Google understands a few other things most Web companies still don’t. The most important is that you should put users before advertisers, even though the advertisers are paying and users aren’t. One of my favorite bumper stickers reads “if the people lead, the leaders will follow.” Paraphrased for the Web, this becomes “get all the users, and the advertisers will follow.” More generally, design your product to please users first, and then think about how to make money from it. If you don’t put users first, you leave a gap for competitors who do.

– Paul Graham

I have been reading Paul Graham a lot these days. I hate myself for not reading it earlier. There is ages of experience wrapped up in all his essays. If you are a startup guy, its a must read for you.