Y Combinator: What needs to be done before explosive growth

Original author: Sam Altman
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Startups are required by us to constantly grow.

This is true and a very good recommendation, but I think the current fashion for Silicon Valley startups has an unhealthy extreme - startups have weekly growth rates, but they completely lack a strong idea at the heart of the product.


(Sam Altman, president of Y Combinator)

In the first few weeks of a startup’s life, the founders really need to figure out what they are doing and why. Then they need to create a product that users will really like. Only then should they focus on growth.

A startup that focuses on growth prematurely often ends up creating a hazy product that some consumers seem to like and is smoothed out by growth hacking. This type of work will at least fool investors until they dig into the metrics of retained customers, and then the song ends.

I think the right initial criterion is “Do users love our product so much that they recommend it to their friends?” Until there is a “yes”, it is usually better for the founders to focus on this instead of the goal of growth.

The best technology companies sometimes take a little time to figure out exactly what they are doing. But when they do, they usually pass the binary test before throwing all their energy into growth. This is a critical moment for companies to make a very good product [1]. And if you don't figure it out, no explosive growth will make you a big company.

As a side note, startups that initially didn't figure out a product that users like, also seem to rarely develop the sense of duty that the best companies have.

[1] Another thing these companies have and also usually quickly understand is the realization of the benefits of a monopoly.

Translation: Natalia Zarutskaya

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