20VC: a16z's Ben Horowitz on How To Create An Environment of Trust with Founders, How and Why Creating Shocking Rules Is So Impactful To Culture & What The Samurai, Shaka Senghor and Toussaint Teach Us About Company Culture Building
The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
The Twenty Minute VC
4.4 • 637 Ratings
🗓️ 28 October 2019
⏱️ 33 minutes
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Summary
Ben Horowitz is a Co-Founder and General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, one of the leading and most prestigious venture firms of the last decade with a portfolio including the likes of Facebook, Github, Slack, Lyft, Coinbase and many more incredible companies. Ben is also the author of the New York Times bestseller, The Hard Thing About Hard Things, and the upcoming Harper Business book, What You Do Is Who You Are, available October 29. Prior to a16z, Ben was Co-Founder and CEO of Opsware, acquired by Hewlett-Packard for $1.6 billion in 2007. Previously, Ben ran several product divisions at Netscape Communications, including the widely acclaimed Directory and Security product line.
In Today’s Episode You Will Learn:
1.) How did Ben make his way into the world of venture having previously co-founded Opsware? What was the original thinking for a16z? How did seeing the booms and busts of the market as an operator, impact how Ben thinks about investing today?
2.) In the book Ben says, "If soldiers trust the general, communication will be vastly more efficient". What have been Ben's biggest lessons on how to create an environment of trust quickly? As a board member, how does Ben create an environment of trust for the founder? What is Ben's advice to Harry having just gained his first board seat last year?
3.) Ben has said before of the importance of creating "shocking rules". What are the rules for creating these shocking rules? What are the best rules composed of? Given their shocking nature, how does one instil them in the organisation? What does Ben think is the most shocking rule he has implemented at a16z?
4.) What does ben believe that founders can take away from the rituals of the Samurai? Why does Ben believe that "meditating on company downfalls will enable you to build your culture the right way". Why is the negativity so helpful in forming the right culture? How does ben advise founders when their company is struggling, the team knows it and morale is low? What happened at Okta? How did they turn the culture and business around?
5.) Ben has previously spoken about bringing in external leadership from the cultures you want to master. How does one know when is the right time to bring in this external influence? What can we learn from observing Google Cloud's strategy? How does one retain the old culture but augment it with the new? What were some of Ben's biggest hiring lessons when operating? How does Ben get employees to "feel a sense of urgency", when a change needs to occur?
Items Mentioned In Today’s Show:
Ben’s Fave Book: The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L'ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution
As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Ben on Twitter here!
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | So we have now recorded over 2,500 episodes of the 20 minute VC, but when I started before the very first one, |
| 0:06.9 | remember, I did not know one single VC when I started, but I wrote the names of four VCs I most wanted to have on the show. |
| 0:13.0 | Bradfeld, Josh Copelman, Bill Gurley, and Ben Horowitz. Now, I could not be more thrilled or honored as we |
| 0:18.9 | complete that list today with Ben joining us in the hot seat. |
| 0:21.7 | This is one I've wanted to do for so, so long. |
| 0:24.0 | On Ben, he's a co-found and general partner at Andresen Horrors, |
| 0:27.5 | one of the leading and most prestigious venture firms of the last decade, |
| 0:30.8 | with a portfolio including the lights of Facebook, GitHub, Slack, Lyft, Coinbase, |
| 0:35.9 | and many more incredible companies. |
| 0:37.7 | Ben is also the author of the New York Times bestseller, The Hard Thing About Hard Things, |
| 0:41.7 | and the upcoming Harper Business book, What You Do Is Who You Are, available on October the 29th. |
| 0:47.3 | Prior to Andreessen, Ben was co-founder and CEO of Opsware, acquired by Hewlett-Packard for $1.6 billion in 2007. |
| 0:55.0 | Previously, Ben ran several product divisions at Netscape Communications, including the |
| 0:59.1 | widely acclaimed directory and security product line. |
| 1:02.3 | But before you dive into the show today, if you have employees and they're anything like |
| 1:05.9 | me, you need spend management. |
| 1:07.6 | And that's where Airbase come in. |
| 1:09.1 | Airbase is the ideal cloud-based spend |
| 1:11.0 | management platform for growing startups. With Airbase, you can issue virtual and physical |
| 1:15.6 | cards for card payments, as well as checks and ACH transfers for invoice payments. They also have |
| 1:21.0 | an incredible pre-approval system for expense requests, so you see expenses as employees |
| 1:25.8 | request them instead of only learning about them |
... |
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