I'd say that if anything could be formalized as a set of skills or as a process that could be applied to multiple projects, it would be extreme discipline around what gets built. For example, we were fairly militant about cutting features and keeping things as simple as possible, which is always easier said than done.
Also, this rewrite wouldn't be possible without each team member's personal productivity which was also aided by pairing. Curiously, we worked fairly regular days (although some nights and weekends, but those were by personal choice).
Hmm... My point is that there's a notion of startup CEOs and founders as martyrs. I want to take responsibility for my life, and build it the way I want it. I'm not a victim of my startup.
We're looking for humans who have the special capacity, drive, patience, curiosity and tenacity to build crazy awesome stuff on the interwebs. Our goal is to have you be our partner in crime/work/play - we like to combine these as much as possible!
You will have autonomy and freedom. You will be the driver (not the passenger) of your own destiny and your goals for our startup. You will be passionate about what we're building. You will choose when and how you will get your work done. We will all pretend that you are an adult and do our best to treat you as such.
We are an awesomely-sexy mass-reach consumer web social startup with a product that users already love! That's right, when you tell your mom about what you build/design- she'll not only be able to understand it - she'll probably use it herself! We’ve crossed 1M monthly uniques, 140k users, and have hugely ambitious plans to keep creating an experience that users love and to build a business that defines the next generation of ecommerce.
To be fair, in the middle of the post Udi does mention that there are capital-intensive businesses that do require funding. His main point is in regards to building web applications and web businesses.
For many new companies funding is essential. If you want to build a new type of electric car, then you need a ton of money for manufacturing and R&D. If you want to open a restaurant, then you need money for rent, food, waiters and a chef. If you want to build a video sharing website then youll probably need some money because of bandwidth and storage concerns. If youre doing something like this, then funding is a necessary evil.
Also, this rewrite wouldn't be possible without each team member's personal productivity which was also aided by pairing. Curiously, we worked fairly regular days (although some nights and weekends, but those were by personal choice).