8 ms·

Sam Altman's Twitter AMA

82 points by hashfav 11y ago

pen2l 11y ago
Sam: Any reason why you couldn't set your phone down in a stable position, or just tell someone to hold it steadily for you? edit: I don't mean it in a mean way, just curious.
- mkagenius 11y ago
  Its a pain to do that. Apart from that it was supposed to be a quick interview / informal one. Also, it was helpful when he had to show books.
pen2l 11y ago
> We don't have a PR firm. I do think YC paid for an ad once in 2006 in the Stanford college newspaper, but we don't really do marketing. The thing we rely on most of all is founders we fund telling other people about our program. Really? That answer seems somewhat misleading, I don't know if intentionally. YC's biggest place to advertise is HN. In fact, look below right now -- 'Apply to YC'. In addition to reminders of when the applications are due showing up in frontpage, etc.
- firloop 11y ago
  Exactly. Y Combinator's marketing appears to be Hacker News, Startup School, the Female Founders Conference, Open Office Hours, and touring colleges -- essentially everything YC does more or less for "free" that serve to promote its main programs.
  - seiji 11y ago
    Well, YC was bootstrapped (marketing-wise) by the goodwill of pg's personal website too. That had plenty of same-minded exposure in the beginning. Ten years later, people now see YC as "we can give you a better future/make you rich/famous/etc if you work hard and receive our magic touch." It's a very word-of-mouth spreading meme. "This company makes you rich, be one of us, shub shub."
- holyjaw 11y ago
  Putting a link to your product on your own non-commercial website isn't paid advertising though, and it's certainly not proof-positive of a PR firm.
  - MichaelApproved 11y ago
    HN is a commercial website. In addition to the links promoting YC, they also post job listings for YC related companies.
- pavornyoh 11y ago
  >Really? That answer seems somewhat misleading, I don't know if intentionally. YC's biggest place to advertise is HN. In fact, look below right now -- 'Apply to YC'. In addition to reminders of when the applications are due showing up in frontpage, etc. That answer is not misleading IMHO. Apart from their own website such as this, they don't market through other venues such as radio, tv etc.. Never heard of YC until I was doing research through the web and found hacker news.
- sama 11y ago
  I thought about this more and in fairness I think since we don't charge for startup school, female founders conference, etc we should sort of count that as marketing. Though I also honestly believe they are good for the world. And HN, sort of.
- oh_sigh 11y ago
  Didn't PG himself sing the praises of good PR firms during his Viaweb days?
  - tlb 11y ago
    At Viaweb in 1997 we were trying to reach mail order merchants, which PR firms were effective at, because they all read the same several magazines. It's not clear that PR firms have the ear of prospective founders in 2015. For more on this, see http://blogs.wsj.com/accelerators/2014/06/03/jessica-livingston-why-startups-need-to-focus-on-sales-not-marketing/ http://blogs.wsj.com/accelerators/2014/06/03/jessica-livings...
- Pyxl101 11y ago
  Take note of what website you're visiting :-) news.ycombinator.com. Is it really fair to call content on their own website marketing? I suppose there is a sense of the term in which that's true, but given the context I'm not sure that I would say so in the context of objecting to their claim.
hercule_poirot 11y ago
What is HashFav?
- donkeyd 11y ago
  Google points me here: https://www.hashfav.com/ https://www.hashfav.com/
eric_khun 11y ago
What app does he use for this? He said "Answer cam", but couldn't find it in any store? Anyone has a link?
- ssclafani 11y ago
  It's not public yet.
  - rmason 11y ago
    Well they missed one heck of a chance to collect email addresses, even if they weren't ready to roll out the product.
    - mkagenius 11y ago
      If the product is good, there will be more chances ;)
- drham 11y ago
  Still in private testing, more info http://answercam.me/ http://answercam.me/
striking 11y ago
For the question "What are some of the best books to learn from that you recommend for a young startup founder?", I decided to transcribe the answers. . "Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future" - http://www.amazon.com/Zero-One-Notes-Startups-Future/dp/0804139296 http://www.amazon.com/Zero-One-Notes-Startups-Future/dp/0804... "Republic" - http://www.amazon.com/Republic-Hackett-Classics-Plato/dp/0872201368/ http://www.amazon.com/Republic-Hackett-Classics-Plato/dp/087... (classic, feel free to grab a PDF) "The Principia : Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy" - http://www.amazon.com/Principia-Mathematical-Principles-Natural-Philosophy/dp/1490592156/ http://www.amazon.com/Principia-Mathematical-Principles-Natu... (classic, feel free to grab a PDF) "Thinking, Fast and Slow" - http://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Fast-Slow-Daniel-Kahneman/dp/0374533555/ http://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Fast-Slow-Daniel-Kahneman/dp/... "Molecular Biology of the Cell" - http://www.amazon.com/Molecular-Biology-Cell-Bruce-Alberts/dp/0815344325/ http://www.amazon.com/Molecular-Biology-Cell-Bruce-Alberts/d... (different edition, forgive me; free through NCBI, thanks jkimmel!) "Dealers of Lightning: Xerox PARC and the Dawn of the Computer Age" - http://www.amazon.com/Dealers-Lightning-Xerox-PARC-Computer/dp/0887309895 http://www.amazon.com/Dealers-Lightning-Xerox-PARC-Computer/... "The Supermen: The Story of Seymour Cray and the Technical Wizards Behind the Supercomputer" - http://www.amazon.com/Supermen-Seymour-Technical-Wizards-Supercomputer/dp/0471048852/ http://www.amazon.com/Supermen-Seymour-Technical-Wizards-Sup... (note: "that one's particularly good") "Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage: Stories" - http://www.amazon.com/Hateship-Friendship-Courtship-Loveship-Marriage/dp/0375727434/ http://www.amazon.com/Hateship-Friendship-Courtship-Loveship... "The Score Takes Care of Itself: My Philosophy of Leadership" - http://www.amazon.com/Score-Takes-Care-Itself-Philosophy/dp/1591843472/ http://www.amazon.com/Score-Takes-Care-Itself-Philosophy/dp/... "The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time" - http://www.amazon.com/Beak-Finch-Story-Evolution-Time/dp/067973337X/ http://www.amazon.com/Beak-Finch-Story-Evolution-Time/dp/067... "The Constitutional Convention: A Narrative History from the Notes of James Madison" - http://www.amazon.com/Constitutional-Convention-Narrative-History-Classics/dp/0812975170/ http://www.amazon.com/Constitutional-Convention-Narrative-Hi... "The Art Of War for Lovers" - http://www.amazon.com/The-ART-WAR-FOR-LOVERS/dp/0671000632 http://www.amazon.com/The-ART-WAR-FOR-LOVERS/dp/0671000632 (fixed! sorry about that...) "Hold 'em Poker: For Advanced Players" - http://www.amazon.com/Hold-em-Poker-Advanced-Players/dp/1880685221/ http://www.amazon.com/Hold-em-Poker-Advanced-Players/dp/1880... "Solution Selling: Creating Buyers in Difficult Selling Markets" - http://www.amazon.com/Solution-Selling-Creating-Difficult-Markets/dp/0786303158/ http://www.amazon.com/Solution-Selling-Creating-Difficult-Ma... "The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition" - http://www.amazon.com/Endurance-Shackletons-Legendary-Antarctic-Expedition/dp/0375404031/ http://www.amazon.com/Endurance-Shackletons-Legendary-Antarc... "Winning" - http://www.amazon.com/Winning-Jack-Welch/dp/0060753943/ http://www.amazon.com/Winning-Jack-Welch/dp/0060753943/ I wish he had answered in text. That would have made things easier :) However, I'm still very happy to have some new additions to my reading list!
mzahir 11y ago
Goodreads list - https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/92883.Sam_Altman_s_Twitter_AMA https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/92883.Sam_Altman_s_Twitt...
drham 11y ago
Video Recap/Compilation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHY8Rdxn_2o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHY8Rdxn_2o

82 points by hashfav 11y ago

pen2l 11y ago

Sam: Any reason why you couldn't set your phone down in a stable position, or just tell someone to hold it steadily for you? edit: I don't mean it in a mean way, just curious.

mkagenius 11y ago
Its a pain to do that. Apart from that it was supposed to be a quick interview / informal one. Also, it was helpful when he had to show books.

pen2l 11y ago

> We don't have a PR firm. I do think YC paid for an ad once in 2006 in the Stanford college newspaper, but we don't really do marketing. The thing we rely on most of all is founders we fund telling other people about our program. Really? That answer seems somewhat misleading, I don't know if intentionally. YC's biggest place to advertise is HN. In fact, look below right now -- 'Apply to YC'. In addition to reminders of when the applications are due showing up in frontpage, etc.

firloop 11y ago
Exactly. Y Combinator's marketing appears to be Hacker News, Startup School, the Female Founders Conference, Open Office Hours, and touring colleges -- essentially everything YC does more or less for "free" that serve to promote its main programs.
- seiji 11y ago
  Well, YC was bootstrapped (marketing-wise) by the goodwill of pg's personal website too. That had plenty of same-minded exposure in the beginning. Ten years later, people now see YC as "we can give you a better future/make you rich/famous/etc if you work hard and receive our magic touch." It's a very word-of-mouth spreading meme. "This company makes you rich, be one of us, shub shub."
holyjaw 11y ago
Putting a link to your product on your own non-commercial website isn't paid advertising though, and it's certainly not proof-positive of a PR firm.
- MichaelApproved 11y ago
  HN is a commercial website. In addition to the links promoting YC, they also post job listings for YC related companies.
pavornyoh 11y ago
>Really? That answer seems somewhat misleading, I don't know if intentionally. YC's biggest place to advertise is HN. In fact, look below right now -- 'Apply to YC'. In addition to reminders of when the applications are due showing up in frontpage, etc. That answer is not misleading IMHO. Apart from their own website such as this, they don't market through other venues such as radio, tv etc.. Never heard of YC until I was doing research through the web and found hacker news.
sama 11y ago
I thought about this more and in fairness I think since we don't charge for startup school, female founders conference, etc we should sort of count that as marketing. Though I also honestly believe they are good for the world. And HN, sort of.
oh_sigh 11y ago
Didn't PG himself sing the praises of good PR firms during his Viaweb days?
- tlb 11y ago
  At Viaweb in 1997 we were trying to reach mail order merchants, which PR firms were effective at, because they all read the same several magazines. It's not clear that PR firms have the ear of prospective founders in 2015. For more on this, see http://blogs.wsj.com/accelerators/2014/06/03/jessica-livingston-why-startups-need-to-focus-on-sales-not-marketing/ http://blogs.wsj.com/accelerators/2014/06/03/jessica-livings...
Pyxl101 11y ago
Take note of what website you're visiting :-) news.ycombinator.com. Is it really fair to call content on their own website marketing? I suppose there is a sense of the term in which that's true, but given the context I'm not sure that I would say so in the context of objecting to their claim.

hercule_poirot 11y ago

What is HashFav?

donkeyd 11y ago
Google points me here: https://www.hashfav.com/ https://www.hashfav.com/

eric_khun 11y ago

What app does he use for this? He said "Answer cam", but couldn't find it in any store? Anyone has a link?

ssclafani 11y ago
It's not public yet.
- rmason 11y ago
  Well they missed one heck of a chance to collect email addresses, even if they weren't ready to roll out the product.
  - mkagenius 11y ago
    If the product is good, there will be more chances ;)
drham 11y ago
Still in private testing, more info http://answercam.me/ http://answercam.me/

striking 11y ago

For the question "What are some of the best books to learn from that you recommend for a young startup founder?", I decided to transcribe the answers. . "Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future" - http://www.amazon.com/Zero-One-Notes-Startups-Future/dp/0804139296 http://www.amazon.com/Zero-One-Notes-Startups-Future/dp/0804... "Republic" - http://www.amazon.com/Republic-Hackett-Classics-Plato/dp/0872201368/ http://www.amazon.com/Republic-Hackett-Classics-Plato/dp/087... (classic, feel free to grab a PDF) "The Principia : Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy" - http://www.amazon.com/Principia-Mathematical-Principles-Natural-Philosophy/dp/1490592156/ http://www.amazon.com/Principia-Mathematical-Principles-Natu... (classic, feel free to grab a PDF) "Thinking, Fast and Slow" - http://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Fast-Slow-Daniel-Kahneman/dp/0374533555/ http://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Fast-Slow-Daniel-Kahneman/dp/... "Molecular Biology of the Cell" - http://www.amazon.com/Molecular-Biology-Cell-Bruce-Alberts/dp/0815344325/ http://www.amazon.com/Molecular-Biology-Cell-Bruce-Alberts/d... (different edition, forgive me; free through NCBI, thanks jkimmel!) "Dealers of Lightning: Xerox PARC and the Dawn of the Computer Age" - http://www.amazon.com/Dealers-Lightning-Xerox-PARC-Computer/dp/0887309895 http://www.amazon.com/Dealers-Lightning-Xerox-PARC-Computer/... "The Supermen: The Story of Seymour Cray and the Technical Wizards Behind the Supercomputer" - http://www.amazon.com/Supermen-Seymour-Technical-Wizards-Supercomputer/dp/0471048852/ http://www.amazon.com/Supermen-Seymour-Technical-Wizards-Sup... (note: "that one's particularly good") "Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage: Stories" - http://www.amazon.com/Hateship-Friendship-Courtship-Loveship-Marriage/dp/0375727434/ http://www.amazon.com/Hateship-Friendship-Courtship-Loveship... "The Score Takes Care of Itself: My Philosophy of Leadership" - http://www.amazon.com/Score-Takes-Care-Itself-Philosophy/dp/1591843472/ http://www.amazon.com/Score-Takes-Care-Itself-Philosophy/dp/... "The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time" - http://www.amazon.com/Beak-Finch-Story-Evolution-Time/dp/067973337X/ http://www.amazon.com/Beak-Finch-Story-Evolution-Time/dp/067... "The Constitutional Convention: A Narrative History from the Notes of James Madison" - http://www.amazon.com/Constitutional-Convention-Narrative-History-Classics/dp/0812975170/ http://www.amazon.com/Constitutional-Convention-Narrative-Hi... "The Art Of War for Lovers" - http://www.amazon.com/The-ART-WAR-FOR-LOVERS/dp/0671000632 http://www.amazon.com/The-ART-WAR-FOR-LOVERS/dp/0671000632 (fixed! sorry about that...) "Hold 'em Poker: For Advanced Players" - http://www.amazon.com/Hold-em-Poker-Advanced-Players/dp/1880685221/ http://www.amazon.com/Hold-em-Poker-Advanced-Players/dp/1880... "Solution Selling: Creating Buyers in Difficult Selling Markets" - http://www.amazon.com/Solution-Selling-Creating-Difficult-Markets/dp/0786303158/ http://www.amazon.com/Solution-Selling-Creating-Difficult-Ma... "The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition" - http://www.amazon.com/Endurance-Shackletons-Legendary-Antarctic-Expedition/dp/0375404031/ http://www.amazon.com/Endurance-Shackletons-Legendary-Antarc... "Winning" - http://www.amazon.com/Winning-Jack-Welch/dp/0060753943/ http://www.amazon.com/Winning-Jack-Welch/dp/0060753943/ I wish he had answered in text. That would have made things easier :) However, I'm still very happy to have some new additions to my reading list!

mzahir 11y ago

Goodreads list - https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/92883.Sam_Altman_s_Twitter_AMA https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/92883.Sam_Altman_s_Twitt...

drham 11y ago

Video Recap/Compilation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHY8Rdxn_2o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHY8Rdxn_2o