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Sam Altman explains why “the great wave” is the most important concept for good startup ideas

Feb 6, 2026
AI Summary
  • Sam Altman identifies 'the great wave'—major technological shifts enabling new possibilities—as the most important concept for generating startup ideas
  • Historical examples include the internet wave (late 90s-2000s) and smartphone wave (2009-2011); startups capitalize on these waves because they move fast enough to win before incumbents
  • Founders should identify the next major tectonic shift coming in the next few years and build something enabled by that shift; in 2017 he predicted machine learning applied to every vertical

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