Image via Complex Original
From the outside looking in, there's no overlap between the world's of rap and technology start-ups. Ask venture capitalist Ben Horowitz, however, and he'll tell you the two are more related than you think. For over a year, the former CEO of Opsware, who founded the successful VC firm Andreessen Horowitz with Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen, has been using rap lyrics to break down certain business and managerial principles on his blog bhorowitz.com. His use of rap has led him to speak in front of the Congressional Black Caucus where he discussed the role African-Americans play in technology and social media. Speaking to the New York Times, Horowitz said that while traditional business literature can teach the mechanics, they can't teach passion or feeling. “The hard part is how you feel," he said. "Rap helps me connect emotionally.” To see just how good his taste in rap is, we went through Ben's blog and picked the best references.
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Rakim, Follow The Leader
Post: "Why We Prefer Founding CEOs"
Date: 4/28/2010
Lyrics: "You're just a rent-a-rapper, your rhymes are minute-maid/ I'll be here when it fade to watch you flip like a renegade"
Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz believe the best person to run a technology company is the founder. They don't believe in, to paraphrase the God MC, rent-a-ceos. In his post "Why We Prefer Founding CEOs," Horowitz explains just that, saying " Professional CEOs are effective at maximizing, but not finding, product cycles. Conversely, founding CEOs are excellent at finding, but not maximizing, product cycles. Our experience shows-and the data supports-that teaching a founding CEO how to maximize the product cycle is easier than teaching the professional CEO how to find the new product cycle."
Kanye West, Good Morning
Post: "How Andreessen Horowitz Evaluates CEOs"
Date: 5/30/2010
Lyrics: "I mean damn, did you even see the test/ You got D's, motherf*$@%&, D's! Rosie Perez"
Kanye's memorable line may seem like an odd choice for a post titled "How Andreessen Horowitz evaluated CEOs." But once you read it and see Horowitz is talking about the three-question test is administers to CEOs of companies his firm is considering investing in, it begins to make sense. If you're thinking of creating a start-up, it'd do you some good to read over what he and his partners look for in a potential CEO.
Nas, Hip Hop is Dead
Post: "What's the Most Difficult CEO Skill? Managing Your Own Psychology"
Date: 4/1/2011
Lyrics: "You can't blame Jazz Musicians/ or David Stern with his NBA fashion issues"
On the title track of his eight album, Nas tells listeners that when it comes to the problems he sees in the rap game, the fingers should be pointed inward. Horowitz, when talking about managing his own psychology as a CEO, relates. When problem arise at a company, Horowitz, says the blame lies squarely with the CEO.
Bushwick Bill, Fuck a War
Post: "Peacetime CEO/Wartime CEO"
Date: 4/15/2011
Lyrics: "You're lucky that I ain't the president/ Cause I'll push the f*#king button and get it over with/ F&$k all that waiting and procrastinating/ And all that goddamn negotiating"
Anytime someone can reference Bushwick Bill is considered a win in our book. But when someone can reference a Bushwick Bill lyric and use it to explain the difference between a CEO who's only good on the front lines and one who's good at getting things done behind the scenes when things are not all rosy, well, that's just great.
Dorrough, Old School Nikes
Post: "ShoeDazzle"
Date: 5/17/2011
Lyrics: "Brand new kicks diet/ I want everyone to try it/ I only got one motto/ If the shoe fits buy it"
When talking about his firm's investment in ShoeDazzle, Horowitz could have used hundreds of different songs that talk about shoes. Instead, he choose a Dorrough single, Old School Nikes. Props.
Lil Wayne, Swag Surfin
Post: "Why the Browser Matters"
Date: 6/28/2011
Lyrics: "Lost some real n%^$as I knew from a long time ago/ But Heaven or Hell, I'm hoping that they be where I'm a go"
At first glance, the Lil Wayne's lyric from his No Ceilings mix tape doesn't seem to fit with Horowitz's post about the evolution, or lack there of, of the web browser. Then you get to the last paragraph where he talks about one of his bosses at Mozilla, Mike Homer, who passed away from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Then it all makes perfect sense.
Ice Cube, Go to Church
Post: "The Fine Line Between Fear and Courage"
Date: 8/8/2011
Lyrics: "If you a scared motherf%^*&r, go to church"
"In my experience as CEO, I found that the most important decisions tested my courage far more than my intelligence," says Horowitz in this post that aims to explain how important courage is for an aspiring CEO.
Dr. Dre, The Watcher
Post: "Preparing to Fire an Executive"
Date: 8/24/2011
Lyrics: "N*&$!s get capped up and wrapped in plastic zipped up in bags when it happens, that's it."
We're not sure what this part of Dre's verse from The Watcher has to do with firing a CEO, it's a great line nonetheless. So, props.
Outkast, Church
Post: "Why has Andreessen Horowitz raised $2.7B in 3 years?"
Date: 1/13/2012
Lyrics: "Man, have you ever really wondered/ Like why are we here? What the meaning of all this?"
At the top of 2012, Horowitz took some time to explain to people why he and Marc Andreessen founded their VC firm, which at that point had raised $2.7 billion. Makes sense then to use a line from the last Outkast album that asks forces people to take a moment and reflect on their purpose.
Drake, Right Above It
Post: "The Freaky Friday Management Technique"
Date: 1/19/2012
Lyrics: "We walk the same path, but got on different shoes/ Live in the same building, but we got different views"
Just because you think you can do someone else's job doesn't mean you can. Just as you may live in the same building as, say, Drake, you ain't gonna have the same views. In this post, Horowitz talks about switching the heads of sales and customer support, who were beefing, to show them the hardships each one deals with on a day-to-day basis.
Heavy D, We Got Our Own Thang
Post: "How to Start a Movement"
Date: 3/8/2012
Lyrics: Understand this before you make a comment/ Because there's always a meaning in a Heavy D statement/ In this life I strive for improvement/ Be your own guide follow your own movement"
No one's going to believe in you or your dream as much as you do. Waiting for other people to validate your wants and needs is ridiculous. Using cancer survivor Jim Gilliam as an example of someone who created movements based on unnerving beliefs, Horowitz makes it clear that when you want to do something, you should, as the late great Heavy D said, "be your own guide follow your own movement."
Ma$e, Lookin' At Me
Post: "Instagram"
Date: 4/22/2012
Lyrics: Now what the hell is you lookin' for?/ Can't a young man get money anymore?/ Let my pants sag down to the floor/ Really do it matter as long as I score?"
When Kevin Systrom's start-up Instagram was seeking funding, Andreessen Horowitz invested $250,000. A sizable sum of dough for a company ran by an unproven CEO. It all paid off, though, when Facebook copped it for $1 billion, netting the VC firm $78,000,000. Still, many people wondered aloud why the two never invested more in Instagram. Hindsight is always 20/20, but Ben just wants to know, "really do it matter as long as I score?"
Jay-Z, A Week Ago
Post: "Demoting a Loyal Friend"
Date: 4/24/2012
Lyrics: It was cool when you had hell of weed to smoke/ And you bought a new home where you could keep your folks/ I don't see how this side of you could be provoked/ It was all good just a week ago."
We've all had situations where we stop for a minute and think about how a friendship with a close friend has become estranged. It always seems, like Too Short said, as if it was all good just a week ago. That feeling must sting twice as bad if you needed to fire a good friend from a company he or she has busted their ass for. In this post, Horowitz explains the best way to let go of an employee who is a close friend of yours.
The Game, Don't Need Your Love
Post: "Is Now the Time to Hire MBAs?"
Date: 5/18/2012
Lyrics: "First they hate you, then they love you, then they hate you again/ What the f*ck do it take for a gangsta to win?"
Even though The Game probably bit these lyrics from Jay-Z's Meet the Parents they still prove applicable to Horowitz's post about the hiring of employees with Masters in Business Administration. With the general consensus being not to hire people with MBAs because their training prevents them from adapting to start-ups, Ben says maybe it's time to show them some love.
Lupe Fiasco, Beautiful Lasers
Post: "The Struggle"
Date: 6/15/2012
Lyrics: Don't admit that your faith is weak/ Don't say that you feel like dying/ Life's hard then it feels like diamonds/ Your home's just far too gone/ Much too late to even feel like trying/ Can't understand what I'm saying/ Can't figure out what I'm implying/ If you feel you don't wanna be alive/ You feel just how I am"
Frequent Twitter enough and you'll come to find that the term struggle has taken on a life of its own. But in the start-up work, Horowitz has a couple ideas about what "the struggle" is including "when people ask you why don't quit and you don't know the answer." To help those that may be going through "the struggle" he outlines a six bullet points that "may or may not help," and enlists the lyrics of Chi-Town's Lupe Fiasco to remind people that they shouldn't lose hope when the walls feel like they're closing in.
Dr. Dre, Let Me Ride
Post: "A Good Place to Work"
Date: 8/8/2012
Lyrics: "It's just another mutherf*ckin' day for Dre, so I begin like this/ No medallions, dreadlocks, or black fists/ Just that gangsta glare with the gangsta raps"
A good day for Dre used to involve nothing more than a gangsta glare and gangsta raps. On the other hand, a good day for Horowitz consisted of his employees doing what they were employed to do, in turn making the company a better place for everybody.
Public Enemy, Fight The Power
Post: "Revolution at the Edge"
Date: 8/12/2012
Lyrics: "It's a start, a work of art/ To revolutionize make a change nothing's strange/ People, people we are the same/ No we're not the same/ Cause we don't know the game/ What we need is awareness, we can't get careless/ You say what is this?"
Just because Ben wasn't helping the keyboard for a day doesn't mean the rap stops. Never that. When Christian Gheorghe, founder and CEO of analytics company Tidemark, wrote a guest post on revolutions in certain sectors of the technology, Public Enemey's classic Fight the Power was quoted.
Rick Ross, Sixteen
Post: "One on One"
Date: 8/30/2012
Lyrics: "It's funny because it's been on my mind lately/ Having a dope beat, dope idea.../Sixteen bars ain't enough!/ How the f*ck can I squeeze my whole life into a 16 bar verse?"
Though technically not part of a verse, the intro to the Andre 3000-featured track from God Forgives, I Don't deals with Rick Ross having so much to say that he can't possibly fit it all in one verse. Horowitz riffs off this idea by talking about the importance of the one-on-one meeting in a work place. Have something to say to an employee that's too much for a staff meeting? Pull 'em aside.
Kanye West, New God Flow
Post: "Old People"
Date: 12/5/2012
Lyrics: "Aww man, you sold your soul/ Naww man, mad people was frontin'/ Aww man, made something from nothing"
Anytime a popular company makes a drastic change to its management, people lament that it has either lost its way or, worse, its soul. In his post titled "Old People," Horowitz goes through pros and cons of new start-ups, usually created by founders who've shed blood, sweat, and tears to make it happen, hiring senior executives to help run the company. What are the pros? "Hiring someone who has already done what you are trying to do can radically speed up your time to success." But beware: If a senior person is hired and the company is unable to "acquire knowledge and experience in a specific area" everything can fall apart.
Jay-Z, Izzo (H.O.V.A.)
Post: "Programming Your Culture"
Date: 12/18/2012
Lyrics: " I do this for my culture/ To let them know what a n@#!a look like when a ni&%!a in a Roadster/ Show them how to move in a room full of vultures/ Industry is shady, it needs to be taken over/ Label owners hate me, I'm raising the status quo up/ I'm overcharging n$%^a for what they did to the Cold Crush"
While Hov's memorable line from the Kanye-produced Blueprint single was speaking of the larger hip hop culture, Horowitz uses the bars as an in to speak about the importance of a company's culture. After running through what doesn't count as culture-yoga and dogs at work-he gives some great examples of what can create a great corporate culture. "I described the CEO job as knowing what to do and getting the company to do what you want," wrote Horowitz. "Designing a proper company culture will help you get your company to do what you want in certain important areas for a very long time." We think Jigga would agree.
