Tim O’Reilly wrote a great response to the most recent episode of Masters of Scale, “The Money Episode”. Tim’s LinkedIn Influencer post, “Some Businesses Bleed Black”, adds nuance and complexity to the philosophy that startups should raise more money than they think they need. As Tim points out, there is definitely a continuum between the all-out…
Entrepreneurs should always raise more money than they need, so they can plan for the unforeseeable. That includes anything from a stock market crash or outlandish expenses to an opportunity you couldn’t predict in a market that didn’t exist when you started out. This week’s episode of Masters of Scale — the new audio series I host…
Lessons from the “Masters of Scale” Podcast The first episode of the “Masters of Scale” podcast — “Hand Crafted” featuring Airbnb Co-Founder and CEO Brian Chesky — launches today, and the remaining episodes will be released weekly. I’m proud of this podcast; I think you’ll find that it doesn’t sound like any business podcast you’ve…
In Silicon Valley, the biggest financial rewards go to innovative, often contrarian ideas that scale globally. So entrepreneurs don’t just look for opportunities to create something radically new. They also look for opportunities that can impact hundreds of millions of people. This mindset has brought us Google, Amazon, Facebook, Airbnb, Uber, smartphones, and countless other…
In my early years as an entrepreneur, the world was still largely ruled by scarcity. Products required raw materials to produce. Distribution was expensive and logistically complex to achieve. That led to a mindset of prudence and precision expressed in aphorisms that still carry a great deal of weight today. You only get one chance…
Progress comes from innovation, and innovation happens when inventors, entrepreneurs, activists, organizers, and others refuse to accept the status quo. Instead, they pursue new paths and new solutions – and sometimes bend or even break the rules in the process. This dynamic is what inspires the MIT Media Lab’s Disobedience Award.Announced in July 2016 at the…
There’s a delightful symmetry in using my Microsoft Surface Studio to update my LinkedIn profile and post this note. Effective today, I’m joining Microsoft’s Board of Directors. Ever since my co-founders and I started LinkedIn in 2003, the company’s mission has been to create new opportunities for every member of the global workforce, and thus boost…
Over the holidays, I had a chance to reflect on 2016 and everything that occurred during it. Obviously, this included major geopolitical events like the U.S. election and Brexit. But I also spent some time reflecting on events taking place closer to home, including an unfortunate situation involving one of the country’s most important institutions…
How the Affordable Care Act Encourages Entrepreneurship While broad access to healthcare is a cornerstone of social justice, some critics have characterized the Affordable Care Act (ACA) as a form of socialism. Others emphasize the regulatory burden it places on small businesses, which under its terms must offer healthcare plans if they have 50 or…
Each time someone buys Trumped Up Cards until Inauguration Day, I’m donating $10 to the ACLU When we started selling Trumped Up Cards to the public in September, we noted that we’d be giving all profits to charities already working to make America great. Our first area of focus will be on organizations that protect civil liberties. As…
TL;DR: Today, my wife Michelle and I are announcing a $20 million commitment to support the work of the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, a new laboratory space in San Francisco where researchers and clinical scientists from Stanford, UCSF, and UC Berkeley will pursue life science breakthroughs in a cutting-edge, collaborative environment. I will be joining the Biohub board. Software…
WE MUST VOTE YES on PROP 62. In California, all executions take place in San Quentin prison. In 2010, the administrators there built a new “lethal injection room” for this purpose that has yet to be used. The medical exam table in the center of the room is outfitted with tranquil mint-green cushions and a set…
In this series, professionals attending Next:Economy share their insights on the future of work. Read the posts here, then write your own. Use #NextEconomy somewhere in the body of the post and @mention Next:Economy conference panelists when sharing. For more insight and news on the Next:Economy, sign up for the weekly newsletter here. The idea that we’re shifting to the “next economy,” to…