Was Barksdale Smart Or Lucky?
from the does-it-matter? dept
Now that Jim Barksdale’s venture capital firm is disbanding people are beginning to look at his legacy. The question is was he smart or lucky? The answer is probably both. The question I have is how much of the “luck” did he think was his own smarts? Many successful people give too much credit to their own skills without admitting to the many other factors that helped push them along. It seems clear to me that Barksdale is obviously smart, but that doesn’t mean he was necessarily a good manager or particularly visionary at any point.
