On the map

At the centre A startup does not need a growth team to start growing, because the first wave of growth has to be founder-led. Holds EVElena Verna Read this korrent →

• Same subject: startups A belief nobody else shares is a warning, and a belief everybody shares is also a warning; the right number of people who agree with you is small but not zero. Holds SASam Altman
• Same subject: startups A founder cannot delegate judgment: the chief executive has to make the decision that makes sense to them, however much momentum the alternative has. Holds MHMax Hodak
• Same subject: startups A founder needs ambition rather than a sense of duty, because a startup is grueling enough that dutifulness will not carry anyone through it. Holds PGPaul Graham
• Same subject: startups A hardware startup's first customer should be a hyperscaler, because only that scale turns a design win into a business. Holds LTLip-Bu Tan
• Same subject: startups A large cargo airship is probably not fundable as a startup, because it stays capital-intensive and risky until late in development. No longer holds EDEli Dourado
• Same subject: startups A startup does not have to set out to build the greatest business in history; a merely good business is a legitimate thing to aim at. Holds ASAravind Srinivas
• Same subject: startups A startup should not begin life as a nonprofit and bolt a for-profit arm on later, whatever OpenAI's own history suggests. Holds SASam Altman
• Same subject: startups A startup's durable advantage over a general model is having visibility into data the general model will never see. Holds JDJeff Dean