You never want to be in a place where an employee has vested 3 out of the 4 years of stock and they start thinking about leaving.

... how much time you should be spending on hiring? The answer is 0 or 25 percent.

Most startups are not nearly focussed enough. They work hard...maybe, but they don't work hard on the right things.

Execution gets divided into two key questions: 1) can you figure out what to do and 2) can you get it done.

Don't let the company get distracted or excited about other things. A common mistake is that companies get excited by their own PR.

If you want something in a deal, just ask for it.

For most of the early hires you make in a startup, experience doesn't matter very much, and you should go for aptitude.