It's All About Building Great Companies

Through my career, I have been passionate about building things. First, I built hardware, then software, and then I built organizations. Starting from an idea, a brainstorming session with a whiteboard, and seeing it turn into a reality down the road is among the most interesting endeavors we get to pursue.

Building great enduring companies that provide value to their customers, opportunities to myriads of employees and return to their supporters is in my mind a noble and incredibly difficult path. I have had the opportunity to both participate in such journeys and watch others that I attempted to help as advisor, board member or simply by providing a friendly ear. I am now trying to pay forward the learnings I have received from so many people in the form of mentorship, seminars and more recently in a book format.

SEMINARS

BOOK

Building a company is so much like racing a sailboat

I am a competitive sailor in my pastime and I always find inspiration from analogies between racing a sailboat and running a start-up. Nobody ever summed it up as completely and clearly as Diane Greene. I hope it resonates with you too.

"You need a plan and then the ability to reevaluate the plan in real time as new information is acquired. Suddenly, the wind changes or competitors are stronger than you thought they’d be. Each mark in the race is a milestone where you need to look up and evaluate what you’re doing, how you’re doing. When you campaign a sailboat, you need to be in the moment. You need to let go of your self-doubt, and yet you can’t lose the ability to question your decisions. Most of all, when it’s time to make a decision, a competitor’s come upon you or the wind shifted, you make it. The race won’t wait for you. And finally when you race a sailboat, the selection of your crew is just completely paramount. It’s impossible to be an effective skipper if you don’t have the right people working harmoniously in the right roles."

Diane Greene, VMWare Founder