Paul Graham on what drives founders through the hard parts: “Being dutiful is not enough. The obstacles are too fearsome for mere dutifulness.” “You know what actually motivates founders day to day? The fear of failure.” “If your server’s crashing, you’re not thinking, ‘I got to deal with this because if I deal with it, I’ll become a billionaire.’ You’re thinking, ‘Oh no, the server’s crashing. It will be a disaster. The engine of my model train set is falling off the edge of the table. I…

Y Combinator@ycombinatorSep 3

YC visiting partner @vivianmshen sits down with Paul Graham (@paulg) at the original YC office in Mountain View to talk about startups, AI, ambition, and what makes great founders. 01:07 — Why Today’s Startups Are More Ambitious 04:09 — Frighteningly Ambitious Ideas 05:13 — What Actually Motivates Founders 09:28 — What Makes a Founder Formidable 12:54 — What Surprised PG About AI 17:58 — How YC Started and What Hasn’t Changed