Interesting quotes and lessons learned along the way.

On Success

1/ Entrepreneurship is living a few years of life like most people won’t, so that you can spend the rest of your life like most people can’t.

2/ All humans are driven by insecurities, which create complexes that we must learn to manage.

3/ Success is Subjective, Fluid & Relative.

4/ Success is 20% what you say/do, 80% what you refrain from doing/saying.

5/ Success in life requires one to ward off the 7 deadly sins (Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Wrath, Greed, Sloth) by mastering the 7 virtues (Faith, Hope, Charity, Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, Temperance)

6/ Don’t know where to draw the line? “The greatest happiness is to vanquish your enemies, to chase them before you, to rob them of their wealth, to see those dear to them bathed in tears, to clasp to your bosom their wives and daughters.” – Genghis Khan (who clearly had no limits)

7/ “I know your instinct is to do everything you can to gain the appreciation of those around you, but it’s an impulse that steals your time, energy, mental and physical health.” – Sir Anthony Hopkins

On Specialization

8/ “The best investor is a social scientist.”
-Michael Milken

9/ First to market vs first to scale: you don’t need to be first, but you need to scale with a sustainable model.

10/ “Unless you’re #1 or #2 in your market, you may as well get out.” – Jack Welch

11/ “I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.” – Wayne Gretzky

12/ “Don’t follow the institutional imperative” (aka herd mentality) – Warren Buffett

13/ “Be fearful when others are greedy. Be greedy when others are fearful.” – Warren Buffett

14/ Fish Where the Fish Are

15/ What Scales Overnight Is Never Sustainable, What is Sustainable Never Scales Overnight

16/ “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” – Wayne Gretzky

17/ “Behind every great fortune there is a crime.” 
That is the epigraph to The Godfather, by Mario Puzo. Puzo attributed the quote to Honore de Balzac.

18/ “It’s Easier To Ask Forgiveness Than To Get Permission” – St.-Benedict.

On What – and Who – It Takes

19/ “Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes … the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status quo. … You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things. … They push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the people who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.” – Steve Jobs

20/ “It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat”. – Theodore Roosevelt, In The Arena: Citizenship In A Republic

21/ Success in entrepreneurship requires the following ingredients: 

• Vision
• Ambition
• Execution
• Persistence
• Luck 
• Vision
• Focus
• Resiliency
  

22/ “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan ‘Press On!’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.” – Calvin Coolidge

23/ On timing: even a broken clock is right twice.

24/ On focus: “What we give attention to grows. What we pay attention to grows.” – Deepak Chopra

25/ On resilience: Business isn’t a game of innings, but a best of seven series.

26/ You’ll realize you have succeeded when those who said “Good luck with that ‘business,’ pal…” start to say “I always believed in ya, buddy!”

27/ “When you win, say nothing. When you lose, say less.” – Wayne Gretzky

On Risk & Failure

28/ “I would demonstrate the truth that, in my army, discipline always brings rewards.” – Cyrus the Great

29/ “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” –  Michael Jordan

30/ “I’ve paid my dues. Time after time. I’ve done my sentence. But committed no crime. And bad mistakes‒ I’ve made a few.” – Queen, We are the Champions

31/ “You Never Know Who’s Been Swimming Naked Until the Tide Goes Down” – Warren Buffett

People & Communication

32/ Good thoughts, good deeds, good actions – Zoroastrian belief

33/ “If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together” – African Proverb 

34/ “Leaders are either Born or Made” – Warren Bennis

35/ The Principle of Specialization: Everyone has a comparative advantage. – Plato 

36/ “It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and then tell them what to do. We hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.” – Steve Jobs

37/ Entrepreneurs are Masochists, Executives are Sadists.

38/ Founders are missionaries, executives are mercenaries.

39/ Management is the creation of rules, systems, processes. Leadership is knowing when to break those rules.

40/ Hire Slow. Fire Fast – McKinsey consultants (probably 🙂

41/ People Ahead of Profit. Be Long Term Greedy.

42/ “Success always calls for greater generosity–though most people, lost in the darkness of their own egos, treat it as an occasion for greater greed. Collecting booty is not an end itself, but only a means for building an empire. Riches would be of little use to us now–except as a means of winning new friends.” – Cyrus the Great

43/ “Whenever you can, act as a liberator. Freedom, dignity, wealth–these three together constitute the greatest happiness of humanity. If you bequeath all three to your people, their love for you will never die.” – Cyrus the Great

44/ “When I became rich, I realized that no kindness between man and man comes more naturally than sharing food and drink, especially food and drink of the ambrosial excellence that I could now provide. Accordingly, I arranged that my table be spread everyday for many invitees, all of whom would dine on the same excellent food as myself. After my guests and I were finished, I would send out any extra food to my absent friends, in token of my esteem.” – Cyrus the Great

45/ “Character is how you treat those who can do nothing for you.” – Nelson Mandela

46/ The chasm between Intentions & Others’ Perception is a reflection of yours actual Words, Actions, Thoughts adjusted for their Bias & Experiences

47/ “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” – George Bernard Shaw

48/ “Actually, the single biggest problem in communication is that we do not listen to understand. We listen to reply.” – Stephen Covey

49/ “Brevity is the soul of command. Too much talking suggests desperation on the part of the leader. Speak shortly, decisively and to the point–and couch your desires in such natural logic that no one can raise objections. Then move on.” – Cyrus the Great 

50/ Don’t chase people/things too much, if they’re not at least 51% interested in you, they will never be. 

51/ “Never be slow in replenishing your supplies. You’ll always be on better terms with your allies if you can secure your own provisions…Give them all they need and your troops will follow you to the end of the earth.” – Cyrus the Great

52/ “Those who say “it’s not personal, it’s just business” are lying. All business is personal, and the best business is very personal.” – Rick Lenz.

53/ ‘You go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time.” – Donald Rumsfeld

54/ “Culture eats strategy for breakfast” – Peter Drucker

55/ 3 Things that Don’t Cost a Thing but are Priceless: I’m Sorry, You’re Welcome, Thank You. Be generous when using them.

56/ “Investors are your cellmate. Choose wisely.” – Mark Suster

57/ “The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller” – Steve Jobs

Self control

58/ Balance is a journey to a destination you never arrive to, it’s an ongoing process. You don’t master it, you keep working at it.

59/ “When you think about the past, that’s your ego. When you think about the future, that’s your pride. When you think about the present, that’s humility.” – Giannis Antetokounmpo

60/ “Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls, your ego goes with it. – Colin Powell

61/ Manage your expectations: in the end, they’ll always let you down.

62/ “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking.” – Steve Jobs

63/ “I want my physicians to carry my coffin because people should realize that no doctor can cure anybody. They are helpless in front of death. I desire that when my coffin is transported to the grave, the path leading to the graveyard shall display the wealth I collected. My third and last wish is that both my hands hang out of my coffin: I spent all my life earning riches but cannot take anything with me. Let people know that wealth is nothing but dust. I wish all to know that I came empty-handed into this world, and I will go empty-handed.” – Alexander the Great 

64/ “In my experience, men who respond to good fortune with modesty and kindness are harder to find than those who face adversity with courage.” – Cyrus the Great

65/ “In the end, only three things matter: 
– how much you loved, 
– how gently you lived and 
– how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you.”
Buddha

66/ “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” – Mark Twain