Highlights

On balance at startups...

I'm going to answer this through a personal lens. Every startup environment that I have been through has been invaluable in teaching me a number of things. Startups taught me what limits I can hit. Operating in an environment where you have to just go—from a personal perspective, that is something that leads to burnout. That is something that is not sustainable over the long haul. And that is something that is not going to be acknowledged in a startup environment, because there is a board, and that board wants 10x returns, and that CEO is pressured to get those returns.

...

I'm going to answer this through a personal lens. Every startup environment that I have been through has been invaluable in teaching me a number of things. Startups taught me what limits I can hit. Operating in an environment where you have to just go—from a personal perspective, that is something that leads to burnout. That is something that is not sustainable over the long haul. And that is something that is not going to be acknowledged in a startup environment, because there is a board, and that board wants 10x returns, and that CEO is pressured to get those returns.

On taking real time to reflect after setbacks or failures...

Between every job I give myself a six-month grace period. And I ask, Where did you mess up? What do you do well? I tend to go really hard and then hit a wall, and I've learned to avoid hitting that wall. But it took me time to do that.

Thoughts on how business news is shaping the conversation...

I think journalism, especially in business news, sets a foundation. It says these are the facts, these are the things that are happening right now, and this is what you need to know. That facts-based foundational knowledge can be built on by the founders, operators, and investors. Those facts can then be used by these parties to support their arguments, whether it’s a founder looking to justify their market opportunity to an investor or just giving an operator ammo to get through their next coffee meeting with something interesting and relevant to say about their industry. They can pick and choose the things that they need—to go to their investor, to go to that coffee meeting, to go to that board meeting—to make something relatable to somebody who doesn't have the context or the background to see the innovative idea that they're bringing to the table. Journalism gets to say, Here's how your market works. We know that in your McKinsey consultant report you're doing for a client, they probably prefer things to look rosy. But we can give you that accurate view of the market, and then you can use that to push your thoughts and your ideas forward. This also demands that business publications go deeper than they maybe did before, focusing on demystifying corporate strategies, for instance. And I think that business publications that are going to succeed will be able to provide their readership with useful information that helps them push their agendas forward, that will allow them to innovate, that allows them to go to venture capitalists and sound intelligent, and makes new ideas accessible to larger audiences within their own network.