保羅•格雷厄姆使很多創業公司深受觸動。
這種觸動不是感情上的觸動（盡管有些創始人把自己的成功在很大程度上歸功于他），而是與影響力有關。因為硅谷沒有幾個人敢說他們接觸、建議和投資過的初創公司數量比格雷厄姆更多。確實，自2005年以來，他與妻子杰西卡•利文斯頓、特雷弗•布萊克維爾和羅伯特•塔潘•莫里斯共同創建的Y Combinator創業孵化器已經目睹了632家創業公司進進出出，其中包括Dropbox、Airbnb和在線支付平臺Stripe。
上周，格雷厄姆宣布辭去Y Combinator總裁職務，把權杖交給了合伙人薩姆•阿爾特曼。格雷厄姆將以兼職身份繼續為Y Combinator的創業公司提供建議，但停止了日常管理工作，比如審查申請和會見申請者�！拔野阉袝r間都花在了那些破事上，”格雷厄姆在今年的舊金山科技創業盛會LAUNCH Festival上曾經這樣半開玩笑地說過這樣一句話。
格雷厄姆還根據管理Y Combinator的九年經驗，在離別時提供了幾條創業的大原則。
找個聯合創始人……
擁有多位創始人的企業更有可能成功，因為每位聯合創始人可能擁有不同的長處。格雷厄姆把蘋果公司（Apple）作為明顯的例子：史蒂夫•喬布斯是營銷高手，而專注于技術的史蒂夫•沃茲尼亞克完全不用去關心銷售的事情。這就是格雷厄姆常常告訴Y Combinator申請者去找個聯合創始人的原因。實際上，Dropbox 公司CEO德魯•休斯頓2007年申請Y Combinator投資時，格雷厄姆就是向他提供了這條建議。據推測，休斯頓應該是接受了這個建議，此后不到兩周時間便招募了麻省理工學院（MIT）的同班同學阿萊希•菲爾多西。7年后的今天，Dropbox在最近一輪融資中募得3.5億美元，公司估值已經達到了100億美元。格雷厄姆回憶說，這個數字遠遠高于休斯頓在進入Y Combinator的早期日子里愿意接受的Dropbox賣價。格雷厄姆回憶說：“那時他愿意接受的Dropbox賣價肯定低于1,000萬美元，甚至有可能低于100萬或200萬美元�！�
但要找個你真正喜歡的聯合創始人……
這是基本原則？當然。但你會吃驚地發現，很多創業公司的創始人并不明白這一點。就三家最成功的Y Combinator創業公司（Airbnb、Dropbox和Stripe）而言，格雷厄姆和工作人員接受它們申請的決定在很大程度上依據的是聯合創始人本身以及他們相處是否融洽（當然，有個好創意沒有壞處）。如果他們相處不融洽呢？這很容易看出來，Y Combinator面談時間只有可憐的8到10分鐘。格雷厄姆說：“如果一位聯合創始人向我們推介時，另一位卻在翻白眼。這就是確鑿無疑的信號�！�
專注于明確具體的用戶子集……
長時間投身創投的人通常都曾投資過一家擁有好創意、但從未真正騰飛的創業公司。對于格雷厄姆來說，那就是Etherpad。Appjet在2008年11月發布了這款應用。格雷厄姆接受了這家創業公司的申請，因為他“非常喜歡這個創意”。從本質上來說，Etherpad是Google Docs的競爭對手：這款功能豐富、基于網絡的文檔編輯器可以讓多位用戶展開協作，對文檔進行實時撰寫和編輯（谷歌在2009年底收購了這款軟件）。問題在于，這個產品缺乏焦點。格雷厄姆說：“他們應該讓人們意識到，‘嘿，這個不只是實時輸入。’”
格雷厄姆說，增長的秘訣不是廣泛撒網，而是“小范圍的密集開火”。首先專注于一個用戶子集，滿足他們的需求。格雷厄姆再次以蘋果為例：蘋果公司的第一款個人電腦Apple I只生產了200臺，但在上市銷售的頭10個月里售出了175臺，大部分賣給了計算機愛好者。格雷厄姆解釋說：“你必須知道第一批用戶是誰，和他們坐下來，辦個聚會，把注意力放到他們身上�！保ㄘ敻恢形木W）
譯者：千牛絮
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| Paul Graham has touched a lot of startups.
Not in the sappy, sentimental way -- though some founders may largely credit him for their success -- but where influence is concerned. Because few in the Valley can claim they have interacted with, advised, and funded as many early-stage businesses as Graham has. Indeed, Y Combinator, the startup incubator he co-founded with wife Jessica Livingston, Trevor Blackwell, and Robert Tappan Morris, has seen 632 startups come and go since 2005, including Dropbox, Airbnb, and online payments platform Stripe.
Last week, Graham announced he was stepping down as Y Combinator President, handing the reins off to partner Sam Altman. In doing so, Graham will still offer advice part-time to YC startups but cease day-to-day administrative tasks like poring over applications and interviewing applicants. "I spend all the time on that crap," Graham half-joked onstage at this year's LAUNCH Festival in San Francisco.
Graham also offered some parting general startup advice, culled from nine years of running YC.
Get a co-founder ...
Businesses are more likely to succeed with more than one founder, because each co-founder may bring different strengths. Graham used Apple (AAPL) as an easy example: Steve Jobs was a pro with sales while the tech-focused Steve Wozniak couldn't have cared less. That's why Graham usually tells YC applicants to get a co-founder. In fact, that's exactly the advice he offered Dropbox CEO Drew Houston when he applied for YC in 2007. Houston supposedly did just that, recruiting MIT classmate Arash Ferdowsi in two weeks. Now, seven years later, Dropbox has raised $350 million in its latest round with a valuation of $10 billion, far less than the amount Graham recalls Houston would have been willing to sell Dropbox for in the early YC days. "The answer was definitely under $10 million -- it might have been under a $1 million or $2 million," he recalled.
But get a co-founder you actually like ...
Basic? Sure. But you'd be surprised how many startup founders actually don't gel. With YC's three most successful startups -- Airbnb, Dropbox, and Stripe -- much of Graham and crew's acceptance decision was based on the co-founders themselves and how well they got along. (Of course, a promising idea didn't hurt.) And if they don't? Well, that's easy to tell quickly enough, even during a YC interview, which spans a pithy eight to 10 minutes. "One guy literally rolled his eyes when his co-founder was talking and pitching us -- a surefire tell," Graham said.
Focus on a specific subset of users ...
Longtime startup investors usually have one startup that had a nifty idea but never quite took off. For Graham, it's Etherpad. Released in November 2008 by Appjet, Graham accepted the startup into YCombinator because he "liked the idea so much." Essentially, Etherpad was a Google Docs (GOOG) competitor: a feature-rich, web-based text editor that let multiple users collaborate, write, and edit documents in real-time. (Google acquired the software in late 2009.) Problem was, the product lacked focus. "They should have launched it as one thing and let people realize, 'Hey this is much more than real-time typing,'" Graham offered.
Instead of a catch-all approach, Graham said the secret to growth is starting a "small, intense fire" -- first focus on a subset of users and meet their needs. Again, Graham brought up Apple as an example: The company produced just 200 units of its first personal computer, the Apple I, but sold 175 of them within the first 10 months on sale, largely to computer hobbyists. Explained Graham: "You've got to know who those first users are, sit with them, have a party, and focus on them." |
