Starting a successful startup is a huge commitment and should not be taken lightly - do your research and be prepared before taking the plunge.
Faking knowledge can work to get investors for one or two rounds of funding, but it's not in your interest as it will waste your time and the startup is doomed.
Starting a successful startup will take over your life for several years.
Y Combinator has funded several successful companies, but the difficulty of being a successful startup founder is concealed from almost everyone.
Starting a successful startup is like having kids, and it's best to delay pushing the button until you're ready.
Universities can teach you the basics of starting a startup, but the real learning comes from actually doing it.
Do not start a startup in college as it will take over your life and prevent you from exploring other opportunities.
Starting a startup isn't a trade-off for young people, and success doesn't always come from attitude.
Success has taken away the serendipity of Mark Zuckerberg's life, preventing him from backpacking around Thailand like others can.
Starting a startup is hard, but there are advantages to waiting and it's not a trade-off if you forego starting one at 20.
It's easy to tell how smart people are in ten minutes.
There is no correlation between a startup's attitude and success, similar to the military where swaggering recruits are no more likely to be tough than the quiet ones.
Considering a career change? Ask yourself if you can tolerate boring tasks to determine if you have a taste for interesting problems.
I'm considering studying physics as I was excited about computers and writing code as a kid and I look longingly at physics.
Having kids can help increase efficiency by forcing you to focus, but it's not recommended to have kids just for that purpose.
When your side project starts taking over your life, it may be time to turn it into a real startup.
Startups should not go through YC if they are likely to fail or if the founders are intolerable, as most problems startups face are not domain-specific.
To determine if you have a taste for genuinely interesting problems, ask yourself if you find working on boring things intolerable.
Hiring people you know and like is beneficial for startups, despite the potential for monoculture and blind spots.