Scott Weiss
Scott Weiss
Scott Weiss is a venture capitalist at the Silicon Valley firm Andreessen Horowitz, joining in April 2011 as the firm’s fourth general partner. A native of Sarasota, Florida, he founded and was CEO of IronPort Systems, which Cisco acquired in 2007 for $830 million. Weiss has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Florida and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBusinessman
CountryUnited States of America
currently experts recruit
The experts typically know where the other best-in-the-world talents are currently working and can help you recruit them in with a credible intro.
board business explore help opinions poles problems sharp surface
The thorniest business problems will surface at the board meetings, and the different, sharp opinions help to better explore the poles of the arguments to make better decisions.
helpful home rarely stated values
One of the stated values at IronPort was 'work/life balance,' but I wasn't living it. I was rarely home. And when I was home, well, let's just say I wasn't particularly helpful or cheery.
email former investors list open people relevant source
When my co-founder and I first had the idea for IronPort, an email security company, we triangulated a list of the 20 most relevant people in email - former CEOs, open source technologists, investors and thought leaders.
best board ceos checking elected extensive means members reference sheet term themselves
The best board members aren't elected by default. CEOs that set themselves up with their choice of board member - which means getting more than one term sheet and doing extensive reference checking - are better off.
attend believe breakfast busiest business drive owners pack partner possible school
It's just not possible to be a real partner if you aren't materially participating. I believe even the busiest business owners must drive a carpool, pack a lunch, help with homework, make a breakfast or dinner, and consistently attend school events.
amazingly drive fast frequently generous love means moment money parking slow time work
Be generous with your time and money - it has an amazingly fast payback. Be in the moment with everyone you love - and this frequently means tuning out work completely. And drive slow in parking lots.
authentic founder list low might product sounds telling
At the core, coaching authenticity is complicated - some might say impossible. Telling someone to be authentic sounds pretty low calorie, especially to a founder plowing through a list of product and operational goals. But it's important.
forget founders hungry muscle notion product talk
At Andreessen Horowitz, we talk about the notion of being 'too hungry to eat.' That's to say, we often see startups that are so entrenched in the product that the founders forget they need muscle to grow.
fully guarded patent rookie spend
One of the rookie mistakes first-time entrepreneurs often make is to be too guarded about their idea - in fact, many will actually spend their first $25,000 on patent lawyers without ever fully vetting their product.
board business contribute member needs showing success
Being on a board is not just about showing up for the meetings. A board member needs to materially contribute to the success of the business.
legitimate scale shot
As a first-time CEO, I wasn't sure if I would scale to run IronPort long-term. But I wanted a legitimate shot at it.
affects developing directly essence extremely good healthy hiring operation overall practices reflects success
Developing a good, healthy culture is extremely important at a startup. Culture reflects the essence of a startup's operation because it directly affects the success of a company's hiring practices and overall strategy.
basis hear regular spots
It's important for a leader to hear about his blind spots on a regular basis so working on them is periodically top of mind.