Success Quote by Arthur Rock

The stumble is the point: Arthur Rock’s quote lands like a reluctant verdict delivered in public, after the fact, with just enough hedging to signal how expensive honesty can be in Silicon Valley. “I think they” opens as a tell of collective cover. He’s not only speaking for himself; he’s invoking the ambient “we” of boards, investors, and advisers who prefer decisions to look inevitable even when they were messy. Then comes the double “was,” a verbal rewind that mimics a mind editing itself in real time. Rock isn’t crafting a slogan. He’s performing reputational risk management.

The phrase “turns out” is the dagger. It implies the CEO’s inadequacy wasn’t obvious at the outset, which subtly shifts blame from governance to fate. It’s also the investor’s favorite alibi: we made the best call with the information we had. In six syllables, it converts a potentially damning critique of oversight into a narrative of discovery. The mildness of “not a good CEO” is similarly strategic. No specifics, no moral indictment, no mention of strategy, culture, or competence. Just a consumer-grade rating, as if leadership were a product that didn’t meet expectations.

In context, Rock represents the old guard of venture capital: disciplined, networked, and allergic to drama, even when drama is the truest account. The intent isn’t to roast McCullough; it’s to normalize replacement. This is how power talks when it wants the story to end quietly: vague, slightly awkward, and final enough to move on.