It's crucial to be willing to fire underperforming team members quickly, as holding onto them too long can hinder the team's overall performance.

It's equally important to fire underperforming team members quickly to maintain a strong team dynamic.

Hiring the right people is crucial; you should either hire extremely well or fire quickly to maintain team effectiveness.

Firing people is one of the hardest parts of running a company, and first-time founders often wait too long to make these decisions. You need to fire employees quickly when they're not working out, as it's better for both the company and the employee, despite the pain it causes.

After getting into Y Combinator, we made early-stage mistakes by hiring without proper culture fit vetting and dreaming too big without focusing on execution.

Another important lesson is the heavy emphasis on hiring quality people, as the energy and care in hiring decisions significantly impact the team's effectiveness.

In the early days of a startup, it's better to lose customers than to hire a sub-optimal employee, as the damage to the company can be significant.

I learned that the technology co-founders I initially brought in weren't the right fit and didn't have the skills to take the business where I wanted it to go, so I had to fire them.

I think the most impactful lesson from Y Combinator is to focus on making something people want.