It's really rare for people to have a successful start-up in this industry without a breakthrough product. I'll take it a step further. It has to be a radical product. It has to be something where, when people look at it, at first they say, 'I don't get it, I don't understand it. I think it's too weird, I think it's too unusual.'
Interpretation
Successful start-ups often require innovative and unconventional products that challenge perception.
Marc Andreessen emphasizes that in the start-up industry, having a breakthrough product is key to success. Such products are often met with skepticism at first, as they may appear strange or unconventional to people; however, it is precisely this radical innovation that can set a start-up apart and lead to significant success.
In practice
Use this quote during a business seminar to inspire aspiring entrepreneurs.
People are so bad at driving cars that computers don't have to be that good to be much better. Any time you stand in line at the D.M.V. and look around, you're like, Oh, my God, I wish all these people were replaced by computer drivers.
Entrepreneurs say in an economic boom it's actually hard to build a company because everybody's too excited and there is too much money funding too many marginal companies.
I love what the Valley does. I love company building. I love startups. I love technology companies. I love new technology. I love this process of invention. Being able to participate in that as a founder and a product creator, or as an investor or a board member, I just find that hugely satisfying.
China is very entrepreneurial but has no rule of law. Europe has rule of law but isn't entrepreneurial. Combine rule of law, entrepreneurialism and a generally pro-business policy, and you have Apple.
An awful lot of successful technology companies ended up being in a slightly different market than they started out in.
If you're the village blacksmith and a model T comes along, you better become a mechanic. People's lives are better when they get news online versus having to wait for the morning paper. It's a lot more efficient, a lot more real time, a lot less waste.
Everybody is looking for instant success, but it doesn't work that way. You build a successful life one day at a time.
If you work just for money, you'll never make it, but if you love what you're doing and you always put the customer first, success will be yours.
What we need is an entrepreneurial society in which innovation and entrepreneurship are normal, steady and continuous.
Scoring goals is a great feeling, but the most important thing to me is that the team is successful - it doesn't matter who scores the goals as long as we're winning.
I've accomplished so many things in basketball. I financially secured my kids' life and their future. I'm just happy. I'm just blessed. So anything that I'm not awarded doesn't matter because I've been rewarded enough in this lifetime.
If there was a template for success in sports, everyone would follow it. You do the best you can and trust the people you trust.
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