“The best startup ideas seem at first like bad ideas.” Paul Graham · Essay: How to Get Startup Ideas, 2012
“Starting a company is like throwing yourself off a cliff and assembling an airplane on the way down.” Reid Hoffman · Interviews
“An entrepreneur is someone who jumps off a cliff and builds a plane on the way down.” Reid Hoffman · Interviews
“The cowards never started and the weak died along the way. That leaves us.” Phil Knight · Shoe Dog, 2016
“If you're offered a seat on a rocket ship, don't ask what seat. Just get on.” Sheryl Sandberg · Lean In, 2013 (quoting Eric Schmidt)
“Build something 100 people love, not something 1 million people kind of like.” Brian Chesky · Y Combinator advice
“Don't be intimidated by what you don't know. That can be your greatest strength.” Sara Blakely · Interviews
“Embrace what you don't know, especially in the beginning, because what you don't know can become your greatest asset.” Sara Blakely · Interviews
“Business opportunities are like buses, there's always another one coming.” Richard Branson · Interviews
“An entrepreneur is someone who has a vision for something and a want to create.” David Karp · Interviews
“It is easier to do a hard startup than an easy startup.” Sam Altman · Essay: How to Be Successful, 2019
“Almost always, the people who say 'I am going to keep going until this works, and no matter what the challenges are I'm going to figure them out,' and mean it, go on to succeed.” Sam Altman · Essay: How to Be Successful, 2019
“It is hard to think that a $2 billion company with 4,300-plus people couldn't compete with six people in blue jeans.” Steve Jobs
“Apple has some tremendous assets, but I believe without some attention, the company could, could, could — I'm searching for the right word — could, could die.” Steve Jobs
“Instead of buying airplanes and playing around like some of our competitors, we've rolled almost everything back into the company.” Bill Gates
“I remember your internal post about how Instagram was our threat and not Google+. You were basically right. One thing about startups though is you can often acquire them. (private message to colleague on April 9, 2012 when Instagram was purchased)” Mark Zuckerberg
“Investors making purchases in an overheated market need to recognize that it may often take an extended period for the value of even an outstanding company to catch up with the price they paid.” Warren Buffett
“The best thing that happens to us is when a great company gets into temporary trouble... We want to buy them when they're on the operating table.” Warren Buffett
“... the phenomenon of serial entrepreneurship would seem to call into question our tendency to explain success as the product of chance.” Peter Thiel
“It helps to have founded and run a company if you're going to help somebody run a company who is a founder.” Ben Horowitz
“Every time you make the hard, correct decision you become a bit more courageous and every time you make the easy, wrong decision you become a bit more cowardly. If you are CEO, these choices will lead to a courageous or cowardly company.” Ben Horowitz
“Software has to be designed by hackers who understand design, not designers who know a little about software. If you can't design software as well as implement it, don't start a startup.” Paul Graham
“CEO of General Electric for 30 years, Jack Welch was declared the greatest manager of the 20th century. Focusing firmly on results, he revolutionized management to achieve phenomenal growth for his company.” Jack Welch
“It's hard to keep things moving. And that's always a big trick. I think for me, the key is setting really big goals. And, you know, with YouTube, I think we've had tremendous leadership, both with the founders and now with Salar, who's been running it.” Larry Page
“When it’s too easy to get money, then you get a lot of noise mixed in with the real innovation and entrepreneurship. Tough times bring out the best parts of Silicon Valley.” Sergey Brin
“Sergey’s the Google playboy. He was known for getting his fingers caught in the cookie jar with employees that worked for the company in the masseuse room. He got around.” Sergey Brin
“[Winfrey attributes this aphorism to Jeff Weiner, founder of Linkedin] Failure is what’s going to humble you.” Oprah Winfrey
“It is hard to think that a $2 billion company with 4,300-plus people couldn't compete with six people in blue jeans.” Steve Jobs
“Apple has some tremendous assets, but I believe without some attention, the company could, could, could — I'm searching for the right word — could, could die.” Steve Jobs
“Instead of buying airplanes and playing around like some of our competitors, we've rolled almost everything back into the company.” Bill Gates