causal

Determination revealed through stories not acting

You cannot judge determination by how people present themselves in an interview, because everyone thinks they must act tough; instead you detect it by asking them to tell stories about things that happened to them, where genuine determination shows up as having persevered when something went wrong instead of giving up.

causalpending

Speaker

Paul Graham

Evidence Quote

No one walks into their Y Combinator interview thinking, “Well, I need to seem diffident.”

Source

Paul GrahamConversations with Tyler
Created: 6/12/2026, 4:55:44 PM

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