Talk with Steve Blank and Andy Rachleff

October 23, 2012 · 2 min read

In today's E-Provocateur speak series hosted by Stanford GSB's Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, Silicon Valley startup legend Steve Blank traded some hilarious remarks with Sand Hill Road legend Andy Rachleff.

Confession of a Stanford Sloan Fellow Series EP28

Entrepreneurship is not a job, rather it's a calling. You can't possibly compare McKinsey and entrepreneurship at the same time. McKinsey is just a job.
Entrepreneurs are just like artists. They have creativity and passion. They are not ordinary people, and they don't do ordinary jobs.
Who would use a 5-year plan? Soviet Union! Look at what happened... (China still uses 5-year plan to engineer the entire economy)
VCs won't tell this to the founders: most founders will get replaced when the startup companies find a sustainable revenue model. If VCs tell them in advance, VCs lose the deal. (finally somebody spoke the truth)
You can only teach entrepreneurship to volunteers.
Business-school students are not suited founders for tech startups. They are possible for operating executives, co-founders, or founders of non-tech startups. For technology companies, the best founders are always engineers and scientists. (not surprised to hear this in Stanford/the Bay area)
Never look back. Never look at your past glory. Your greatest venture is always your next one.
Disproportional founders come from dysfunctional families. Founders from normal companies are at disadvantage.
Customer development cannot be outsourced. It has to be done by the founder CEO him/herself.