The answer would entirely depend on your perspective.
The man has an impressive hit rate of creating products that people want to use. He is able to lead companies to bring those visions to life, and you don’t get to be that guy unless you have earned the respect of your employees.
He’s an idea guy. An engineer “s engineer. An unassuming visionary.
So, on the one hand, he’s most definitely underrated.
However –
The projects he has been involved in, when he has been the CEO or other important role, have been slow to monetize. Most aren’t profitable, and some of the things he is quoted as saying point to a lack of money focus.
His public “disagreements” with Jack Dorsey were reminiscent of another idealist clashing with a capitalist – Steve Woszniak and Steve Jobs.
That would be alarming from a VC perspective. When you have someone in charge of a multi-million (or even billion) dollar investment, you want to ensure their goal is to make your money back as quickly as possible at the highest possible return.
If it’s not, there’s something inherently wrong.
So, from that perspective, he might even be a tad overrated – at least when it comes to how much money he could raise for a new venture, or if being considered for a CEO role at a company he didn’t found himself.
I myself haven’t met him. I get the feeling if I did I’d probably fall into the first camp, as we’d probably start geeking out talking about algorithms and the open web and all sorts of random stuff, and I’d be charmed instantly (like all the other people who are that go to follow visionary founders.)
Originally Posted: https://www.quora.com/Is-Ev-Williams-underrated-as-a-good-tech-CEO-and-founder
Originally Posted On: 2016-06-20