Ben Horowitz

When I was CEO, and I'd listen to music, a lot of people listen to music and you get inspiration from it. And a lot of things in hip hop are very instructive for being in business. Particularly, hip hop is a lot about business, and so it was very useful for me in any job. ”

Business ends up being very dynamic and situational. ”

The hardest thing about starting a company and running a company is, there's just so many expectations on you, and there are so many people who have things that they want you to do. It's a lot like life about that. ”

I described the CEO job as knowing what to do and getting the company to do what you want. Designing a proper company culture will help you get your company to do what you want in certain important areas for a very long time. ”

It helps to have founded and run a company if you're going to help somebody run a company who is a founder. ”

When screening engineers from other companies, its smart to value engineers from great companies more than those from mediocre companies. ”

Hire sales people who are really smart problem solvers, but lack courage, hunger and competitiveness, and your company will go out of business. ”

John D. Rockefeller said that he found friendships based on business to be far more long lasting and profitable than the reverse. I think there's something to that. A company can end up being very Confucian, where the good of the individual is subjugated to the good of the whole. ”

Shareholder activism works when activists understand something about the characteristics of the business that the board doesn't. ”

When the value of the company clearly has fallen below what its assets are worth, having a shareholder who says, 'Let's get a better board' can be helpful. ”