Why Doing the Right Thing Predicates Your Success

Qasar Younis

with Qasar Younis

Chief Operating Officer at Y Combinator

Why Doing the Right Thing Predicates Your Success

Why Doing the Right Thing Predicates Your Success 398 398 33Voices

Qasar and Jenna discuss what makes Y Combinator special and the life-changing difference of surrounding yourself with exceptional people. 

Insights from Qasar

On Startups: 

  • “The decisions you make during the early stages are like drawing a bow; Even the slightest movement can alter your fate.” 
  • “The most important decision that every company makes is who its co-founders are. If you get that wrong, it’s nearly impossible to recover.” 
  • “Everything is about people. You can never put enough emphasis on the people you surround yourself with; Who you work with. Who you hire. That’s the name of the game. There are certain people who are critical to your company’s success.”
  • “Great companies are a culmination of thousands of decisions. There is no single moment.” – “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” – Aristotle 

On YC: 

  • “Similar to discovering new life forms, YC’s future is beyond our comprehension.”
  • “Founders will always be our true north. We make every decision with founders in mind.”
  • “The more office hours I can do, the more fun I have.”

On Life and Relationships: 

  • “The best way to build relationships is to do the right thing, whatever that means; Working hard, responding to emails quickly, or treating people well. It’s a thousand different things. Always do them right.
  • “If you want to have great mentors and work with great people, be great. Work hard and be a master of your domain. When you do good things, good things happen.”
  • “I sweat the details. That’s how I win, by brute force.”
  • “It’s very important to leave looseness in your beliefs and approach. Actively embrace the ridiculousness of life.”