It’s just as hard to build a large company as it is a small company, so you might as well build a big company. It’s roughly the same effort.

Criteria for assessing the Team: Intelligence, Integrity and Energy. You want someone who is really smart, very hard working and trustworthy. A lot of people forget the integrity part, because if you don’t have that, then you have a really hard working crook and they will find a way to cheat you. Intelligence and energy are easier to measure. Integrity is the most important factor.

Companies only fail for two reasons: The founder gives up or they run out money. Don’t be proud. Get the cash wherever you can. Cash is everything. Raise twice as much and make it last four times as long. Pretend that you don’t have the money in the bank, run lean. Assuming your unit economics are at least breakeven, keep your headcount low, raise money and stay in it for the long haul. It takes a decade to build a great company. There’s no shortcuts.

The only unforgivable sin in business is to run out of cash. What does cash give a business? Options. What do options create? Convexity!

To achieve superior investment results, your insight into value has to be superior. Thus you must learn things others don’t, see things differently or do a better job of analyzing them – ideally all three.