[startingup]

I attended a presentation he made some time ago, and came away really impressed. He has a remarkably clear vision, understands what not to do as much as what to do, and seems to know his own strengths and weaknesses. I agree - he is a remarkable CEO.

[Periodic]

I attended a presentation by him I think two years ago at Startup Camp. I was rather unimpressed. He arrived and confessed he really hadn't given it much though, he hadn't prepared at all, and so launched into 45 minutes of rambling. Basically all his advice could be summed with, "Just do what I did."

Obviously, the company has come a long way since then, and I doubt someone as smart as him wouldn't have learned a lot during that time.

I hope that sometime soon I can see him again so I can change my impression.

[mrshoe]

I would even sum up his advice as, "Do exactly the opposite of what these other smart people like Mitch Kapor have been telling you to do today."

Of course, as you mentioned, he arrived just in time for his talk, so he didn't even know that he was directly contradicting the advice of previous speakers.

He also scoffed at any form of testing when an audience member asked.

I was beyond unimpressed. Hopefully he redeems himself this year.