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Comment by staunch | Hacker News Reader

Everyone initially believes they can "focus" on two big things at the same time. No one can. He's about to learn this lesson the hard way.

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like Steve Jobs with Apple and Pixar?

like Elon Musk with Tesla and SpaceX?

like Peter Thiel with Founders Fund and Clarium Capital?

What's going wrong with Tesla or SpaceX? They both seem successful to me.

The parent comment is trying to point out that it is in fact possible to focus on two things at once.

It's hard to tell because, as others have said, it's not clear that everyone on the list is successfully focusing on two projects.

I think that's the point - Musk is running both successfully.

Clarium Capital has been performing terribly for years.

However, I agree with your general point (that it is possible for one person to focus on two large projects).

Still, Executive Chairman and CEO are two rather "big" titles. If he can juggle both and be successful I will be impressed. We will never really know how much effort he puts into each role.

does Steve Jobs spends as much time/effort in Apple as in Pixar? Does Steve tell Pixar animators a thousand "no" till the animation is done "right"? I would guess no.

I think Pixar relies heavily (or at least more) on Lasseter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lasseter) than on Steve Jobs

ps. I would add Carmack with Armadillo Aerospace & ID Software, altough I dont think he is the 'CEO' of both

Steve worked on-site at Pixar one day a week (Friday) until the Disney acquisition. Day-to-day management went through the executive team, primarily Ed Catmull for technical and operations, and John Lasseter for creative direction.

Thanks for the clarification :-)

Steve Jobs spent 99.999% of his time at Apple.

None of those founders were actually successful with the other project. Steve Jobs bought then sold Pixar, and later sat on its board, owning a bunch of shares but not actually being involved operationally. Peter Thiel is not successful because of FF or CC, he's successful because of Facebook and Paypal (both at different times). With Elon Musk, you may have a case but I haven't read enough details to know.

The main point the gp is making:

Peter Thiel is known for: Paypal and after that Facebook

Elon Musk is known for: Paypal and after that Tesla

Steve Jobs : enough said.

Elon Musk was supposedly almost bankrupt a year or so ago: http://smallbusiness.aol.com/2010/06/22/on-the-eve-of-an-ipo...

Clarification: He was wealthy but illiquid before the Tesla IPO. He did not realize how ungodly expensive his divorce would be - he had to pay for both sides since he was wealthier and his ex was happy to use his money to pay for legal time to maximize her take.

Details: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elon-musk/correcting-the-recor...

When your company (Square) is under competitive threats from multiple directions, you don't decide to start dating another company, even part time.

Charles Ghosn is the CEO at both Nissan and Renault

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Ghosn

Whether or not you consider the source credible, there's wisdom in the saying, "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other." (Matthew 6:24a)

Um, things have really jumped the shark on HN if we're getting bible passages offered as startup advice - and someone upvoted it.

You'll note that the divided-focus argument was already being made. My observation is only that the passage echoes that.

Yes, thank you, I did notice that.

Feel free to make your original point but I think most people would agree bible passages (or those from the Qur'an, Torah, book of Dianetics, etc) don't have a place on HN.

This is absurd. I'm almost completely atheist but I still recognize a useful passage when I see one. The bible is a respected piece of literature. Judge the words based on their merit not on their source.

Exec dudes in silicon valley are on everyone else's executive boards all the time.

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