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By my reckoning, Ben Horowitz is the most thought-provoking blogger on leadership and strategy today. He’s also a lot more than a blogger.  As one of the two name partners at Andreessen Horowitz, he is one of the most influential venture capitalists in Silicon Valley. As the cofounder and longtime CEO of Opsware, a software company that was sold to Hewlett-Packard for $1.6 billion, he’s got a great track record as a hands-on executive. And as one of the earliest product managers at Netscape, he was present at the creation of first the dotcom boom.

No wonder that when Ben Horowitz writes what he thinks—about leadership, strategy, or innovation—people like me pay attention. Well, ten days or so ago, he wrote something that struck me as particularly insightful. He distinguished between business leaders who excel during periods of “peace”–times when the economy is growing, companies are innovating, and new ideas are blooming–and periods of “war”–when opportunities are shrinking, and flawless execution trumps open-minded creativity.

I riffed on Ben’s distinction for HBR. Here’s my take–join the debate!

My latest blog post for Harvard Business Review applies a bunch of insights we first published in Fast Company a dozen years ago to address the “battle for talent” raging today in Silicon Valley, in Boston, and in other high-tech centers around the country. Everything old really is new again–including the best way to find, evaluate, and recruit superstart talent. You can read the post here.

I just agreed to a 5-city, 5-day “Practically Radical” tour of Europe in late May: London, Dusseldorf, Berlin, Moscow, Helsinki.

Excited! I’ll keep folks posted as to specific dates and venues.

This morning, I published an essay on HBR.org that I knew would kick up some dust. Basically, I argued that “startup fever” is rapidly becoming startup hysteria, and that you really can have too much of a good thing–even a thing as good as entrepreneurship. Well, as I expected, the debate has begun in full force–and as impassioned as it is, it is also quite polite.

So join the debate and share your perspective. You can find the post here.

A few weeks back, I traveled to New York City to record an in-depth interview about Practically Radical with Christine Romans, host of CNN’s “Your Bottom Line” program. I figured with all the turmoil and tumult in the world–from meltdowns in Japan to rebellions in the Middle East–that interview would never see the light of day.

Well, color me surprised–and thrilled! Here’s a link to my interview with Christine, which aired this weekend. Really good stuff–I appreciate how seriously she took the book, and how much time (7.5 minutes!) she devoted to the segment. Thanks, Christine!

My new favorite quote…

“Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.” Eleanor Roosevelt

No, that’s not me! I’m doing an interview on California’s KKZZ-AM at 1:20 pm today. The host of the program is “Billy the Brain.” You can listen online.

Look for me on CNN, talking with the great Christine Romans about Practically Radical and personal branding. The 4 PM hour this Saturday–rebroadcast Monday am as well.

I’m doing a Webinar at 11 am next Wednesday, March 9, with the folks at G5 Leadership. My friends at TomPeters.com have some free passes if you wish to participate. Register via the Tom Peters Web site, which you can find here. If you get a free pass, I promise my insights will be worth what you paid for them!