Ali Partovi is the CEO and founder of Neo. He discusses realizing he was wrong to initially doubt Sequoia partner Alfred Lin early in their careers when Lin was a young Stanford student.
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“Talent is more important than experience. I mean, they're both important, but if you have to choose, I would always rather bet on a brilliant, hardworking young person and their potential to Then somebody who has the resume and the experience, but may not have the energy or the brilliance.”
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More from Ali Partovi
Opinion
Partovi: Active startup CEOs cannot successfully run side venture funds
“I'm deeply skeptical of somebody who is a CEO of a startup being able to also run anything else.”
Ali PartoviJan 21, 2022▶ 33:5720VC: How I Lost a $125M Deal with Yahoo by Being Too Honest, The M&A Meeting with Steve Jobs That Did Not Go Well and How U2's Bono Saved The Day For One Tech Startup with Ali Partovi, CEO @ Neo
Insight
Partovi: Startup success requires embracing risk rather than constantly de-risking
“But the big learning for me is that I think success in tech requires maintaining courage, no matter how terrified you are. And I think sometimes you have to go all in, even if you feel you have a losing hand. The path that I would say I took a lot as a founder…”
Ali PartoviJan 21, 2022▶ 29:4720VC: How I Lost a $125M Deal with Yahoo by Being Too Honest, The M&A Meeting with Steve Jobs That Did Not Go Well and How U2's Bono Saved The Day For One Tech Startup with Ali Partovi, CEO @ Neo
PredictionNot checkable as stated
Partovi: CoProcure could become the largest female-led company of all time
“An investment of mine that I'm super excited about. And I don't know if this will ever be a household name because it's a B to B type business, but it's a company called co-procure. I think it has a potential to be, could be the largest female led Company of a…”
Ali PartoviJan 21, 2022▶ 36:5220VC: How I Lost a $125M Deal with Yahoo by Being Too Honest, The M&A Meeting with Steve Jobs That Did Not Go Well and How U2's Bono Saved The Day For One Tech Startup with Ali Partovi, CEO @ Neo
Insight
Candidates with minor interview flaws almost always turn out to be terrible
“It means your smaller team needs to work harder until you find the right people, and so, of course, there's a point at which you might need to make a compromise, but I've always found that if you're interviewing someone, and you're like, ah, They're not quite …”
Ali PartoviJan 21, 2022▶ 6:0420VC: How I Lost a $125M Deal with Yahoo by Being Too Honest, The M&A Meeting with Steve Jobs That Did Not Go Well and How U2's Bono Saved The Day For One Tech Startup with Ali Partovi, CEO @ Neo
Opinion
Partovi: Most venture capitalists are not good at recruiting for founders
“Most VCs are not good at that, and regardless, I don't want anyone, including myself, to be a crutch.”
Ali PartoviJan 21, 2022▶ 9:0520VC: How I Lost a $125M Deal with Yahoo by Being Too Honest, The M&A Meeting with Steve Jobs That Did Not Go Well and How U2's Bono Saved The Day For One Tech Startup with Ali Partovi, CEO @ Neo
Insight
Partovi: Startup CEOs must focus on one thing instead of diversifying
“If you are a CEO, diversification should not be at all what you do. You should be a hundred percent concentrated on one thing”
Ali PartoviJan 21, 2022▶ 32:3520VC: How I Lost a $125M Deal with Yahoo by Being Too Honest, The M&A Meeting with Steve Jobs That Did Not Go Well and How U2's Bono Saved The Day For One Tech Startup with Ali Partovi, CEO @ Neo
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