To get the very best people- they have a lot of great options, and so it can easily take a year to recruit someone.

Companies that I've been very involved with, that have had a very bad first hire in the first 3 or so employees never recover from it.

At YC we have this public phrase, and it's relentlessly resourceful.

I care much more about the growth rate of the market than it's current size and I also care if there's any reason it's going to top out.

The other piece besides focus for execution is intensity. Startups only work at a fairly intense level.

For most software startups, this translates to keep growing. For hardware startups, it translates to don't let your ship date slip.

No growth hack, brilliant marketing idea, or sales team can save you long term if you don't have a sufficiently good product.