Startup tips from Sam Altman, advice on greatness from Magnus Carlsen, and Apple's open challenge to IBM

Welcome back to the Z Fellows newsletter! Every Monday we share 3 ideas - to help you build companies, ship products, and create your life's work.

1: Startup tips from Sam Altman

1. Don’t start a business if you're not ready - “Starting a company seems much more glamorous than it is. In reality, it’s one of the hardest jobs you can find.”

2. What you can learn from your elders - “While there are some mistakes that people just have to make themselves, you can learn the best paths and what mistakes to avoid from those who have gone before you.”

3. Beware of distractions - “The work that makes a startup successful is often not the most enjoyable. It’s not glamorous and it’s not always fun.“

4. Find your network - “You need a network of driven peers, investors, and employees.“

5. How to think bigger - “If you start a company that people won’t get passionate about if it’s successful, you’ll run into problems scaling.“

6. Don’t chase trends — chase problems - “I find people intrinsically driven to solve a specific problem, because they’re the ones who will keep going when others become bored with the trend.“

Source: https://ltse.com/insights/six-startup-tips-from-yc-founder-sam-altman

2: Advice on greatness from Magnus Carlsen

Magnus Carlsen is a Chess grandmaster and a five-time World Chess Champion.

“The thing is that chess has always been a bit of a hobby for me. Once it starts to feel like work, then it's harder for me.

I would still spend a lot of time reading books, playing the things that I still do, but I would do them for fun. And that was the difference between me and the other kids, is that they would go to chess practice, they would maybe even do their homework, but they weren't living and breathing the game that in the way that I was. I think about it all the time.

I'm thinking about the game while I'm sitting on this chair (during this podcast). I'm still analyzing a game that I played today. It never goes completely out of my mind.“

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybuJ_nIXwGE

3: Apple’s open challenge to IBM

Best of The Week

See you next Monday,

- The Z Fellows Team

New here?

Subscribe here to get our email every Monday.