50 Great Quotes from Titans of Business
If you’re looking for some inspiration, look no further than some of these industry titans and some of the innovative ideas. These industry leaders have plenty to say, and it’s worth listening when they speak. So check out the following quotes and get a notepad ready so you can start jotting down ideas!
“You have to see failure as the beginning and the middle, but never entertain it as an end.” —Jessica Herrin, founder and CEO of Stella & Dot
“Don’t let others convince you that the idea is good when your gut tells you it’s bad.” —Kevin Rose, co-founder of Digg
“People are the most important thing. Business model and product will follow if you have the right people.” —Adam Neumann, co-founder of WeWork
“If we tried to think of a good idea, we wouldn’t have been able to think of a good idea. You just have to find the solution for a problem in your own life.” —Brian Chesky, co-founder of Airbnb
“When you are building a startup, it’s difficult. Particularly, a startup that is expanding at the rate of Tinder. You have to give 100%, and you have to be committed. Solving the problem has to be personal or else you’re going to disintegrate.” —Sean Rad, co-founder of Tinder, Inc.
“One of the greatest skills of leadership is being unflappable. Anytime you do anything in the world; there’s going to be criticism.” —Arianna Huffington, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Huffington Post Media Group
“I knew that if I failed I wouldn’t regret that, but I knew the one thing I might regret is not trying.” —Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO Amazon
“It’s not about ideas. It’s about making ideas happen.” —Scott Belsky, co-founder Behance
“The fastest way to change yourself is to hang out with people who are already the way you want to be.” —Reid Hoffman, co-founder LinkedIn
“Risk more than others think is safe. Dream more than others think is practical.” —Howard Schultz, Starbucks CEO
“Embrace what you don’t know, especially in the beginning, because what you don’t know can become your greatest asset. It ensures that you will absolutely be doing things different from everybody else.” —Sara Blakely, founder SPANX
“There are lots of bad reasons to start a company. But there’s only one good, legitimate reason, and I think you know what it is: it’s to change the world.” —Phil Libin, CEO Evernote
“The important thing is not being afraid to take a chance. Remember, the greatest failure is to not try. Once you find something you love to do, be the best at doing it.” —Debbi Fields, founder Mrs. Fields Cookies
“If you’re passionate about something and you work hard, then I think you will be successful.” —Pierre Omidyar, founder and chairman eBay
“The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.” —Vince Lombardi, executive, head coach, player NFL
“Do not focus on numbers. Focus on doing what you do best. It’s about building a community who want to visit your site every day because you create value and offer expertise.” —Cassey Ho, founder of Blogilates.com
“When in doubt, bootstrap. Using your own personal resources is the easiest way to start a business. You don’t have to convince investors about the merits of your idea. You just have to convince yourself.” —Ryan Holmes, co-founder of Hootsuite
“Ideas are easy. Implementation is hard.” —Guy Kawasaki, co-founder Alltop
“I never took a day off in my twenties. Not one.” —Bill Gates, co-founder Microsoft
“If hard work is the key to success, most people would rather pick the lock.” —Claude McDonald
“Have the end in mind and every day make sure you’re working towards it.” —Ryan Allis, co-founder and CEO iContact
“Don’t try to do everything by yourself, but try to connect with people and resources. Having that discipline and perseverance is really important.” —Chieu Cao, Co-founder of Perkbox
“It’s necessary to find a mentor who can invest time to know your personal capabilities and business model.” —Nigel Davies, Founder of Claromentis
“The critical ingredient is getting off your butt and doing something. It’s as simple as that. A lot of people have ideas, but there are few who decide to do something about them now. Not tomorrow. Not next week. But today. The true entrepreneur is a doer, not a dreamer.” —Nolan Bushnell, founder Atari and Chuck-E-Cheese’s
“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” —Thomas Edison
“No matter how many customers you have, each is an individual. The day you start thinking of them as this amorphous ‘collection’ and stop thinking of them as people is the day you start going out of business.” —Dharmesh Shah, Co-Founder of HubSpot
“Fundraising is much easier now because of crowdfunding. Take advantage of that.” —Constantin Bisanz, Founder of Aloha
“If you can offer a free tier that provides a lot of value, it will naturally help your product to spread much more rapidly.” —Melanie Perkins, co-founder of Canva
“Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” —Winston Churchill
“Fail often so you can succeed sooner.” —Tom Kelley, founder Ideo
“Be nicer to your customers than your competitors.” —Richard Reed, Co-Founder of Innocent Drinks
“Passion, creativity, and resilience are the most crucial skills in business. If you’ve got those, you’re ready to embark on the journey.” —Jo Malone, Founder of Jo Malone
“I’ve learned that mistakes can often be as good a teacher as success.”
—Jack Welch, chairman and CEO General Electric
“Show me a person who never made a mistake, and I will show you a person who never did anything.” —William Rosenberg, founder Dunkin’ Donuts
“The most dangerous poison is the feeling of achievement. The antidote is to every evening think what can be done better tomorrow.” —Ingvar Kamprad, founder Ikea
“In the age of transparency, honesty, and generosity, even in the form of an apology, generate goodwill.” —Alexander Asseily, founder of Jawbone
“Remain self-funded as long as possible.” —Garrett Camp, co-founder of Uber, StumbleUpon, and Expa
“As a founder, lay all the possible scenarios—from best to worst—in front of you, so you don’t get surprised when something happens.” —Brian Wong, Co-founder of Kiip
“Don’t let others convince you that the idea is good when your gut tells you it’s bad.” —Kevin Rose, co-founded Digg
“When times are bad is when the real entrepreneurs emerge.” —Robert Kiyosaki, founder Cashflow Technologies Inc.
“We learned many things while building FourSquare. One of the most important lessons is to be clear to investors about what the company will and will not do. And be open about the priorities of the things that have to be done.” —Dennis Crowley, co-founder of Foursquare
“If what you are doing is not moving you towards your goals, then it’s moving you away from your goals.” —Brian Tracy, CEO Brian Tracy International
“Failure is not about insecurity, it’s about lack of execution.” —Jeffery Gitomer, business trainer
“What do you need to start a business? Three simple things: know your product better than anyone, know your customer, and have a burning desire to succeed.” —Dave Thomas, founder Wendy’s
“If something is important enough, or you believe something is important enough, even if you are scared, you will keep going.” —Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors and SpaceX
“Only the paranoid survive.” —Andy Grove, former CEO of Intel
“I’m always tweaking, always trying to make it better, constantly moving the levers and dials.” —Steve Ells, founder and co-CEO of Chipotle
“It starts with not having a hangover with the way things used to be.” —Kevin Plank, founder and CEO of Under Armour
“If you are not getting traction on your idea, you try few things. You try pushing harder, cleaning up something, building up to something aggressively — but if it doesn’t get traction, then don’t bother.” —Vijay Sharma, Founder of Paytm
“There is something artificial when everyone is agreeing with each other. It’s useful to indulge people who don’t agree, and see their viewpoint or force yourself to explain things better.” —David Sack, founder of Yammer
