#113 Sarah Tavel: The Value of Intellectual Rigor

What I always remind founders is that pain today postponed until tomorrow is going to be harder. It's like taking a loan out on the pain.

Something that I think a lot about in the companies that I look to invest in is companies that can escape competition. The companies that escape competition, ultimately, are the ones that get to a place where they're incredibly profitable. They generate a lot of cash for their shareholders. They are able to create great experiences for their customers.

Another thing I always remind people of is something I learned from my partner at Greylock, Reid Hoffman, which is that every strength has a corresponding weakness.

I have a hypothesis: I believe that founders are just a unique type of person ... I think that it's just such a different DNA of person.

I always think that you have to be just so much better than the competition that it's obvious that you're the way to go.

One of the things that I always tell founders is you have to make sure that the board members that you bring on are as much on the same side of the table as you about... where the company is headed and the future of the company.

One of the wonderful things that happens when you tip a market is that your organic growth starts to explode because your value proposition relative to any other substitute becomes just so much better that you would be stupid as a buyer not to... It's almost an IQ test—where are you going to buy from?

The other type of company that doesn't necessarily have a network effect but I also love are companies that actually go after a space that is underestimated from the outside, and because it's underestimated, it actually doesn't invite competition.