Sam Altman's Whale AMA

Altman says YC taught him how to start a startup, a skill he once thought was impossible to learn. He advises high school students to keep school as their day job and use the rest of their time for projects they care about. He also says building many things and working with smart people are key to becoming a strong engineer, a process he estimates takes at least 10,000 hours.

Altman names equality as a social problem startups could help address, pointing to education and other social systems, as well as basic income. He says he is still wrestling with how automation may affect jobs and the economy, calling it a difficult and important problem. He describes anxiety about the Trump presidency, alongside happiness when people gather to discuss the future they want.

Asked about YC's 10-year goal, Altman jokes that success could mean being acquired by Whale. He says high-impact companies often start with a new idea or deliver an old idea in a new way. For enterprise sales, he highlights personal relationships and persistence, and says founders should keep sales cycles as short as possible.

Altman recommends Michael Nielsen's free online book *Neural Networks and Deep Learning* as an introduction to the subject. He says many successful YC startups were rejected, including Dropbox with an earlier idea, and encourages founders to reapply. His favorite Paul Graham essay, “How to Start a Startup,” helped shape his own career.

Altman says YC planned to start a MOOC in early April and run it through early June, aiming to recreate some of YC's community experience. He says YC funds the ACLU and will offer help with specific needs, as it does for other organizations it backs. He also recommends Stripe Atlas for founders outside the US who need to establish a US company and bank account.