Antonio Garcia Martinez sold his startup for $10 million to Twitter just a year after founding. Then at Facebook, he was part of the rise of the most successful startup in the last 20 years.
This week, I dug into Chaos Monkeys, his inside story of how startupland really works.
The Biggest Problems Are People Problems
The closeness of AdGrok was incredible. Martinez even began to recognize the odors of his co-founders, cooped up as they were in a tiny apartment.
That familiarity can breed contempt. Martinez dealt with one co-founder becoming increasingly disengaged and the other testy.
It turns out the human element is the hardest part:
“People go into startups thinking that the technical problems are the challenges. In practice, the technical stuff is easy, unless you’re incompetent or really at the hairy edge of human knowledge — for example, putting a man on Mars. No, every real problem in startups is a people problem, and as such they’re the hardest to solve, as they often don’t have a real solution, much less a ready software fix. Startups are experiments in group psychology. As CEO, you’re both the therapist leader, and the patient most in need of therapy.”
A wonderful company I invested in some time ago is succumbing to people problems now. They had everything in their favor: a great product, incredible growth, and backing from a top VC.
But the co-founders couldn’t get along, and one was pushed out. Today, the company is languishing and may not survive.
What a shame! If you can get the human part right, you’re well on your way to success.
Facebook vs. Google
In 2011, Google launched Google Plus to kneecap Facebook and take social media for themselves. For me, this was the most striking story in Chaos Monkeys.
On a Sunday morning shortly after Google Plus launched, Martinez decided to see what was going on at Google HQ. He drove the short distance from Facebook to the Googleplex in nearby Mountain View.
Pulling into the parking lot, he noticed something strange:
“It was empty, completely empty.
Interesting.
I got back on the 101 North and drove to Facebook.
At the California Avenue building, I had to hunt for a parking spot. The lot was full.
It was clear which company was fighting to the death.”
Beating the Big Guys
Facebook was successful in 2011, but Google was far larger. Nonetheless, Facebook prevailed. Google Plus never became popular and folded quietly a few years later.
This is how smaller companies can beat the giants.
For Google, Google Plus was but one in a wide variety of products. For Facebook, social media was all they had.
Facebook had the will to fight to the death. Google didn’t.
If you’re running a startup and you are worried about a big competitor, keep in mind that you have something they don’t: single-minded purpose. You care deeply, and it’s this or nothing.
Your competition is a Product Manager in a giant organization with numerous priorities. You can beat them, if you try.
Wrap-Up
In the end, Martinez was fired from Facebook when the company shelved the product he was working on. He never saw much of the millions he hoped for. But his book was a hit, reaching the best seller list.
Chaos Monkeys paints a vivid picture of life inside a startup. For Martinez, it was intense, emotional, and by turns rewarding and dispiriting.
As someone who invests in startups but never started one, I learned a lot from Chaos Monkeys about the stress founders are under. That will help me relate to them better in the future.
Have you read Chaos Monkeys? Do you plan to?
Leave a comment and let us know!
If you enjoyed this post, subscribe for more like this!
More on business:
Meet My Latest Investment: Zest
Talking Follow-On Strategy with JCal
Save Money on Stuff I Use:
This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.
More on Fundrise in this post.
If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!
I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!
I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.
Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order.
Tremendous 
Leave a comment