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He was in the right place at the right time and now he's rich. And that's the only reason why anybody is listening to him now, certainly not for anything else h

by e40 14y ago

He was in the right place at the right time and now he's rich. And that's the only reason why anybody is listening to him now, certainly not for anything else he's done. This. A small percentage of people that make it big can duplicate that success. I've only met one such person in my life and he was the most dangerous business person I ever knew. Dangerous because he walked that line between legal/illegal and ethical/unethical, much to his profit. I realized after meeting him that I could never be him. I just couldn't make some of those decisions, because I wouldn't be able to live with myself. I'm not saying all serially successful people are like this. It's one data point. I just think many successful people are in the right place at the right time, and many of the other successful people work the system in a way that most of us would find distasteful. Yes, I'm sure there are a small percentage of serially successful people that do it because they have the right stuff and demand our respect and admiration. I just haven't met any of them yet.

SkyMarshal 14y ago
>A small percentage of people that make it big can duplicate that success. And Andreesen is one of them. He's one of the few entrepreneurs who has created two billion dollar companies, and now is running one of the most highly regarded venture capital operations. He's a mile a minute, super smart, and his accomplishments aren't so surprising after watching him speak: http://ecorner.stanford.edu/author/marc_andreessen http://ecorner.stanford.edu/author/marc_andreessen
- rhizome 14y ago
  He's one of the few entrepreneurs who has created two billion dollar companies This is a highly rosy take on history.
  - loumf 14y ago
    America Online, the largest Internet access service, said today it will acquire Netscape Communications in a deal valued at $4.2 billion. http://news.cnet.com/2100-1023-218360.html http://news.cnet.com/2100-1023-218360.html HP today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to purchase Opsware Inc. (Nasdaq: OPSW), a market-leading data center automation software company, through a cash tender offer for $14.25 per share, or an enterprise value (net of existing cash and debt) of approximately $1.6 billion on a fully diluted basis. http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press/2007/070723xa.html http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press/2007/070723xa.html
    - kirinan 14y ago
      While I can't disagree with the numbers, these were acquired at what could be considered the peak of a bubble, thus possibly way over-priced. Although, to say that he didn't create something awesome (both Opsware and Netscape) would be trivializing what he has done, and it isn't fair to him either. I think it would be fair to say he knows far more about business/what it takes to make a start-up than 99% of the world.
      - loumf 14y ago
        Right, and one of the things he stresses is timing. Opsware was famously founded before a crash and figured out how to survive to the next bubble. http://bhorowitz.com/2010/03/17/the-case-for-the-fat-startup/ http://bhorowitz.com/2010/03/17/the-case-for-the-fat-startup...
    - rhizome 14y ago
      Now Google "Jim Clark," and reflect upon possible scenarios under which Netscape was born and Andreesen's role therein. Opsware had the benefit of the already-successful, a privilege of the Fundamental Attribution Error, which is the mechanism of VC that he has the ability to use in his current endeavors, while also making use of the other engine of venture capital: connections.
larrys 14y ago
" I just couldn't make some of those decisions" You are 100% correct (from my years of business interactions) about this. There are people that I have observed in business who have no problem making promises and booking more business then they know they can deliver in order to make quota or get deposits etc. Much of this play directly into someone's success. Whether they can "sleep at night" given the decisions that they make. Nobody is 100% honest or 100% a thief. Some people are better at rationalizing their actions then others. Different upbringing different hard knocks. Or just a thief perhaps. Where someone falls on that line definitely (once again from my many years of observation) can determine the success that follows. Importantly, much of these stories are never told. People only focus on the end results and success of those people.

by e40 14y ago

SkyMarshal 14y ago

>A small percentage of people that make it big can duplicate that success. And Andreesen is one of them. He's one of the few entrepreneurs who has created two billion dollar companies, and now is running one of the most highly regarded venture capital operations. He's a mile a minute, super smart, and his accomplishments aren't so surprising after watching him speak: http://ecorner.stanford.edu/author/marc_andreessen http://ecorner.stanford.edu/author/marc_andreessen

rhizome 14y ago
He's one of the few entrepreneurs who has created two billion dollar companies This is a highly rosy take on history.
- loumf 14y ago
  America Online, the largest Internet access service, said today it will acquire Netscape Communications in a deal valued at $4.2 billion. http://news.cnet.com/2100-1023-218360.html http://news.cnet.com/2100-1023-218360.html HP today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to purchase Opsware Inc. (Nasdaq: OPSW), a market-leading data center automation software company, through a cash tender offer for $14.25 per share, or an enterprise value (net of existing cash and debt) of approximately $1.6 billion on a fully diluted basis. http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press/2007/070723xa.html http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press/2007/070723xa.html
  - kirinan 14y ago
    While I can't disagree with the numbers, these were acquired at what could be considered the peak of a bubble, thus possibly way over-priced. Although, to say that he didn't create something awesome (both Opsware and Netscape) would be trivializing what he has done, and it isn't fair to him either. I think it would be fair to say he knows far more about business/what it takes to make a start-up than 99% of the world.
    - loumf 14y ago
      Right, and one of the things he stresses is timing. Opsware was famously founded before a crash and figured out how to survive to the next bubble. http://bhorowitz.com/2010/03/17/the-case-for-the-fat-startup/ http://bhorowitz.com/2010/03/17/the-case-for-the-fat-startup...
  - rhizome 14y ago
    Now Google "Jim Clark," and reflect upon possible scenarios under which Netscape was born and Andreesen's role therein. Opsware had the benefit of the already-successful, a privilege of the Fundamental Attribution Error, which is the mechanism of VC that he has the ability to use in his current endeavors, while also making use of the other engine of venture capital: connections.

larrys 14y ago

" I just couldn't make some of those decisions" You are 100% correct (from my years of business interactions) about this. There are people that I have observed in business who have no problem making promises and booking more business then they know they can deliver in order to make quota or get deposits etc. Much of this play directly into someone's success. Whether they can "sleep at night" given the decisions that they make. Nobody is 100% honest or 100% a thief. Some people are better at rationalizing their actions then others. Different upbringing different hard knocks. Or just a thief perhaps. Where someone falls on that line definitely (once again from my many years of observation) can determine the success that follows. Importantly, much of these stories are never told. People only focus on the end results and success of those people.