tl;dr :

Three out of four venture backed companies don’t make it, and less than 1 percent achieve an initial public offering.

To succeed, an entrepreneur must understand the three main risks facing every technology chief executive:

1) Category risk: Is your market large, valuable, and growing? 

2) Competitive risk: Are you about to be disrupted?

3) Execution risk: Can you produce legendary results every quarter?

General Patton once said, “A good plan, violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan next week.”

Legendary companies have an almost military level of execution discipline. They focus on the keys to winning — people, process, and technology — and have clearly defined goals. This great execution comes from that elusive intangible characteristic called company culture.

I love that General Patton quote. So does Bill Gurley.