Great Things, First Time

From Marc Andreessen, “Hiring, managing, promoting, and firing executives” (Pmarchive, August 28, 2007), Part 8 of “The Pmarca Guide to Startups.” The line closes the section titled “Promoting,” in which Andreessen argues startups should advance talented people fast (into executive roles, into bigger responsibilities) rather than waiting for candidates with established track records.

Read in context, “great things” here means executive-level work in a fast-moving startup, not generic accomplishment. The next sentence ties the principle back to hiring: “Returning to my theory of hiring, I’d rather have someone all fired up to do something for the first time than someone who’s done it before and isn’t that excited to do it again.” Energy and potential beat track record.