The best way for a start-up to “disrupt” an industry is to be a thesis-driven outsider – someone who hasn’t been jaded by the industry but has a strong opinion for what should change.
Most ideas are born and lost in isolation.
Overcome the stigma of self-marketing.
Ideas are worthless if you can’t make them happen.
Share ownership of your ideas. The more people who lie awake in bed thinking about your idea, the better.
All great inventions emerge from a long sequence of small sparks; the first idea often isn’t all that good, but thanks to collaboration it later sparks another idea, or it’s reinterpreted in an unexpected way. Collaboration brings small sparks together to generate breakthrough innovation.
It’s only by saying no that you can concentrate on the things that really matter.
The magic happens when you find the sweet spot where your genuine interests, skills, and opportunity intersect.
There is no better measure of your values than how you spend your time.
Great teams gain their strength and resilience while toiling their way through the valleys, not just from relishing the view from the peaks.
Sometimes a reset is the only way forward.
Imagination happens only when your mind has the freedom to run rampant. When you’re always connected and able to find an answer, you stop wondering and wandering.
Startups win by being impatient over a long period of time.
Innovation has a nasty headwind, rarely a tailwind.
Sadly, most people are not patient enough to reap the fruits of their own labor. Great teams gain their strength and resilience while toiling their way through the valleys, not just from from relishing the view from the peaks.
You can get the important stuff right and still lose by not enduring long enough.
Most of your experience enduring the middle miles will be couched with uncertainty. You’ll feel like you’re wading through an ocean of unknown depths and inhabitants – in the dark.
Sometimes you need to stop doing things you love in order to nurture the one thing that matters most.
Inexperienced yet smart people with initiative will almost always exceed your expectations.
When you see something wrong, take the initiative to fix it. James Murphy, the founder and front man of LCD Soundsystem, said it well: “The best way to complain is to make things.” When you find yourself frustrated or critical, channel that energy into persistent creation. If it’s not your job, pursue it anyway.