1. “What do you need to start a business? Three simple things: know your product better than anyone, know your customer, and have a burning desire to succeed.”
–Dave Thomas, founder Wendy’s
2. “Make your team feel respected, empowered and genuinely excited about the company’s mission.”
–Tim Westergen, Pandora Founder
3. “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.”
-Bill Gates, founder and CEO Microsoft
4. “If you just work on stuff that you like and you’re passionate about, you don’t have to have a master plan with how things will play out.”
–Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO Facebook
5. “Wonder what your customer really wants? Ask. Don’t tell.”
–Lisa Stone, co-founder and CEO BlogHer
6. “Money is like gasoline during a road trip. You don’t want to run out of gas on your trip, but you’re not doing a tour of gas stations.”
– Tim O’Reilly, founder and CEO O’Reilly Media
7. “Chase the vision, not the money, the money will end up following you.”
– Tony Hsieh, CEO Zappos
8. “Get big quietly, so you don’t tip off potential competitors.”
– Chris Dixon, co-founder and CEO Hunch
9. “Don’t play games that you don’t understand, even if you see lots of other people making money from them.”
– Tony Hsieh, CEO Zappos
10. “Always deliver more than expected.”
– Larry Page, co-founder Google
11. “We are really competing against ourselves, we have no control over how other people perform.”
– Pete Cashmore, founder and CEO Mashable
12. “You just have to pay attention to what people need and what has not been done.”
– Russell Simmons, found Def Jam Records
13. “No matter how brilliant your mind or strategy, if you’re playing a solo game, you’ll always lose out to a team”
– Reid Hoffman, co-founder LinkedIn
14. “You can’t ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they’ll want something new.”
– Steve Jobs, founder, chairman and CEO Apple Inc.
15. “Hire character. Train skill.”
– Peter Schultz, founder and director GNF
16. “The difference between a boss and a leader: a boss says ‘Go!’ – a leader says, ‘Let’s go!’.”
-E.M Kelly, U.S Army
17. “A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business.”
– Henry Ford, founder Ford Motor Company
18. “It’s almost always harder to raise capital than you thought it would be, and it always takes longer. So plan for that.”
-Richard Harroch, Venture Capitalist
19. “The things we fear the most in organizations- fluctuations, disturbances, imbalances – are the primary sources of creativity.”
– Margaret Wheatley, management consultant
20. “Effective communication is 20% what you know and 80% how you feel about what you know.”
-Jim Rohn
21. “Stay self-funded as long as possible.”
– Garrett Camp, founder Expa, Uber and StumbleUpon
22. “Turn a perceived risk into an asset.”
– Aaron Patzer, founder Mint
23. “It’s more effective to do something valuable than to hope a logo or name will say it for you.”
– Jason Cohen, founder Smart Bear Software
24. “Don’t worry about funding if you don’t need it. Today it’s cheaper to start a business than ever.”
– Noah Everett, founder Twitpic
25. “Data beats emotions.”
– Sean Rad, founder Adly and Tinder
26. “Be undeniably good. No marketing effort or social media buzzword can be a substitute for that.”
– Anthony Volodkin, founder Hype Machine
27. “Make your product easier to buy than your competition, or you will find your customers buying from them, not you.”
-Mark Cuban
27. “Don’t be cocky. Don’t be flashy. There’s always someone better than you.”
–Tony Hsieh, CEO Zappos
28. “All humans are entrepreneurs not because they should start companies but because the will to create is encoded in human DNA.”
– Reid Hoffman, co-founder LinkedIn
29. “Don’t take too much advice. Most people who have a lot of advice to give — with a few exceptions — generalize whatever they did. Don’t over-analyze everything. I myself have been guilty of over-thinking problems. Just build things and find out if they work.”
– Ben Silbermann, founder Pinterest
30. “Before dreaming about the future or making plans, you need to articulate what you already have going for you – as entrepreneurs do.”
– Reid Hoffman, co-founder LinkedIn
31. “An entrepreneur tends to bite off a little more than he can chew hoping he’ll quickly learn how to chew it.”
– Roy Ash, co-founder Litton Industries
32. “Nobody talks about entrepreneurship as survival, but that’s exactly what it is and what nurtures creative thinking. Running that first shop taught me business is not financial science; it’s about trading: buying and selling”
– Anita Roddick, founder The Body Shop
33. “But as an entrepreneur, you have to feel like you can jump out of an aeroplane because you’re confident that you’ll catch a bird flying by. It’s an act of stupidity, and most entrepreneurs go play because the bird doesn’t come by, but a few times it does.”
– Reed Hastings , CEO Netflix
34.“Chase the vision, not the money; the money will end up following you.”
– Tony Hsieh, CEO Zappos
35. “Openly share and talk to people about your idea. Use their lack of interest or doubt to fuel your motivation to make it happen.”
– Todd Garland, Founder BuySellAds
36. “Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America.”
-John Lewis
37. “Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”
-Steve Jobs, founder, chairman and CEO Apple Inc.
38. “Nothing can stop the power of a committed and determined people to make a difference in our society. Why? Because human beings are the most dynamic link to the divine on this planet.”
-John Lewis
39. “If you want to be an entrepreneur, it’s not a job, it’s a lifestyle. It defines you. Forget about vacations, about going home at 6 pm – last thing at night you’ll send emails, first thing in the morning you’ll read emails, and you’’ wake up in the middle of the night. But it’s hugely rewarding as you’re fulfilling something for yourself.”
-Niklas Zennstrom, founder Skype and Kazaa
40. “Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.”
– Mark Twain
41. “Your reputation is more important than your paycheck, and your integrity is worth more than your career.”
– Ryan Freitas, co-founder About.me
42. “Associate yourself with people of good quality, for it is better to be alone than in bad company”
– Booker T. Washington
43. “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.”
– Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO Berkshire Hathaway
44. “How you climb a mountain is more important than reaching the top.”
– Yvon Chouinard, founder Patagonia
45. “If you look to lead, invest at least 40% of your time managing yourself – your ethics, character, principles, purpose, motivation, and conduct. Invest at least 30% managing those with authority over you, and 15% managing your peers.” -Dee Hock
