No disrespect to Sam in any way -- he truly seems like a brilliant guy with a chorus of influential people behind him -- but I've been on a successful-person wikipedia binge as of late, and it's become very, very clear that a person's upbringing almost determines whether or not they're going to be successfull, which saddens me. I grew up to some very close-minded parents who severely limited my growth, forced me to fulfill their every wish, I couldn't get into a top school, and yet I've always held onto a bit of hope that maybe one day I'll be as great or as brilliant or intelligent as Sam et al. But that hope is quickly vanishing the more and more I read about these individuals' backgrounds. Successful parents (who were likely encouraging, supportive, and open-minded), great schools, achievements at early ages, etc, all seem to be a common thread, and trying to kickstart things again past your formative years seems futile. I don't mean to rant or derail the topic, and apologies if I do.
Given all this over-the-top fawning from Graham, Thiel, etc, one thing comes to mind: "Where's the beef?"<p>AFAIK, he only has one failed startup to his name, and yet he is hailed as a shrewd thinker and top startup strategist.<p>For those who know and respect Sam, how would you reconcile his amazing status/respect-from-top-people with his lack of concrete achievements?
> “It’s remarkable when somebody is both extroverted and smart,”<p>> “Picture a smart person,” said Graham. “You don’t imagine somebody who is really good at talking to people, you picture someone really awkward.”<p>This statement seems really weird to me. Looking at all the people I've known in my life the smartest people, at least in in terms of academic and financial achievements, are the extroverts.<p>Extroverted and smart seems to be a very common trait. Hell I'd say that its much easier to be smart if you are extroverted as learning from other peoples experiences is a great way to learn more.<p>Who is Paul hanging around with that smart is paired with awkward more than outgoing?<p>I'd have to go to Hollywood movies to find the stereotypical nerd profile.
<i>“You know how when you hit a tennis ball, it bounces back up and then simultaneously you swing the racket? YC is just getting to this point,” he added. “If you think [my role] is an influential position now, just wait a couple years and see what Sam does.”</i><p>No, i don't know. Actually I have no idea what this analogy was supposed to mean, but I am very optimistic about how YC can innovate itself with Sam as president.<p>I really liked the university concept, with YC as a place that creates knowledge and innovation for the society. I imagine YC being less about a tough funnel that leads to big hits on monetary valuations and more of a innovation powerhouse on different fields (not just different markets).<p>Best of luck to Sam.
“Picture a smart person,” said Graham. “You don’t imagine somebody who is really good at talking to people, you picture someone really awkward."<p>I don't at all, in fact I find that kind of thinking highly insulting. Being a smart person in my experience is often <i>highly correlated</i> with being able to effectively communicate and discuss with others.
> “I learned this great lesson of my life,“ he said. “The way to get things done is to just be really f<i></i><i></i>*g persistent. … I had this philosophy of going to every door and every window.”<p>Nothing more true than that.<p>Really excited to see where Sam takes things; he's super smart and very inspiring.
Not really of any importance to the article, but:<p>> <i>It’s not crazy for Sam Altman’s phone bill to rack up 6,000 talking minutes in a month. He talks a lot, to a lot of people.</i><p>Maybe 6000 is above average, but is it even close to 'crazy' for anyone? That's only 3.3 hours a day, I probably hit that on week days for work alone (sure plenty of people will have jobs where less phone calls are needed), and with family and friends (several who I'll have regular long chats with, rather than just 30 second calls) I think I definitely go above 6000 a month, and I don't consider myself a massively heavy phone user.
Sam's Cool!<p>I had the privilege of listening to him , when he was on the east cost in school once to promote YC. A lot of people who have been a part of successful startups (founders , VC's , angels) have this obnoxious vibe that they give out , esp if they're from the valley.<p>(Which understandably is important and helps them with whatever they have going on , however it was refreshing to see humility in the Now YC president.)<p>I remember distinctly , he gave his talk where he introduced YC and then talked about what they look for in the founding team etc and then gave the stage to YC alums who accompanied him. One of these guys exhibited the "vibe" I mentioned earlier . My friends and I thought he must be really successful and were contemplating talking to him later to get advice.<p>He unfortunately didn't know how to work his way around a projector. everyone (students , prof , and of course our YC guests were waiting for him to start). A prof normally would use that as example and tell us that that the projectors , need to be more usable.<p>Sam got up to help the guy up from a slightly embarrassing situation. but what happened next was odd ,(The YC alum) didn't even acknowledge it or say thanks . He rudely just went to the middle and started talking , rather bragging about how awesome his company was. (which is fine ) but it came across as a silly TV commercial. We decided we didn't want advice from an obnoxious person.<p>This probably doesn't sound like a logical reason to be affinitve of the new YC president but that day I thought he demonstrates qualities of a good leader .<p>Good luck to him and YC
Most interesting thing for me was that Sam is going to go out and meet biotech people... gives me hope that YC understands the convergence that is happening between web technologies and biotechnologies... guess it's time for www.glowingplant.com to apply to YC!
I wasn't there for the WWDC 2008 presentation, but in the article's linked snippet Altman's collars are definitely not popped. Google images has plenty of reference images for properly popped collars, reassuringly framed as motivational posters.
great story:
<i>“I think I went to sleep at four, I slept till six, I got on a flight at seven to Orange County where Boost was. And I just got to that office and sat there, and the guy was like, ‘Weird, you’re in my office.’ I said, ‘Just meet me for 10 minutes, and let me know what you think.’ He said no a few times, but I showed it to him, and I could tell he was really impressed.”</i>