QuoteProject
Startup CEOs should not play the odds. When you are building a company, you must believe there is an answer and you cannot pay attention to your odds of finding it. You just have to find it. It matters not whether your chances are nine in ten or one in a thousand; your task is the same.
Ben Horowitz
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Focus on finding solutions rather than worrying about the likelihood of success.

This quote emphasizes the importance of determination and belief in the pursuit of building a startup. Ben Horowitz suggests that a CEO should concentrate on the efforts needed to solve problems and find answers without being distracted by the odds of success, as the challenge remains constant regardless of the perceived chances of success.

Themes

StartupsSuccessDeterminationBeliefEntrepreneurship

In practice

Example use cases

A motivational speech for aspiring entrepreneurs at a startup event.

More from Ben Horowitz

Big companies have trouble with innovation. Innovation is about bad ideas, or ideas that look like bad ideas. That's the fundamental thing.
Ben HorowitzRead
As a company gets big, the information that informs decision-making gets massive. Depending upon the prism through which you view the business, your perspective will vary. If two people are in charge, this variance will cause conflict and delay.
Ben HorowitzRead
You read these management books that say, 'These are the hard things about running a company.' But those aren't really the hard things. The hard things are when you have to layoff half your company, or you have to fire your best friend. Or you have to figure out a way not to go bankrupt.
Ben HorowitzRead
Look - this is the terror of being a founder & CEO. It is all your fault. Every decision, every person you hire, every dumb thing you buy or do - ultimately, you're at the end.
Ben HorowitzRead
Nobody knows how to be a CEO. It's something you have to learn. It's a very lonely job.
Ben HorowitzRead
As long as people are clear on what they need to do and what's going on, you're very likely to succeed. When nobody is clear, then you're guaranteed to fail.
Ben HorowitzRead

Similar quotes

An entrepreneur must deal with more uncertainty than a professional with a well-defined role.
Peter ThielRead
Men talk as if victory were something fortunate. Work is victory.
Ralph Waldo EmersonRead
Don't just let your business or your job make something for you; let it make something of you.
Jim RohnRead
It's very hard to find someone who's successful and dislikes what they do.
Malcolm GladwellRead
I don't believe in luck, I believe in preparation.
Bobby KnightRead
Being successful and fulfilling your lifes purpose are not at all the same thing; You can reach all your personal goals, become a raving success by the worlds standard and still miss your purpose in this life.
Rick WarrenRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.