YC
Diane Greene's Advice for Founders
@ Y Combinator
08/09/17
Takeaways
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Diane Greene
08/09/17
@ Y Combinator
It's incredibly exciting to see over 800 female founders from around the world, many of you starting your careers and developing your companies.
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Diane Greene
08/09/17
@ Y Combinator
I co-founded and was the CEO of three startups, starting with V-Extreme in 1995, where we developed low bandwidth streaming video technology that was sold to Microsoft for $75 million in 1997.
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Diane Greene
08/09/17
@ Y Combinator
At VMware, we launched the virtualization revolution in 1998 and took the company public in 2007, achieving a market cap of $19.1 billion on the first day.
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Diane Greene
08/09/17
@ Y Combinator
My last startup, bbop, was founded in 2013 and sold to Google in 2015 for $380 million, with my portion of the proceeds committed to nonprofits through a donor-advised fund.
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Diane Greene
08/09/17
@ Y Combinator
Before my startups, I built technology inside larger companies, including developing asynchronous input/output software that outperformed major database companies.
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Diane Greene
08/09/17
@ Y Combinator
My experiences sailing and racing boats have significantly contributed to my independence and the value I place on my own vision. Observe with great care what the market is telling you and find a way to execute your goals, whether it's achieving a specific target or building a company.
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Diane Greene
08/09/17
@ Y Combinator
Building a company is akin to racing a sailboat; you need a plan and the ability to re-evaluate it in real time as new information arises.
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Diane Greene
08/09/17
@ Y Combinator
In a race, each mark is a milestone where you must evaluate your progress and adjust your strategy accordingly.
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Diane Greene
08/09/17
@ Y Combinator
When making decisions, be prepared to act quickly as circumstances change; the race won't wait for you.
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Diane Greene
08/09/17
@ Y Combinator
The selection of your team is crucial; it's impossible to be an effective leader without the right people in the right roles.
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Diane Greene
08/09/17
@ Y Combinator
Founders need to be solidly aligned, and a startup has a better chance of success with a limited number of founders; too many can complicate decision-making.
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Diane Greene
08/09/17
@ Y Combinator
No one is indispensable; it's essential to have the right mix of talents and personalities on your team.
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Diane Greene
08/09/17
@ Y Combinator
To induce market acceptance of a major innovation, design and market it in a way that makes its adoption non-disruptive and easy to integrate with existing systems.
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Diane Greene
08/09/17
@ Y Combinator
At VMware, we created a tool that seamlessly migrated workloads from physical to virtual machines, which significantly boosted our sales.
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Diane Greene
08/09/17
@ Y Combinator
Don't let setbacks stop your progress; if one solution fails, there are always alternative paths to explore.
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Diane Greene
08/09/17
@ Y Combinator
Creating the right corporate culture is essential; foster a sense of importance for every individual and encourage open communication and collaboration.
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Diane Greene
08/09/17
@ Y Combinator
In my experience, tenacity pays off; perseverance can lead to significant breakthroughs in design and functionality.
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Diane Greene
08/09/17
@ Y Combinator
As head of Google Cloud, I've learned that building an enterprise startup within a large company requires attention to the cultures of both the parent company and the startup.
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Diane Greene
08/09/17
@ Y Combinator
Always focus on creating value for customers and partners; this is the foundation of success in any venture.
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Diane Greene
08/09/17
@ Y Combinator
Give your all to your goals, not just to win, but out of respect for the process and the joy of building something meaningful.
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Diane Greene
08/09/17
@ Y Combinator
The understanding that the process matters more than the outcome will be your greatest source of strength in the face of adversity.