Neil Weintraut is more closely tied to the founding of Internet companies than perhaps any other individual. In 1996, he founded 21st Century Internet Venture Partners, and he's visited countless garages in search of places to park his dump truck. But the thing is, he's selective. They can explain at length how their Java applications are going to run better than classical software and how it's easier to program, but they can't tell me why the customer cares. People like us really aren't about money.
Silicon Valley is awash in money.
If all we were was a broker of money, our role in life would be more at risk than a stockbroker's. You can't just have one innovation, throw it at customers, and then go to the islands. That innovation is a starting point for you to perpetually innovate for the rest of your life. And the day you stop innovating is the beginning of the end of your company. When you launch a start-up, what you have done is created the opportunity to get out front and run like hell.