Ali Partovi. Founder and CEO of Neo
From “idea as infection” to de‑risking through action — lessons from an SV Icons night.
Still thinking about our dinner with Ali Partovi last month. It was one of those conversations that left the room re-evaluating how we think about risk, building and conviction around an idea.
A few takeaways that really stuck with me:
💭 1. “You don’t decide to start a company — you get infected by an idea.”
Ali described entrepreneurship as something irrational. You try to talk yourself out of it, poke holes in it, and move on, but if you still can’t shake it off, that’s when you know it’s worth building. “It’s like a disease you can’t cure,” he said. This obsession helps carry you through the chaos.
⚡ 2. Fear is the quiet killer of startups.
His biggest regret was trying to hedge his risks. “Every time you act out of fear, you lower both risk and reward.”
Ali talked about how one company failed because they diversified prematurely by adding new products to “de-risk.” However, all it did was just diluted focus. Startups are about choosing which risk you want to live with.
🧲 3. “I ask one question before I invest: if this person started something, how many of their smartest friends would want to join?”
He said he’s drawn to founders who are magnetic, people others want to follow because they radiate conviction and drive. The kind of person who makes you raise your own bar just by being around them. This line says everything about leadership, culture, and momentum.
👩💻 4. Computer science teaches more than coding.
Ali’s belief: “CS is a great predictor of future founders”, because coding trains your brain to break big, intimidating problems into smaller solvable parts, which is the same mindset you need to scale a team or a product.
🔥 5. “De-risking doesn’t mean avoiding risk. It means taking it — and learning fast.”
Conviction is rarely about having perfect or complete data, it’s about having enough courage to decide with 70% of it and building intuition through reps. It means taking the risk and learning from it fast.
Grateful to everyone who joined the conversation, and to the Silkroad Innovation Hub for helping us bring these dialogues to life.