article thumbnail

Great People Are Overrated

Harvard Business Review

Zuckerberg's casual calculation reminded me of a conversation with Marc Andreessen, the legendary cofounder of Netscape, and now one of Silicon Valley's most high-profile venture capitalists. If you were launching a technology or developing a product, would you rather have five great engineers rather than 1,000 average engineers?

article thumbnail

Craft an Attention-Grabbing Message

Harvard Business Review

And venture capitalist John Doerr, who has invested in green technology, likes to say, "We can bail out the economy — we cannot bail out the environment." Three failures were breakfast, lunch and dinner.". Now, more than ever, your capacity to create indelible messages is vital.

Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

Investing in Start-Ups: For Love and Money

Harvard Business Review

This week, over 10,000 entrepreneurs and investors will descend on Austin, TX for SXSW Interactive , hoping to be or to find the next big thing in technology. It may not be that the idea is bad, but rather your idea doesn't do what early stage investors, or venture capitalists (VC) want done.

article thumbnail

Have You Earned the Right to Lead? Ten Deeply Destructive Mistakes That Suggest the Answer Is No (and How to Stop Making Them)

Strategy Driven

Using a sports analogy, the author breaks the work of leaders into three parts: pregame: a matter of character; game day: a matter of competence; and post-game: a matter of consequence. In my book, I recount an incident that took place at a famous, fast-growing technology company. You’re really just masquerading. About the Author.

CEO 57
article thumbnail

How to Succeed in Business by Bundling – and Unbundling

Harvard Business Review

Yes, digital technology enables a lot of unbundling. It’s a line that venture capitalist and Internet pioneer Marc Andreessen has trotted out a few times lately, attributing it to his former colleague Jim Barksdale. Andreessen: I think a lot of it is based on the underlying technology change. Why is this?

How To 12