The Path to Success of ChatGPT and WorldCoin Founder Altman

In the technology sector, 38-year-old Sam Altman has become a pivotal figure. He dropped out of Stanford University at 19 to start his own business and achieved financial independence by the age of 26. By 29, he began managing the largest startup incubator in the United States, expanding its scale tenfold within five years. At 30, he co-founded OpenAI, joining the ranks of the world’s top entrepreneurs.

In 2019, Altman shared his entrepreneurial insights just before taking on the role of CEO of OpenAI. Although the title of this article is straightforward, the content is profound and is still regarded as a touchstone in the Silicon Valley venture capital community. Here are the success factors he summarized:

Compound Growth

Altman emphasizes the importance of compound interest. He points out that there are not many industries with true network effects and high scalability, but technological advancements have made this possible. He suggests taking the time to discover and create such opportunities. In one's personal career, he advises choosing career paths that have a compound interest effect, such as leveraging capital, technology, brand, network effects, or engaging in management work.

Absolute Confidence

Altman observed that the most successful people are often astonishingly confident. He believes that success requires reverse thinking, which is difficult for those lacking confidence. For CEOs of startups, confidence is crucial for boosting team morale. However, he also warned that excessive confidence can lead to disconnection from others, suggesting that while maintaining confidence, one should also keep self-awareness.

Independent Thinking

Entrepreneurship requires original thinking, which is difficult for schools to teach. Altman admires Musk's "first principles" approach, which involves starting from the essence of the problem to come up with new ideas. He also emphasizes that failure is the norm, but quantitative changes can lead to qualitative changes. He believes that putting oneself under pressure often sparks inspiration.

Emphasize Sales

Altman believes that regardless of the job one does, it essentially comes down to sales. Good sales require good ideas, strong communication skills, personal charm, and execution ability. He particularly emphasizes the importance of written communication skills and the necessity for the CEO to be involved in "closing deals."

Stay Focused

Focus can make work twice as effective with half the effort. Altman observed that successful people spend a significant amount of time thinking about what they should focus on. He emphasized that doing the right things is more important than the length of work hours and suggested concentrating energy on a few of the most important tasks.

Work Hard

Altman believes that to surpass 99% of people, one must be both smart and hardworking. He emphasizes that entrepreneurship often makes it difficult to maintain a work-life balance, but diligence can bring astonishing rewards and enjoyment in life. He suggests starting to work hard as early as possible to gain a longer profit period.

Be a little willful

Altman believes that as long as you are resilient enough and persist, the world can shift according to your will. He uses Airbnb as an example to illustrate the importance of perseverance. He suggests maintaining an optimistic attitude, which he believes can be improved through practice.

Build Your Network

Altman emphasized that a person's career ceiling often depends on how many outstanding individuals they can gather around them. He suggested helping others as much as possible, maintaining a good reputation, and befriending positive and like-minded people.

To make a fortune, you must "own something"

Altman pointed out that very few people can get rich solely from their salaries. He believes that having "things" that can appreciate rapidly, such as businesses, real estate, and intellectual property, is what truly leads to wealth. He views entrepreneurship as a way to achieve this goal.

Have Intrinsic Motivation

Finally, Altman emphasized the importance of intrinsic motivation. He believes that most successful people are self-driven. They do things to satisfy themselves and feel that changing the world is their responsibility. Altman believes that only intrinsic motivation can drive a person to continually climb toward higher goals.