Naval Ravikant on the most valuable advice he’s received

When asked about the best advice he’s ever received, Naval says he first ignored it.

“It's the same [piece of advice] that everyone who's been in the business for a long time and has a lot of gray hairs tells you… whether it's Warren Buffett telling you about public investing or whether it's an experienced venture capitalist telling you about private investing… They'll all tell you, ‘It’s the people, stupid.’”

Naval argues in the clip below that there are three qualities to look for in a partner: intelligence, energy and integrity.

“You need all three. You can't compromise on any one of them. Otherwise you'll end up with either someone who's not smart (which does you no good) or someone who's not hardworking (which also does you no good) or the worst case is you end up with a smart, hardworking crook who ends up working against your interests.”

Full video: GigaOm “Naval Ravikant Talks Entrepreneurship” (May 2010)

P.S. We’ve put together a YouTube playlist with every Naval Ravikant insight we’ve ever shared. You can watch it here: "Best startup advice from Naval Ravikant"