Eric Siu explains why most businesses fail: hiring the wrong people leads to a "bozo explosion" that tanks culture, and founders think in years instead of decades. Steve Jobs and Warren Buffett both played the long game.
So here's why most businesses get stuck and ultimately fail. Number 1, they don't hire the best people. Steve Jobs has always talked about hiring great people at Apple, A players that tell them what to do versus needing to be told what to do. B players end up hiring C players, C players end up hiring D players, and then ultimately you get the bozo explosion. Number 2, they don't think in decade-long outcomes. So when most people start a business, they think they want to sell it quickly, or they might think about working on it for a couple of years or so. Maybe in some cases think about working on the business for about 10 years or so. But the reality is you have to work on it for 20, 30, 40, 50 years. Plus. And when you look at Uncle Warren Buffett, well into his 90s, he's still playing the game because he enjoys the game, and the game is really about outlasting people.
