33 Quotes from How to Do Great Work

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Welcome to Startup Strategist by stratup.ai. It's Tuesday, and today we have two news stories, one article, and 4 resources for you.

  • News: (1) European Unicorn Startups (Sifted), (2) GoStudent (TechCrunch)

  • Quotes from How to Do Great Work

  • Resource: How to do great work , Entrepreneurship subreddits, FI program schedule, Product trend prediction

  • StratupAI Idea: Agricultural supplies E-commerce platform

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News

Analysis: “Which European startups have hit unicorn status in 2024?" (Sifted.eu)

From the list; Datasnipper (auditing automation), Pennylane (accounting platform), Bending Spoons (tools for creators), and Mews (property management platform).

“GoStudent, the online learning platform, says it’s now profitable” (TechCrunch)

‘Has a stated mission to “build the #1 global school and unlock the potential of every student through personalized tutoring.”

33 Quotes from How to Do Great Work

Paul Graham, co-founder of YC, published the essay “How to Do Great Work” in 2023.

“The following recipe assumes you're very ambitious.”

“The work you choose needs to have three qualities: it has to be something you have a natural aptitude for, that you have a deep interest in, and that offers scope to do great work.”

“If you're not sure what to work on, guess. But pick something and get going. You'll probably guess wrong some of the time, but that's fine. It's good to know about multiple things; some of the biggest discoveries come from noticing connections between different fields.”

“Don't let "work" mean something other people tell you to do.”

“What should your projects be? Whatever seems to you excitingly ambitious.”

“Many discoveries have come from asking questions about things that everyone else took for granted.”

“If you're excited about some possibility that everyone else ignores, and you have enough expertise to say precisely what they're all overlooking, that's as good a bet as you'll find.”

“Four steps: choose a field, learn enough to get to the frontier, notice gaps, explore promising ones. This is how practically everyone who's done great work has done it, from painters to physicists.”

“Interest will drive you to work harder than mere diligence ever could.”

“When it comes to figuring out what to work on, you're on your own.”

“What you should not do is drift along passively, assuming the problem will solve itself. You need to take action. But there is no systematic procedure you can follow.”

“Try lots of things, meet lots of people, read lots of books, ask lots of questions.”

“A field should become increasingly interesting as you learn more about it. If it doesn't, it's probably not for you.”

“If you're making something for people, make sure it's something they actually want. The best way to do this is to make something you yourself want. Write the story you want to read; build the tool you want to use. Since your friends probably have similar interests, this will also get you your initial audience.”

“Try to finish what you start, though, even if it turns out to be more work than you expected. Finishing things is not just an exercise in tidiness or self-discipline. In many projects a lot of the best work happens in what was meant to be the final stage.”

“There may be some jobs where you have to work diligently for years at things you hate before you get to the good part, but this is not how great work happens. Great work happens by focusing consistently on something you're genuinely interested in. When you pause to take stock, you're surprised how far you've come.”

“The reason we're surprised is that we underestimate the cumulative effect of work. Writing a page a day doesn't sound like much, but if you do it every day you'll write a book a year. That's the key: consistency. People who do great things don't get a lot done every day. They get something done, rather than nothing.”

“Indeed, in some kinds of work it's good to strip whatever you're doing to its essence. The result will be more concentrated; you'll understand it better; and you won't be able to lie to yourself about whether there's anything real there.”

“When you're doing work that could be seen as either creation or discovery, err on the side of discovery. Try thinking of yourself as a mere conduit through which the ideas take their natural shape.”

“If you're trying to build a powerful tool, make it gratuitously unrestrictive. A powerful tool almost by definition will be used in ways you didn't expect, so err on the side of eliminating restrictions, even if you don't know what the benefit will be.”

“You're much more likely to have original ideas when you're working on something. Original ideas don't come from trying to have original ideas. They come from trying to build or understand something slightly too difficult.”

“Indeed, if you think about it, a good new idea has to seem bad to most people, or someone would have already explored it. So what you're looking for is ideas that seem crazy, but the right kind of crazy.”

“What are people in your field religious about, in the sense of being too attached to some principle that might not be as self-evident as they think? What becomes possible if you discard it?”

“Working on an unfashionable problem can be very pleasing. There's no hype or hurry. Opportunists and critics are both occupied elsewhere. The existing work often has an old-school solidity. And there's a satisfying sense of economy in cultivating ideas that would otherwise be wasted.”

“If you were going to take a break from "serious" work to work on something just because it would be really interesting, what would you do? The answer is probably more important than it seems.”

“Originality in choosing problems seems to matter even more than originality in solving them. That's what distinguishes the people who discover whole new fields. So what might seem to be merely the initial step — deciding what to work on — is in a sense the key to the whole game.”

“Understand, though, that trying lots of things will mean trying lots of things that don't work. You can't have a lot of good ideas without also having a lot of bad ones.”

“How do you get from starting small to doing something great? By making successive versions. Great things are almost always made in successive versions. You start with something small and evolve it, and the final version is both cleverer and more ambitious than anything you could have planned.”

“Use the advantages of youth when you have them, and the advantages of age once you have those. The advantages of youth are energy, time, optimism, and freedom. The advantages of age are knowledge, efficiency, money, and power. With effort you can acquire some of the latter when young and keep some of the former when old.”

“Don't think of yourself as dependent on some gatekeeper giving you a "big break." Even if this were true, the best way to get it would be to focus on doing good work rather than chasing influential people.”

“Colleagues don't just affect your work, though; they also affect you. So work with people you want to become like, because you will.”

On audience: “If a handful of people genuinely love what you're doing, that's enough.”

“In fact, if you're smart and ambitious, it's dangerous not to be productive. People who are smart and ambitious but don't achieve much tend to become bitter.”

3 Resources

1) How to do great work - Paul Graham

“One common frustration for farmers is the difficulty in sourcing affordable and reliable agricultural supplies and equipment. Farmers often have to deal with multiple suppliers, varying prices, and long lead times when purchasing necessary items for their operations. To address this challenge, a potential startup idea could involve creating an e-commerce platform specifically tailored to the agricultural sector. This platform would offer a wide range of agricultural supplies, equipment, and services from various suppliers, allowing farmers to conveniently compare products, prices, and reviews in one place. By streamlining the procurement process for farmers, this startup could help them save time, reduce costs, and make informed purchasing decisions.”

Disclaimer: The startup ideas shared in this forum are offered for general consideration and discussion, and are non-rigorously curated via the Stratup.ai idea generator. Individuals utilizing these concepts are encouraged to exercise independent judgment and undertake due diligence per legal and regulatory requirements.

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That’s all for today, thanks for reading. See you on Friday.

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The startup ideas, strategies, and suggestions shared are provided for general discussion and informational purposes only. Any individual or entity considering implementing these concepts should exercise independent judgment and conduct thorough due diligence in accordance with legal, regulatory, and industry-specific requirements. Startup Strategist does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or suitability of any information shared. It is recommended to consult with legal, financial, and other relevant professionals before proceeding with any business ventures or decisions.