Strength Not Weakness Investing

Judge people by their world-class strengths, not by the worst thing that ever happened to them

Ben Horowitz
$46B of hard truths: Why founders fail and why you need to run toward fear

Strength Not Weakness Investing

"You don't judge a person by the worst thing that ever happened to them. We've all had bad things happen to us. We've all made bad decisions. Most of them, they don't make a miniseries about." - Ben Horowitz

What It Is

Strength Not Weakness Investing is the principle that when evaluating people—whether for hiring, investing, or partnerships—you should focus on their world-class capabilities rather than their failures or flaws. Everyone has made mistakes; the question is what they can do when at their best.

This framework is particularly relevant in venture capital, where the bet is fundamentally on the entrepreneur. But it applies broadly to any talent evaluation. Ben Horowitz uses Andreessen Horowitz's controversial investment in Adam Neumann (post-WeWork) as the defining example: despite public criticism for backing someone after a high-profile failure, they focused on what Adam did brilliantly at WeWork.

How It Works

The Mistake People Make:

  • Focus on failures, mistakes, and weaknesses
  • Throw away talented people based on worst moments
  • Miss the world-class capabilities underneath

The Strength-Based Approach:

  • Ask: "What did this person do exceptionally well?"
  • Recognize that flaws are universal and often addressable
  • Surround people with others who compensate for weaknesses
  • Coach on weaknesses; invest in strengths

The Adam Neumann Example:

  • What went wrong: inexperience + nobody telling him the truth + not listening
  • What went right: "Name a more important commercial real estate brand than WeWork. You can't."
  • The decision: Focus on the spectacular accomplishment, help address the flaws

How to Apply It

  1. Identify world-class strengths first - "I want to know how good, are they world-class? Do they have a world-class strength? And can that beat anybody?"

  2. Contextualize the failures - Were they systemic or situational? What circumstances contributed?

  3. Separate the person from the narrative - Media stories optimize for drama, not accuracy

  4. Design support for weaknesses - "Put the right person on the board who can talk to them"

  5. Match roles to strengths - Ben sits on Adam's board specifically because "I'm the one who's good at killing a guy who's that confident when he's like, 'Okay, that's not your best idea.'"

When to Use It

  • When hiring someone with a mixed track record
  • When deciding whether to give someone a second chance
  • When investing in founders who've had public failures
  • When building teams and assigning roles
  • When evaluating your own career after setbacks

The Al Davis Principle

"Coach players on what they can do."

This quote from Al Davis (former Oakland Raiders owner) encapsulates the philosophy. You can't coach someone to have strengths they don't have, but you can maximize the strengths they do have and build systems that minimize their weaknesses.

The Counter-Example: The Press

Ben Horowitz explicitly calls out how media coverage distorts talent evaluation:

"The world was so mad at us for not throwing him away, for believing in him."

The press optimizes for engaging narratives, not accurate talent assessment. Someone's worst moment makes better content than their best capabilities. This creates systematic undervaluation of people who've had public failures—which creates opportunities for those willing to look deeper.

Source

  • Guest: Ben Horowitz
  • Episode: "$46B of hard truths: Why founders fail and why you need to run toward fear"
  • Key Discussion: (00:51:35) - Extended discussion on investing in Adam Neumann and judging people by strengths
  • YouTube: Watch on YouTube

Related Frameworks

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