So it's critical, if you're a young founder, to build things for yourself and your friends to use. The biggest mistake young founders make is to build something for some mysterious group of other people. But if you can make something that you and your friends truly want to use — something your friends aren't just using out of loyalty to you, but would be really sad to lose if you shut it down — then you almost certainly have the germ of a good startup idea. It may not seem like a startup to you. It may not be obvious how to make money from it. But trust me, there's a way.
對於年輕的創業者來說，為自己和朋友打造產品是至關重要的。年輕創業者最大的錯誤就是為一些神秘的其他人群打造產品。但如果你能做出一些你和你的朋友真正想要使用的東西——不僅僅是出於對你的忠誠而使用，而是如果你關閉它他們會感到非常難過——那麼你幾乎肯定已經擁有了一個好的創業點子的萌芽。它可能在你看來不像是一個創業點子，也可能不知道如何從中賺錢。但相信我，總有辦法的。
What you need in a startup idea, and all you need, is something your friends actually want. And those ideas aren't hard to see once you're good at technology. There are sticking doors everywhere. [2]
創業點子所需要的，也是唯一需要的，就是你的朋友真正想要的東西。一旦你精通技術，這些點子就不難發現了。到處都有卡住的門。 [2]
Now for the third and final thing you need: a cofounder, or cofounders. The optimal startup has two or three founders, so you need one or two cofounders. How do you find them? Can you predict what I'm going to say next? It's the same thing: projects. You find cofounders by working on projects with them. What you need in a cofounder is someone who's good at what they do and that you work well with, and the only way to judge this is to work with them on things.
現在來談談你需要的第三個也是最後一個東西：一個或多個聯合創始人。最理想的創業公司有兩到三個創始人，所以你需要一到兩個聯合創始人。你如何找到他們？你能猜到我接下來要說什麼嗎？還是那句話：項目。你通過與他們一起做項目來找到聯合創始人。你需要的聯合創始人是那些在自己的領域很優秀，並且與你合作愉快的人，而判斷這一點的唯一方法就是與他們一起做事情。
At this point I'm going to tell you something you might not want to hear. It really matters to do well in your classes, even the ones that are just memorization or blathering about literature, because you need to do well in your classes to get into a good university. And if you want to start a startup you should try to get into the best university you can, because that's where the best cofounders are. It's also where the best employees are. When Larry and Sergey started Google, they began by just hiring all the smartest people they knew out of Stanford, and this was a real advantage for them.
在這裡，我要告訴你一些你可能不想聽的事情。在課堂上表現出色真的很重要，即使有些課程只是記憶或者對文學的空談，因為你需要在課堂上表現出色才能進入一所好的大學。如果你想創業，你應該努力進入你能進的最好的大學，因為那裡有最好的聯合創始人，也有最好的員工。當拉里 (Larry) 和謝爾蓋 (Sergey) 創立谷歌 （Google） 時，他們一開始就從斯坦福 （Stanford） 僱用他們認識的所有最聰明的人，這對他們來說是一個真正的優勢。
The empirical evidence is clear on this. If you look at where the largest numbers of successful startups come from, it's pretty much the same as the list of the most selective universities.
關於這一點，經驗證據很清楚。如果你看看大部分成功的新創公司來自哪裡，你會發現這份清單和最難進入的大學名單幾乎一模一樣。
I don't think it's the prestigious names of these universities that cause more good startups to come out of them. Nor do I think it's because the quality of the teaching is better. What's driving this is simply the difficulty of getting in. You have to be pretty smart and determined to get into MIT or Cambridge, so if you do manage to get in, you'll find the other students include a lot of smart and determined people. [3]
我不認為這些大學的聲望會導致更多優秀的新創公司從這些學校誕生。我也不認為這是因為教學品質更好。推動這一現象的原因很簡單，就是進入這些學校的難度。你必須非常聰明且有決心才能進入 MIT（麻省理工學院）或 Cambridge（劍橋大學），所以如果你真的進入了，你會發現其他學生中有很多聰明且有決心的人。[3]
You don't have to start a startup with someone you meet at university. The founders of Twitch met when they were seven. The founders of Stripe, Patrick and John Collison, met when John was born. But universities are the main source of cofounders. And because they're where the cofounders are, they're also where the ideas are, because the best ideas grow out of projects you do with the people who become your cofounders.
你不一定要和你在大學認識的人一起創業。Twitch（圖奇）的創辦人在七歲時就認識了。Stripe（條紋）的創辦人 Patrick（派翠克）和 John Collison（約翰·科利森）在 John 出生時就認識了。但大學是共同創辦人的主要來源。而且因為共同創辦人在那裡，想法也在那裡，因為最好的想法往往源自於你和後來成為共同創辦人的夥伴一起做的專案。
對於年輕的創業者來說，為自己和朋友打造產品是至關重要的。年輕創業者最大的錯誤就是為一些神秘的其他人群打造產品。但如果你能做出一些你和你的朋友真正想要使用的東西——不僅僅是出於對你的忠誠而使用，而是如果你關閉它他們會感到非常難過——那麼你幾乎肯定已經擁有了一個好的創業點子的萌芽。它可能在你看來不像是一個創業點子，也可能不知道如何從中賺錢。但相信我，總有辦法的。
What you need in a startup idea, and all you need, is something your friends actually want. And those ideas aren't hard to see once you're good at technology. There are sticking doors everywhere. [2]
創業點子所需要的，也是唯一需要的，就是你的朋友真正想要的東西。一旦你精通技術，這些點子就不難發現了。到處都有卡住的門。 [2]
Now for the third and final thing you need: a cofounder, or cofounders. The optimal startup has two or three founders, so you need one or two cofounders. How do you find them? Can you predict what I'm going to say next? It's the same thing: projects. You find cofounders by working on projects with them. What you need in a cofounder is someone who's good at what they do and that you work well with, and the only way to judge this is to work with them on things.
現在來談談你需要的第三個也是最後一個東西：一個或多個聯合創始人。最理想的創業公司有兩到三個創始人，所以你需要一到兩個聯合創始人。你如何找到他們？你能猜到我接下來要說什麼嗎？還是那句話：項目。你通過與他們一起做項目來找到聯合創始人。你需要的聯合創始人是那些在自己的領域很優秀，並且與你合作愉快的人，而判斷這一點的唯一方法就是與他們一起做事情。
At this point I'm going to tell you something you might not want to hear. It really matters to do well in your classes, even the ones that are just memorization or blathering about literature, because you need to do well in your classes to get into a good university. And if you want to start a startup you should try to get into the best university you can, because that's where the best cofounders are. It's also where the best employees are. When Larry and Sergey started Google, they began by just hiring all the smartest people they knew out of Stanford, and this was a real advantage for them.
在這裡，我要告訴你一些你可能不想聽的事情。在課堂上表現出色真的很重要，即使有些課程只是記憶或者對文學的空談，因為你需要在課堂上表現出色才能進入一所好的大學。如果你想創業，你應該努力進入你能進的最好的大學，因為那裡有最好的聯合創始人，也有最好的員工。當拉里 (Larry) 和謝爾蓋 (Sergey) 創立谷歌 （Google） 時，他們一開始就從斯坦福 （Stanford） 僱用他們認識的所有最聰明的人，這對他們來說是一個真正的優勢。
The empirical evidence is clear on this. If you look at where the largest numbers of successful startups come from, it's pretty much the same as the list of the most selective universities.
關於這一點，經驗證據很清楚。如果你看看大部分成功的新創公司來自哪裡，你會發現這份清單和最難進入的大學名單幾乎一模一樣。
I don't think it's the prestigious names of these universities that cause more good startups to come out of them. Nor do I think it's because the quality of the teaching is better. What's driving this is simply the difficulty of getting in. You have to be pretty smart and determined to get into MIT or Cambridge, so if you do manage to get in, you'll find the other students include a lot of smart and determined people. [3]
我不認為這些大學的聲望會導致更多優秀的新創公司從這些學校誕生。我也不認為這是因為教學品質更好。推動這一現象的原因很簡單，就是進入這些學校的難度。你必須非常聰明且有決心才能進入 MIT（麻省理工學院）或 Cambridge（劍橋大學），所以如果你真的進入了，你會發現其他學生中有很多聰明且有決心的人。[3]
You don't have to start a startup with someone you meet at university. The founders of Twitch met when they were seven. The founders of Stripe, Patrick and John Collison, met when John was born. But universities are the main source of cofounders. And because they're where the cofounders are, they're also where the ideas are, because the best ideas grow out of projects you do with the people who become your cofounders.
你不一定要和你在大學認識的人一起創業。Twitch（圖奇）的創辦人在七歲時就認識了。Stripe（條紋）的創辦人 Patrick（派翠克）和 John Collison（約翰·科利森）在 John 出生時就認識了。但大學是共同創辦人的主要來源。而且因為共同創辦人在那裡，想法也在那裡，因為最好的想法往往源自於你和後來成為共同創辦人的夥伴一起做的專案。
