Although other people couldn't hold him to account, he could hold himself to account every day as he sat down and looked at the pages of his philosophy texts and the pages of his journal.
Are we proud of the way we show up? And is it financially attractive? If the answer is no to either, then we should either make the intervention to address the issue or get out.
The biggest thing I've learned is that in venture, your reputation is everything. You can't hide from your track record. Every investment you make, every founder you back, every check you write — it's all public information, and LPs are going to do their homework.
The internet doesn't have a speech problem. It has an accountability problem. And our fetishization for free speech and anonymity has resulted in a total lack of accountability.
It's not enough to say, "Well, I changed my mind." Or like, "Oh, this is bad. I'm out." It's like in very small ways, but in real ways, you and me and millions of people like us are the reason this is happening right now.
You're going to take money out of my wallet and food off my family's plate in the middle of my job here when you don't know what you're talking about. You're going to blame me for something that is absolutely not true. And I think I was sick of being criticized by everyone because everyone wanted it to be something else.
I really wanted to answer this central question of like, is he good for Indian people? Is Mark Wayne Mullen's political career something that benefits Native Americans?
When you're handling a crisis, and this is a crisis, the death of civilians, especially children, is obviously pretty ugly. You acknowledge the issue, you take responsibility, and you try and overcorrect.
I know that any army private to general who did the same thing would have been held to account and I think it's very important as a leader that the leaders subject themselves to the same disciplines that they subject others to.
The only reason you do this is if you were putting somebody else's needs first. We see again and again doctors in these files bending or breaking the rules of their profession. And often they treated Epstein as if he was the real client.
4mo ago
Underscored — save the words that stop you in your tracks.
