Bill – by Ben Horowitz | Hacker News Reader

Bill – by Ben Horowitz

medium.com

378 pointsBIackSwan24 comments

The first time I met Bill Campbell was at Ben Horowitz's home in Atherton. I had no idea who he was. So we got into a conversation and eventually a debate. For more than 2 hours, we went back and forth on things like who sucked more, Duke football or Columbia football. All I knew at that point was that this dude went to Columbia and I went to Duke. So here I was joking and arguing with this good old fellow, innocently.

So when lunch was served, someone (a young aspiring guy who was among many trying to get talk time with Ben Horowitz) came to me and told me that 'if I knew who that old guy I was yelling at was I would be embarrassed by my actions'. I didn't take it to heart but I decided to tone it down a little.

After lunch, Bill came back for me, ready for more. I was now reluctant to engage. Sensing the drop in intensity, he said , "Why are you not arguing anymore? Did someone come and tell you who I am and now you figure we can't go at it?" I told him yes. He told me to relax and stand my ground in the argument. He went and grabbed a couple of beers, punched me playfully and and told me to have a cold one and get back at it. We talked and talked and talked, great conversationist that guy.

Then we played a volleyball game a little later, unsurprisingly, I was his first pick. Afterwards, he personally introduced me to Ben Horowitz and invited him to our conversation. Now it was two against one. Ben eventually told me that Bill had actually been the coach for the Columbia team and had a forgettable record. haha, I pinned him on that one.

We eventually parted ways sometime after dinner. He gave me his details and surprisingly he is the one who followed up with me first. Since that day, he was a mentor to me, occasionally checking in on me and telling me whenever he was in town so we could link up. He has had an influence on many of the projects I have worked on and jobs I took up.

Rest in peace Bill, you were a rare breed. I owe a lot of what I have become to you. You have left a void that will be difficult to fill.

It's like the word mensch was created for him.

This should remind everyone to thank those that have helped you throughout your life...because too late comes too fast.

By coincidence I had a similar thing happen just this last week. I spoke with a business friend who has always helped me along...not with money directly...but with advice and connections. I called him up after not talking for a few months to find out he had a stroke and nearly died. He is doing surprisingly well given the circumstances but it got me to thinking. The next day I called him up for no other reason but to let him know how much I appreciated the support and kind gestures...he was one of the first to see the drive and motivation I have and he has done everything he could to introduce me to the right people.

In this life you don't always get a chance to say thanks in a true, heartfelt way. I made sure to do that. If you have someone like this in your life...please call them today and let them know how they helped you.

In this world haters are everywhere...but it is truly rare to find someone who is selfless and motivational.

Here is a song to listen to while you think about it https://youtu.be/PdZb2inh4YM

As Ben Horowitz would have quoted "People never get the flowers while they can still smell 'em"

Yes...but it doesn't have to be that way. I personally am going to make an effort to not only show that I appreciate it...but also do my best to pass on the kindness to others that need it.

Right now there is someone struggling that needs some kind words too.

About 7 years ago, I'd read about Bill Campbell's reputation as a tech coach and mentor. I cold emailed him a pitch deck for a startup I was working on, and asked if he could help. He actually took the time to politely decline, which I thought was quite nice for someone in his position.

His response...

>> Michael,

>> Thanks for the message. You seem to have a working idea... but I cannot help you with this.

>> I am totally swamped with current companies and simply do not have the time to work with another.

>> Sincerely, >> Bill

That's really classy. Even if he had an assistant read your email and send that, he still had to care enough to set that all up.

A wonderful example of what to look for in a mentor, advisor, and friend.

There are a lot of uninspiring people in VC. Every founder knows it, but we can't openly talk about it because the leverage is usually not in our favor.

But Bill Campbell is what you should be interviewing for. Ask Ben what valuation he would have taken instead of having Bill on his side. There is no number. He is literally priceless.

What a tremendous loss.

This is one of those times when Silicon Valley needs to step aside its rhetoric. In this case, Bill wasn't a mentor or a VC - he was a friend and confidant. And Ben's pain isn't from losing a mentor or a business parent - it's from losing a friend. This isn't a conversation about valuations, board positions, or startup tactics. It's a conversation about the loss of a great man.

My warmest wishes go out to the Horiwitz and the Campbell families.

Lovely obit - like the best doctors, the best mentors address every aspect of your life: not just your work business, but also your family 'business' and your spiritual well-being.

We read a lot recently about the achievements of Andy Grove and Bill Campbell (both champions of Ben), but the key is that every one of us can mentor and help anyone else. The key is listening and empathizing, taking time and accepting. You don't need to operate a VC fund to do it, you just can be a nice human being who listens, understands and feels.

And also reaching out proactively as a potential mentor, since people younger than us often are sheepish about reaching out to us.

One thing this should remind us all is that there is a finite, very small set, of people who had an inordinate effect on our life, whichever path we happened to take.

For me, it was that teacher who asked me to open a box because we got a "computer" and nobody knew what to do with it, or the teacher who drove me to my town's college when I told him I did not have money to pay for it, and then helped me file financial aid forms, all in the very last day of registration. You have your own.

One day, you won't be able to call them.

Call them.

A touching and well written article. I've been hearing about Bill Campbell for over thirty years and I am sad that I never got the chance to know him.

They say the true measure of a man is the number of friends that he has when he dies. By that measure Bill Campbell is one of the richest men to ever live in Silicon Valley.

Having read The Hard Thing About Hard Things I felt how much love Ben felt for Bill just from the words on the pages.

Came here to write basically this. Ben spoke really highly of Bill in his book, mostly about how good of a person and friend he was, not because of his business skills (which Bill obviously had as well). I remember the section where he describes meeting Bill, and how though he had any impressive history of success, the achievement which impressed Ben most was one Bill's companies that by most definitions "failed" yet every employee spoke of it as one of the greatest places to have worked in their lives.

I felt sad seeing the title, but my heart definitely sank reading the final sentence of the post....

>the achievement which impressed Ben most was one Bill's companies that by most definitions "failed" yet every employee spoke of it as one of the greatest places to have worked in their lives.

For those who are curious, the name of the company was Go.

I think the truly sad thing about dying is that you become an archetype and no longer a real human being. It makes me think of Dr Seuss and all those terrible racist cartoons he used to draw. You dont hear about that do you? It's because he's no longer Theodore Geisel, but rather just some myth we all remember.

I'm sure otherwise well meaning people are doing pretty much the same thing to Bill Campbell right now. It's not just his body that is dead, but pretty soon the entirety of his existence.

Every famous person is an archetype, even when they are alive. For example most people think about Linus as a genius who created Linux rather than the guy who use childish insults on mailing lists. They arent any less human, it's just that the first thing people try to forget about someone after they pass away is the bad things.

And is not as dramatic as you think, I found all the "racist pics" he drawn fairly easy on the internet. So I'm fairly certain anyone who actually wants to look up "the human behind the myth" will be able to do so.

And is actually very easy to prove we don't forget the human behind the myths, at least within our historical sources, for example is widely known that Issaac Newton puked on his first and only kiss and died virgin. You think this helps the myth? Certainly not, is just a glimpse into his personality.

I just finished reading Ben's book "The Hard Thing About Hard Things" and his admiration for Bill was immense in the book. I was thinking as I was reading the book that it is hard to find someone like Bill to confide in. shocked to read this. RIP Bill.

If even for one day, if we all try to be a little like Bill, the world would be a better place.

How do you try? Try to understand and share the feelings of another.

Inspirational and really touching. To have someone like that in your life is amazing; to try and be that person is not a bad idea either :)

What a wonderful, touching obituary. Thank you, Ben.

When you've finished with your life and you can look back and see all the lives you've touched this way, you've done it right.

this was a lovely piece of writing, and quite touching.

:( !!!

Reply on news.ycombinator.com