"Investor [[Paul Graham]] (who invested in Airbnb, reddit, Dropbox, and others), working in the same city as Walsh a few decades later, **explicitly warns startups against having bold, sweeping visions early on**. Of course, as a capitalist, he wants to fund companies that massively disrupt industries and change the world—that’s where the money is. He wants them to have “frighteningly ambitious” ideas, but explains, “**The way to do really big things seems to be to start with deceptively small things**.” "He’s saying you don’t make a frontal attack out of ego; instead, **you start with a small bet and iteratively scale your ambitions as you go**. His other famous piece of advice, “**Keep your identity small**,” fits well here. **Make it about the work and the principles behind it—not about a glorious vision that makes a good headline**." ([Location 1341](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01AWUTMB0&location=1341)) --- **Tags** -- [[quotes]], [[ego]], [[progressing-slowly]], [[entrepreneur]], [[humility]], [[vision-statements]], [[personal-values]], **Source** -- [[202409161103 - B - Ego is the Enemy]]