Paul Graham: A few words about resourcefulness (A Word to the Resourceful)

With all Runet we completed the translation of the book Hackers and Artists , now we will concentrate our efforts on the translation of all Paul Graham's essays .

January 2012.
Original - A Word to the Resourceful
Thanks for the translation finik, for supporting the publication - Edison .

A year ago, I noticed the following pattern in the unsuccessful startups that we finance: it is difficult to conduct a dialogue with their founders. It feels like a wall between us. I would never say that if they understood what I told them.

This phenomenon attracted my attention, because earlier we noted a pattern among the most successful startups, and at first it seemed that it was of a different kind. We financed startups and worked better for those whose founders we could say: "they are able to take care of themselves." The best startups are like a homing missile, in the sense that you just need to give them a direction, and they will follow there, no matter what direction it is. For example, when they receive money, you can begin to delve into the matter, at the same time, realizing that you can not think about this business at all at this stage. You do not need to babysit with them to be sure of the result. This is the type of founders who return with money; the only question is: how much and under what conditions.

It seemed strange that successful and losers could be identified by unrelated tests. It was to be expected that the founders of successful startups, on the one hand, had outstanding quality X, and losers, on the other hand, had a complete lack of quality X. Was there any inversion between ingenuity and the gift of eloquence?

It turned out that so, and the old proverb is the key to the riddle: "One word is wise." The fact is that this phrase is used often, and often incorrectly (they usually say this before giving advice), most people who hear it do not understand what it means. It means that if someone is wise, then you just have to say one word and they will immediately understand you. You do not need to describe the details, all the nuances will be grasped.

Similarly, all you have to do is give the right founder the right task, and he will bring the money. Done. Discussing all the nuances - even dubious moments - that you are told about, is another task, this is the task of eloquence.
Like everyday wisdom, the ability to speak well often means the need to do unpleasant things. Finding out all the details can sometimes lead to uncomfortable conclusions. The word “gap” describes the situation of failure to act well, but it has too narrow a meaning. It is better to describe the situation as follows: losers have conservatism, which comes from weakness. They cross the space of ideas carefully, cautiously, like an old man street. [1]

Losers are by no means stupid. They, like the successful founders, understand all the subtleties of the problem. They simply have no longing to solve it.

So, not the very difficulties in the dialogue are the cause of the death of startups. This is a sign of the lack of underlying inventiveness. That's what ruins them. Just as they lose the subtleties of what they are told, losers lose money funds, users, resources, new ideas. And the most obvious indicator that something is wrong is that I cannot talk to them.

[1] Partner YC wrote:
When you work with a bad group, you get the feeling that when they came to the office, they had already decided in advance what and how they would do. And everything that you tell them, they are desperately trying to fit into the already adopted decision, or immediately reject the offer and then look for a rational explanation for the refusal. They may not be aware of this, but it happens when you speak with bad groups, they have something that closes a different view of the problem. I do not think that this is a consequence of confusion or lack of understanding, this is the style of work.

About working with good groups, we can say that everything that you offer is viewed with a fresh look, and even if rejected, then for reasonable reasons. “We have already tried this,” “Our users say that they do not need it,” etc. These groups never give up a different view of the problem.

Thanks to Sam Altman, Patrick Collison, Aaron Iba, Jessica Livingston, Robert Morris, Harj Taggar, Garry Tan, who read the drafts of this article.

PS
Who is ready to help with the translation of the latest (April 2016) article - How to Make Pittsburgh a Startup Hub ? UPD Started translating. UPD Translated - Paul Graham: How to make Pittsburgh a startup hub .
The candidate for another translation is The Refragmentation (long-long read) and How You Know ( UPD - translated).