Success Has A Thousand Fathers

Back in the early days of AVC, I did a thing called VC Cliche Of The Week. There was an RSS feed of all of them powered by Delicious, but it is broken and most likely can't be fixed. You can find some of them on gawk.it.

One of the cliches I posted about is "success has a thousand fathers." I thought I would re-run that post. Here it is.

——————————————————————————————

You can count on it – when a deal works out spectacularly everyone involved will take credit for it.

This behavior is particularly annoying to the entrepreneurs who put the sweat, blood, and tears into the Company.

They watch the VCs take credit for the big success and it grates on them.

I have a couple rules that I try very hard to live by in this regard:
1- the management team always gets the credit.  VCs don't do the dirty work and should not get the accolades when things work out.
2 – don't gloat.  it's not becoming.  humility in times of great success is a very becoming characteristic.

But it's really hard to follow these rules when things work out well.  Because success doesn't come that often, and when it does, it has a thousand fathers.

#MBA Mondays#VC & Technology

Comments (Archived):

  1. Ed Freyfogle

    Stay humble and hungry

  2. Guest

    .

  3. Avi Deitcher

    Isn’t there a corollary, “success has a thousand fathers… and failure is a poor orphan” (or something like that)?

    1. fredwilson

      yup. that’s correct

    2. Avi Deitcher

      Am I insane that I like those “orphans”? Maybe that is why I went into consulting; I thrive on fixing failures.Maybe I should rename my consulting business: “BOA – Business Orphan Adoption” – “we take your orphan failure to having a thousand fathers!”Or maybe not… πŸ™‚

  4. Richard

    Those who have succeeded at anything and don’t mention luck are kidding themselves.Larry King

    1. William Mougayar

      Great one.

  5. James Ferguson @kWIQly

    You could turn this around neatly.A characteristic of great humility is success.Interestingly the roots of the word humble and human is humus – meaning on or of the ground (latin I think) -Being firmly on the solid ground is the only way to have traction !

  6. Conrad Ross Schulman

    Very funny quote yet so true. Every1 is going to want to claim their own, its natural. I think the only thing we can do is keep our cool and wink at the person who really did the dirty work.

  7. jerrycolonna

    Nicely done. On all fronts. Love, Jerry

    1. William Mougayar

      Reminded me of “Love is the killer App.”, fittingly written by Tim Sanders when he was a Yahoo.

  8. Guest

    Fred — do a thousand mothers take credit for successes too?

    1. fredwilson

      Yes

      1. Guest

        Some VCs deserve credit for the dirty work they do too. They’re the ones who have a similar courage for the long, tough haul as the mgmt team. They’re the ones who go out and bat for their investments in the way the VCs engage with audiences — be they users, other investors, media commentators, potential talent hires for the team and “wolves at the door”.Of course there are passive VCs who want quick flips, easy wins and to monopolise the glory.But as my mother says, “Success is not found with those who say smooth things but who walk a million miles with you until both your shoes are worn and your arms and hands are cut yet strong from helping each other up each unknown ledge of the mountain.”

  9. JJ Donovan

    Once again, proof why USV should be investors first stop to pitch their ideas! My best wishes for a fantastic day of excitement! JJD – amazed on the humble talent at USV

  10. takingpitches

    β€œThere is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.” – Ernest H

    1. kidmercury

      #upvoted

    2. fredwilson

      Great quote

    3. William Mougayar

      Benjamin Franklin said:”To be humble to superiors is a duty, to equals a courtesy, to inferiors nobleness.”

      1. LE

        One of the reasons Philly had no tall buildings for so many years is as a result of all that puritanical humble colonial type thinking.In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, there was a “gentlemen’s agreement” not to build any structure in Center City higher than the statue of William Penn on top of Philadelphia City Hall.That rule was finally broken by Williard Rouse in the 1980’s (to late) who happened to be the same guy who (iirc) stood up against some mafia shakedown.http://en.wikipedia.org/wik…The truth is there are many people that have gotten ahead by tooting their own horn, and not by being humble and acting like wall flowers (added for balance here) [2]. Different things work for different people and everyone has a different style. I remember very distinctly to this day the admissions officer in college saying “if you’re not going to toot your own horn nobody is going to do it for you”.A good example of not tooting a horn might be the country that you come from – Canada. When I think of Canada I think of a) humour b) hockey c) SNL d) Beer e) McGill f) Celine Dion [1]… my point being that Canada could be doing a much better job of horn tooting.[1] Which is really from the SNL skit about her being French Canadian and everyone loving her.[2] “We’re here we’re queer get used to it” also comes to mind as an example of not sitting on the sidelines waiting for someone to give you want you want.

        1. Kevin Prentiss

          I’m from Minnesota, which is basically Canada. Culture turned into DNA somewhere along the line and horn tooting just isn’t a skill in our make up. Totally agree though, both Canada and Minnesota could do a much better job of horn tooting. Won’t happen anytime soon : )

        2. William Mougayar

          Interesting!

    4. ShanaC

      ++

  11. laurie kalmanson

    #becauseawesome

  12. laurie kalmanson

    There’s a corollary about responsibility: A child with seven nurses is never watched

  13. Brad Lindenberg

    Timely piece given the likely visit to the yahoo pay window this week πŸ™‚

  14. William Mougayar

    Well, those that did the actual work know it, because they are the real team.”Some people succeed by what they know; some by what they do; and a few by what they are.” – Elbert Hubbard

    1. Donna Brewington White

      Great quote.

  15. JimHirshfield

    Noble rules.Congratulations on whatever part you had in forthcoming successes.

  16. Tom Labus

    That’s some honeymoon at YHOO!

  17. Pointsnfigures

    Agree. Congrats to you and USV. I am sure you pitched in all you could. The entrepreneurs get the credit but great coaches help

  18. falicon

    Awesome…but the ‘some of them’ bit saddens me. It should absolutely be *all* of them and in an effort to make sure it is, I’ll put it out to the community:I will give anyone that finds any historical AVC post gawk.it is missing and brings it to my attention $5 (or if they prefer I’ll donate the $5 on their behalf to Donors choose).

    1. Timothy Meade

      I wonder if it would be difficult to add “trending” keywords to your front page. It feels a little empty if you don’t already know what your searching for.

      1. falicon

        Great idea – I’ve played with a few variations on some of these things but have always leaned towards the less-is-more approach for the homepage (because there are just so many different use-cases people come to the service for).The mobile app home screen is actually a list of recent articles (stuff from the last 24 hours) that have had the most active conversations…I’ve been really enjoying that myself, so I’ve been toying with adding a version of that to the web homepage as well.

      2. falicon

        Threw in some updates inspired by your suggestion…let me know what you think when you have a minute… #THANKS!

        1. Kasi Viswanathan Agilandam

          I did and here are some comments….Liked the new look….and your avatar too….girlish …but likeable.1) I checked the home page and has not changed for the last 7-hours…i mean the list of post and the recent search list. How often do you update?2) Is it possible to show the latest-comment or most-liked comment alongside? (Instead of showing 30-long list you can cut it to 10-12 and show 2-3 lines of the top comment).3) How do you order them? by number of comments? or the latest active post?P.S. I searched for ‘imaging’ and found a hilarious picture – a pin-up calender of medical imaging.

          1. falicon

            Cool – few quick answers:1. It’s a rolling 24 hour window. So the list is continuously updated, but from a reader’s point of view, it will only feel like it truly updates about once a day (which is the intended use at the moment — come check the homepage once a day to catch up on where/what conversations are happening around the web recently).2. In some cases yes, but not in all…which is why I default to not showing the comments at all. The intention here is help you find the conversation, and then send you directly to the source to consume and engage with it there (ie. we are driving traffic and attention not stealing it).2b. The reason there are 30 in the list right now is that it is showing the recent top 10 from hacker news, 10 from reddit tech (for now tech. is the common audience), and 10 from gawk.it powered blogs…3. The order is by comment count (that our system knows about)…so the top item in the list is always the one that (our system thinks) has the *most* comments at that moment. So the initial filter is for the rolling 24 hours, then within that period it’s sorted by who we think has the most comments at a given moment.Awesome about the imaging photo…what blog/post was that on? Even at our small scale, I’m always amazed and thrilled at the high quality content found in the system!

          2. Kasi Viswanathan Agilandam

            My intention of showing the top comment/latest comment is not with intention of ‘stealing’ the attention….but would ad more context to 1-liner title.Well there are so many ways to look at what drives what…i thought the comment may ad a little color to the title.photo: it is on first few results when i searched for ‘imaging’…I am a medicalimaging guy and thought let me search who is talking about medical imaging on blog and was happy to find an article on the first page.

          3. falicon

            Yep – I am always trying to find that fine line between providing just enough, relevant, information for someone to decide if it’s worth clicking through or not…at the moment, I *think* the title and the domain source is enough in most cases…but I’m always watching usage and collecting feedback and am always open to improving based on that stuff. πŸ™‚

    2. Kasi Viswanathan Agilandam

      $5?….that is very low and shows you are not that confident on gawk.it as much as thecrowd here in AVC think of gawk.it πŸ™‚

      1. falicon

        I just sort of picked a price…it wasn’t so much about my confidence that we have 100% coverage (that’s not a selling point I focus on), it was more about wanting to motivate people to help us get there (community *is* the core value).What price should I put it at?

        1. kidmercury

          $0. i think this is a classic example where a non-monetary reward will be more appreciated and give you greater benefit than a monetary award. i think the ideal reward would be recognition, though that can be difficult unless you have a platform that can provide recognition. perhaps some cred on the commenter breakdown page? i don’t know. in any event, i think people will be inclined to help out for no reward.

          1. falicon

            I was initially just going to say I would give a “super awesome, unique, reward” to anyone that found something missing…but it felt a bit weak to not specify something (sadly cash still helps make one of the strongest statements).Let’s just say I’m more than willing to work out custom and personalized rewards for anyone that helps improve the system. πŸ™‚

          2. LE

            A personalized 1 minute thank you video would be unique, easy and long lasting.Actually maybe I’m on to something and that’s an idea for your next hack. (Kind of like http://fiverr.com/ meets twitter by way of youtube).

          3. falicon

            Thanks! Noted and stored away in the idea-vault for a rainy day of hacking πŸ˜‰

        2. Kasi Viswanathan Agilandam

          I was trying to be funny…a +100 … ur usual way would suffice if i found one.P.S. I second the suggestion by Timothy Meade

    3. ShanaC

      the problem isn’t necessarily the posts missing – it is the words associated with the post in our heads may not be in the post

      1. falicon

        Yes!That is the classic searchers dilemma and one of the most difficult things to fix from the search engine side of the system…at scale (ie. Google) the user just assumes they asked the wrong question and tries again…at start (my scale) users assume the system is missing something or just doesn’t work (and for them in that case, they are right)…but that’s just one of the many challenges that make building this exciting and fun…

        1. ShanaC

          weirdly I’m facing a problem like this at work – I have no idea how to map keywords in such a way that i can get “related” keywords easily (help would be nice if you know someone doing that)

          1. falicon

            Depends on your vertical and you want it to work really…but some good starting points:1. If you’ve got large enough volume, start by logging the keywords used to what is clicked on…then use the data within those clicked items to map ‘high potential’ related terms.2. Simply use a thesaurus service to get related terms for a given word.3. Depending on the search software you are using, they usually have at least a little bit of built-in thesaurus-like features already…here’s a discussion about a Lucene one ( http://stackoverflow.com/qu… )…in the end, it’s a balance of how much mapping you want to do up front and how much you can do based on usage analysis…and stuff like this is always a moving target πŸ™‚

    4. fredwilson

      i just wished i had tagged them in typepad. then they would be available as a category

      1. falicon

        Can you retro tag them? Perhaps I can figure out something that will make that process easier — or at the very least give you a way to ‘tag’ specific search results that you want to highlight as a group (actually that’s going on the to-do list now). πŸ™‚

        1. fredwilson

          i canit’s just work

          1. falicon

            amen.

  19. Jackie

    Obviously in reference to Yahoo acquistion of Tumblr.Also, Fred reference to Delicious not working like how it first did doesn’t go unnoticed. For those of you unaware, Yahoo years ago acquired Delicious and it was also. USV portfolio company as well.

    1. Korf

      Delicious is a product ready to be built upon and potentially disrupted if there ever was one… that said, I have a few thousand links in the laundry heap that is delicious which I use daily.

  20. Aaron Klein

    Congrats on Tumblr, Fred. I think we can all say that we’ve come a long way since Yahoo was dead to you. :)I love how the WSJ news alert practically quotes the USV thesis:”Veterans like Yahoo have shown they have staying powerβ€”and they have cash to spend. Companies like Tumblr have something valuable as well: the rapt attention of fast-growing communities of users.”

  21. Kasi Viswanathan Agilandam

    Success has thousand fathers.Failure has only one mother – the totally screwed and abandoned entrepreneur.

    1. PhilipSugar

      I was going to say “and failure is an orphan” but I like your quote better.

  22. awaldstein

    Bit congrats on Tumblr. $1.1B is a serious number and will change I’m certain some lives in a very big way.Humble as a poise around success feels very natural and sincere and right. Humble as a brag which is everywhere feels often just the opposite.

  23. ShanaC

    must be good to be getting out of the parenting stage

  24. JLM

    .The test in any bit of triumph is what one does next — the next instinctive action.I once hit a good lick and paid for a new roof on a church I had attended as a kid. The parish priest was unable to fathom why I did it. It was part penance, part karma, part fear and part gratitude.My Mother used to pray very hard for me in that church and I was an altar boy.But really it was for the parish priest who was also the basketball coach. I learned so much about life from him. I owed him that roof. I was happy to square that debt.Every time I ever see that church, I get a surge of something — pride, humility, karma — something.I know you do a lot of good works and that is something I admire about you greatly. Go put a roof on a church — well, maybe some disorganized religion knowing your views about organized religion.Congratulations!JLM.

    1. falicon

      I already liked and respected you based on your past shares…but this story moves you up yet another notch on the ladder. You live and improve the world by example. #AWESOME

    2. Kasi Viswanathan Agilandam

      I really really liked the way you put it….part penance, part karma, part fear and part gratitude….fearless statement.

    3. William Mougayar

      “I was happy to square that debt.”That part really resonated the most with me, because that “debt” was only in your mind, and no one expected you to pay it. That’s the best kind of debt. The one you don’t owe to anyone, except to yourself.

    4. fredwilson

      great advice. i will take it. i just need to find the right “church” and the right “roof”

      1. JamesHRH

        Great answer……

      2. markslater

        save our childrens future – find your own church and its own roof!

      3. PhilipSugar

        You have.

    5. takingpitches

      JLM, love this comment for a few reasons, not the least of which is the use of karma and penance in the same sentence.

  25. jimmystone

    Congratulations. This post is a perfect example of what makes this blog/community special.

  26. reece

    while i know this is a successful outcome, it doesn’t feel like “congratulations” is the right wordinstead, i want to say “thank you”thank you for seeing in Tumblr, in David, a product and vision that has become a meaningful part of many of our lives, at the very least mine**now let’s just hope Yahoo doesn’t fuck it up!

  27. DonRyan

    Pure class, Fred. Congrats on the terrific exit.

  28. Jevon

    I was having this discussion with someone who does PR for a small fund. He was saying that entrepreneurs owe it to their investors to let the investor “gloat” a bit.I told him that the best investors do what is best for the company first, entrepreneur second and then the fund third, because it all rolls up in to what is best for the fund anyway in the end.He didn’t get it.At the same time I think a lot of entrepreneurs really, really, like to share in the success. We get a high from building companies with people we like, and we get even more of a high when everyone can share in the success.My guess is that David K is thinking a lot less about himself right now and a lot about the lives he has changed on his team and the pride he can take in doing so well for the investors who believed in him.Success has a lot of fathers, but only one can be called Dad.

  29. karen_e

    It’s true – success has a thousand proud parents. I feel like I mothered Tumblr along just by being part of this blog community.

  30. Ben LeBlanc

    Well put, Fred. Those are good guidelines to follow in many walks of life. Congrats are still in order for the part you played. Well done.

  31. Ric Fulop

    Fred, I love this post. Lots of wisdom in it and at least for me not easy to live by. I still feel like I have to voice a well deserved congratulations. There may be a thousand fathers but not all of them are there from the beginning to the end. Ric

  32. PhilipSugar

    Everybody on the team should get credit and that includes the VC’s. How the press reports things?? Well that’s just the press. In my very, very limited experience the press never likes the we couldn’t have done this without everybody angle. They like the here is the lottery winner!!

    1. kidmercury

      the press has to tell a story, stories are easier to tell with a single main character around whom drama, emotions, and a whole 3 act structure can be created. i.e. “he came from humble beginnings, just a boy with a dream…..”

      1. LE

        Very true. To many things to think about lead to lack of interest for the public. It’s amazing that on the nightly news there can be a story of little consequence to everyone (like a single person being killed somewhere – why should I care?) juxtaposed against Kim Jung Un (as story number two) (arbitrary example although I’ve seen similar).In the “movie” that I will make, the main villain is the press (as opposed to in your movie the villain being the government.)

    2. Cam MacRae

      Exactly right. My previous company was born out of the partnership in another company and so had a large number of founders – only one of which, the current CEO, gets accolades in the press.How you manage this internally is really very important: Pithy quotes aside, success in the real world often does have a 1000 fathers.

      1. PhilipSugar

        It does. And what I do is let everybody listen to my phone calls with the press. They get to hear them. Then when the story comes out people aren’t mad at me they are mad at the reporter. That is the result of experience which was learned from much bitterness.

  33. kidmercury

    you gotta be humble and you have to brag at the same time. humility is important for your own psychology, tactful bragging is important for marketing and positive reputation that leads to valuable connections. humblebrag is where it’s at. which btw is my all-time favorite twitter feed, @humblebrag — the only twitter page i check from time to time. hilarous!

    1. LE

      Most excellent thoughts.”tactful bragging is important”I would add that from my observation some of the most happy people are those that are able to brag and relish even the smallest things that they do and think they are great and are hot shitThey don’t care what you think of them either.They are happy because of what they think you think of them (like the lady in the fur coat) not what you actually think of them. While others sit on the side lines feeling sorry for themselves and making fun of the braggers the braggers are happy in their own mind for even the smallest minor accomplishments. They get really jacked up at little things while others are always having a pity party about how bad their life is. So go ahead Mr. Writer make fun of Donald Trump if you want but I’m sure you will take his call if he wants to speak to you because he is Donald Trump and you’re not.As only one example, I know of a real estate investor in Philly that owns a few small buildings and just thinks he is the greatest thing since sliced bread. No mental issue, no depression a truly happy narcissistic guy. He doesn’t think he’s narcissistic but others do. And yet they flock to him because of his happy positive outlook and the way he toots the little horn that he has. This is a guy that gets jacked up if he manages to use an expired coupon at the local restaurant.On the other hand I’m almost certain that there are self loathing major developers in NYC (who may or may not be narcissistic) who just think they are shit because they are comparing themselves to the bigger fish out there that they have not become.Over time (since I was a kid) I’ve observed the evolution of people who are not in any event what you describe as “humble braggers”. They are outright flamboyant braggers and I’ve seen to many of them “fake it until they make it” to feel that there isn’t a basis for operating that way.That said everyone has a different level of comfort with bragging I don’t think you can graft a behavior that doesn’t feel right on an individual level no matter what you might stand to gain.

      1. Matt A. Myers

        I’ve not met any milestones that I feel are worth a humblebrag – I do hope to meet them, though no idea if I have set my aim too high and should be celebrating smaller victories. It’s hard to find a balance – and not sure anyone is in control of which they need and when; Perhaps is just an “ah ha!” moment when you realize you’ve accomplished something big / good.

    2. awaldstein

      love the twitter feed for humblebrag.often a really bad marketing strategy though. we sell value when we market. we need to be smart and sincere and clear. humble is not always part of that.

    3. Matt A. Myers

      Hilarious feed, thanks for sharing

  34. Dave W Baldwin

    Congratulations. Taking lead headline on Drudge is not a bad one either.

  35. jason wright

    what prompted you to reblog this?

    1. Donna Brewington White

      By now you probably know, yes?

      1. jason wright

        i do.”If you can meet with Triumph and DisasterAnd treat those two impostors just the same”in the style of this blog i sense a foreboding.

      2. jason wright

        … a thousand fathers yesterday, but nine hundred and ninety nine paternity tests tomorrow.

  36. Dirk Diggler

    If you see a fork in the road, take it – Yogi Bear

  37. Jonathan Cohen

    Nice post, Fred. Appreciate any VC – actually, anyone! – with this perspective. I hope Yahoo is able to continue to evolve what Tumblr has built.

  38. Chris Phenner

    I eagerly await the dissection of David Karp’s closer in his ‘Fuck yeah’ post, and whether that comment is self-directed, user-directed, financially-directed or otherwise-directed. I thought it was a great closer.And having typed the above, I actually won’t read any such dissection πŸ™‚

  39. Dominic Carrozza

    Fred, when you first started talking about Tumblr, I didn’t quite get the concept. It’s a great example of your ability to understand the pulse of this increasingly complex world of online media.

  40. William Mougayar

    A good example of success + humility is no further than Ev Williams, Jack Dorsey and Biz Stone. Despite their outstanding Twitter success, they are humbling down on their next companies- Medium, Square, Jelly.Funny how the 3 words tie together- can I have a medium square jelly please?

  41. howardlindzon

    ‘I am your Fartherrrrrrr Fredd’ !!!!

  42. howardlindzon

    All entrepreneurs should practice a letter to their team post acquisition or sale….Karp’s was a sweet one. I might have just avoided the sign off, but he said the right things for the team and retention and culture

  43. Brandon Burns

    #humblebrag

  44. btrautsc

    True leaders will deflect the accolades as much as possible. They will spend extra energy to push the praise to others… Watch any NBA post-game with a true superstar, successful founder interview, or great VC talk.See if they talk about all the things they did to win, or if they lay the glory at the feet of great teammates, engineers, coaches, hard work in practice…Sure, tons of people will come out of the woodwork to say “Hey, look, I did this!!”, but great leaders will stand up and say, “Look at this great team, this amazing investor who took a chance, or this advisor who pushed me every day.”

  45. LE

    “They watch the VCs take credit for the big success and it grates on them.”I think that people simply don’t want to acknowledge the role large role that gatekeepers play when there is a success.But noting that they are quick to complain if they can’t get anyone to see their vision or idea and aren’t able to pull it off without that money.The fact is that VC’s and angels deserve a huge amount of credit for the success of anything that works out where their money played an essential role. Which it did.Unfortunately they don’t realize that because they’ve never tried to run a company without that funny money, or had the ability to lose so much money and still stay afloat. We are not talking about college draft picks here where there are clear metrics to who has talent and who doesn’t. Or superstar talent that is just so huge that everyone could spot it. Most people or situations don’t fall into that category. It’s a total crap shoot (I’m guessing) in the large majority of cases. Perhaps others would have made an investment in David Karp but the fact is since the majority of startups don’t work out and the majority of investors pass on ideas (prior to that) the person who decides to go forward deserves a huge amount of credit to the success of something. How many stories are out there of rejection before someone believe in someone enough to write a check?So it’s true that “VCs don’t do the dirty work”. But it’s not their job to do the dirty work either. It’s their job to decide where to allocate capital among people who they feel are capable of doing the dirty work. It’s an absolutely essential and important part of the process.

  46. ObjectMethodology.com

    Let me go contrarian again. It’s been working good lately..Success has only one father but with a thousand leeches all sucking praise.

  47. LaVonne Reimer

    Congrats on the exit! As for the phrase in question, I was going to parse the heck out of it. Fathers? Why not mothers? And then it hit me that as stated, it is apt. Mothers are uniquely all in. That has to be the founder but hopefully not identified as such only with failure as one comment below cleverly framed it.

  48. panterosa,

    So many proud parents then!One of the nicest emotions you can have as a parent is pride – pride in your kid for their work.

  49. John Revay

    Just saw this post GIGAOM http://gigaom.com/2013/05/2…Naming the USV success to FW …Fred as you commented about hot hands

    1. fredwilson

      i left a comment on that post correcting some things

      1. JLM

        .Classy, very classy.Well played.JLM.

        1. fredwilson

          i also pimped out this blog post at AVC in the process!

          1. Donna Brewington White

            I laughed when I saw that. You are a rockstar, Fred.

  50. jason wright

    Yahoo doesn’t carry the baggage of News Corporation, but i wonder what percentage of the Tumblr user base will have stopped blogging there within the year?Opportunity knocks.

  51. vruz

    I think it’s a bit like raising kids. They’re not something that parents made singlehandledly.The fleshware, yes, it’s a hardwired thing in our species, to assume they’re an extension of ourselves. But the fleshware alone is only a medium, like a rough stone you carve and model to resemble the sculpture of an actual person.But children are also the wiring of their emotions, their intelligence and all the things that are a part of their personalities and behaviour, they’re a composite construct that borrows from all humans who nurtured them in a number of ways, from close relatives, siblings, aunts and uncles, grandparents, and then later in life close friends, teachers, professors, mentors etc.Younger entrepreneurs who are only children may have more difficulty understanding this, if they never had the chance to experience the process first hand.In many ways, it’s like raising kids, through the proverbial growing pains, to letting go allowing them to become an entity of their own.Acknowledging the role of everybody in growth is only the rational thing to do.You don’t even have to be a humble person or pretend being one, just acknowledge reality.You never do it on your own. Never.

  52. nyctelaviv

    Fred, you are a rock star and a mensch.

  53. Donna Brewington White

    Regardless of who does or does not take credit, sometimes there truly are many fathers. “It takes a village.” Makes for a bigger celebration. And this is worthy of a huge celebration.Brilliant. Congratulations.Does it go from Tumblr. to Tumblr! (?)

  54. Vineeth Kariappa

    Some ppl choose to gloat.

  55. Korf

    Great to see USV and Spark Capital get a great return on their support for personal expression and openness on the web.Hopefully both will double down on great new products and companies like Ghost http://kck.st/ZKpHXs and people like Ben Werdmuller https://plus.google.com/106… and the #indieweb which builds on the success of platforms like wordpress and tumblr.Thank you for helping fund and develop a better tomorrow.

  56. orangethirty

    On the other hand, failure is mostly orphan. Nobody usually wants it. It is generally considered as shameful. Though I don’t subscribe to this style of reasoning. In fact, it is owning up to failure what has allowed true advancement, in my case. Everywhere I go I tell people what I have tried and failed to do. It is my badge of honor. Why not? Most people spend their time thinking about doing something, but never do because they are afraid of failure. For me failure is the best evidence I can give anyone that I’m trying really hard to move forward. In a way, failure drives me. Sometimes more than success.

  57. Deepak Goel

    Great quote

  58. Deepak Goel

    There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.” – Ernest H

  59. Deepak Goel

    great advice. i will take it. i just need to find the right “church” and the right “roof”

  60. Deepak Goel

    I really really liked the way you put it….part penance, part karma, part fear and part gratitude….fearless statement.

  61. Deepak Goel

    great advice. i will take it. i just need to find the right “church” and the right “roof”