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Ben Horowitz explains why courage is the most important trait for startup founders “Does the founder have the courage to build the company?… Aristotle said courage is the first virtue, and it’s really important in leadership. Integrity, honesty, and so forth - everybody has them in certain situations. But... that’s not the question. The question is if it’s going to cost you your company, do you have your integrity? If it’s going to cost you your job, are you honest? If it’s going to completely embarrass you in front of everybody, do you have it then? The only way you have it then is if you have courage.” Ben continues: “Courage ends up being the foundation for a lot of what we need in an entrepreneur. I always say you need two things. You need great intelligence and great courage. And I always found as an entrepreneur my courage was tested far more than my intelligence. And I think that’s pretty universal.” Video source: Kevin Rose (2012)show more

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Ben Horowitz explains why he looks for courage in the startup founders he invests in “Does the founder have the courage to build the company?… Aristotle said courage is the first virtue, and it’s really important in leadership. Integrity, honesty, and so forth - everybody has them in certain situations. But that’s not the question. The question is if it’s going to cost you your company, do you have your integrity? If it’s going to cost you your job, are you honest? If it’s going to completely embarrass you in front of everybody, do you have it then? The only way you have it then is if you have courage.” Ben continues: “Courage ends up being the foundation for a lot of what we need in an entrepreneur. I always say you need two things. You need great intelligence and great courage. And I always found as an entrepreneur my courage was tested far more than my intelligence. And I think that’s pretty universal.” Video Source: Kevin Rose

Ben Horowitz explains why he looks for courage in the startup founders he invests in “Does the founder have the courage to build the company?… Aristotle said courage is the first virtue, and it’s really important in leadership. Integrity, honesty, and so forth - everybody has them in certain situations. But that’s not the question. The question is if it’s going to cost you your company, do you have your integrity? If it’s going to cost you your job, are you honest? If it’s going to completely embarrass you in front of everybody, do you have it then? The only way you have it then is if you have courage.” Ben continues: “Courage ends up being the foundation for a lot of what we need in an entrepreneur. I always say you need two things. You need great intelligence and great courage. And I always found as an entrepreneur my courage was tested far more than my intelligence. And I think that’s pretty universal.” Video Source: Kevin Rose

Startup Archive

34,764 views • 2 years ago

Baekhyun (2022): “I hope you take courage and say no to what you hate. If it’s something you really hate but you need to maintain the relationship, you might choose to sacrifice yourself, which is not a bad thing to do. But please make sure you don’t get hurt in the process. If you think it will hurt you, I hope you have the courage to say no and say so.”

Baekhyun (2022): “I hope you take courage and say no to what you hate. If it’s something you really hate but you need to maintain the relationship, you might choose to sacrifice yourself, which is not a bad thing to do. But please make sure you don’t get hurt in the process. If you think it will hurt you, I hope you have the courage to say no and say so.”

Karie ✴︎

65,030 views • 10 months ago

Stanley Druckenmiller: “You need to be intellectually curious, really really open-minded, & you need to have courage. And when I say courage, you need the courage to bet big & bet concentrated, but also the courage to fight your own emotions.”

Stanley Druckenmiller: “You need to be intellectually curious, really really open-minded, & you need to have courage. And when I say courage, you need the courage to bet big & bet concentrated, but also the courage to fight your own emotions.”

Investment Wisdom

86,314 views • 15 days ago

Getting well takes courage. Being free will cost you something. If it were easy, everyone would do it. It’s going to cost you your excuses. No more finding reasons to justify it. It will cost you some comfort. You have to be disciplined and be willing to do the hard thing so you can see change. Tune into Joel’s message today! "The Courage to Get Well":

Getting well takes courage. Being free will cost you something. If it were easy, everyone would do it. It’s going to cost you your excuses. No more finding reasons to justify it. It will cost you some comfort. You have to be disciplined and be willing to do the hard thing so you can see change. Tune into Joel’s message today! "The Courage to Get Well":

Joel Osteen

74,680 views • 1 month ago

It is time to ban trans! Do you have the courage to comment and repost? If not but you agree with me, then you are part of the problem not the solution!

It is time to ban trans! Do you have the courage to comment and repost? If not but you agree with me, then you are part of the problem not the solution!

Trump Girl 🇺🇲🦅🇺🇲

66,419 views • 7 months ago

Indeed, Serbia is a proxy of Russia. It takes courage to speak the truth, and it's a virtue of great people. We must always have the courage to be just and stand up for what is right. Thank you to all those who have the courage to speak out and stand up for justice. 🇽🇰

Indeed, Serbia is a proxy of Russia. It takes courage to speak the truth, and it's a virtue of great people. We must always have the courage to be just and stand up for what is right. Thank you to all those who have the courage to speak out and stand up for justice. 🇽🇰

Ilir Kapiti

61,444 views • 2 years ago

Ben Horowitz explains the biggest mistake founders make pitching VCs “The big mistake people make is they try to appeal too much to the venture capitalists. That’ll drive us crazy because it’s a little bit of a sign of anti-courage.” Ben shares an example of being pitched by founders who are conservative in their estimates because they know ‘VCs like conservatism.’ However, what VCs want to hear is what you actually believe — not what you think they want to hear. “Anything that shows a lack of conviction or courage or belief in what you’re doing is what always ends up worrying me. Either you believe it or you don’t. Either you’re committed or you’re not. Either you have the courage to build the company or you don’t.” Importantly though, as Ben points out, courage doesn’t mean that you don’t feel fear. He recalls the quote from boxing coach Cus D’Amato: “The hero and the coward both feel the same thing, but the hero uses his fear, projects it onto his opponent, while the coward runs. It’s the same thing, fear, but it’s what you do with it that matters.” Video source: Kevin Rose (2012)

Ben Horowitz explains the biggest mistake founders make pitching VCs “The big mistake people make is they try to appeal too much to the venture capitalists. That’ll drive us crazy because it’s a little bit of a sign of anti-courage.” Ben shares an example of being pitched by founders who are conservative in their estimates because they know ‘VCs like conservatism.’ However, what VCs want to hear is what you actually believe — not what you think they want to hear. “Anything that shows a lack of conviction or courage or belief in what you’re doing is what always ends up worrying me. Either you believe it or you don’t. Either you’re committed or you’re not. Either you have the courage to build the company or you don’t.” Importantly though, as Ben points out, courage doesn’t mean that you don’t feel fear. He recalls the quote from boxing coach Cus D’Amato: “The hero and the coward both feel the same thing, but the hero uses his fear, projects it onto his opponent, while the coward runs. It’s the same thing, fear, but it’s what you do with it that matters.” Video source: Kevin Rose (2012)

Startup Archive

28,252 views • 7 months ago

Ben Horowitz advice to CEOs “You want to be liked and respected in the long-run. Not the short-run.” “You have to be able to tell [your team] the truth in a way that you probably don’t tell most of your friends the truth,” the a16z co-founder explains. “Anthropologically, we want people to like us so we tell them what they want to hear. But on a company level or if your on the board of somebody’s company, you have to be able to tell them what they don’t want to hear. That’s the most important thing you’re going to say. And yes, they’re not going to like it when you say, but over time it can save the company.” Ben continues: “That’s what leadership is about. If everybody agrees with the decision, then you didn’t add any value, because they would’ve done that without you. The only value you ever add is when you make a decision that most people don’t like, and that’s where leadership comes in… That’s the thing that takes practice.” He gives Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang as an example: “When Jensen talks about how you have to get to near-death to get yourself to do that, I think that’s true. It’s hard to build that [muscle of telling people what they don’t want to hear] if everything is going great.” Source: Lenny Rachitsky (Sep 2025)

Ben Horowitz advice to CEOs “You want to be liked and respected in the long-run. Not the short-run.” “You have to be able to tell [your team] the truth in a way that you probably don’t tell most of your friends the truth,” the a16z co-founder explains. “Anthropologically, we want people to like us so we tell them what they want to hear. But on a company level or if your on the board of somebody’s company, you have to be able to tell them what they don’t want to hear. That’s the most important thing you’re going to say. And yes, they’re not going to like it when you say, but over time it can save the company.” Ben continues: “That’s what leadership is about. If everybody agrees with the decision, then you didn’t add any value, because they would’ve done that without you. The only value you ever add is when you make a decision that most people don’t like, and that’s where leadership comes in… That’s the thing that takes practice.” He gives Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang as an example: “When Jensen talks about how you have to get to near-death to get yourself to do that, I think that’s true. It’s hard to build that [muscle of telling people what they don’t want to hear] if everything is going great.” Source: Lenny Rachitsky (Sep 2025)

Startup Archive

25,394 views • 3 months ago

.Charlie Kirk “COURAGE IS DOING THE RIGHT THING WHEN YOU DON’T KNOW HOW IT IS GOING TO WORK OUT. COURAGE IS COMMITTING YOURSELF TO THE CORRECT COURSE OF ACTION REGARDLESS OF THE COST ASSOCIATED TO IT. EVERY HUMAN BEING I BELIEVE IS MADE IN THE IMAGE OF THE DIVINE, SCARED AND UNIQUE. AND IF WE GET AWAY FROM THIS PRINCIPLE, AS WE HAVE, WE NOT ONLY HAVE MORAL DEGRADATION, WE NOT ONLY HAVE THE COLLAPSING SOCIETY AROUND US, BUT IT’S BAD FOR THAT BEING ITSELF. THAT BEING ITSELF IS UNIQUE. THAT BEING HAS RIGHTS AND WHO ARE WE TO SAY JUST BECAUSE WE’RE OLDER THAT WE GET TO MURDER IT.”

.Charlie Kirk “COURAGE IS DOING THE RIGHT THING WHEN YOU DON’T KNOW HOW IT IS GOING TO WORK OUT. COURAGE IS COMMITTING YOURSELF TO THE CORRECT COURSE OF ACTION REGARDLESS OF THE COST ASSOCIATED TO IT. EVERY HUMAN BEING I BELIEVE IS MADE IN THE IMAGE OF THE DIVINE, SCARED AND UNIQUE. AND IF WE GET AWAY FROM THIS PRINCIPLE, AS WE HAVE, WE NOT ONLY HAVE MORAL DEGRADATION, WE NOT ONLY HAVE THE COLLAPSING SOCIETY AROUND US, BUT IT’S BAD FOR THAT BEING ITSELF. THAT BEING ITSELF IS UNIQUE. THAT BEING HAS RIGHTS AND WHO ARE WE TO SAY JUST BECAUSE WE’RE OLDER THAT WE GET TO MURDER IT.”

🦅 Eagle Wings 🦅

32,111 views • 1 year ago

Sequoia founder Don Valentine: “The art of storytelling is incredibly important” “The art of storytelling is incredibly important. And many—maybe even most of the entrepreneurs who come to talk to us can’t tell the story. Learning to tell a story is incredibly important because that’s how the money works. The money flows as a function of the stories.” The founder of Sequoia founder explains that the story is how you explain what you want to do, how long it’s going to take, who the competition is, and how much money you need. a16z cofounder Ben Horowitz shared a similar view in a 2014 Forbes interview: “Storytelling is the most underrated skill… Companies that don’t have a clearly articulated story don’t have a clear and well thought-out strategy. The company story is the company strategy.” He continues: “The story must explain at a fundamental level why you exist. Why does the world need your company? Why do we need to be doing what we’re doing and why is it important?… You can have a great product, but a compelling story puts the company into motion. If you don’t have a great story it’s hard to get people motivated to join you, to work on the product, and to get people to invest in the product.” This is the job of the founder and CEO: “The CEO must be the keeper of the story. The CEO is responsible for getting the story right, that it’s up to date, compelling, and can move the hearts of men and women. That’s the fundamental responsibility of the chief executive… The mistake people make is thinking the story is just about marketing. No, the story is the strategy. If you make your story better you make the strategy better.” Video source: Stanford Graduate School of Business (2010)

Sequoia founder Don Valentine: “The art of storytelling is incredibly important” “The art of storytelling is incredibly important. And many—maybe even most of the entrepreneurs who come to talk to us can’t tell the story. Learning to tell a story is incredibly important because that’s how the money works. The money flows as a function of the stories.” The founder of Sequoia founder explains that the story is how you explain what you want to do, how long it’s going to take, who the competition is, and how much money you need. a16z cofounder Ben Horowitz shared a similar view in a 2014 Forbes interview: “Storytelling is the most underrated skill… Companies that don’t have a clearly articulated story don’t have a clear and well thought-out strategy. The company story is the company strategy.” He continues: “The story must explain at a fundamental level why you exist. Why does the world need your company? Why do we need to be doing what we’re doing and why is it important?… You can have a great product, but a compelling story puts the company into motion. If you don’t have a great story it’s hard to get people motivated to join you, to work on the product, and to get people to invest in the product.” This is the job of the founder and CEO: “The CEO must be the keeper of the story. The CEO is responsible for getting the story right, that it’s up to date, compelling, and can move the hearts of men and women. That’s the fundamental responsibility of the chief executive… The mistake people make is thinking the story is just about marketing. No, the story is the strategy. If you make your story better you make the strategy better.” Video source: Stanford Graduate School of Business (2010)

Startup Archive

258,577 views • 1 year ago

Ben Horowitz explains the two things every successful technology startup must do 1. Build a product that improves how some large group of people does something by 10x. “You have to build a transformational product. There is no way to build a great new company without a great product… If you look at the great technology companies, the thing that distinguishes them is the ability to keep coming up with a better way of doing things.” 2. Taking the market. “You can come up with the best product, but if you don’t [take the market], you really don’t have a company. Most technology businesses are network effects businesses. You have to win… If you’re an engineer, what business skills do you need to build a technology company? They’re all around the skills that you need to win the market. How do you out-market, out-sell, and beat the competition?… Do you build a good enough company that you go win?” Video Source: UC Berkeley

Ben Horowitz explains the two things every successful technology startup must do 1. Build a product that improves how some large group of people does something by 10x. “You have to build a transformational product. There is no way to build a great new company without a great product… If you look at the great technology companies, the thing that distinguishes them is the ability to keep coming up with a better way of doing things.” 2. Taking the market. “You can come up with the best product, but if you don’t [take the market], you really don’t have a company. Most technology businesses are network effects businesses. You have to win… If you’re an engineer, what business skills do you need to build a technology company? They’re all around the skills that you need to win the market. How do you out-market, out-sell, and beat the competition?… Do you build a good enough company that you go win?” Video Source: UC Berkeley

Startup Archive

77,268 views • 2 years ago

Dearest #MahimaChaudhry!! This is NOT my movie promotion post. This is to APPLAUD you and your courage during the making of our film. Having discovered that you have #Cancer, that you were going through your chemotherapy and that you had lost most of your hair, you still went ahead and shot for our film. Happily and Professionally! You gave your pain and your soul to the role of Ambika. For me that is COURAGE! If there was an olympic like competition for #GraceUnderPressure you would have certainly got a #GoldMedal.🏅Now about your acting! Your performance in #TheSignature is more than BRILLIANT! It can easily be called one of the best in many years. Beautifully nuanced, heartbreaking, compassionate, effortless and real. Every award should go to you. You should be on the cover of every publication. You are the REAL HERO. A real #RoleModel. A real INFLUENCER! It was my pleasure and privilege to work with you. May God give you all the happiness, long and healthy life. Love and prayers always! 😍❤️ ZEE5Official anupamkherstudio ##BestActress #Courage #Brave #Gratitude

Dearest #MahimaChaudhry!! This is NOT my movie promotion post. This is to APPLAUD you and your courage during the making of our film. Having discovered that you have #Cancer, that you were going through your chemotherapy and that you had lost most of your hair, you still went ahead and shot for our film. Happily and Professionally! You gave your pain and your soul to the role of Ambika. For me that is COURAGE! If there was an olympic like competition for #GraceUnderPressure you would have certainly got a #GoldMedal.🏅Now about your acting! Your performance in #TheSignature is more than BRILLIANT! It can easily be called one of the best in many years. Beautifully nuanced, heartbreaking, compassionate, effortless and real. Every award should go to you. You should be on the cover of every publication. You are the REAL HERO. A real #RoleModel. A real INFLUENCER! It was my pleasure and privilege to work with you. May God give you all the happiness, long and healthy life. Love and prayers always! 😍❤️ ZEE5Official anupamkherstudio ##BestActress #Courage #Brave #Gratitude

Anupam Kher

108,066 views • 1 year ago

I did this in 2022 and it will still work in 2026 if you have the courage to chase it.

I did this in 2022 and it will still work in 2026 if you have the courage to chase it.

designwithkingsley

41,957 views • 9 months ago

Chris Bosh explains how Kobe Bryant taught him that greatness is mostly an unglamorous routine “If you’re trying to go after something, it’s a process and you cannot cheat it. That is one thing you cannot do. You can’t cheat the process, and even then that doesn’t guarantee you anything. You have to have your stuff together because you want to win, that doesn’t guarantee a win. You just have to make sure you’re doing your process.” “I had the chance to have a conversation with Kobe. We were friendly and we tried to have dinner once a year. He always talked about loving the process of what you do. That’s important. You have to love what you do and love putting the work in because some days are going to suck. It’s always going to suck to go in the gym and shoot 10,000 free throws.” “Everybody’s like, ‘Oh, Kobe, this is amazing.’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, that’s cool, but think about my day. I get up at 4:30am, take my kids to school, I lift weights, I go to practice, I pick them up from school, then I’ve got to do treatment because I’m 35 years old in the league. Then I’ve got to do treatment, and by the time I finish all that stuff, the day’s over. I don’t do anything else. This is all I do.’” “If you take on that approach to something that you love, if you can stick with it even in those tough days, that’s where you want to be.” “You gotta love the grind, man. That’s the part I always like to think of anytime something gets hard. If I’m pursuing a goal and I want to quit, it’s going to come. It’s going to come. It’s okay.” “How many people would quit right now? That’s the first thing I think about. Then I keep going. I’m like, okay, I’m not going to let this drop me off and keep me away from what I’m doing.”

Chris Bosh explains how Kobe Bryant taught him that greatness is mostly an unglamorous routine “If you’re trying to go after something, it’s a process and you cannot cheat it. That is one thing you cannot do. You can’t cheat the process, and even then that doesn’t guarantee you anything. You have to have your stuff together because you want to win, that doesn’t guarantee a win. You just have to make sure you’re doing your process.” “I had the chance to have a conversation with Kobe. We were friendly and we tried to have dinner once a year. He always talked about loving the process of what you do. That’s important. You have to love what you do and love putting the work in because some days are going to suck. It’s always going to suck to go in the gym and shoot 10,000 free throws.” “Everybody’s like, ‘Oh, Kobe, this is amazing.’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, that’s cool, but think about my day. I get up at 4:30am, take my kids to school, I lift weights, I go to practice, I pick them up from school, then I’ve got to do treatment because I’m 35 years old in the league. Then I’ve got to do treatment, and by the time I finish all that stuff, the day’s over. I don’t do anything else. This is all I do.’” “If you take on that approach to something that you love, if you can stick with it even in those tough days, that’s where you want to be.” “You gotta love the grind, man. That’s the part I always like to think of anytime something gets hard. If I’m pursuing a goal and I want to quit, it’s going to come. It’s going to come. It’s okay.” “How many people would quit right now? That’s the first thing I think about. Then I keep going. I’m like, okay, I’m not going to let this drop me off and keep me away from what I’m doing.”

Josh Chambers

42,324 views • 1 month ago

Ben Horowitz on the two things every successful technology startup must do 1. Build a product that improves how some large group of people does something by 10x. “You have to build a transformational product. There is no way to build a great new company without a great product… If you look at the great technology companies, the thing that distinguishes them is the ability to keep coming up with a better way of doing things.” 2. Taking the market. “You can come up with the best product, but if you don’t [take the market], you really don’t have a company. Most technology businesses are network effects businesses. You have to win… If you’re an engineer, what business skills do you need to build a technology company? They’re all around the skills that you need to win the market. How do you out-market, out-sell, and beat the competition?… Do you build a good enough company that you go win?” Video source: UC Berkeley (2009)

Ben Horowitz on the two things every successful technology startup must do 1. Build a product that improves how some large group of people does something by 10x. “You have to build a transformational product. There is no way to build a great new company without a great product… If you look at the great technology companies, the thing that distinguishes them is the ability to keep coming up with a better way of doing things.” 2. Taking the market. “You can come up with the best product, but if you don’t [take the market], you really don’t have a company. Most technology businesses are network effects businesses. You have to win… If you’re an engineer, what business skills do you need to build a technology company? They’re all around the skills that you need to win the market. How do you out-market, out-sell, and beat the competition?… Do you build a good enough company that you go win?” Video source: UC Berkeley (2009)

Startup Archive

36,789 views • 5 months ago

jihoon answering teumes’ worries at dawn live 👤: I really wanted to receive a psychiatric (treatment) but I don’t have the courage to do it. Should I go? I think I’m going to have a hard time accepting that I am falling apart. 🐶: but I recommend going to the psychiatrist, whether if it’s receiving a psychological counselling or a psychiatric examination, it’s good to receive a treatment for it. Everyone, going to the psychiatrist doesn’t make you weird. If you caught a cold, you go to the internal medicine department, If your joints or bones hurts, you go to the orthopaedics. It’s just a cold that come to the mind. It’s not that going to the psychiatrist makes me a weird person, no it’s not that. It’s just that I’m exhausted for a while, it’s just a hospital. There’s more people going there more than you think, if you go to hospital, the queuing are the longest. Nowadays, it’s the same as the past too but there’s no one who doesn't have a hard time. In this hard world, although there are people who look at the hard times in a good way, & there are also people who don’t look at it in a good way… but since it’s a world where we lived together, there's nothing we can do about it, right? But those kind of, “ah I went to the psychiatrist & I collapsed” I don’t think you have think of that. It’s just, “I am having a hard time these days so I’m just going to get help for it” just think of it as if you caught a cold. I hope you don’t think of this deeply. Of course you can go. If your stomach hurt, you can go to the internal medicine, if your head hurts, you can go to the Otolaryngology. It’s just that your heart is having a hard time for a while. This is not something to be ashamed of, you don’t need to read the air with the people around you for this. Always cheer up, even if you collapse, let's practice the strength that can make you rise again slowly, treasure makers. You can do it, everyone, I know you can do it.

jihoon answering teumes’ worries at dawn live 👤: I really wanted to receive a psychiatric (treatment) but I don’t have the courage to do it. Should I go? I think I’m going to have a hard time accepting that I am falling apart. 🐶: but I recommend going to the psychiatrist, whether if it’s receiving a psychological counselling or a psychiatric examination, it’s good to receive a treatment for it. Everyone, going to the psychiatrist doesn’t make you weird. If you caught a cold, you go to the internal medicine department, If your joints or bones hurts, you go to the orthopaedics. It’s just a cold that come to the mind. It’s not that going to the psychiatrist makes me a weird person, no it’s not that. It’s just that I’m exhausted for a while, it’s just a hospital. There’s more people going there more than you think, if you go to hospital, the queuing are the longest. Nowadays, it’s the same as the past too but there’s no one who doesn't have a hard time. In this hard world, although there are people who look at the hard times in a good way, & there are also people who don’t look at it in a good way… but since it’s a world where we lived together, there's nothing we can do about it, right? But those kind of, “ah I went to the psychiatrist & I collapsed” I don’t think you have think of that. It’s just, “I am having a hard time these days so I’m just going to get help for it” just think of it as if you caught a cold. I hope you don’t think of this deeply. Of course you can go. If your stomach hurt, you can go to the internal medicine, if your head hurts, you can go to the Otolaryngology. It’s just that your heart is having a hard time for a while. This is not something to be ashamed of, you don’t need to read the air with the people around you for this. Always cheer up, even if you collapse, let's practice the strength that can make you rise again slowly, treasure makers. You can do it, everyone, I know you can do it.

ain

376,990 views • 2 years ago