WEBSITE ROAST
paulgraham.com website review
First screen on desktop and phone, checked October 5, 2026.
FIRST IMPRESSION
Rough 😬0/100
First look at this site
THE ROAST
“The homepage pairs a ghosted name, button-bar navigation, and a traffic-light photo like the web’s oldest personal site found a time machine.”
3 fixes. Zero fluff.
- 1
Explain the page immediately.
The image dominates while the page never states who Paul Graham is or what visitors can find.
TRY THISAdd a clear heading: “Paul Graham — Essays, books, and writing on startups.”
Seen: The page shows a large image before any explanatory text.
- 2
Make the navigation readable.
Tiny, beveled labels make the main sections hard to scan, especially in the narrow phone view.
TRY THISReplace the stacked button-like labels with a simple, larger-text list of section links.
Seen: Essays; H&P; Books; YC
- 3
Fix the phone-width overflow.
The phone screenshot cuts off the image and announcement links, hiding part of the page’s content.
TRY THISConstrain content to the viewport and let images and announcement text wrap on small screens.
Seen: Phone view clips image and announcement links.
REPORT CARD
Tap a row to see why.
A prominent photo and faint name arrive before any clear explanation.
The startup prompt is clear, but the page offers little context.
Y Combinator is linked, but the main next step is buried in a banner.
Tiny navigation, faint branding, and phone-width clipping weaken the layout.
The name and writing links provide context, but no credibility details appear onscreen.
WHAT NOW?
Fix the three things above, then check again and watch the number move.
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Roast my websiteThis is an AI-generated opinion about the first screen of paulgraham.com at the time of the check. It is meant as honest, light-hearted feedback, not as a statement of fact about the company or its product.