While PaulGraham.com netted over 8 million page views in 2005, I only learned about his work recently. His site has been at the top of my reading list since. His writing is fantastic and his company, Y Combinator can be an interesting direction for web 2.0 innovators looking for smart, early stage, funding.

For those who are not familiar with Paul Graham, here is website’s bio section:

“Paul Graham is an essayist, programmer, and programming language designer. In 1995 he developed with Robert Morris the first web-based application, Viaweb, which was acquired by Yahoo in 1998. In 2002 he described a simple Bayesian spam filter that inspired most current filters. He’s currently working on a new programming language called Arc, a new book on startups, and is one of the partners in Y Combinator.”

Paul Graham is an interesting animal. His writing blends non conformism with academic practices. Technical knowledge with common sense. All handled with impressive analytical and presenting skills. His ability to diffuse and then present complicated and detailed situations in such simple manner is what makes his writing unique.

The interesting twist is with the fact Paul Graham writes essays, not posts. He doesn’t publish that often, the essays are not always short, but I have yet to read one that fell short of inspiring. I simply identify with the spirit they carry. I recommend starting with Why Startups Condense in America, Good and Bad Procrastination and The Hardest Lessons for Startups to Learn, but any place you choose to start is fine. Enjoy.