I care much more about the growth rate of the market than it's current size and I also care if there's any reason it's going to top out.

Later, you should learn to hire fast and scale up the company, but in the early days the goal should be not to hire. Not to hire.

Good startups usually take 10 years.

You need conviction in your own beliefs, and the willingness to ignore others naysaying.

The role of the board is advice and consent. If the CEO does not lay out a clear strategy and tries to get the board to set one, it will usually end in disaster.

Experience matters for some roles and not others.

Most founders have not managed people before, and they certainly haven't managed managers.