# Do Things That Don’t Scale

Contributor supplied; source control is verified only where a listing's provenance says so.

ID: fe9e8e11f54f55c07c0d164b143e964d542b3ef436e92a962a35cf8a158c8fbb

Search context: `{}`

Category: Articles

Paul Graham’s essay argues that early startups often grow through deliberate manual effort before they can build scalable processes. It discusses recruiting users and giving them unusually close attention, drawing on examples from Y Combinator companies. Useful for founders deciding how to find their first customers and for product teams questioning whether automation is necessary before they have understood the underlying need.


## About this listing

Added as a fan · Contributor supplied

Source control has not been verified.

Listing updated: 2026-11-03

Link checked: 2026-11-03

[Main link](<https://www.paulgraham.com/ds.html>)

[Explore listings](/search.md)