Early in a startup, product decisions should be hunch driven. Later on, product decisions should be data driven.
If you have an idea that you can't get out of your head, do a startup. Otherwise join a startup.
Investing in management means building communication systems, business processes, feedback, and routines that let you scale the business and team as efficiently as possible.
The fact is that the amount of money startups raise in their seed and Series A rounds is inversely correlated with success
I'm really interested in the intersection between reputation, identity, and knowledge.
Ideas that most people derided as ridiculous have produced the best outcomes. Don't do the obvious thing.
Markets come and go. Good business don't.
I think 'crazy' is a compliment. I think you make money with people who are crazy.
Venture capitalists are professional money managers. We are provided capital to invest as long as we can return it to our investors with a strong return in a reasonable amount of time. A strong return is three times cash on cash. A reasonable amount of time is ten years max.
The companies that do the best job on managing a user's privacy will be the companies that ultimately are the most successful.
Building product is not about having a large team to manage. It is about having a small team with the right people on it.
Startups are rapidly changing systems. If you use an annual review cycle, you aren't getting feedback at the same pace that you need to adapt and change the business.
I use beauty as a way of helping people to receive difficult or upsetting ideas. The topical issues are merely a vehicle for making one aware of one's own perceptual shift-which is the real thrill.
It's upsetting to me that you have to be a millionaire to invest in your friend's start-up.
I generally blog between 5:30 A.M. and 7 A.M. I will from time to time add something during the day, but for the most part blogging is an early morning activity for me.
I believe Android will be stronger in the developing world than it is in the developed world.
You simply can't be tentative in a startup. You have to go for it at every chance you get. And if the leader of the organization is anxious, his or her fear pervades the organization. Everything comes from the top in a company. So if you are starting a company or building one, face your fears and move past them. It's critically important to your company.
If you want to unleash more creativity in your company, you need to allow for a little contamination. It is the sand in the oyster that creates the pearl.
The Internet is a computing platform built on top of core technology. Applied technology is what gets built on top of that: It's Web services.
Given New York City's cultural diversity, it has always attracted creative people.
My venture investing career has three phases, all roughly 6-8 years long. The first, at Euclid, was software to Internet. The second, at Flatiron, was Internet to bubble. And the third, at USV, has been web 2 to mobile. I have always used a new firm to denote a new investment phase for me. Throw away the old. Start with the new.
The more entrepreneurs in the world that are getting their ideas financed, the more great companies there are going to be that we can all invest in.
Marketing is for companies who have sucky products.
Not acknowledging that beauty is complex-that's the problem. I enjoy making it complex for people, because that's my world.
New York's niche is content, and content is becoming more valuable. Just think about what is more valuable: MTV or the cable system that you use to get MTV? Howard Stern or the radio station you use to listen to him? Ultimately, technology becomes a commodity, and content - real, true branded content - becomes more valuable.
