The other piece besides focus for execution is intensity. Startups only work at a fairly intense level.

You should be able to describe any employee as an animal at what they do.

Just put a little pin in your mind: when you cross 50 employees, there are a new set of HR rules that you have to comply with.

I really believe that the single hardest thing in business is building a company that does repeatable innovation... and just has this ongoing culture of excellence as it grows.

Long term thinking is so rare anywhere, but especially in startups. This is a huge advantage if you do it.

... you can think about that for everyone you hire: will I bet the future of this company on this single hire? And that's a tough bar.

When it comes to starting startups, in many ways, it's easier to start a hard startup than an easy startup.