Paul Graham Quotes

Biography: Paul Graham is known for co-founding the influential startup accelerat... more Biography: Paul Graham is known for co-founding the influential startup accelerator Y Combinator. A programmer, writer, and entrepreneur, he has significantly impacted the tech industry by supporting numerous successful startups. Additionally, Graham is recognized for his insightful essays on startups and programming. less

"The optimal way to do things requires a willingness to break a few rules.""The recipe for great work is attention to detail and dependence on trusted advice.""After a certain age, most people get stuck in their ways.""Ambition makes you look pretty ugly.""You need three things to create a successful startup: to start with good people, to make something customers actually want, and to spend as little money as possible.""Write as if you're trying to explain things to a very smart version of yourself.""The most important thing you can do is learn that you can learn.""You're better off doing something you know you can do but which most people think is difficult than doing something you think you can do but which most people think is hard""A startup is a company designed to grow fast. Being newly founded does not in itself make a company a startup. Nor is it necessary for a startup to work on technology, or take venture funding, or have some sort of "exit""When experts are wrong, it's often because they're experts on an earlier version of the world""People are naturally more superficial with attractive people. In terms of impressions, there's a trade-off between competence and looks. We can't help making snap judgments, and beautiful people may have a hard time being seen as competent""The best way to get startup ideas is not to try to think of startup ideas. It's to look for problems, preferably problems you have yourself""Ambitious people can envision their ideal place to live. But they’re there. They're living in the marginally better version of the world they see""You can't decide to turn creativity on or off. You can't tell yourself to have a good idea. The best you can do is try to create an environment where good ideas can happen""The more powerful you are, the more your behavior changes the rules.""The most dangerous way to lose time is not to spend it having fun, but to spend it doing fake work""Cities are the absence of physical space between people.""You can't trust your judgment when your imagination is out of focus.""If you accept that the universe is arbitrary, what's the big deal? It just is""The way to get startup ideas is not to try to think of startup ideas. It's to look for problems, preferably problems you have yourself."

1 2 Next