In my experience as CEO, I found that the most important decisions tested my courage far more than my intelligence.
BEN HOROWITZIn my experience as CEO, I found that the most important decisions tested my courage far more than my intelligence.
BEN HOROWITZVolatility and length, that’s the value on an option. 10 years on a startup stock, that’s a big valuable thing.
BEN HOROWITZIt’s quite possible for an executive to hit her goal for the quarter by ignoring the future.
BEN HOROWITZThe bigger you get, the harder this gets because the more aggressive the people working for you are.
BEN HOROWITZBreakthrough ideas usually come from guys who look like they’re hallucinating
BEN HOROWITZDon’t punk out and don’t quit.
BEN HOROWITZGroupon looked like a very high valuation, but any investment in a great company at any stage is almost always a good investment.
BEN HOROWITZGenerally the reason they fail in the job is, you made some mistake in the hiring process in that you didn’t match… them to the needs of your company accurately enough. That’s the #1 reason this fails. And that’s generally a good place to start.
BEN HOROWITZYeah, I became a successful entrepreneur… Eventually
BEN HOROWITZBusiness ends up being very dynamic and situational.
BEN HOROWITZThe person they’re working with, is going to be the person they’ll know more. So if that person leaves, they’re going to go – well, should have I left too? What did they get and how does that compare to my deal.
BEN HOROWITZFor example, the vast majority of security break-ins occur as a result of problems with known fixes. With an automated system, you can keep up to date.
BEN HOROWITZThe one thing with stress is, you’ve got to keep your focus on what you can do, not what happened to you.
BEN HOROWITZWhat do you get when you cross a herd of sheep with a herd of lemmings? A herd of venture capitalists.
BEN HOROWITZThere are no silver bullets.
BEN HOROWITZThere are no shortcuts to knowledge, especially knowledge gained from personal experience. Following conventional wisdom and relying on shortcuts can be worse than knowing nothing at all.
BEN HOROWITZ