This is Paul Graham.

You need to be good at some kind of technology, you need an idea for what you're going to build, and you need cofounders to start the company with.

You shouldn't worry about prestige. Prestige is the opinion of the rest of the world

The way to figure out what to work on is by working. If you're not sure what to work on, guess. But pick something and get going

The way to deal with uncertainty is to analyze it into components.

One way to discover broken models is to be stricter than other people. Broken models of the world leave a trail of clues where they bash against reality

The best essay would be on the most important topic you could tell people something surprising about.

Our early training and our self-centeredness combine to make us believe that every judgement of us is about us. In fact most aren't.