In an interview with Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs claimed that his greatest product was Apple the organization. I [Walter Isaacson] once asked Steve Jobs, you know, what product are you proudest of? And I thought he might say the iPod or the iPhone or the iPad, whatever, the Mac. He said, “You know, making a product is hard but making a team that... See more
The importance of getting your problem statement right
first time founders often conflate the macro problem with the micro problem
I see startups who say that their problem statements are;
- we would need six globes to cover our emissions
- under representation of... See more
Love motivates people to work through challenges that might otherwise lead them to give up. If those founders had focused on building for a customer they genuinely loved, they would have been more likely to persevere and create something that addressed a deep need. If they were to find a customer they loved serving, I would invest in them again.
I can’t imagine anything less interesting in business than maximizing shareholder value. Yet this is what public companies are pressured — if not legally required — to do. A lot of non-public companies follow the same path towards performance and results.
To take it further, maximization as a concept just isn’t interesting to me. I don’t care about... See more