My rough sense is, approximately equal.
In B2B start-ups especially, I see one of two types of founders:
- Insanely, painfully smart. So smart your head hurts talking to them. So, so much smarter than me, that’s for sure.
- Just Extremely Smart. Magna Cum Laude at Harvard or MIT or Stanford smart (no matter where, or if they went to school). But not Summa smart.
Both work. The latter tend to somehow hire people even smart them them as VPE and so on. They have a smidge less ego and often a bit more innate charisma (and sales skills). The first category can’t ever hire anyone smarter than them, but they find a way.
Same with VCs. Some are so smart your head hurts. Others are just very, very smart, and know to invest in founders who often are smarter than them.
Magna vs. Summa. Both can work. For VCs and founders.
