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paulg's profile
Paul Graham
Paul Graham
Paul Graham
Verified account
@paulg

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Paul GrahamVerified account

@paulg

paulgraham.com
Joined August 2010

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    1. Sam Altman‏Verified account @sama 21 Oct 2015

      Alan Kay visits YC office, grafittis @paulg's posterpic.twitter.com/qVPr0eeR9D

      44 replies 833 retweets 1,324 likes
      Paul Graham‏Verified account @paulg 21 Oct 2015
      Replying to @sama

      @sama I considered that variant. But this is advice for startups, and making stuff people need but don't want kills startups.

      12:28 PM - 21 Oct 2015
      • 65 Retweets
      • 259 Likes
      • Matt Rohr Chris Allen ΧΡ (👻, SC, LP & 🏴) Mark Stansbury Juan Campa McKenzy Germain Justin Jackson Nir Eyal Maria Gehrke 🍂🍁🎃👻 Per Stenman
      21 replies 65 retweets 259 likes
        1. New conversation
        2. Đave Hoover‏ @davehoover 21 Oct 2015
          Replying to @paulg

          .@paulg @sama Yet, when we have too many startups making stuff that people want instead of what people need, we stop making progress.

          1 reply 2 retweets 8 likes
        3. Tweet unavailable
        4. Đave Hoover‏ @davehoover 21 Oct 2015
          Replying to @omosanzalette

          @omosanzalette @paulg @sama I'm not suggesting we make things that people don't want. I'm suggesting we focus more on addressing needs.

          1 reply 1 retweet 4 likes
        5. 1 more reply
        1. Andrew Millspaugh‏ @armillspaugh 21 Oct 2015
          Replying to @paulg

          @paulg @sama Also, making things that people want but don't need has been a pretty damn successful business model.

          0 replies 2 retweets 7 likes
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        1. Ben Suarez‏ @BenRSuarez 21 Oct 2015
          Replying to @paulg

          @paulg @sama How about "Make people want something they need." May be presumptuous, but intentions are benevolent.

          0 replies 1 retweet 7 likes
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        1. David Lynch‏ @davefromdublin 21 Oct 2015
          Replying to @paulg

          @paulg @sama I agree. The route to 'need' is through 'want'.

          0 replies 1 retweet 3 likes
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        1. Layne‏ @yolayne 21 Oct 2015
          Replying to @paulg

          @paulg @sama User centered design means we create for the unrealized want—not explicitly what the user says but what our expertise sees.

          0 replies 0 retweets 2 likes
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        1. Richard L Burton III‏ @rburton 21 Oct 2015
          Replying to @paulg

          @paulg @sama I would love to visit the YC office. Where are you based at :) I fly back to nyc next Friday. I'll let you sign my shirt :)

          0 replies 0 retweets 2 likes
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        1. Rob Sobers‏ @rsobers 21 Oct 2015
          Replying to @paulg

          @paulg @sama People also tend to pay a premium for wants vs. needs.

          0 replies 0 retweets 2 likes
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        1. gaurav mahajan‏ @gauravm69807471 21 Oct 2015
          Replying to @paulg

          @paulg @sama brilliant; its like observing grandmasters at play.

          0 replies 0 retweets 2 likes
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        1. Nikhil Eldurkar‏ @neldurkar 22 Oct 2015
          Replying to @paulg

          @paulg @sama makes sense. Carrots == need; Pizza == want. Guess which sells.

          0 replies 0 retweets 1 like
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        1. Nitin Goyal‏ @nitingoyal 21 Oct 2015
          Replying to @paulg

          @paulg @sama Need: things like food, shelter Want: something tangible serving Need like burgers, condo. Demand: want with ability to pay.

          0 replies 0 retweets 1 like
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        1. Adam Lieb‏ @adamslieb 21 Oct 2015
          Replying to @paulg

          @paulg @sama nobody "needed" twitch but it was clear a lot of people wanted it. I prefer the original PG variant

          0 replies 0 retweets 1 like
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        1. Layne‏ @yolayne 21 Oct 2015
          Replying to @paulg

          @paulg @sama Building for need (and wants) lets us serve more markets & populations. Many have very limited resources, are need-focused.

          0 replies 0 retweets 1 like
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        1. enrique espinosa‏ @espinosatwits 21 Oct 2015
          Replying to @paulg

          @paulg @sama there are very few things I need and tons of things I want #wordsmatter

          0 replies 0 retweets 1 like
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        1. Mike Szyndel‏ @mszyndel 21 Oct 2015
          Replying to @paulg

          @paulg @sama Isn't the opposite true as well? Making something people want but don't need kills startups just as effectively?

          0 replies 0 retweets 1 like
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        1. Khaled Aly‏ @khaledealy Oct 1
          Replying to @paulg @sama

          Like exercise. People need to do it but many don’t actually want to. You can build as many smart home gyms you want but if they don’t want to use it they won’t exercise even if they need it.

          0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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        1. jae kwon‏ @jaekwon 23 Oct 2015
          Replying to @paulg

          @paulg @sama make something people need, and make it so easy that people want it.

          0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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        1. Sebastian Lindén‏ @sebastianlinden 22 Oct 2015
          Replying to @paulg

          @paulg mhm, make stuff people want. If they want it more than a couple of times, they need it

          0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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