Ben Horowitz's Blog, page 4

It ain’t what you know, it’s what you feel
Don’t worry about being right, just be for real
—Parliament, “Ride On”

Today we are announcing Shana Fisher as a new board partner at Andreessen Horowitz. Although she keeps a low profile, people in high tech investing know all about Shana. They know about her because she is so good at what she does. As an early stage investor, she has invested in a broad set of outstanding companies including MakerBot, Pinterest, Vine, FiftyThree, Refinery29...

It ain’t what you know, it’s what you feel

Don’t worry about being right, just be for real

—Parliament, “Ride On”

Today we are announcing Shana Fisher as a new board partner at Andreessen Horowitz. Although she keeps a low profile, people in high tech investing know all about Shana. They know about her because she is so good at what she does. As an early stage investor, she has invested in a broad set of outstanding companies including MakerBot, Pinterest, Vine, FiftyThree, Refinery29 and Stripe...

Wait ’til I get my money right

Then you can’t tell me nothing, right?

—Kanye West, “Can’t Tell Me Nothing”

If you are an entrepreneur, you have probably heard some crusty old CEO or investor say something like “cash is king.” You probably read the Twitter S-1 and thought to yourself: “What the hell are those old guys talking about?” Twitter is still burning cash six years after founding and they, not cash, seem to be king.

In a situation such as this, I usually just say to myself: “That’s the pro...

Wait ’til I get my money right
Then you can't tell me nothing, right?
—Kanye West, “Can’t Tell Me Nothing”

If you are an entrepreneur, you have probably heard some crusty old CEO or investor say something like “cash is king.” You probably read the Twitter S-1 and thought to yourself: “What the hell are those old guys talking about?” Twitter is still burning cash six years after founding and they, not cash, seem to be king.

In a situation such as this, I usually just say to myself: “T...

To me it’s kinda funny, the attitude showing a n***a driving

But don’t know where the fuck he’s going, just rolling

—Easy E, “Straight Outta Compton”

Recently, major shareholders and board members of the legendary, but now troubled, retail chain JCPenney have been fighting over the best direction of the company. 18% shareholder and hedge fund manager Bill Ackman proposes removing current CEO Mike Ullman and opening a search for a new CEO. Meanwhile, Starbuck’s founder Howard Schultz counters tha...

To me it's kinda funny, the attitude showing a n***a driving
But don't know where the fuck he's going, just rolling
—Easy E, “Straight Outta Compton"

Recently, major shareholders and board members of the legendary, but now troubled, retail chain JCPenney have been fighting over the best direction of the company. 18% shareholder and hedge fund manager Bill Ackman proposes removing current CEO Mike Ullman and opening a search for a new CEO. Meanwhile, Starbuck’s founder Howard Schultz...

If I knew what I knew in the past

I would have been blacked out on your a**

—Kanye West,Black Skinhead

Because I am a prominent advocate for founders running their own companies, whenever a founder fails to scale or gets replaced by a professional CEO, people send me lots of emails. What happened, Ben? I thought founders were supposed to better? Are you going to update your “Why We Prefer Founding CEOs” post?

In response to all of these emails: No, I am not going to rewrite that post, but I will...

If I knew what I knew in the past
I would have been blacked out on your a**
—Kanye West, Black Skinhead

Because I am a prominent advocate for founders running their own companies, whenever a founder fails to scale or gets replaced by a professional CEO, people send me lots of emails. What happened, Ben? I thought founders were supposed to better? Are you going to update your “Why We Prefer Founding CEOs” post?

In response to all of these emails: No, I am not going to rewrite that post...

Hope that you feel this

Feel this way forever

You can plan a pretty picnic

But you can’t predict the weather.

—Outkast, Ms. Jackson

If you run a startup and are currently raising money, you probably planned for a somewhat different fundraising environment than the one you find yourself in today. You probably thought that valuations would be roughly the same as they were the last time you raised money. But they most certainly are not. Perhaps you are caught in the “Series A crunch” or perhaps you a...

Hope that you feel this
Feel this way forever
You can plan a pretty picnic
But you can’t predict the weather.
—Outkast, Ms. Jackson

If you run a startup and are currently raising money, you probably planned for a somewhat different fundraising environment than the one you find yourself in today. You probably thought that valuations would be roughly the same as they were the last time you raised money. But they most certainly are not. Perhaps you are caught in the “Series A crunch” or pe...