One thing I learned in '97, when I thought the right time to found a company was during a swing-up, is that it's much better to start during an economic downturn. Partnerships are easier; hiring is easier; and the competition starts later.

When you turn a company profitable you've gone from a company whose days are numbered to a company whose days can be infinite.

Times of economic crises can change what the competitive landscape looks like, because when, for example, you have boom times, capital is easy to come by, growth is easy, sometimes what you focus on is, you know, how to accelerate in the boom. During economic crises, the question is, the companies that come out of, you know, that are sailing through that with the best liquidity, both assets on the balance sheet, making money, ability to grow their businesses, get a disproportionate competitive advantage.

Pay attention to your culture and your hires from the very beginning.

Data only exists within the framework of a vision you're building to, a hypothesis of where you're moving to.

I get energy from one-on-one conversations most often, and I lose energy from group conversations most often.

What great founders do is seek the networks that will be essential to their task... Usually it's best to have two or three people on a team rather than a solo founder.