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Startup Archive
Sam Altman on the qualities of the best founders
“The trick to being a great founder… is your ability to be presented with a problem unlike anything you’ve seen before and solve it very quickly.”
When Sam was CEO of Y Combinator, they were looking at 20,000+ companies per year and tracked the founder qualities that correlated with certain startup outcomes. In no particular order, Sam believes the following qualities matter most:
1. Clarity of vision. “Can the founder explain what they do and why? If the founder can’t explain it clearly to us, then (a) they’re not going to be able to recruit, hire, sell, talk to the press; and (b) it means they’re not the kind of person who is a really clear thinker in general and that’s so important to a business.”
2. Determination & Passion. “There are founders who don’t take no for an answer and bend the world to their will and those are the ones we want to fund. Then there are founders that every time they run across a small impediment just turn around. Unfortunately you run into so many impediments every day that if you’re the kind of person who just turns around, that’s really a problem. You also have to really believe that what you’re doing is important. The best companies are always mission-oriented.”
3. Raw intelligence.
4. The ability to get things done quickly. “It’s not entirely accurate to say that speed and quality of decision-making correlate exactly with startup success but it’s not a bad first approximation. Being quick, decisive, and getting things done quickly—if you look at our data, that would just correlate almost exactly with all of our successful founders. And other founders that look on paper like they should be really successful but fail are often missing this one trait.”
Video source: @GreylockVC (2015)
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Sam Altman on the qualities of the best founders
“The trick to being a great founder… is your ability to be presented with a problem unlike anything you’ve seen before and solve it very quickly.”
When Sam was CEO of Y Combinator, they were looking at 20,000+ companies per year and tracked the founder qualities that correlated with certain startup outcomes. In no particular order, Sam believes the following qualities matter most:
1. Clarity of vision. “Can the founder explain what they do and why? If the founder can’t explain it clearly to us, then (a) they’re not going to be able to recruit, hire, sell, talk to the press; and (b) it means they’re not the kind of person who is a really clear thinker in general and that’s so important to a business.”
2. Determination & Passion. “There are founders who don’t take no for an answer and bend the world to their will and those are the ones we want to fund. Then there are founders that every time they run across a small impediment just turn around. Unfortunately you run into so many impediments every day that if you’re the kind of person who just turns around, that’s really a problem. You also have to really believe that what you’re doing is important. The best companies are always mission-oriented.”
3. Raw intelligence.
4. The ability to get things done quickly. “It’s not entirely accurate to say that speed and quality of decision-making correlate exactly with startup success but it’s not a bad first approximation. Being quick, decisive, and getting things done quickly—if you look at our data, that would just correlate almost exactly with all of our successful founders. And other founders that look on paper like they should be really successful but fail are often missing this one trait.”
Video source: @GreylockVC (2015)
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Offshore
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App Economy Insights
$SPOT Spotify Q4 FY24:
• MAU +12% to 675M (10M beat).
• Premium Subs +11% to 263M (3M beat).
• Revenue +16% Y/Y to €4.2B (€0.1B beat).
Q1 FY25 Guidance:
• MAU +10% Y/Y to 678M.
• Premium Subs +11% Y/Y to 265M.
• Revenue +16% Y/Y to €4.2B. https://t.co/zgzEfobfAw
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$SPOT Spotify Q4 FY24:
• MAU +12% to 675M (10M beat).
• Premium Subs +11% to 263M (3M beat).
• Revenue +16% Y/Y to €4.2B (€0.1B beat).
Q1 FY25 Guidance:
• MAU +10% Y/Y to 678M.
• Premium Subs +11% Y/Y to 265M.
• Revenue +16% Y/Y to €4.2B. https://t.co/zgzEfobfAw
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Hidden Value Gems
I know it sounds silly but the tariff game and all other out of the blue decisions remind me of Chinese 2021-22 regulatory initiatives. Different motivation and goals, but the impact on markets could be similar - less trust.
Higher valuation and positioning make US stocks even more vulnerable.
China stocks could be beneficiaries here.
$BABA
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I know it sounds silly but the tariff game and all other out of the blue decisions remind me of Chinese 2021-22 regulatory initiatives. Different motivation and goals, but the impact on markets could be similar - less trust.
Higher valuation and positioning make US stocks even more vulnerable.
China stocks could be beneficiaries here.
$BABA
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Offshore
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Dimitry Nakhla | Babylon Capital®
$PLTR to $100 … I manifested this years ago 😅 https://t.co/UWG9nTu00g
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$PLTR to $100 … I manifested this years ago 😅 https://t.co/UWG9nTu00g
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Offshore
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App Economy Insights
$PYPL PayPal Q4 FY24:
• TPV +7% Y/Y to $438B.
• Active accounts +2% Y/Y to 434M.
• Revenue +4% Y/Y to $8.4B ($0.1B beat).
• Non-GAAP EPS $1.19 ($0.07 beat).
• $15B new stock buyback.
• FY25 EPS +8% in the mid-range. https://t.co/XM7C4vw2lL
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$PYPL PayPal Q4 FY24:
• TPV +7% Y/Y to $438B.
• Active accounts +2% Y/Y to 434M.
• Revenue +4% Y/Y to $8.4B ($0.1B beat).
• Non-GAAP EPS $1.19 ($0.07 beat).
• $15B new stock buyback.
• FY25 EPS +8% in the mid-range. https://t.co/XM7C4vw2lL
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Offshore
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Dimitry Nakhla | Babylon Capital®
On June 6, 2023 I stated: “I wouldn’t be surprised to see $ELF trade 30-40% lower if the fundamentals don’t substantially improve”
$ELF is now down -16% since
“In the short run, the stock market is a voting machine. But in the long run, it is a weighing machine” — Ben Graham 🗣️ https://t.co/CZcMcvJpa9
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On June 6, 2023 I stated: “I wouldn’t be surprised to see $ELF trade 30-40% lower if the fundamentals don’t substantially improve”
$ELF is now down -16% since
“In the short run, the stock market is a voting machine. But in the long run, it is a weighing machine” — Ben Graham 🗣️ https://t.co/CZcMcvJpa9
Thanks for the question. $ELF is trading well-above fair value:
•NTM P/E Ratio: 58.37x
•5-Year Mean: 36.21x
•NTM FCF Yield: 1.99%
•5-Year Mean: 4.06%
In the last 5-Years $ELF multiple doubled, meaning that shares rallied way more than EPS growth. At a 58 P/E there are some pretty huge growth assumptions being made & I highly doubt $ELF will meet expectations
Also, today, investors are receiving less than half the average FCF Yield
And in terms of quality, $ELF return metrics leave much to be desired
Both $ULTA & $EL are much higher quality businesses
I wouldn’t be surprised to see $ELF trade 30-40% lower if the fundamentals don’t substantially improve
#stocks #investing
𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐂𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐄‼️: This is NOT Investment Advice. Babylon Capital® and its representatives do not have positions in the securities discussed in this tweet.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐮𝐲 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬. 𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬.
𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. 𝐈𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. tweet
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Quiver Quantitative
RT @InsiderRadar: $DDD is up almost 20% so far today, and is now up 25% since we reported on their CEO's insider purchase in December https://t.co/wsiCqbHoGi
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RT @InsiderRadar: $DDD is up almost 20% so far today, and is now up 25% since we reported on their CEO's insider purchase in December https://t.co/wsiCqbHoGi
🚨BREAKING: New CEO Insider Purchase
The CEO of $DDD has reported the purchase of ~$230K of the company's stock, increasing his ownership stake by 6%.
This is the first insider purchase he has reported in over 2 years tweet