English Version:
Sam Altman's "Startup Playbook" is more than just a blog post; it's a distillation of thousands of hours of advice given to the world's most promising startups at Y Combinator. It represents a foundational text for anyone embarking on the arduous but potentially world-changing journey of building a company from scratch. This expanded guide takes Altman's concise principles and fleshes them out with in-depth analysis, actionable frameworks, and illustrative examples. The goal is not to replace the original but to build upon it, creating a comprehensive resource that founders can return to at every stage of their early journey.
The core philosophy is brutally simple and recurs throughout the playbook: Execution is the great differentiator. As Altman states, "at least a thousand people have every great idea. One of them actually becomes successful. The difference comes down to execution." Everything else—the idea, the team, the product—serves as a multiplier for great execution. A great team with a great idea but poor execution will yield nothing. A mediocre team with a mediocre idea but world-class execution can still build a valuable business.
This guide is structured around the four pillars Altman identifies for a successful startup:
A Great Idea (including a great market)
A Great Team
A Great Product
Great Execution
We will explore each pillar, dissecting Altman's advice and layering it with the context needed to transform these principles into action.
中文版:
萨姆·奥特曼（Sam Altman）的《创业手册》不仅仅是一篇博客文章；它是在Y Combinator（YC）为全球最有前途的初创公司提供数千小时咨询后提炼出的智慧结晶。对于任何踏上从零开始创建公司这条艰难但可能改变世界的旅程的人来说，它都是一份奠基性的文本。这份扩展指南沿用奥特曼简洁的原则，并通过深入分析、可操作的框架和生动的案例对其进行充实。我们的目标不是取代原文，而是在其基础上进行建设，创造一个创业者在早期旅程的每个阶段都可以反复查阅的综合资源。
其核心哲学简单得近乎残酷，并贯穿于整个手册中：执行力是最大的差异化因素。 正如奥特曼所说：“每个伟大的想法，至少有一千个人同时拥有。但只有一个最终取得了成功。区别就在于执行力。” 其他一切——想法、团队、产品——都只是卓越执行力的放大器。一个拥有伟大想法的优秀团队，如果执行力差，将一事无成。而一个拥有普通想法的平庸团队，如果具备世界级的执行力，依然可以建立起有价值的业务。
本指南围绕奥特曼为成功创业所确定的四大支柱构建：
一个伟大的想法（包括一个巨大的市场）
一个伟大的团队
一个伟大的产品
卓越的执行力
我们将逐一探索每个支柱，剖析奥特曼的建议，并为其增添必要的背景知识，以便将这些原则转化为实际行动。
English Version:
1. Core Principles (from Sam Altman):
Clarity and Conciseness: Can you explain your idea clearly and simply? This is a proxy for clear thinking.
Desperate Need: Who desperately needs this product? The best case is that you are the target user.
Testing and Validation: Test consumer ideas by launching; test enterprise ideas by getting a letter of intent (LOI).
Evolution: Be prepared to let your idea evolve based on user feedback.
Monopoly Potential: How will your company one day be a monopoly (i.e., build a sustainable competitive advantage or "moat")?
Market: Go after a large part of a small, but rapidly growing, market. Big technological shifts create these opportunities.
Novelty: Prefer something new over something derivative. It's easier to rally people around a hard, new mission.
"Bad" Ideas: The best ideas often sound bad at first because if they sounded obviously good, big companies would already be doing them.
2. In-depth Analysis and Elaboration:
On Clarity: The Idea as a Litmus Test for the Founder
Altman’s emphasis on a “clear, concise answer” is not just about communication skills. It's a diagnostic tool. A founder who cannot articulate their idea simply often hasn't thought about it deeply enough. This muddled thinking will inevitably infect the product roadmap, the marketing message, the investor pitch, and the company culture. A complex idea is often a sign of a made-up problem. If you can't explain it to an intelligent person in 30 seconds and get them excited, you have a problem.
Actionable Step: Practice the "Elevator Pitch." Can you describe what you do, who it's for, and why it's a big deal in the time it takes to ride an elevator? Refine it until it's sharp and compelling.
On Desperate Need: Finding "Hair-on-Fire" Problems
Startups don't succeed by creating "nice-to-haves." They succeed by solving "must-haves" or "hair-on-fire" problems. When a user's hair is on fire, they don't care if the fire extinguisher is perfectly designed or comes in their favorite color; they will pay anything to put the fire out. That's the level of need you're looking for.
Founder-Market Fit: Being your own target user (like the Airbnb founders needing a place to stay and a way to make rent) gives you an almost unfair advantage. You have innate empathy, you understand the nuances of the problem, and you can build the product you yourself want to use. If you're not the user, you must achieve deep, obsessive understanding through immersion.
On Validation: Replacing Faith with Evidence
An idea is a hypothesis. The goal is to test that hypothesis as cheaply and quickly as possible.
For B2C (Consumer): Launching an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) is key. Before that, you can use "smoke tests": create a landing page describing the product, run a small ad campaign, and measure the email sign-up conversion rate. This tests demand before a single line of code is written. The goal isn't to get a million users, but to see if anyone cares enough to give you their email.
For B2B (Enterprise): A Letter of Intent (LOI) is gold. It’s a non-binding document where a potential customer states they intend to purchase your solution once it's built to certain specifications. Getting an LOI proves a company has a budget and a real problem. It de-risks the entire venture. To get one, you need to talk to the economic buyer, not just an engineer who thinks your tech is cool.
On Monopoly and Moats: Building for Defensibility
Peter Thiel's concept of "monopoly" isn't about unethical practices; it's about building a business so good at what it does that no other firm can offer a close substitute. This creates long-term value. Your "moat" could be:
Network Effects: The product becomes more valuable as more people use it (e.g., Facebook, WhatsApp, eBay).
Economies of Scale: As you grow, your costs per unit decrease, allowing you to lower prices or increase margins in a way smaller competitors can't match (e.g., Amazon's logistics).
Brand: A powerful, trusted brand is incredibly hard to replicate (e.g., Apple, Coca-Cola).
Proprietary Technology: A fundamental technological breakthrough that is 10x better and hard to copy (e.g., Google's search algorithm in the early days).
You must have a credible story for why, as you scale, it will become harder for others to compete with you.
On "Bad" Ideas: The Asymmetric Bet
Airbnb: "Strangers will pay to sleep on an air mattress in your living room." (Sounds creepy and small).
Stripe: "We'll build a better payment processing API for developers." (Sounds niche and boring, in a market with huge incumbents).
These ideas sounded bad to most people, which is why they were left alone long enough for a startup to tackle them. They addressed a real, intense need for a small group of initial users, and that was enough to get started. Don't be afraid if most people don't "get" your idea. Be afraid if no one gets intensely excited about it.
3. Conclusion:
A great idea isn't a flash of genius; it's a well-reasoned hypothesis about a desperate need in a growing market, which, if solved, creates a defensible business. Its initial validation comes not from friends and family, but from the actions of real potential users.
中文版:
1. 核心原则 (来自萨姆·奥特曼):
清晰与简洁： 你能否清晰、简单地解释你的想法？这是清晰思维的体现。
迫切需求： 谁迫切需要这个产品？最好的情况是你自己就是目标用户。
测试与验证： 通过上线来测试消费级产品的想法；通过获得意向书（LOI）来测试企业级产品的想法。
演变： 准备好根据用户反馈让你的想法不断演变。
垄断潜力： 你的公司未来将如何成为一个垄断者（即，建立可持续的竞争优势或“护城河”）？
市场： 追求一个虽小但快速增长的市场的绝大部分。重大的技术变革会创造这类机会。
创新性： 倾向于全新的事物，而非衍生品。围绕一个艰难而新颖的使命更容易凝聚人心。
“坏”想法： 最好的想法一开始听起来往往很糟糕，因为如果它们听起来明显很好，大公司可能早就在做了。
2. 深度解析与延展：
关于清晰度：想法是创始人的试金石
奥特曼强调“清晰、简洁的回答”并不仅仅关乎沟通技巧，它是一种诊断工具。一个无法简单阐述自己想法的创始人，通常意味着他没有进行足够深入的思考。这种混乱的思维将不可避免地影响产品路线图、营销信息、投资者推介和公司文化。一个复杂的想法通常是臆造问题的标志。如果你不能在30秒内向一个聪明人解释清楚并让他感到兴奋，那你就麻烦了。
可操作步骤： 练习“电梯演讲”。你能在乘坐电梯的时间内，描述清楚你是做什么的、为谁服务、以及为什么它意义重大吗？不断打磨，直到它犀利且引人注目。
关于迫切需求：寻找“燃眉之急”的问题
创业公司的成功不是靠创造“可有可无”的东西，而是靠解决“必需品”或“燃眉之急”的问题。当一个用户的头发着火时，他不会在乎灭火器是否设计完美或颜色是否是他最喜欢的；他会不惜一切代价来灭火。这正是你所要寻找的需求级别。
创始人-市场匹配： 自己成为目标用户（就像Airbnb的创始人们既需要一个住处，又需要一种方式来支付房租）会给你带来近乎不公平的优势。你拥有与生俱来的同理心，理解问题的细微之处，并且可以打造出你自己想用的产品。如果你不是用户，你就必须通过沉浸式体验来达到痴迷般的深刻理解。
关于验证：用证据取代信念
一个想法就是一个假设。目标是以尽可能低的成本和最快的速度来检验这个假设。
对于B2C（消费级产品）： 推出一个MVP（最小可行产品）是关键。在此之前，你可以使用“烟雾测试”：创建一个描述产品的登陆页面，进行小规模的广告投放，并衡量邮件注册的转化率。这可以在编写任何代码之前测试市场需求。目标不是获得一百万用户，而是看是否有人在乎到愿意给你他的邮箱。
对于B2B（企业级产品）： 意向书（LOI）是黄金。这是一份不具约束力的文件，潜在客户在其中声明，一旦你的解决方案按特定规格建成，他们有意向购买。获得LOI证明了一家公司有预算和真实的问题。它为整个项目降低了风险。要获得它，你需要与经济决策者交谈，而不仅仅是那个认为你的技术很酷的工程师。
关于垄断与护城河：为防御性而构建
彼得·蒂尔（Peter Thiel）的“垄断”概念并非指不道德的商业行为，而是指建立一个业务，它在自己的领域里做得如此出色，以至于没有其他公司能提供相似的替代品。这创造了长期价值。你的“护城河”可以是：
网络效应： 随着用户增多，产品价值也随之增加（例如，Facebook、WhatsApp、eBay）。
规模经济： 随着规模扩大，你的单位成本下降，使你能够以小竞争对手无法匹敌的方式降低价格或提高利润率（例如，亚马逊的物流）。
品牌： 一个强大、值得信赖的品牌极难复制（例如，苹果、可口可乐）。
专有技术： 一个比现有方案好10倍且难以复制的基础性技术突破（例如，谷歌早期的搜索算法）。
你必须有一个可信的故事，说明为什么随着你的规模扩大，别人与你竞争将变得更加困难。
关于“坏”想法：非对称赌注
Airbnb：“陌生人会付钱睡在你客厅的气垫床上。”（听起来既诡异又市场狭小）。
Stripe：“我们将为开发者构建一个更好的支付处理API。”（听起来既小众又无聊，且市场已有巨头）。
这些想法对大多数人来说听起来很糟糕，这正是它们被搁置了足够长的时间，让创业公司有机会去解决它们的原因。它们解决了一小部分初始用户的真实而强烈的需求，这就足以起步了。如果大多数人不“理解”你的想法，不要害怕。如果没有人对此感到极度兴奋，那才值得担忧。
3. 总结：
一个伟大的想法并非灵光一闪；它是一个经过深思熟虑的假设，关于一个增长中市场的迫切需求，如果得以解决，将创造出一个具有防御性的业务。其最初的验证并非来自朋友和家人，而是来自真实潜在用户的行动。
English Version:
1. Core Principles (from Sam Altman):
Founder Qualities: Unstoppability, determination, formidability, resourcefulness, intelligence, and passion are paramount. Much more important than specific experience.
Contradictory Traits: The best founders are both rigid (on mission) and flexible (on tactics).
Responsiveness: A proxy for decisiveness, focus, and intensity.
Communication: The most important rarely-discussed founder skill.
Essential Roles: At least one founder who can build the product and one who can sell it.
Cofounder Selection: It's a marriage. Choose someone you know well. Cofounder breakups are a leading cause of startup death.
Equity: Split it nearly equally and set it early.
2. In-depth Analysis and Elaboration:
On Founder Qualities: The Unstoppable Force
"Unstoppability" is the key trait. A startup is a relentless series of obstacles, rejections, and crises. An unstoppable founder sees a brick wall not as a dead end, but as something to go over, under, around, or straight through. This isn't about blind optimism; it's about a deep-seated belief in one's ability to figure things out. This "resourcefulness" is about doing a lot with a little.
How to assess this? Look at their past. Have they demonstrated grit in other areas of life? Have they completed difficult, long-term projects? How do they react to being told "no"? Do they get deflated, or do they immediately start thinking of another angle?
On Rigidity and Flexibility: The Strong Trunk and Bending Branches
Imagine a great tree. Its trunk (the mission, the vision) is incredibly strong and rigid. It doesn't sway. But its branches (the product features, the marketing strategy, the sales tactics) are flexible, bending with the wind of user feedback and market changes without breaking. Many founders get this backward. They are flexible on their mission ("Maybe we should pivot to a B2B SaaS for dog walkers?") but rigid on a specific feature nobody wants.
The Mission: "Organize the world's information." (Google) - Rigid.
The Tactic: "We'll do it through a web portal, then mobile, then voice, then glasses." - Flexible.
On Cofounder Dynamics: The Most Important Decision
Choosing a cofounder is more consequential than choosing an investor, an office, or even the initial idea. A bad cofounder is like a boat anchor. A good one is a force multiplier.
Cofounder Due Diligence Checklist: Before committing, you should have honest, difficult conversations about:
Shared Vision: Do we want to build the same kind of company? A lifestyle business or a world-changing giant?
Commitment Level: Are we both willing to work nights and weekends for years? What are our personal financial runways?
Roles and Responsibilities: Who is the final decision-maker (CEO)? How do we divide work?
Handling Conflict: When we disagree, what is our process for resolution?
Life Goals: Where do you see yourself in 5 or 10 years? What happens if one of us wants to leave?
Why "Dating" Doesn't Work: Meeting someone at a networking event to start a company is like getting married after a first date. You haven't seen them under stress. The pre-existing relationship provides a bedrock of trust and loyalty that helps you survive the inevitable troughs of sorrow.
On Equity: Aligning Incentives Early
The conversation about equity splits is never easier than on day one. Delaying it is a sign of conflict avoidance, a fatal flaw in a founding team. A near-equal split (e.g., 50/50, or 49/51 to break ties) recognizes that over the 10-year journey of a startup, initial contributions become trivial compared to the immense, sustained effort required from everyone.
Vesting is Non-Negotiable: All founder equity must be subject to a vesting schedule, typically 4 years with a 1-year "cliff". This means you earn your equity over time. If a founder leaves after 6 months (before the 1-year cliff), they get nothing. If they leave after 2 years, they get 50% of their shares. This protects the company from a founder leaving early but still owning a large chunk of it.
3. Conclusion:
A great team is a small group of unstoppable, mission-driven individuals who communicate exceptionally well and have a deep, pre-existing trust in one another. The right team can take a mediocre idea and make it great; the wrong team will destroy even the best idea.
中文版:
1. 核心原则 (来自萨姆·奥特曼):
创始人品质： 势不可挡、决心、强悍、足智多谋、聪明和激情至关重要。远比具体经验重要。
矛盾特质： 最好的创始人既有坚持（对使命），又有灵活性（对战术）。
响应速度： 体现了决策力、专注度和强度。
沟通能力： 最重要但很少被讨论的创始人技能。
核心角色： 至少一个创始人能构建产品，一个能销售产品。
联合创始人选择： 这是一场婚姻。选择你非常了解的人。联合创始人散伙是初创公司夭折的主要原因之一。
股权： 几乎平分，并且尽早设定。
2. 深度解析与延展：
关于创始人品质：势不可挡的力量
“势不可挡”是关键特质。创业是一连串无休止的障碍、拒绝和危机。一个势不可挡的创始人看到一堵砖墙，不会认为那是死胡同，而是会想办法翻过去、钻过去、绕过去或者直接穿过去。这并非盲目乐观，而是一种深信自己有能力解决问题的信念。这种“足智多谋”是关于如何用少量资源做大量事情。
如何评估？ 查看他们的过去。他们在生活的其他领域是否展示过毅力？他们是否完成过困难的、长期的项目？他们对被告知“不”的反应如何？是泄气，还是立刻开始思考另一个角度？
关于坚持与灵活：坚固的树干与柔韧的枝条
想象一棵大树。它的树干（使命、愿景）极其坚固和刚直，不会动摇。但它的枝条（产品功能、营销策略、销售战术）却是柔韧的，能随用户反馈和市场变化之风而弯曲，却不会折断。许多创始人把这一点搞反了。他们对使命很灵活（“也许我们应该转型去做一个给遛狗人的B2B SaaS？”），却对一个没人想要的功能固执己见。
使命： “整合全球信息。”（谷歌）- 坚持。
战术： “我们将通过门户网站、然后是移动端、语音、再到眼镜来实现。” - 灵活。
关于联合创始人动态：最重要的决定
选择联合创始人比选择投资者、办公室，甚至最初的想法都更为重要。一个糟糕的联合创始人就像船锚。一个好的则是力量的倍增器。
联合创始人尽职调查清单： 在做出承诺之前，你们应该就以下问题进行坦诚而艰难的对话：
共同愿景： 我们想建立同一种公司吗？是生活方式型业务还是改变世界的巨头？
承诺程度： 我们是否都愿意为之连续数年夜以继日地工作？我们各自的个人财务状况能支持多久？
角色与责任： 谁是最终决策者（CEO）？我们如何分工？
处理冲突： 当我们意见不合时，我们的解决流程是什么？
人生目标： 5年或10年后，你希望自己是什么样子？如果我们中有人想离开会怎样？
为什么“约会”模式行不通： 在社交活动上认识某人然后一起创业，就像第一次约会后就结婚。你没有见过他在压力下的样子。预先存在的关系提供了一种信任和忠诚的基石，这能帮助你们在不可避免的“悲伤低谷”中幸存下来。
关于股权：尽早统一激励机制
关于股权分配的对话，没有比第一天更容易的时候了。拖延它本身就是逃避冲突的标志，这是创始团队的致命缺陷。近乎平分的股权（例如50/50，或49/51以打破僵局）承认了一点：在创业公司10年的征程中，与每个人所需的巨大、持续的努力相比，最初的贡献会变得微不足道。
股权兑现（Vesting）是不可协商的： 所有创始人的股权都必须遵守兑现时间表，通常是4年兑现期，加1年“悬崖期”（cliff）。这意味着你的股权是随时间赚取的。如果一个创始人在6个月后离开（在1年悬崖期之前），他什么也得不到。如果他在2年后离开，他将获得其股份的50%。这可以保护公司，防止创始人过早离开却仍持有大量股份。
3. 总结：
一个伟大的团队是一小群势不可挡、以使命为驱动、沟通能力超强、并且彼此间有深厚预存信任的个体。正确的团队能把一个平庸的想法变得伟大；错误的团队则会毁掉即使是最好的想法。
English Version:
1. Core Principles (from Sam Altman):
The Only Secret: A great product is the only secret to long-term success. All other tricks eventually fail.
Product Improvement Engine: The company's focus should be a tight loop: talk to users, watch them use the product, identify flaws, and make it better. Repeat endlessly.
Get Close to Users: Founders must do sales and customer support. Don't put layers between you and the user.
Do Things That Don't Scale: Manually recruit initial users one at a time. Build things they ask for. This is how you create love.
Simplicity: Launch with a very simple product (minimum surface area) and keep it simple.
Metrics of Love: Are users using it more than once (retention)? Are they fanatical? Would they be truly bummed if you went away? Are they telling friends without being asked (organic growth)?
2. In-depth Analysis and Elaboration:
On the Product Improvement Engine: The OODA Loop of Startups
This cycle—Build, Measure, Learn—is the heartbeat of a startup. A better framing might be the military's OODA loop: Observe, Orient, Decide, Act.
Observe: Watch users. Read their support tickets. Listen to their calls. See where they get stuck, what delights them.
Orient: Analyze the observations. What is the root problem? How does this fit into our overall strategy?
Decide: Prioritize what to build or fix next. What single change will have the biggest impact?
Act: Build it, ship it quickly, and return to Observe.
The speed of this loop is a strong predictor of success. A team that completes this cycle weekly will crush a team that does it quarterly. This is why "Focus & Intensity" (Part IV) is so critical.
On Talking to Users: The Mom Test
Many founders talk to users incorrectly. They ask leading questions like, "Don't you think this feature is cool?" or "Would you pay for this?" People are polite; they will lie to you to avoid hurting your feelings.
The "Mom Test" (from the book by Rob Fitzpatrick) provides a framework for better conversations. You don't talk about your idea. You talk about their life.
Bad Question: "Would you use an app that tracks your gym workouts?"
Good Question: "Tell me about the last time you went to the gym. What was your routine? How do you keep track of your progress?"
The goal is to uncover facts about their past behavior and current problems, not opinions about your hypothetical future solution.
On "Do Things That Don't Scale": Manufacturing Serendipity
This is perhaps the most famous piece of YC advice. It's about providing an exceptional, handcrafted experience for your first 10, 50, or 100 users. This is how you turn users into evangelists.
Airbnb: The founders flew to New York, stayed with their hosts, and took professional photos of their apartments to make the listings look better. Utterly unscalable, but it kickstarted the marketplace.
Stripe: The founders offered to personally install their API for early customers. They called it "Concierge Onboarding."
Why it works: It provides invaluable learning. You discover user pain points you'd never find otherwise. And it creates a legendary customer experience that those first users will tell everyone about. Your goal isn't to acquire users; it's to create love. Love scales through word of mouth. Acquisition hacks do not.
On Love vs. Like: The Passion Differential
It's much better to have 100 users who love you than 10,000 users who just like you.
Like: "Oh yeah, I use that app. It's fine." (This user will churn the moment a slightly better or cheaper alternative appears).
Love: "You have to try this product. It completely changed how I do X. Let me send you an invite." (This user is your unpaid sales force).
The intensity of feeling is more important than the breadth of users in the early days. You can always find more users, but turning "like" into "love" is incredibly difficult. Focus on the love. The Net Promoter Score (NPS) question—"How likely are you to recommend this product to a friend?"—is a good way to measure this. Anyone who gives you a 9 or 10 is a promoter. Your goal is to create more of them.
3. Conclusion:
A great product isn't born from a founder's isolated genius. It's forged in the fire of continuous user feedback. Your job is not to be a visionary who dictates the product from on high, but a relentless editor who listens to users, simplifies ruthlessly, and iterates faster than anyone else. If you do this, growth becomes a byproduct, not a goal in itself.
中文版:
1. 核心原则 (来自萨姆·奥特曼):
唯一的秘诀： 一个伟大的产品是长期成功的唯一秘诀。所有其他技巧最终都会失效。
产品改进引擎： 公司的焦点应该是一个紧密的循环：与用户交谈，观察他们使用产品，找出缺陷，然后改进它。无限重复。
贴近用户： 创始人必须亲自做销售和客户支持。不要在你和用户之间设置任何隔层。
做那些无法规模化的事： 手动地、一个一个地招募初始用户。构建他们要求的东西。这就是你创造“爱”的方式。
简洁性： 用一个非常简单的产品（最小的功能面积）启动，并保持其简洁。
爱的指标： 用户是否会多次使用它（留存率）？他们是否对你的产品狂热？如果你的公司消失，他们会真的难过吗？他们是否在没有被要求的情况下向朋友推荐（自然增长）？
2. 深度解析与延展：
关于产品改进引擎：创业公司的OODA循环
这个“构建-衡量-学习”的循环是创业公司的心跳。一个更好的框架可能是军方的OODA循环：观察（Observe）、调整（Orient）、决策（Decide）、行动（Act）。
观察： 观察用户。阅读他们的支持工单。听他们的电话录音。看他们卡在哪里，什么让他们感到愉悦。
调整： 分析观察结果。根本问题是什么？这如何与我们的整体战略相符？
决策： 优先决定下一步要构建或修复什么。哪个单一的改变会产生最大的影响？
行动： 构建它，快速发布，然后回到观察阶段。
这个循环的速度是成功的有力预测指标。一个每周完成一次这个循环的团队，将会击败一个每季度才完成一次的团队。这就是为什么“专注与强度”（第四部分）如此关键。
关于与用户交谈：妈妈测试
许多创始人与用户交谈的方式是错误的。他们会问引导性问题，比如“你不觉得这个功能很酷吗？”或“你会为这个付钱吗？” 人们都很礼貌，他们会为了不伤害你的感情而对你撒谎。
《妈妈测试》（The Mom Test，作者Rob Fitzpatrick）一书为更好的对话提供了一个框架。你不要谈论你的想法，你要谈论他们的生活。
坏问题：“你会用一个追踪你健身记录的应用吗？”
好问题：“跟我说说你上次去健身房的经历吧。你的流程是怎样的？你如何跟踪自己的进步？”
目标是发掘关于他们过去行为和当前问题的事实，而不是关于你假设的未来解决方案的观点。
关于“做那些无法规模化的事”：制造意外之喜
这可能是YC最著名的建议。它的核心是为你的前10个、50个或100个用户提供卓越的、手工打造的体验。这就是你将用户转变为传教士的方式。
Airbnb： 创始人们飞到纽约，和他们的房东住在一起，并为他们的公寓拍摄专业照片，以使房源看起来更好。这完全无法规模化，但它启动了整个市场。
Stripe： 创始人们主动为早期客户亲自安装他们的API。他们称之为“礼宾式入驻服务”。
为什么有效： 它提供了无价的学习机会。你会发现你永远无法通过其他方式发现的用户痛点。而且，它创造了一种传奇般的客户体验，那些早期用户会告诉他们身边的每一个人。你的目标不是获取用户，而是创造爱。爱通过口碑传播而规模化，而增长黑客技巧则不能。
关于爱与喜欢：热情的差异
拥有100个爱你的用户，远比拥有10,000个只是喜欢你的用户要好。
喜欢： “哦是的，我用那个应用。还行吧。”（一旦出现稍微更好或更便宜的替代品，这个用户就会流失）。
爱： “你必须试试这个产品。它彻底改变了我做X的方式。我发个邀请链接给你。”（这个用户是你无薪的销售团队）。
在早期，情感的强度比用户的广度更重要。你总能找到更多的用户，但把“喜欢”变成“爱”是极其困难的。专注于创造爱。净推荐值（NPS）问题——“你有多大可能向朋友推荐这个产品？”——是衡量这一点的好方法。给你9分或10分的任何人都是你的推荐者。你的目标是创造更多的推荐者。
3. 总结：
一个伟大的产品并非诞生于创始人的孤立天才。它是在持续的用户反馈之火中锻造出来的。你的工作不是成为一个高高在上、发号施令的远见者，而是一个倾听用户、无情简化、并比任何人都迭代更快的不知疲倦的编辑。如果你做到了这一点，增长就成了副产品，而非目标本身。
English Version:
This is the largest and most critical part of the playbook. A great idea, team, and product are just potential energy. Execution turns it into kinetic energy.
1. Core Principles (from Sam Altman):
Momentum is Key: Growth solves all problems. Lack of growth is not solvable by anything but growth. It's the psychological bedrock of a winning team.
CEO's Priority: The company does what the CEO measures. Set a single, clear growth metric (your North Star Metric).
Internal Cadence: Maintain a "drumbeat" of progress (new features, customers, hires) to keep momentum high.
Traps to Avoid:
Worrying about things being broken while growing fast (this is a good problem to have).
Solving for problems at 100x scale when you're at 1x.
Getting demoralized by small absolute numbers, even with high percentage growth.
Falling for "silver bullet" growth hacks like big partnerships or press launches (they almost never work).
2. In-depth Analysis and Elaboration:
On Momentum: The Physics of a Startup
A startup in motion stays in motion. Momentum creates a virtuous cycle: Growth attracts top talent -> Top talent builds a better product -> Better product leads to more growth. The opposite is a death spiral: Stagnation demoralizes the team -> Talent leaves -> Product stagnates -> The company dies. The CEO's most fundamental job is to never lose momentum.
Airbnb's Graph: The founders posted a graph of their target weekly revenue on their fridge. It was a constant, visible reminder of the one thing that mattered. If they missed the number, it was the only thing they talked about. If they hit it, they celebrated. This simple act aligned the entire company.
On Metrics: North Star vs. Vanity
Vanity Metric: A metric that looks good on paper but doesn't correlate with business success (e.g., total signups, page views, app downloads). It's easy to juice but doesn't mean users are getting value.
North Star Metric (NSM): A single metric that best captures the core value your product delivers to customers.
Facebook: Monthly Active Users (value is connecting with others).
Airbnb: Nights Booked (value is people staying in homes).
Slack: Weekly Messages Sent (value is team communication).
Focusing the entire company on improving one NSM creates incredible alignment and clarity.
On "Do Things That Don't Scale" vs. Unit Economics:
There's a crucial distinction here. "Do things that don't scale" applies to your process for acquiring and delighting early users. It does not mean you can ignore your business model forever. You can have bad unit economics (e.g., LTV < CAC) in the beginning, but you must have a believable story for how they will become positive at scale. For example: "Our customer acquisition cost (CAC) is high now because we're manually onboarding, but as the product gets better and word-of-mouth kicks in, our CAC will drop significantly."
1. Core Principles (from Sam Altman):
The Two Words: If all advice were distilled to two words, they would be focus and intensity.
Focus: Say no to almost everything. Do one thing and dominate it before moving to the next. Prioritization is critical.
Intensity: Move with urgency. Be decisive. Get things done quickly. Great founders are obsessed with product quality and speed simultaneously.
The "Personal Brand" Trap: Early success is dangerous. Avoid the distraction of conferences, panels, and press. Keep doing what made you successful.
2. In-depth Analysis and Elaboration:
On Focus: The Power of Saying No
Every "yes" to a new initiative is an implicit "no" to doubling down on your core mission. Startups don't die from starvation; they die from indigestion—trying to do too much at once.
Tactical Focus: Altman's personal system of a daily list (~3 major tasks, ~30 minor ones) is a powerful tool. It forces prioritization. The most important work should be done first, before the chaos of the day sets in.
Strategic Focus: Apple under Steve Jobs' return is the classic example. He cut the product line by 70% to focus on just a few great products. He said no to a thousand things to get there.
On Intensity: The Startup as a High-Stakes Race
Intensity is not about working 100 hours a week for the sake of it. It's about compressing time. It's the difference between taking three weeks to ship a feature and shipping it in three days. This speed of iteration is your single greatest advantage over large, slow-moving incumbents. The market doesn't care how hard you work; it only cares that you ship value to users, quickly.
Decisiveness: Great founders listen to all advice but make their own decisions quickly. In a startup, a good decision made today is better than a perfect decision made in a month. Indecision paralyzes the entire organization.
1. Core Principles (from Sam Altman):
Set the vision and strategy.
Evangelize the company to everyone (recruits, investors, customers, press).
Hire and manage the team.
Raise money.
Set the execution quality bar.
Managing Psychology: The highs and lows are extreme. It's a lonely job. Don't make excuses.
2. In-depth Analysis and Elaboration:
On Vision and Evangelism: The CEO is the Chief Storyteller. You must craft a compelling narrative about the future and the company's role in creating it. This story is what attracts A+ talent who could work anywhere, convinces investors to bet on you, and persuades early customers to take a chance. This story must be told and retold relentlessly.
On Execution Quality: The CEO is the standard-bearer. If you accept sloppy work, the entire company's standards will drop. If you are obsessed with details and quality, that culture will permeate the organization. This applies to everything from code quality to the design of a sales deck to how the office is kept clean.
On Managing Your Own Psychology: This is the unspoken, hardest part of the job.
Build a Peer Network: You can't be fully transparent about your deepest fears with your board or your team. Find other founders to talk to. This is one of YC's most valuable features.
Separate Self from Company: Your company's performance will fluctuate wildly. If your self-worth is tied directly to it, you will burn out. You are not your startup.
Maintain Routines: Sleep, exercise, and nutrition are not luxuries; they are requirements for sustained high performance. You cannot treat a 10-year marathon like a 2-day sprint.
This section summarizes Altman's rapid-fire advice on other critical operational areas.
Hiring: Don't do it until you absolutely have to. One great person is better than five good ones. Hire for aptitude and raw intelligence, not experience. And fire fast. A bad hire is toxic. Culture is defined by who you hire, fire, and promote.
Competitors: They are a ghost story. 99% of startups die from suicide (internal problems, bad product), not murder (competitors). Ignore their press releases and fundraising announcements. Focus on your users. The only competitor to fear is one who ignores you and just keeps making their own business better.
Making Money: Get to "ramen profitability" (making enough to cover founders' basic living costs) as fast as possible. This gives you freedom and control. Understand your unit economics: Lifetime Value (LTV) must be greater than Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC).
Fundraising: It's a necessary evil, not a goal. Get it done as fast as possible. The secret is having a great company that is growing fast. Create FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) by running a parallel process with multiple investors. Anything other than a "yes" is a "no". Don't over-optimize for valuation; optimize for getting a great board member and clean terms.
3. Conclusion:
Great execution is a mindset that permeates every action in a startup. It's a relentless focus on growth, an intense pace of iteration, a disciplined approach to priorities, and an unwavering commitment to quality. It is the art and science of turning a vision into a reality, one day at a time.
中文版:
这是手册中最大、最关键的部分。一个伟大的想法、团队和产品只是势能，而执行力将其转化为动能。
1. 核心原则 (来自萨姆·奥特曼):
势头是关键： 增长解决所有问题。缺乏增长除了增长本身，无药可解。它是一支胜利团队的心理基石。
CEO的优先事项： 公司做什么，取决于CEO衡量什么。设定一个单一、清晰的增长指标（你的北极星指标）。
内部节奏： 保持进展的“鼓点”（新功能、新客户、新员工），以维持高昂的势头。
要避免的陷阱：
在快速增长时担心事情一团糟（这是个好问题）。
在1倍规模时，去解决100倍规模时才会出现的问题。
因绝对数字小而灰心丧气，即使百分比增长很高。
迷信“银弹”式的增长黑客，如大型合作或媒体发布会（它们几乎从不奏效）。
2. 深度解析与延展：
关于势头：创业公司的物理学
运动中的创业公司会保持运动。势头创造了一个良性循环：增长吸引顶尖人才 -> 顶尖人才打造更好的产品 -> 更好的产品带来更多增长。反之则是死亡螺旋：停滞使团队士气低落 -> 人才流失 -> 产品停滞 -> 公司死亡。CEO最根本的工作就是永远不要失去势头。
Airbnb的图表： 创始人们把他们每周的目标收入图表贴在冰箱上。这是一个持续、可见的提醒，告诉大家唯一重要的事情是什么。如果没达到数字，这就是他们唯一讨论的话题。如果达到了，他们就庆祝。这个简单的行为统一了整个公司。
关于指标：北极星 vs. 虚荣
虚荣指标： 一个纸面上好看但与商业成功无关的指标（例如，总注册数、页面浏览量、应用下载量）。它很容易被操纵，但并不意味着用户获得了价值。
北极星指标 (NSM)： 一个最能体现你的产品为客户提供的核心价值的单一指标。
Facebook：月活跃用户（价值在于与他人连接）。
Airbnb：预订间夜数（价值在于人们住在房子里）。
Slack：每周发送消息数（价值在于团队沟通）。
让整个公司专注于提升一个北极星指标，能创造出令人难以置信的一致性和清晰度。
关于“做无法规模化的事” vs. 单位经济模型：
这里有一个关键的区别。“做无法规模化的事”适用于你获取和取悦早期用户的流程。它并不意味着你可以永远忽视你的商业模式。你可以在初期有糟糕的单位经济模型（例如，LTV < CAC），但你必须有一个可信的故事，说明它们未来将如何规模化地转正。例如：“我们现在的客户获取成本（CAC）很高，因为我们在手动入驻，但随着产品变好和口碑传播，我们的CAC将显著下降。”
1. 核心原则 (来自萨姆·奥特曼):
两个词： 如果所有建议都浓缩成两个词，那就是专注和强度。
专注： 对几乎所有事情说不。做一件事，并在转向下一件事之前主宰它。优先级排序至关重要。
强度： 带着紧迫感行动。果断决策。快速完成任务。伟大的创始人同时痴迷于产品质量和速度。
“个人品牌”陷阱： 早期的成功是危险的。避免会议、座谈和媒体等分心之事。继续做那些让你成功的事情。
2. 深度解析与延展：
关于专注：说不的力量
对每一个新项目的“是”，都隐含着对加倍投入核心使命的“否”。创业公司不是饿死的，而是消化不良而死——试图一次做太多事情。
战术专注： 奥特曼的个人系统，即每日清单（约3个主要任务，约30个次要任务），是一个强大的工具。它迫使你进行优先级排序。最重要的工作应该在一天混乱开始之前首先完成。
战略专注： 史蒂夫·乔布斯回归后的苹果是经典案例。他削减了70%的产品线，只专注于少数几个伟大的产品。他说了一千次“不”才做到了这一点。
关于强度：创业是一场高风险的赛跑
强度不是为了工作而每周工作100小时。它是关于压缩时间。它是用三周发布一个功能和用三天发布它之间的区别。这种迭代速度是你相对于大型、行动缓慢的现有企业的唯一最大优势。市场不在乎你工作多努力，它只在乎你是否快速地为用户交付价值。
决策力： 伟大的创始人听取所有建议，但迅速做出自己的决定。在创业公司，今天做出的一个好决定，胜过一个月后做出的一个完美决定。犹豫不决会使整个组织陷入瘫痪。
1. 核心原则 (来自萨姆·奥特曼):
设定公司的愿景和战略。
向所有人（员工、投资者、客户、媒体）宣传公司。
招聘和管理团队。
融资。
设定执行的质量标准。
管理心理： 高峰和低谷都极为剧烈。这是一份孤独的工作。不要找借口。
2. 深度解析与延展：
关于愿景和布道： CEO是首席故事官。你必须构建一个关于未来以及公司在创造这个未来中的角色的引人入胜的叙事。这个故事是吸引那些可以在任何地方工作的A+级人才、说服投资者押注于你、并劝说早期客户给你一个机会的原因。这个故事必须被无休止地讲述和重述。
关于执行质量： CEO是旗手。如果你接受马虎的工作，整个公司的标准都会下降。如果你对细节和质量痴迷，这种文化将渗透到整个组织。这适用于从代码质量到销售PPT的设计，再到办公室如何保持清洁的每一件事。
关于管理自己的心理： 这是这份工作不言而喻、最艰难的部分。
建立同行网络： 你无法向董事会或团队完全坦白你内心最深的恐惧。找其他创始人交谈。这是YC最有价值的特点之一。
将自我与公司分离： 你的公司表现会剧烈波动。如果你的自我价值与此直接挂钩，你将会精疲力竭。你不是你的创业公司。
保持常规： 睡眠、锻炼和营养不是奢侈品，它们是维持持续高绩效的必要条件。你不能把一场10年的马拉松当作两天的冲刺来对待。
本节总结了奥特曼在其他关键运营领域的快节奏建议。
招聘 (Hiring)： 除非你真的非招不可，否则不要招人。一个优秀的人胜过五个良好的人。招聘要看天资和原始智力，而非经验。并且快速解雇。一个糟糕的雇员是毒药。文化是由你雇佣、解雇和提拔谁来定义的。
竞争对手 (Competitors)： 他们是鬼故事。99%的创业公司死于自杀（内部问题、糟糕的产品），而非谋杀（竞争对手）。忽略他们的新闻稿和融资公告。专注于你的用户。唯一需要害怕的竞争对手是那个完全不理你，只是一直在把自己的业务做得更好的公司。
资金 (Making Money)： 尽快达到“拉面盈利”（赚的钱足够支付创始人的基本生活费用）。这给了你自由和控制权。理解你的单位经济模型：生命周期价值（LTV）必须大于客户获取成本（CAC）。
融资 (Fundraising)： 这是必要的恶，而不是目标。尽快完成它。秘诀是拥有一家正在快速增长的优秀公司。通过与多个投资者并行沟通来制造FOMO（害怕错过）。除了“是”之外，任何回答都是“否”。不要过度优化估值，而要优化于获得一个优秀的董事会成员和干净的条款。
3. 总结：
卓越的执行力是一种贯穿创业公司每一个行动的思维模式。它是对增长的不懈专注，是迭代的极快节奏，是处理优先事项的纪律性方法，也是对质量的坚定承诺。它是日复一日，将愿景变为现实的艺术与科学。
原文链接 -> https://playbook.samaltman.com/
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