In bad companies, when the economics disappear, so do the employees. In technology companies, when the employees disappear, the spiral begins: The co… - Ben Horowitz

Does the CEO know what to do in all matters all the time? This includes matters of personnel, financing, product strategy, goal sizing, and marketing. At a macro level, does the CEO set the right strategy for the company and know its implications in every detail of the company? I evaluate two distinct facets of knowing what to do: Strategy In good companies, the story and the strategy are the same thing. As a result, the proper output of all the strategic work is the story. Decision making At the detailed level, the output of knowing what to do is the speed and quality of the CEO’s decisions.

Until you make the effort to get to know someone or something, you don’t know anything. There are no shortcuts to knowledge, especially knowledge gained from personal experience. Following conventional wisdom and relying on shortcuts can be worse than knowing nothing at all.

A company is a team effort and, no matter how high an employee’s potential, you cannot get value from him unless he does his work in a manner in which he can be relied upon.