Comment by a_d | Hacker News Reader

Comment by a_d | Hacker News Reader

I consider sama to be an extraordinary investor and thinker (I know this is the most consensus thing one could say on HN). The personal bets on Boom, Helion Energy, Cruise and many others are really phenomenal (even the re-bet on Reddit) -- not just for being early/contrarian for their time, but also necessary for the world for these companies to succeed.

The highlights of this interview imo are the following pieces of advice:

1) get a coach sooner than later

2) always keep revisiting what is urgent vs important and keep prioritizing; if in 'war-mode' then users, team, revenue above all else; ignore things that don't amount to much (potential candidates: investor updates, press, conferences etc -- they are not more valuable than users)

3) don't get too far away from the product (some things cannot be delegated early on)

4) "boards hate surprises...and boards hate feeling like you’re trying to hide bad news". Be open. Ask for help.

Really great points.

I feel that the point about the role of the CEO in a downturn is under-explored in this interview (felt rushed). This is rich territory (and relevant). The discussion about specific examples of things that don't merit CEO time veers into 'made-up territory' quickly and doesn't feel relevant -- e.g. some "[CEOs] then stop going to the executive team meeting (that’s a very bad idea)" -- I don't see as many companies as these two, but no CEO stops going to an executive team meeting (infact, bad CEOs go to too many of those! as they enjoy 'playing CEO' :)). If a CEO stops going to an executive team meeting, that is quite counter-intuitive and interesting in many respects in of itself (e.g. there is a fire; CEO doesn't want to be CEO etc) :-) I feel Elad should have pressed more as an interviewer rather than rushing to the next point.

Overall, always good to hear sama's views -- he is an incredibly important investor of our age (my prediction). And Elad thanks for working on this book. For a few $$ everyone can get this wisdom -- you did a great service for entrepreneurs. Congrats on the launch.

Thanks for the feedback! To your point Sam had great points as always.

The book does get into some of the other issues you mention in other sections. There are only a few pages about "managing in a downturn" (which is literally the name of a section later in the book).

I think when we finally end this long bull market run we have been in, there will be lots of pain (and lots of articles and blogs about what to do now that the sky is falling).

Thanks again for taking a look!

Oh hey Elad! You are welcome. You should know that everyone I know who has interacted with you, speaks incredibly highly of your wisdom —- I am amazed by the breadth you cover —- as these people work on things ranging from Longevity to SaaS to Crypto! I have always admired your wide ranging interests and sharp wisdom (We have never met, but have been an indirect beneficiary of your wisdom — we have a number of common folks). Your personal investing track record is enviable too! Any insights on how you pick who/what to bet on? (Is there a self interview in the book ? :-))

Wow thanks!

I think the two key things are to (1) spend time where hypersmart, slightly weird people are and (2) focus on markets with real (versus theoretical) needs...

Are any of those pieces of advice particularly novel? I mean it's accurate, but not groundbreaking stuff.

> I consider sama to be an extraordinary investor and thinker (I know this is the most consensus thing one could say on HN).

Yeah I'm gonna disagree with you there. These are some of the things he's said over the years

"I realized I felt more comfortable discussing controversial ideas in Beijing than in San Francisco"

"This is uncomfortable, but it’s possible we have to allow people to say disparaging things about gay people if we want them to be able to say novel things about physics."

http://blog.samaltman.com/e-pur-si-muove

"US growth has stagnated while Chinese growth has continued to do pretty well. The US has become less competitive globally"

"The current business model of the US requires the dollar to be the world reserve currency, though the Chinese currency is rapidly becoming a viable alternative"

"The other stark contrast is how much harder people in China seem to work than people here, and how working hard is considered a good thing, not a bad thing."

https://blog.samaltman.com/china

You would disagree with all of those statements?

It's not self-evident that any of those things are wrong. Could you explain what you believe instead, and why? Perhaps in a blog post so as not to pollute this discussion.

Some of them are right, I think. The US is going downhill.

But some are just "I need some work horses who do 100h a week for my gain" kind of stuff

It isn't particularly reasonable, one might even say dismissive, to suggest that someone explains themselves, off site no less, when you aren't adding much to the discussion yourself. Plenty of people have already written about these comments. Most widely after Mike Mortiz made similar ones in the Financial Times.

https://venturebeat.com/2018/02/11/what-sequoias-mike-moritz... https://techcrunch.com/2018/01/19/moritz-sabotages-sequoia-a... https://twitter.com/dhh/status/954319522151976960 https://gizmodo.com/sam-altman-is-an-idiot-1821327260 https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-12-15/appraisal...

Why are the above statements a problem? You can reasonably disagree with them but Sam seems to have made them in good faith based on his observations. His comments speak to important issues and merit a discussion, even if he's wrong at times.

Either way, his observations suggest someone who thinks about major issues and reaches his own conclusions - something I appreciate.

> Why are the above statements a problem?

Going to a repressive country saying that you feel free in thought is pretty controversial. If you are doing that as someone who is rich and has influence it is a lot worse.

> You can reasonably disagree with them but Sam seems to have made them in good faith based on his observations.

Everyone does, or can at least be said to do, that. That doesn't mean anything. What means something is whether your thoughts and conclusions have merit. That you communicate the things you are saying clearly and that those things hold up to scrutiny.

His opinions doesn't do that. Being interviewed by people you know and being discussed on forums that are friendly to you isn't much of a discussion at all. And a lack of you hearing something isn't an indication of that whoever has your ear is right.

Matt Levine is one of the few people who even cares to comment on such things. He is fairly well respected even on HN. This is what he has to say:

> Silicon Valley entrepreneurs are bold iconoclastic innovators who move fast and break things and question established paradigms to change the world, unless someone makes fun of them. In which case they crumple instantly? There's no suggestion of actual censorship in Altman's post, no chance of the government suppressing controversial opinion (as it does in China!). It is just a sort of cringing terror that someone might disagree with you, say that you're wrong, criticize your priorities, make jokes at your expense. "How can I change the world if someone might mock me on Twitter?"

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-12-15/appraisal...

Thanks for taking the time to reply so thoughtfully. I feel a bit silly in my original comment now.

This article, also trending on HN today, is illuminating on what life in China is like: http://www.baldingsworld.com/2018/07/17/balding-out/

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