What startuppers can learn from poker players

In startups as in poker, it’s all about knowing when to fold, call or raise. Even if startuppers don’t use these words, the world of poker has a lot to teach us.

There is a great quote by Sam Altman from his first lecture in the How to Start a Startup course:

“The outcome [of a startup] is something like idea x product x execution x team x luck, where luck is a random number between zero and ten thousand. Literally that much.”

So what is it that makes good entrepreneurs? Is it just folks who are luckier than the others? And if not, how do they overcome the immense effect of luck? In the words of Annie Duke’s excellent book Thinking in Bets, it’s all about moving ahead with smart bets. For this, poker can teach us a great deal.

The problem with innovation

When you build a new product or service, you innovate. Innovation is worlds apart from improving on something existing or doing something known: innovation is indeterminate.

When you are improving on an existing product, you are in the determinate world. You know where you are, you know the challenges, and you have some plan on how you should go forward. Your job is…