Paul Graham explains why your startup shouldn’t stress over competitors

“What makes companies fail most of the time is poor execution by the founders.”

Y Combinator has seen a large data set of startups, and very few of them have been killed by competitors.

“I tell startups that basically you have the same protection against competitors that light aircraft have against crashing into other light aircraft when flying through clouds — space is large.”

When startups freak out about a new competitor entering their space, PG advises them:

“It’s sort of like if you’re running the hundred meters and suddenly a lane appears with another runner in it. What should you do? Run as fast as you can, just like you presumably were.”

Full video: Y Combinator “A Conversation with Paul Graham - Moderated by Geoff Ralston“ (Sep 2018)

P.S. We’ve put together a YouTube playlist with every Paul Graham insight we’ve ever shared. You can watch it here: "Best startup advice from Paul Graham"