It struck me recently how few of the most successful people I know are mean. There are exceptions, but remarkably few.

she has always been struck both by how consistently successful startup founders turn out to be good people, and how consistently bad people fail as startup founders.

One is that being mean makes you stupid. That's why I hate fights. You never do your best work in a fight, because fights are not sufficiently general.

One is that being mean makes you stupid. That's why I hate fights. You never do your best work in a fight, because fights are not sufficiently general. Winning is always a function of the situation and the people involved.

Startups don't win by attacking. They win by transcending.

Another reason mean founders lose is that they can't get the best people to work for them.

A mean person can't convince the best people to work for him unless he is super convincing.

if you want to build great things, it helps to be driven by a spirit of benevolence. The startup founders who end up richest are not the ones driven by money.

When you think of successful people from history who weren't ruthless, you get mathematicians and writers and artists. The exciting thing is that their m.o. seems to be spreading.