Social networks do best when they tap into one of the seven deadly sins. Facebook is ego. Zynga is sloth. LinkedIn is greed.

The real secret of Silicon Valley is that it's really all about the people

One of the tests that I frequently use in an interaction is I push on the idea and what I'm looking for is both flexibility & persistence.

A product needs to be sufficiently innovative to distinguish itself from the pack, but not so forward thinking as to alienate the user.

You should have an investment thesis that essentially says why you think this is potentially a good idea.

If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you've launched too late.

So usually you have to have product distribution as more fundamental than what the actual product is.