Quotes from Founders at Work (Part 2)
Here are some quotes that I’d like to remember from a book (Founders at Work) on interviews with founders of technology companies:
On hope and persistence
Joe Kraus, cofounder of Excite
“We were so naive we didn’t know we could fail, and therefore we almost had to succeed.”
Evan Williams, cofounder of Blogger.com
“I see way too many people give up in the startup world. .. I don’t even hear the first “no” that somebody says.”
“I was always hallucinogenically optimistic. That’s the only reason I kept going.”
Ron Gruner, founder of Shareholder.com
“Things never work out right the first time. You’ve always got to do it two or three times to get it right. And things always go wrong. So persistence is the key to success.”
On following your gut
Ray Ozzie, creator of Lotus Notes
“You take advice from a lot of people, and that advice is not always the best advice… So I might rely more on my intuition if I were to do it again.”
Evan Williams, cofounder of Blogger.com
“I think one of the things that kills great things so often is compromise - letting people talk you out of what your gut is telling you… If everyone agrees, it’s probably because you’re not doing anything original.”
On dreamers
Brewster Kahle, cofounder of Alexa
“San Francisco is full of dreamers. It’s the people with the new ideas. It may be bad, they may be inappropriate, they may fail, but I love the idea that we can do something new and different - something that hasn’t been done before, something that’s going to affect a lot of people”
Steve Perlman, cofounder of WebTV
“… there’s kind of an attitude here [Silicon Valley] that people should try things, and, if they fail, if they understand why they failed, they may actually be a better investment in the next round…”
On venture capitalists
Evan Williams, cofounder of Blogger.com
“Venture capitalists would tell you that they’d rather fund a great team than a great idea. The reason is that if they have a bad idea, great teams can figure out a better one. Mediocre people even with a great idea can screw it up in its execution.”
Ron Gruner, founder of Shareholder.com
“You want to generate two things when you’re looking for money: One is a sense of exclusivity, saying, “This is a very special kind of deal and not everybody is going to get into it.” And secondly, a sense of urgency, so you can people to make a decision.”
On life
Paul Graham, cofounder of Viaweb
“Apparently sprinters reach their highest speed right out of the block, and spend the rest of the race slowing down. The winners slow down the least.”
“Another advantage of telling the truth is that you don’t have to remember what you’ve said.”
James Hong, cofounder of HotorNot
“Happiness is reality compared to expectations.”
Funny
Mitchell Kapor, cofounder of Lotus Development
It was the ’60s; I have the pictures to prove it. I don’t remember any of it, but as someone said, if you can remember the ’60s, then you weren’t there.
