Paul Graham

Return of the Mac (2005)

Paul Graham's Keynote at Pycon 2003: The Hundred-Year Language

Some Heroes

Richard Hamming: You and Your Research

A unified theory of VC suckage (2005)

A reply to Russell Okung

The Future of Web Startups

October 2007 (This essay is derived from a keynote at FOWA in October 2007.) There's something interesting happening right now. Startups are undergoing the same transformation that technology does when it becomes cheaper. It's a pattern we see over and over in technology. Initially there's some device that's very…

The Pooled-Risk Company Management Company

A New Venture Animal

Paul Graham: News from the Front

A Local Revolution?

Economic Inequality: The Simplified Version

Why to Not Not Start a Startup

March 2007 (This essay is derived from talks at the 2007 Startup School and the Berkeley CSUA.) We've now been doing Y Combinator long enough to have some data about success rates. Our first batch, in the summer of 2005, had eight startups in it. Of those eight, it now looks as if at least four succeeded. Three have…

Post-Medium Publishing

How to Do Philosophy

Re: What You Can't Say

Why YC

Why Nerds are Unpopular (2003)

Are Software Patents Evil? (2006)

The Equity Equation

You Weren't Meant to Have a Boss: The Cliffs Notes

Taste for Makers (2002)

Great Hackers (2004)

July 2004 (This essay is derived from a talk at Oscon 2004.) A few months ago I finished a new book , and in reviews I keep noticing words like "provocative'' and "controversial.'' To say nothing of "idiotic.'' I didn't mean to make the book controversial. I was trying to make it efficient. I didn't want to waste…

A student's guide to startups (2006)

October 2006 (This essay is derived from a talk at MIT.) Till recently graduating seniors had two choices: get a job or go to grad school. I think there will increasingly be a third option: to start your own startup. But how common will that be? I'm sure the default will always be to get a job, but starting a startup…

Re: Why Nerds are Unpopular

Giving money to the founders: In 2009, is this still absurd?

Why to Move to a Startup Hub

Programming and Painting

How to Start a Startup (2005)

March 2005 (This essay is derived from a talk at the Harvard Computer Society.) You need three things to create a successful startup: to start with good people, to make something customers actually want, and to spend as little money as possible. Most startups that fail do it because they fail at one of these. A…

Michael Vanier: LFM and LFSP