Startup School '08: Sam Altman

My notes on Sam's talk are given below.

In Silicon Valley, technical founders that understand products are a “force.” Apparently, this is a difficult combination to find in an entrepreneur in Silicon Valley.

Sam talks a lot about the VC process in the middle (see video for specifics).

Sam suggests going after big growing markets. VCs want you to have customers that have their “hair on fire.” This “hair on fire” phrase essentially means that these individuals need what you offer so much that they would accept what would normally be considered suboptimal. However, since there’s such a void in the market, they need what you offer. The other big thing that VCs look for is an unfair advantage. An example of an unfair advantage could be built up network effects.

Sam said that he was able to show demand for his novel product by using “demand by proxy.” He proved that there was demand for his product by showing that the most common text that’s sent is “where are you?”

In a presentation pitch, ideally, you’ll want to show that there’s an exploding market. You’ll also want to show that all current solutions “suck.” You then want to show that you have the best solution AND team.

Points to remember: ALL startups have a rocky beginning. When you are trying to get the word out about your startup go to events where folks are and TALK. Talking can sometimes be a chore for technical founders.