We know Eugene Kleiner as one of the traitorous 8, the founder of Fairchild Semiconductor, investor in Intel and one of the main founders of top VC firm KPCB. All of which were instrumental in the genesis of silicon valley.
I often come across interesting quotes by him. I stumbled on this set when I was going through the KPCB site, recently. Seemed like a set any entrepreneur would benefit from.
Kleiner’s Laws
* Make sure the dog wants to eat the dog food. No matter how ground-breaking a new technology, how large a potential market, make certain customers actually want it.
* Build one business at a time. Most business plans are overly ambitious. Concentrate on being successful in one endeavor first.
* The time to take the tarts is when they’re being passed. If an environment is right for funding, go for it. Eugene, more than anyone, knew that venture capital goes in cycles.
* The problem with most companies is they don’t know what business they’re in.
* Even turkeys can fly in a high wind. In times of strong economies, even bad companies can look good.
* It’s easier to get a piece of an existing market than to create a new one.
* It’s difficult to see the picture when you’re inside the frame.
* After learning some of the tricks of the trade, some people think they know the trade. This reflected some of Eugene’s own humility; he recognized that many venture capitalists thought they were experts when they had just a bit of knowledge.
* Venture capitalists will stop at nothing to copy success.
* Invest in people, not just products. Eugene always respected founding entrepreneurs. He wanted to build companies with them not just with their ideas.
And, two others – frequently quoted:
* “There is a time when panic is the appropriate response.”
* “What tips me off that a business will be successful is that they have a narrow focus of what they want to do, and they plan a sufficient amount of effort and money to do it. Focus is essential.”
The second is a thread that always runs in the back of my mind, since the time I read it.
The Smartrepreneur Blog 
2 Comments
Liked this post. Tks for digging it up and bringing it to my attention!
Good Stuff