The natural state of a start-up is to die; most start-ups require multiple miracles in their early days to escape this fate.

Remember that you are more likely to die because you execute badly than get crushed by a competitor.

You're saying no ninety-seven times out of a hundred, and most founders find they have to make a very conscious effort to do this.

Before 20 or 25 employees, most companies are structured with everyone reporting to the founder. It's totally flat.

You need to figure out what the 2 or 3 most important things are, and then just do those.

For most software startups, this translates to keep growing. For hardware startups, it translates to don't let your ship date slip.

I believe in fighting with investors to reduce the amount of equity they get and then being as generous as you possibly can with employees.