Bill Campbell's Take on Key Entrepeneurs & Innovators

NeXTAdvisors Michael Moe interviewed Bill Campbell at the AlwaysOn Stanford Summit tonight in Palo Alto.

Funny line on innovation before they launch into Bill's take on well known industry executives. "How tough is it for big companies to innovate?" asks Michael.

Bill forgets the camera is on and the whole thing is live when he says of Kodak: they're still on their knees. Of course you could say that about countless large organizations that are simply too large, structured and old hat to innovate. It simply doesn't happen consistently.

So, what does Bill think of the following industry superstars in a line (or perhaps two?). Here's what he says. (I captured about 90% of them)

Jeff Bezos: Jeff defies Wall Street. He makes every CEO envious.

Eric Schmidt: Eric has great judgment, judgment is what he does. This is someone who listens, grabs the best ideas.

Steve Jobs: He's the gem of the industry. There's not a thing he doesn't do that's not perfect. He cares about every form and surrounds himself with people like him.

Marc Andreessen: He is always ahead of the crowd. He's way out - he would be a great VC....he's far out from an innovation standpoint.

Vinod Khosla: Vinod is in his own world. He sees things no one else can see. He's brilliant.

Jim Barksdale: Look at what he did with Netscape. He was also fun; a fun person to work with.

John Doerr: A legend. There's not enough John Doers. He's the Steve Jobs of the VC world. He can spot technologies well in advance and calls every bit of his influence to make his companies successful.

Bill Gurly: Bill is always spotting trends. He's a step ahead of everyone. He is really good with entrepreneurs - pays attention to them.

Mike Homer: Campbell pauses. "Best friend," he says. Then another pause. He wants to get emotional because clearly they were close, but he doesn't. He stands strong and consistently talks about one positive memory after another in a way that is very touching. "We used to talk every night," he says. "I had more fun with him than...." and then lastly, "The world really misses Mike Homer."

Nice Bill, nice.

Above, Tony Perkins and Bill Campbell as Bill exits the stage.