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Comment by bell-cot | Hacker News Reader

> It is unclear to me how much of it is really useful in the foresight.

While the specifics are of limited use, they do point to very useful generalities. Leader character. Leadership team. Deep understanding of the technology and industry. Long-term technological leadership. And avoiding Wall Street's quick-buck predators - and their twisted mindsets - as much as possible.

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That's a good list. I'd also add a willingness to take risks, which was particularly evident in the early years with RIVA 128 but also arguably CUDA was a risk and one that didn't pay off until relatively recently.

The deep understanding of technology is so important. So many CEOs are empty MBA suits who are BS artists and don't know anything. I wish I could shout this to the rooftops even though I do cover it in the book. The importance of technical competence and avoiding finance/MBA/consulting executive CEOs.

Sure. My point is that, averaged out over all the great success stories and their corresponding books, the greatest common divisor fits in a blog post:

- Make big bets - Build core, differentiating technology - Lead by example - Science the sh*t out of operations and finance

Important to note that many huge successful companies got there by making big bets and most companies that make big bets fail.

The market rewards innovation in the aggregate, but if you’re a founder trying to make it big, there’s still a lot of luck involved.

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