Lecture 3 - Before the Startup (Paul Graham)

less than 1m read

·Nov 5, 2024

That short. Like, long introductions are no good. Sam knows. Alright, ready, everybody? I'm not gonna ask if the mic is working like in every talk so far. I'll just assume it's working.

No!

No, fuck!

All right, well make it work somebody.

It works, it works

All right, this is like some kinda class tradition. All right, all right. I wrote out my talk and afterwards in a couple days I will like turn it from a talk into an essay and put it online. So, you don't have to take notes, just, just listen.

All right. So, one of the advantages of having kids is that when you have to give advice to people, you can ask yourself, what would I tell my own kids? And actually, you find this really focuses you. So, even though my kids are little. My two-year-old today, when I asked what he was gonna be after two? He said a bat. The correct answer was three. But a bat is so much more interesting.

So even though my kids are little, I already know what I would tell them about startups if they were in college. And so that is what I am gonna tell you. So, you're literally getting what I would give my own kids, since most of you are young enough to be my own kids.

All right. So, startups are very counterintuitive. And I'm not sure exactly why, it could be simply

Potting Chestnuts | Live Free or Die: How to Homestead

Advice for Young Adults in Their 20s

View All

Re: Which Planet is the Closest?

Hello Internet. While working on a future video, I offhandedly wrote, “Venus, the closest planet to Earth.” But later, while editing, I thought, “You know, let me check that.” Which led to me to this video by Dr. Stockman explaining how, no, Venus is not …

15 Things That Make Rich People Dislike You

In your life, there are going to be a handful of times when you’re around rich people. This is your opportunity to make powerful connections with people who are affluent and influential. Their insights, network input, or sometimes even financial backing w…

Proof of the tangent angle sum and difference identities

In this video, I’m going to assume that you already know a few things, and we’ve covered this. We’ve proved this in other videos that sine of x plus y is equal to sine of x cosine y plus, and then you swap the cosines and the sines: cosine of x sine y. T…

Capturing the Impact of Avalanche Rescue Dogs | National Geographic

[Music] It’s impossible to spend time with animals and not walk away feeling that something else is going on in there. I’m very passionate about trying to tell a story about animal intelligence, so this assignment with National Geographic on avalanche dog…

180° Kathmandu, City of Temples | National Geographic

Carved into the foothills of some of the world’s highest peaks, the Kathmandu Valley has been a unique witness to the development of Buddhism and Hinduism. The valley is dotted by more than a hundred sacred spots: temples, stupas, and monasteries, many sh…

Laura Ling on Imprisonment in North Korea | Inside North Korea

In March of 2009, I was working on a documentary about North Korean defectors, people who are fleeing the very desperate conditions in North Korea. During that time, we were filming along the Tumen River. This is the river that separates China and North K…

Lecture 3 - Before the Startup (Paul Graham)

More Articles