I suggest that one should read the thread completely in that discussion, as I have done just now, rather than arrive at the quick conclusion that this guy is cl

I suggest that one should read the thread completely in that discussion, as I have done just now, rather than arrive at the quick conclusion that this guy is clearly wrong. As far as I understand, the points given are wrong per se, but just that pg and Buchheit just think that other factors were more important. I think that (unless you're a historian or somesuch) asking what is the most important 1-2 factors in the success of a person and or company is not very profitable, one should have the larger picture so you can emulate it. From the answers, my important takeaways to emulate are: 1) Single out what you think is innovative/right/awesome, pursue it relentlessly and let no one hinder you (tech pundits, VCs, board, etc) 2) Be knowledgeable with history of other companies (e.g. why they failed-succeeded) and current dynamics (e.g. the Microsoft-Netscape competition mentioned) 3) Create company culture from day one (one problem with the highest answer is that it never mentions this well-known factor) and don't let it get diluted (OK< maybe after 20K employees) 4) Don't sell out when you see a pile of cash (or do quickly, if your belief in (1) is now gone, before others notice too)