Video · 50 min

How to Start a Startup, Lecture 2: Team and Execution

Sam Altman · Y Combinator (Stanford CS183B) Free Beginner

How to Start a Startup, Lecture 2: Team and Execution

Sam Altman opens this lecture by calling co-founder relationships among the most important in the company and naming co-founder blowups as a top killer of early startups. He is specific about where good co-founders come from (people you have known and worked with) and why picking a near-stranger out of urgency usually ends badly. Watch the first third for a clear, high-stakes case for treating this choice with care.

  • Co-founder blowups are a leading cause of early startup death
  • Choose someone you have a real history with, not a rushed stranger
  • The bar is high because you are choosing a partner for years
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It answers 2 questions

  1. How do I actually find a technical co-founder?
  2. My co-founder has the domain expertise and I don't. Do we split founder-market fit, or is only one of us 'the fit'?

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