14-летний: Если бы у Y Combinator был талисман, то какой? Пол Грэм: Полагаю, это был бы таракан. 14-летний: Не самый привлекательный талисман. В этом эссе (написанном во время финансового кризиса 2008 года) объясняется, откуда взялось понятие «компания-таракан». Airbnb стали эталонным примером таких компаний — и это качество сослужило им хорошую службу не только в 2009 году, но и во время пандемии COVID. https://paulgraham.com/badeconomy.html

"Проблема с визитами Зейна Хенгспергера (YC S25) к вам домой заключается в том, что вместо обычного случайного подарка он приносит десятифунтовый брусок цельного алюминия." — Пол Грэм • How to Buy A Manufacturing Business at 25 • How Zane Hengsperger Is Reinventing the Metal Supply Chain • Reindustrializing America: Zane Hengsperger on Building Nox Metals and the Future of Manufacturing • Just Gonna Send It Podcast: Zane Hengsperger (Founder/CEO, Nox Metals)

An amazing illustration by the amazing Rowland Emmet. — Paul Graham

Y Combinator makes something people who make something people want want. — Paul Graham

If you want to start a startup, don't learn "entrepreneurship." Learn how to build things. The hard part of startups is not "entrepreneurship" but product: to know what to build, and to be able to build it. — Paul Graham

One of the most surprising things I've learned from watching so many startups is that markets are far more adjacent than most people realize. You can get anywhere in 3 hops. — Paul Graham

"This was the point where AI-generated art passed the Turing Test for me." — Пол Грэм, 2023

The users who complain about the flaws in your product may seem annoying, but they are on the whole probably your most valuable users. They complain because they care, and I doubt a startup could ever get really big without users who care a lot about the product. — Paul Graham

The best predictor of success for tech companies, at every stage from during the YC batch to public company with billions in revenue, is the rate of shipping new stuff. — Paul Graham