboardthegravytrain5987]

my friends started their startup just about around the time sam started ycombi. now ive worked in companies incubated by ycombi. its crazy. now im watching a video on this. its all so surreal. i wish i believed myself sooner.

[@user-jn9pg8gs1p]

nice

[@Focusfame]

It was before 6 years god now youtube recommend me .. What a gold priceless..

[@SgtVenom]

And youtube is recommending it just now.

[@wakeuptoreality1008]

same here

[@Cacho1493]

Hard part, is finding a team to work with. I have an idea and project im trying to do, but im having a hard time trusting since I would not like anyone to Zuckerberg me.

[@youtubevids9449]

LOL yes. Same here.

[@alejandroosorio7124]

@@youtubevids9449 Same

[@hushtruth57]

I totally I agree with you!

[@chrisgreig3753]

It doesnt matter. Jump, take the risk.. or fail

[@whatever-wn1nk]

Fuckerberg is the last person on Earth I'd trust

[@phily8020]

Dustin strikes me as a top class bloke through and through who totally and utterly deserves to be a billionaire success story. I really value his advice

[@leanhvlog3792]

Good lecture. Thank for your speech

[@himanshukaushal4059]

Hey future me today is May 5, 2024 11:02 pm I hope you have achieved what you were promising yourself 😊

[@michaelchou8527]

Please consider a podcast version of this series. It'll be very helpful to entrepreneurs who commute, and those who rely on poor internet or public wifi (eg. from developing countries). It should work since the talk is very lecture style and does not really rely on slides. I suggest soundcloud.

[@shrinibhat]

awesome!! looking forward to it.

[@djnbit9184]

Свой кайф в таких видосиках есть) Не останавливайся, выпускай еще!)🚁

[@christopherarmstrong2710]

32:20 The #1 job of a CEO is managing your own psychology - Ben Horowitz (that’s actually from Tony Robbins, originally)

[@footprint_arts]

8 years later he is the CEO at Open Ai...he didn't just give a lecture he practiced

[@pakaponwiwat2405]

This is the best talk ever. Thanks a lot!

[@mavimikrofon7952]

Связка просто бомба. Спасибо за проделанную работу.

[@GalacticTechTrails]

As someone who has a lot of ideas but not a lot of help, i'm looking around.

[@fhoplist]

I'm half way through the lectures right now. I love the material but I feel like my questions pertain to the initial idea of beginning a start up. Say you have an idea for an app or a product. Where do you start? I mean like if you have some revolutionary idea to make chocolate and its just you going in alone. How do you get that idea into being a real thing? Where do you find a company and people who will take your idea and work with it? I'm pretty much at this point right now.

[@Tuspham]

fhoplist awesome question, first of all, this work for me: set your self a project deadline. Instead of idea to make chocolate, break down your goal into action plans and tasks, how long are you going to do it, what do you want to get out of it, who is it important to you and keep working on it!

[@harijay2410]

If you are truly an entrepreneur, you will figure it out ;)

[@Salamaleikum80]

+fhoplist he said it clearly: Create a perfect a small group will love. Acquire that group of fanatics and create a feedbackloop to constantly progress with the product. Now you have to start growing from that point.

[@ninoyakoub8137]

You guys dont get his question lol: lets say im the founder of snapchat and until now i only have the idea: where do i start CREATING the app? Who do i call? Who gives me the money? What about the law aspect etc...

[@chenzhepeter]

+fhoplist You need to have some unique resources to make things happen. For example, you are a skilled developer yourself so you can write up your own app; Or you have deep pocket to hire some contractors to work for you, which would require different expertise as well, front-end developer, back-end developer, UX designer, etc; Or you knew some great friends with those skills and your charm/past success/vision/passion attracted them to work for you. If you don't have any of the necessary resources, the idea will stay as idea forever.

[@andycondoy662]

look how far this man has come and the influence in open AI Sam Altman has in 2023

[@ashgoenka]

Really cool - thanks for sharing this guys.... really useful. Obviously its not rocket science, but its very useful nonetheless. Looking forward to more over coming weeks.

[@setttime]

3:10 .. What are the much easier ways to get rich ? :-)

[@nigivlog3775]

cocaine maybe? but he probably meant the 'career path'

[@gibransaliba8801]

setttime learn to manage your money and invest it

[@HanisaMohamed]

Real estate.

[@HanisaMohamed]

I'm pretty sure most millionaires made their money through real estate

[@DK-ul3lo]

Bank robbery

[@DerekBraid]

"Maybe we'll see if we can get a bigger auditorium..."

[@varunmainkar1067]

This is amazing. I urge youth of India to watch less Instagram and Facebook. Invest precious time of your life by watching and learning from channels and videos like these. Great and Amazing content.

[@aymanz83]

Very insigthful lecture, thx for the share (large scale definition of idea - mission-oriented)

[@iamrebeccaanne]

Thank-you Sam! You are providing the world wisdom for free!! $$$$

[@themartinsbash]

dude has really come a long way