[russell]

You get what you measure. Frederick Taylor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Winslow_Taylor ) invented "Scientific Management" by measuring the behavior of manufacturing employees at Western Electric. He got amazing results. Only later was it observed that any goup of people improved their efficiency if they knew they were being watched. Another corollary: if you give salesmen higher commissions for product warranties, they will sell warranties at the expense of actual product. So if VC's ask for quantifiable "traction", they will get quantifiable "traction" at the expense of real innovation. Of course, it looks slightly wrong to the VC's, just as backing the "perfect team" gives only a 10% chance of a home run.

A disruptive venture is going to be disruptive because it cant be quantified, giving rise to "I cant define it but I know it when I see it." Or maybe not. Ask the VC's that passed on Google.

[skmurphy]

The Hawthorn experiments were run by Elton Mayo. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawthorne_effect http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elton_Mayo

A disruptive venture can be quantified by revenue (at least in hindsight).

[mspeiser]

In hindsight...

"Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life."

http://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html

[skmurphy]

"Life must be lived forward but can only be understood backward." Soren Kierkegaard

[mspeiser]

Well said.