Best quotes by Sahil Lavingia

Apply for the job. "But I'm not qualified for it." Neither is the person who's going to get the job. Apply!

Most profound thing I've learned in the past eight years is the difference between behavior and intention. Behavior is what someone is doing, intention is why they're doing it. You judge yourself based on your intention, and everyone else based on their behavior.

Don't ghost. Saying no is a skill worth learning.

Everyone loves remote work until they realize 7 billion people will soon be competing for the job they have.

Being a founder is hard. Being an early employee is hard. Being a VC is hard. Being a politician is hard. Being an engineer is hard. Being a writer is hard. Being a friend is hard. Being a partner is hard. Being a parent is hard. It's all hard. Life is hard, and then you die.

If you want less competition, pick a harder problem.

Ask for feedback on your attempts, not advice on your ideas.

Don't think you deserve the job? Apply for it anyways. Don't think your article is good enough? Publish it anyways. Don't think they'll reply to your email? Send it anyways. Don't self-reject.

People don't want to use your software. They want to lose weight, laugh, be entertained, get smarter, spend time with loved ones, go home on time, sleep adequately, eat good food, be happy. Your product is only as good as the experiences it enables people to have.

Startups need both the experience of people who’ve done it before and the optimism of people who haven’t.

Things you don't have to do to start a company: - Quit your job - Learn to code - Write a business plan - Raise money - Hire employees Things you have to do: Start.

Growth happens by doing things you are unqualified to do.

Finding a new job is uncomfortable. Starting a company is uncomfortable. Learning a new skill is uncomfortable. Getting healthy is uncomfortable. Growth is uncomfortable.

Your imposter syndrome will fade when you realize how average your heroes are. Your excuses will fade too.

Don't start a company because you want to be your own boss. You'll have more bosses than ever before: your board, investors, employees, customers, and more!

You don’t become interesting by copying interesting people. You become interesting by following your own interests, going deeper down the rabbit hole than anyone else, and surfacing something new for the rest of us.

The best jobs aren't publicly listed. You have to dig for them, invent them, or convince someone it's worth creating just for you.

You’d be surprised how far you’ll get by just doing what you say you’ll do.

A CEO’s first job is to get the company capitalized. A CEO’s second job is to recruit a team. A CEO’s third job is to provide them with clarity so they can solve their customers' problems. A CEO’s fourth job is to get out of the way until one of the above is no longer true.

Degrees are not useful. Skills are.

College has never been more expensive, education has never been cheaper.

Investing in the stock market can turn $10,000 into $100,000. Investing in starting your own business can turn $1,000 into $1,000,000.

It's a hundred times easier to criticize than create.

Your customers don't care about your product, they care about their problems.

Learning to write is much more important than learning to code.

I think the #1 reason startups fail is the founders run out of energy.

Stop networking, start making friends.

Most people don’t need more advice, they need more access.

The best startups solve a problem no one even knew they had.

Want to learn design, product development, sales, customer support, marketing, recruiting, finance, legal, and operations? Start a company.

The best startup ideas come from the intersection of new technology and an old human need.

Long-term, cities like San Francisco will resemble colleges. People will spend 4-10 years to learn, gain credibility, and build a network. Then they'll leave and settle elsewhere, making space for the next "class."

Learn to write. If you're a designer, you write a lot. If you're an engineer, you write. If you're a founder, you write. If you're a VC, a lawyer, a painter, a podcaster, an accountant, a comedian… you write. Learn to write!

Wanting a six-figure salary is a totally legitimate reason to learn how to code.

The fastest way to become exceptional is to work with exceptional people. If you want to be a great engineer, work at a company with great engineers. Want to start a company? Work for an early-stage startup with extraordinary founders. Watch them work, and learn by osmosis.

I talk to creators every week who feel guity for making money. A few things: - People pay for value, not time spent - It may have taken an hour, but it took years to get to the point where it took an hour. - Many others can do what you're doing. You're actually doing it!

People spend years looking for a shortcut.

Education is necessary. School is not.

You don’t have to quit your job to start a startup. You don’t have to move to SF to start a startup. You don’t have to raise money to start a startup. If you start when/how you can, you will be pulled in the right direction.

Everyone's life is harder than it looks from the outside.

Doing the job before you get the job is a great way to get the job.

How to get a dream job at your dream company: Research the company. Use the product. Find the CEO's email online. Write a personable and specific email relaying your experience. Suggest some ideas, report a bug, or include a small UX improvement.

Become a better communicator overnight: - Replace every “but” you can with an “and” - Never start a sentence with “no” or “disagree” - Only give feedback if there’s a chance it will be implemented - Tell people you will be late before you are late - Bias to overcommunicating

Something I wish everyone knew: the bar's not as high as you think. You can get that job, meet that person, start that company. But because you think the bar's so high, you won't even try. Which is what makes the bar so low!

Spend less time convincing people, more time finding people who are already convinced.

Education is about problem-solving, not test-passing.

Don’t sell, educate. Don’t network, make friends. Don’t try to grow your audience, create value for your existing audience.

The best jobs require no past experience.

It's a lot easier to keep your house clean when you have frequent guests. Similarly, it's a lot easier to keep your thoughts in order when you share them frequently.

Work on a product you’d buy yourself, then go sell it to everyone like yourself.