I used to think that the idea was everything. I used to think that the 'aha!' moment when you first come up with the idea was the most important thing. But then over time, I came to think that maybe the team, the execution, adaptability that mattered even more than the idea. I never thought I'd be quoting boxer Mike Tyson on the TED stage, but he once said, 'Everybody has a plan, until they get punched in the face.' And I think that's so true about business as well.

Does the company have a very clear path generating customer revenues? That started rising to the top in my thinking about maybe what mattered most for success.

And then of course, the funding. Sometimes companies received intense amounts of funding. Maybe that's the most important thing?

The number one thing was timing. Timing accounted for 42% of the difference between success and failure. Team and execution came in second, and the idea, the differentiability of the idea, the uniqueness of the idea, that actually came in third.