Goldman Sachs Chairman and Chief Executive Officer David Solomon interviewed Greylock partner and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman at the Builders + Innovators Summit in Sonoma County, California.
The duo discussed Hoffman’s motivations to become an entrepreneur, the future of social media and the evolution of artificial intelligence.
On what prompted him to become an entrepreneur, Hoffman said: โI understood about technology entrepreneurship and about the fact that if you create these products, you can redefine the scope of society, the nature of global humanity.โ
On characteristics to look for in an entrepreneur, Hoffman said he’s on a lookout for “a combination of persistence and flexibility”.
“Thereโs kind of this yin-yang of these things, where itโs like, on one hand, I have a vision Iโve thought about deeply, Iโve got conviction in what Iโm doing. On the other hand, I am learning, Iโm adapting, Iโm asking questions.โ
On getting a โuseful noโ you can learn from: โAlways go and ask people โWhat’s wrong with my idea? What’s wrong with my strategy? What’s wrong with my business? What’s wrong with it?โ because then you get potentially useful feedback. If you show up and say, โHey, what do you think?โ Then people say, โOh, you want reassurance? Oh, it’s great.โ That’s not very helpful.โ
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