Justin Kan

Justin Kan explains why joining a startup can be a poor choice if you want strong management, wealth, stability, or a clear career path. He argues that startups can offer work beyond your current qualifications, a path toward founding a company, and unusually fast learning. Through stories from Justin.tv, Exec, and Cruise, he shows how people gained skills by taking on difficult roles and navigating both success and failure. He closes by urging people to focus on their rate of growth and learning.

Justin Kan and Sam Altman discuss why someone might join a startup and how to choose one. Kan argues that startup roles can offer unusual responsibility, a path to founding a company, and rapid learning, even when the company struggles. Altman recommends assessing product love, momentum, market growth, platform shifts, mission, founders and early employees, counterintuitive ideas, and what recent graduates are excited about. The company presentations that follow illustrate a range of products, missions, technologies, and hiring needs.

Alfred Lin traces his path from LinkExchange through Venture Frogs, Tellme Networks, and Zappos, showing how early company experiences shaped his approach to building and investing. He emphasizes solving real customer problems, staying focused, and treating culture and customer service as daily operating priorities. The Zappos story highlights the challenges of limited funding, inventory management, and building reliable fulfillment, alongside the value of persistence through downturns. As an investor, Lin advises founders to choose partners carefully, understand their industry deeply, and focus on a clear path into the market.