What you actually want to do is seek out the true seed of scale, which has much humbler origins. Many entrepreneurs fall into the trap of chasing the illusion of scale – the one million users who show up to use a flash-in-the pan product. And while I’m obviously a big believer in creating things that can scale, I believe it’s more important to have 100 people who LOVE your product than one million who just sort of like it.Īnd this isn’t always obvious. HOFFMAN: I’m Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn, investor at Greylock and your host. And in fact, I believe it’s more important to have 100 people who LOVE your product than a million who just sort of like it. There have been consumers, across all eras, who just had to have the next big thing.Īnd if the history of geekdom has taught Sam anything, it’s that a product that’s deeply loved by a small group of early users is a product that can scale. A technology that’s so new, so unlike anything that’s come before, it unleashes a geyser of demand. And that’s also essentially what he’s searching for today. He collects tech artifacts - from historic computers to jet engines – any object that represents a breakthrough in engineering history. He’s not just an Ancient History geek, he’s a geek history geek. The Headline “Sam Altman swings swords at young company founders” can officially be put in the category: Fake News. HOFFMAN: I’m glad we can finally put that rumor to rest.
But I have never swung a sword at someone during an interview process. You kind of just forget after someone’s with you for weeks. Because a reporter was sitting there watching. And I didn’t realize ‘till I put it down at the end that that was probably really dumb, and it was probably going to make it into the profile. So I picked it up, and I just started, while I was on the speakerphone, swinging around and fighting this pretend enemy because I was so excited. And the day isn’t over yet.ĪLTMAN: I was on the phone, and it was kind of like a not particularly exciting conversation. HOFFMAN: The nicks in the metal might not have been from bones, but he’s swinging around this massive weapon from the Bronze Age with a journalist from The New Yorker in the room. It’s a little dark, but…ĪLTMAN: Too much of a nick for a bone. This particular one it had, like you know, the nicks where it hit people’s helmets a couple of thousand years ago. I mean the first thing you do is like pick up and swing it, and see like how it’s weighted, how it feels. A Bronze Age sword.ĪLTMAN: It had just arrived, and I had been waiting for this thing, you know, like it had flown all the way from Europe and it was in this big crate, and I got it out. HOFFMAN: Suddenly, a package arrives, and Sam gets really excited.ĪLTMAN: I had bought this Bronze Age sword. They’re in Sam’s home office, sitting through meeting after meeting, and Sam is getting bored.ĪLTMAN: It’s the 16th meeting of the day and I needed some energy. HOFFMAN: So here’s the story as Sam remembers it: A reporter from the New Yorker had been shadowing him for weeks to work on a profile. HOFFMAN: One of the things I learned from the New Yorker profile is that you occasionally bring a sword in with you to interview an entrepreneur.ĪLTMAN: Either they wrote that wrong… No, I think I remember what happened.
And this fascination with ancient weaponry has put him in some uncomfortable situations. HOFFMAN: Turns out, Sam has a whole collection of swords and battle axes. So one of the pieces of tech that you ended up getting was a bronze sword.ĪLTMAN: …I’m not sure exactly which sword you’re referring to. HOFFMAN: Aspiring student, with a fascination for an entire range of tech. Sam is not just your garden variety geek.
He’s incredibly respected, and founders everywhere know that he can can make or break their fledgling company.īut if you really want to understand Sam, you’ve gotta understand what species of geekdom he falls under. Sam’s the president of Y Combinator, one of Silicon Valley’s most prestigious startup accelerators. HOFFMAN: People don’t often ask Sam directly about his cargo shorts. HOFFMAN: It’s somewhat your Batman utility belt.ĪLTMAN: Yeah, you just can carry a lot of stuff. I carry like, computer chargers, cables, they’re just like efficient. You can like put a lot of stuff… I still read paperback books, I like to carry one around with me.
Many people have noted you have an affinity for cargo shorts.ĪLTMAN: Honestly, I don’t think they’re that ugly, and I find them incredibly convenient. SAM ALTMAN: …to talk about my nerdy qualities, I approve of that. REID HOFFMAN: My friend, Sam Altman, is a bit of a geek.
0 kommentar(er)
