Paul Graham

English-American programmer, venture capitalist, and essayist · United Kingdom · On the map · Developers · Born 1964 · age 61

Paul Graham is an English-American computer scientist, writer, essayist, entrepreneur and investor. His work includes the programming language Arc, the startup Viaweb, co-founding the startup accelerator and seed capital firm Y Combinator, a number of essays and books, and the media webpage Hacker News.

Paul Graham is read about 581 times a day, in 26 languages.

A typical day, 30 days to 2 November 2026

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A life in dates

2014“Being mean makes you stupid. That's why I hate fights. You never do your best work in a fight, because fights are not sufficiently general.”In their wordsNovember 2014"Mean People Fail", November 2014Read the whole statement

“Startups don't win by attacking. They win by transcending. There are exceptions of course, but usually the way to win is to race ahead, not to stop and fight.”In their wordsNovember 2014"Mean People Fail", November 2014Read the whole statement

2010“Someone trying to live well would seem eccentrically abstemious in most of the US. That phenomenon is only going to become more pronounced.”In their wordsJuly 2010"How To Lose Time And Money", July 2010Read the whole statement

“If you'd asked me as a kid how rich people became poor, I'd have said by spending all their money.”In their wordsJuly 2010"How To Lose Time And Money", July 2010Read the whole statement

2007“The first type of judgement is the type where judging you is the end goal...”In their wordsApril 2007"Two Kinds Of Judgment", April 2007Read the whole statement

2005“No matter what you work on, you're not working on everything else. So the question is not how to avoid procrastination, but how to procrastinate well.”In their wordsDecember 2005"Good And Bad Procrastination", December 2005Read the whole statement

1964Born13 November 1964

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Paul Graham

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Spouse Jessica Livingston

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Paul Graham

4 statements, newest first

Jessica and I have always worked hard to teach our kids not to be mean. We tolerate noise and mess and junk food, but not meanness.
November 2014 · "Mean People Fail", November 2014, Own words
The most dangerous way to lose time is not to spend it having fun, but to spend it doing fake work. When you spend time having fun, you know you're being self-indulgent.
July 2010 · "How To Lose Time And Money", July 2010, Own words
One thing that leads us astray here is that the selector seems to be in a position of power. That makes him seem like a judge.
April 2007 · "Two Kinds Of Judgment", April 2007, Own words