How To Start A Business

• Always ask yourself how someone could preempt your products or service.
• Always run your business like you are going to be competing with biggest technology companies in your industry—Google, Facebook, Oracle, Microsoft, whomever.
• The sport of business is the ultimate competit...

The point of all this is that it doesn’t matter how many times you fail. It doesn’t matter how many times you almost get it right. No one is going to know or care about your failures, and neither should you. All you have to do is learn from them and from those around you because … All that matter...

• Once you have learned how to learn, then you can try as many different things as you can, recognizing that you don’t have to find your destiny at any given age—you just have to be prepared to run with it when you do.
• The greatest obstacle to destiny is debt, both personal and...

• The minute you take money, the leverage completely flips to the investor. They control the destiny of your dreams, not you.
• There are only two reasonable sources of capital for startup entrepreneurs: your own pocket and your customers’ pockets.
• Businesses don...

• It’s always the little decisions that have the biggest impact.
• I read more than three hours almost every day, but it gives me a level of comfort and confidence in my businesses.
• I spend time in bookstores because one idea from a book or magazine can make me money.
• As ...

• In sports, the only thing a player can truly control is effort. The same applies to business.
• I had to kick myself in the ass and recommit to getting up early, staying up late and consuming everything I possibly could to get an edge.
• Effort is measured by

• In business, to be a success, you only have to be right once.
• One single time and you are set for life. That’s the beauty of the business world.
• With every mistake and failure (not only mine, but also of those around me), I learned what not to do.

1. Recognize that it’s okay to live like a student.
2. The cheaper you can live, the greater your options. Remember that.
3. Take lots of chances: It means trying different things to find out what it is you love to do.
4. Figure out if you are in the right job.
5. Figure out...

6. Don't worry about perks from the outset.

7.Open offices keep everyone in tune with what is going on and keep the energy up.

8. As far as technology, go with what you know.

9. Keep the organization flat.

10. NEVER EVER EVER buy swag.

11. NEVER EVER EVER hire a PR f...

• The edge is getting so jazzed about what you do.
• The edge is knowing that you can fail and learn from it, and just get back up.
• The edge is knowing that people think you’re crazy, and they are right, but you don’t care what they think.
• The edge is knowing how to blow ...

• “Everyone has got the will to win; it’s only those with the will to prepare that do win.”
• Win the battles you are in first, then worry about expansion internationally or into new businesses.
• Jobs = getting paid to learn.
• Take the lead, and you can con...

• The thing you do need to do is learn. Learn accounting. Learn finance. Learn statistics. Learn as much as you can about business.
• Read biographies about businesspeople.
• Going to college should be about learning how to learn and recognizing that learning is a ...

• Sweat equity is the best startup capital.
• The best businesses in recent entrepreneurial history are those that began with little or no money. Dell Computers, Microsoft, Compaq, Apple, HP and tens of thousands of others started in dorm rooms, tiny offices or garages.

• Entrepreneurs always need to be reminded that it’s not the job of their customers to know what they don’t.
• It’s part of your job as the owner of the company to stay ahead of them and “kick your own ass” before someone else does.
• No company is perfect, but the CEO who doesn’t ...

1. Don’t start a company unless it’s an obsession and something you love.

2. If you have an exit strategy, it’s not an obsession.

3. Hire people who you think will love working there.

4. Sales Cure All. Know how your company will make money and how you will actually make sales...

1. Time is more valuable than money

2. Commit random acts of kindness

3. No balls, no babies (Once you are prepared, you have to go for it)

4. Work hard, play hard

5. Don’t let fear be a roadblock

6. Expect the unexpected, and always be ready

7. It’s okay to ye...

• Everyone follows the path of least resistance.
• The path of least resistance is why I think Amazon.com, Apple and Google have been so successful.
• In business, one of the challenges is making sure that your product is the easiest to experience and to sell.
...

• Get the fundamentals right and then add to your base skills before you try to take on the trick shots.
• If you are adding new things when your core businesses are struggling rather than facing the challenge, you are either running away or giving up. Rarely is either good for a busines...

• The best salespeople are the ones who put themselves in their customer’s shoes and provide a solution that makes the customer happy.
• The best salesperson is the one the customer trusts and never has to question.
• The best salesperson is the one who takes immense satisfaction f...