Venture capitalists spend a lot of time talking about markets and
technology…. and we have lots of opinions. …but the decision should be
around people…. about 90% of the decision is people.
VC MARC ANDREESSEN @pmarca | Founder of NETSCAPE and A16Z
VENTURE CAPITAL IS A PEOPLE BUSINESS
WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE ARE WE
TALKING ABOUT ?
LET’S SEARCH THE WEB…
BEST PREDICTOR OF SUCCESS FOR ENTREPRENEURS ?
BEST PREDICTOR OF SUCCESS FOR ENTREPRENEURS ?
BEST PREDICTOR OF SUCCESS FOR ENTREPRENEURS ?
BEST PREDICTOR OF SUCCESS FOR ENTREPRENEURS ?
BEST PREDICTOR OF SUCCESS FOR ENTREPRENEURS ?
BEST PREDICTOR OF SUCCESS FOR ENTREPRENEURS ?
LOADS OF DIFFERENT THESIS …
HARD TO FIND JUST ONE THING
REALLY…
SO, WHAT’S THE FORMULA FOR
SUCCESS ?(IF ANY…)
LET’S ASK THE PROs…
We are looking for a magic combination of Courage and Genius “
VC MARC ANDREESSEN @pmarca | Founder of NETSCAPE and A16Z
And Courage is “not giving up in the face of
adversity” “
VC MARC ANDREESSEN @pmarca | Founder of NETSCAPE and A16Z
SUCCESS =
COURAGE x GENIUS
WHY IS THIS FORMULA RIGHT?
(OR MAY BE NOT THAT WRONG)(OR INTERESTING)
(OR NICE)
LET’S USE A MODELFIND A SIMPLE IMAGE
TO REPRESENT A COMPLEX REALITY
SUCCESS IS A BIT LIKE HAPPINESS
AND WHAT’S BEEN SAID ABOUT HAPPINESS…
…HAS BEEN SAID ABOUT SUCCESS :
WITH OUR METAPHOR,
PUT IT SIMPLY
IF SUCCESS IS A JOURNEY
THE LONGER THE JOURNEY,
THE BIGGER THE SUCCESS
AND JUST AS, FOR A JOURNEY,
D = S x TDISTANCE SPEED TIME
FOR SUCCESS
S = G x CSUCCESS GENIUS COURAGE
FOR SUCCESS
S = G x CSUCCESS GENIUS COURAGE
HOW WELL YOU TRY X HOW LONG YOU TRYSUCCESS =
FOR SUCCESS
S = G x CSUCCESS GENIUS COURAGE
TALENT X PASSIONSUCCESS =
FOR SUCCESS
S = G x CSUCCESS GENIUS COURAGE
CREATIVITY X GRITSUCCESS =
SO, JUST AS DISTANCE =
SPEED x TIME
SUCCESS =
COURAGE x GENIUS
THAT’S WHAT MARC SAID…
2 THINGS VERYIMPORTANT
TO KEEP IN MIND ABOUT THIS FORMULA
1- GENIUS (SPEED) IS NOT FIXED
YOU CAN LEARNYOU CAN DEVELOP GENIUS
(SPEED/ACCELERATION)
2- COURAGE (TIME) IS NOT FIXED
YOU CAN PERSISTYOU CAN GAIN COURAGE
(TIME/DILATION)
LET’S DIG FURTHER THIS LAST VARIABLE
WHAT IS TIME DILATION ?
IT’S THE FACT THAT GRAVITY
STRECHES TIME
DID YOU KNOW THAT GRAVITY MAKES
CLOCK RUN SLOWLY ?
One hour on this planet is 7 years
on earth
FILM « INTERSTELLAR »
WELL LOVE DOES TO COURAGE WHAT
GRAVITY DOES TO TIME(IT MAKES IT BIGGER)
Funny to note that Courage comes fromFrench word “coeur”
(= HEART)
LINK BETWEEN LOVE/COURAGE<->WORK/SUCCESS
HAS BEENMENTIONNED BY THE GREATEST
SO, IF YOU LOVE WHAT YOU DO AND DO WHAT YOU LOVE
YOU’LL BE HEARTFULLAND YOU’LL FIND
COURAGE
WITH COURAGE YOU WON’T GIVE UP
EVER, NEVER
YOU LOVE => YOU PERSIST
YOU PERSIST => YOU SUCCEED
TO WRAP UP :
- SUCCESS = GENIUS x COURAGEYOU CAN DEVELOP GENIUS BY LEARNING, AND YOU LEARN BY PRACTISINGYOU CAN GAIN COURAGE BY DOING WHAT YOU LOVE AND LOVING WHAT YOU DO
- NOTHING IS FIXED AND YOU CAN CHANGE IT
>> NOW, GO CHANGE THE WORLD AND MAKE IT A BETTER PLACE