Tag: quotes
Single Minded
Most of these investors-cum-inventors are motivated by personal passion to create companies. Under this model, entrepreneurs often tap their own networks and wallets to finance their ideas.
“I don’t have any hobbies,” said Max Levchin, a co-founder and former chief technology officer of PayPal. “This is what I do.” …
Read the rest of the article – Entrepreneurs help build startups by the batch – NY Times.
Being single minded is one way that things get done. It can also become the reason why everything else starts to lose it’s color. Hang in there. Life will always be bigger. I guess that it is this need to transform what we work on, what we produce, what we’re affected by, to become all of life that keeps things greased.
From what I’ve read – Pixar is great at keeping this thought at the center of it’s creative processes. They know that they can get the best out of their teams if they allow them to seed and work on their own ideas. This is not to say that Pixar does not play a role, they play a huge role in refining these ideas, leveraging what they’ve learned as an institution in order to make these ideas work.
Emotional ownership at Pixar was significant enough for John Lasseter and Steve Jobs, Pixar’s boss at one time, to balk repeatedly at activating a clause that would transfer Toy Story’s characters over to Disney. They made the same call when even when they were nearing broke. When the sale did happen, it appeared almost as if Pixar would be buying Disney, retaining creative control.
Acquiring Wisdom
By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.
~ Confucius (wikipedia).
Pondering on the Secret of Happiness
“The true secret of happiness lies in the taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life, in elevating them by art instead of handing the performance of them over to unregarded drudges, and ignoring them …”
~ William Morris, from Signs of Change (1888). The Aims of Art (1877).
Stare back, don’t waver
“You could not afford to let the opposition know when you were hurt. They’d stand up and look you in the eye. I’d look back and we’d have this little staring match for a while. You know you’ve got the better of them by the time they turn around, get past the umpire and get back to their mark – they will take a little look around to see if you’re still looking, I’d be still looking. That’s when they know that you’re serious.”
Viv Richards, on facing the Australian fast bowling and intimidation in the 1979 West Indies tour of Australia. Quotes and pictures taken from Fire in Babylon.
The Marrow of Practice, Work, or Play
“The purpose of today’s training is to defeat yesterday’s understanding” ~ Miyamoto Mushashi.
Related:
* Return to Main
* Living the night-shift life
Jeff Bezos on pain and invention
“We are willing to plant seeds that take five to seven years to grow into reasonable things,” he said in an interview. “You can’t do big, clean-sheet invention unless you are willing to invest for long periods of time.”
– Jeff Bezos, “Amid the gloom an e-commerce war“, New York Times.
Sunk cost fallacy
For every brand and for every person, yesterday is irretrievably gone and tomorrow is worth a great deal.
– Seth Godin, on sunk cost and your personal brand.
Entrepreneurs are good at keeping their dream when everything about them is changing.
On business
I have reason to celebrate my blog today! WordPress.com has endorsed my blog for the keywords “business” and “gprs”. Thank you, whoever you are, bot or other wise.
The occasion reminds me of a quote I picked up from the movie Layer Cake.
“The art of doing business lies in being a good middle-man“.
How do you interpret it? I would love to hear from you.
Other posts on business on Sukshma.
Other posts on gprs on Sukshma.
Quotes to begin the Hindu New Year
While scanning the papers today, I came across some excellent quotes from the current generation of Indian entrepreneurs.
One needs to be “obsessively passionate”, as passion can vary, but obsession can’t. It’s the distinguishing factor. One must be restless all the time to do what one wants to do.
Dilip Chhabria, Promoter – Dilip Chhabria Design. Dilip turned down a lucrative offer from GM, USA to satisfy his desire to design cars. He has worked relentlessly for an entire decade to establish his design studio. I remember seeing his early concepts in auto-shows back in the late ’90’s.
How can one confirm that spark of passion in entrepreneurs? Last night at a family get-together, a close relative of mine explained in the following inexact words,
I want to see if he is passionate about his immediate family. Experience teaches me that a deep sense of passion and attachment towards family is a very positive indicator of passion, commitment and therefore success in other areas of life, including business.
Unlike academics, where you know you have a fixed time window to acheive success in the form of a degree – life offers you a misleadingly long window; you have only your own lifetime to succeed. Indeed, commitment is crucial.
Finally, better believe it – your TIME is now! Doesn’t matter who or where you are.