Questioning Jim Clark's Visionary Status

from the built-to-flip? dept

Jim Clark has been one of the more untouchable people in Silicon Valley. You very rarely hear anything negative about him at all. However, here's an article that questions just how visionary he really is. They also suggest that, even if he is visionary, he clearly has problems following through on that vision. While I do think that Clark's image as having the "golden touch" was a bit exaggerated, I don't think the article really has a strong argument. There are different types of startup people out there. Some are very good at coming up with ideas, and some are very good at building companies. Occasionally, someone will be both of those, but if they're not it's better that the person recognizes their area of strength. It seems pretty clear that Clark knows he's good at coming up with the ideas. He also steps aside very early on in the execution. I think he would probably agree with a lot of the article and then ask "So what?".