Here are Quotes from men I
Hold in the highest regard
Will Allen
“You can’t inspire someone by just talking.” - Will Allen
“When it comes to changing a thing there’s a lot of talking
and not a lot of doing.” - Will Allen
“You've got to touch it ,feel it, and see it; that’s how you
understand the energy of a thing.” - Will Allen
“Its not about money its about the passion.”- Will Allen
“Where all connected to the earth, even if we don’t want to
admit it.” - Will Allen
“Its not always about the land sometimes its about the
people.” - Will Allen
“Your never going to reach a point where you know farming
down pat, ask a 80 year old farmer and they will tell you that there just
starting to learn how farm.”- Will Allen
“Farming will keep you grounded.” - Will Allen
“Being a good farmer is harder then being a provisional
athlete” - Will Allen
“Farming is a art form” - Will Allen
“Farmers should be held with the same respect as doctors for
they both keep us alive and healthy” - Will Allen
“Join the good food revolution, grow your own.” - Will Allen
“This is a revolution, people are starting to understand
that food is going to save us.” - Will Allen
“We cant build a sustainable community with out sustainable
food source.” - Will Allen
“Worms are the life blood of any good working farm” - Will
Allen
Manoj Bhargava
My choice was to ruin my son's life by giving him money or giving 90-plus percent to charity. Not much of a choice. Manoj Bhargava
Charity is very difficult to do right. Thinking through what
people need: You can't start a charity without that. It's like starting a
business without the product. Manoj Bhargava
Working hard is way more fun. If you had to goof off 40
hours a week, you couldn't do it. It would drive you crazy. Manoj Bhargava
I have not cared for money, and I enjoy working. Money comes
my way. People work hard so they get enough money. Or they work hard so they
don't have to work hard later in life. But though I don't need money, I still
work hard because I like what I am doing. Manoj Bhargava
Philanthropy is natural. For a mother, taking care of her
children is natural. If I am rich, I take care of the poor, like a mother
would. Manoj Bhargava
If your mind is still, you're the happiest. Manoj Bhargava
The more you consume, the more insecure you are. It's the
nature of the world. Manoj Bhargava
Recruiting is the hardest part of any business, but in
charity, it is 10 times harder. Manoj Bhargava
If you don't improve the lives of the poor, it's not
charity. Manoj Bhargava
The biggest challenge is always the governments - they try
to stop all good things. I try to stay away from them as much as I can, as I
know if someone can destroy something good, it's the government. Manoj Bhargava
If you have more money than your lifestyle, then you can
either do something stupid or smart. That's not much of a choice. That's like
saying, 'You are on the roof. you can either take the elevator, or you can
jump.' That's not a choice. Manoj Bhargava
Minimize Risk - Manoj Bhargava personally believes that the
true job of an entrepreneur is to minimise, manage and pass on the risk. Taking
risk is a part of business but minimising it to the lowest level is our duties.
Enjoy your work- “Love what you do, do what you love”. The
most important rule to grow your startup is to enjoy your work. The only thing
one can do 8 hours a day is work and it's useless if u dont enjoy it.
Do something useful- Billions of money or success is not
achieved overnight you have to do something which is related and useful for you
and your organisation. Doing something useful will only help you to grow your
organisation, nothing else will.
Do your maximum today- All you have is the present hour, if
you don't utilize your time properly then this wastage of time can destroy you.
Putting in your maximum efforts today can only lead to your growth, Success
eludes those who rest in the middle of a run as the market waits for none.
Think with your head- Number of startups starts and ends up
overnight. You have to think with your head if you want to do something big
something different. Being practical is required if you want to stay and grow
in the market. Follow your dreams but make sure they are right dreams.
Make slam dunk products- All business are same whether you
are selling energy products or consumer based products till the time it's not
useful for the customers it's useless. If you find or invent something useful
rest everything is
Business. According to Manoj the only way to check the
quality of your product is to use it by your own self, if you don't find it
good nor your customers will.
Avoid aggravation- No aggravation in the startup whether its
customers, Vendors or employees. If you aggravate you got to go it's as simple.
If you don't aggravate its not only fun but it's a great place to work and no
one quits which serves as huge benefits.
Don’t chase money- The most important rule which brought
Manoj a lot of
success was he never chased money. His top priority was to
increase the customer's satisfaction level which is the main point which helps
in continuity of
business money is secondary.
Think things through- It means to go to the customers and
find out what they need. If you ask your customers what they need they will
give you wrong answer it's your duty to reach out to them and think things
through.
Keep it simple- To start, provide stability and grow your
business you have to
keep it as simple as possible. All businessmen only need two
things i.e common sense and sense of urgency. The more you diversify your work
process it will more badly affect your common sense and your sense of urgency.
Elon Musk
1. "When
something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your
favor."
2. "Some
people don't like change, but you need to embrace change if the alternative is
disaster."
3. "Failure
is an option here. If things are not failing, you are not innovating
enough."
4. "The path
to the CEO's office should not be through the CFO's office, and it should not
be through the marketing department. It needs to be through engineering and
design."
5.
"Persistence is very important. You should not give up unless you
are forced to give up."
6. "I think
it's very important to have a feedback loop, where you're constantly thinking
about what you've done and how you could be doing it better."
7. "There's a
tremendous bias against taking risks. Everyone is trying to optimize their
ass-covering."
8. "It's OK
to have your eggs in one basket as long as you control what happens to that
basket."
9. "Brand is
just a perception, and perception will match reality over time. Sometimes it
will be ahead, other times it will be behind. But brand is simply a collective
impression some have about a product."
10. "I don't
think it's a good idea to plan to sell a company."
11. "It is a
mistake to hire huge numbers of people to get a complicated job done. Numbers
will never compensate for talent in getting the right answer (two people who
don't know something are no better than one), will tend to slow down progress,
and will make the task incredibly expensive."
12. "A company is
a group organized to create a product or service, and it is only as good as its
people and how excited they are about creating. I do want to recognize a ton of
super-talented people. I just happen to be the face of the companies."
13. "People work
better when they know what the goal is and why. It is important that people
look forward to coming to work in the morning and enjoy working."
14. "If you're
co-founder or CEO, you have to do all kinds of tasks you might not want to
do... If you don't do your chores, the company won't succeed... No task is too
menial."
15. "I say
something, and then it usually happens. Maybe not on schedule, but it usually
happens."
16. "I do think
there is a lot of potential if you have a compelling product and people are
willing to pay a premium for that. I think that is what Apple has shown. You
can buy a much cheaper cell phone or laptop, but Apple's product is so much
better than the alternative, and people are willing to pay that premium."
17. "I don't
spend my time pontificating about high-concept things; I spend my time solving
engineering and manufacturing problems."
18. "I always
invest my own money in the companies that I create. I don't believe in the
whole thing of just using other people's money. I don't think that's right. I'm
not going to ask other people to invest in something if I'm not prepared to do
so myself."
19. "My biggest
mistake is probably weighing too much on someone's talent and not someone's
personality. I think it matters whether someone has a good heart."
20. "I don't
create companies for the sake of creating companies, but to get things
done."
21. "I don't
believe in process. In fact, when I interview a potential employee and he or
she says that 'it's all about the process,' I see that as a bad sign. The
problem is that at a lot of big companies, process becomes a substitute for
thinking. You're encouraged to behave like a little gear in a complex machine.
Frankly, it allows you to keep people who aren't that smart, who aren't that creative."
22. "Starting
and growing a business is as much about the innovation, drive, and
determination of the people behind it as the product they sell."
23. "The first
step is to establish that something is possible; then probability will
occur."
24. "There are
really two things that have to occur in order for a new technology to be
affordable to the mass market. One is you need economies of scale. The other is
you need to iterate on the design. You need to go through a few versions."
25. "Talent is
extremely important. It's like a sports team, the team that has the best
individual player will often win, but then there's a multiplier from how those
players work together and the strategy they employ."
26. "Work like
hell. I mean you just have to put in 80 to 100 hour weeks every week. [This]
improves the odds of success. If other people are putting in 40 hour workweeks
and you're putting in 100 hour workweeks, then even if you're doing the same
thing, you know that you will achieve in four months what it takes them a year
to achieve."
27. "I've
actually not read any books on time management."
28. "I'm
interested in things that change the world or that affect the future and
wondrous, new technology where you see it, and you're like, 'Wow, how did that
even happen? How is that possible?'"
29. "Really pay
attention to negative feedback and solicit it, particularly from friends. ...
Hardly anyone does that, and it's incredibly helpful."
30. "If you get
up in the morning and think the future is going to be better, it is a bright
day. Otherwise, it's not."
31. "What makes
innovative thinking happen?... I think it's really a mindset. You have to
decide."
32. "People
should pursue what they're passionate about. That will make them happier than pretty
much anything else."
33. "Being an
entrepreneur is like eating glass and staring into the abyss of death."
34. "I wouldn't
say I have a lack of fear. In fact, I'd like my fear emotion to be less because
it's very distracting and fries my nervous system."
35. "If you're
trying to create a company, it's like baking a cake. You have to have all the
ingredients in the right proportion."
36. "I think
most of the important stuff on the Internet has been built. There will be
continued innovation, for sure, but the great problems of the Internet have
essentially been solved."
37. "I think we
have a duty to maintain the light of consciousness to make sure it continues
into the future."
38. "When Henry
Ford made cheap, reliable cars, people said, 'Nah, what's wrong with a horse?'
That was a huge bet he made, and it worked."
39. "When
somebody has a breakthrough innovation, it is rarely one little thing. Very
rarely, is it one little thing. It's usually a whole bunch of things that
collectively amount to a huge innovation."
40. "You
shouldn't do things differently just because they're different. They need to
be... better."
41. "You have to
say, 'Well, why did it succeed where others did not?'"
42. "I would
just question things... It would infuriate my parents... That I wouldn't just
believe them when they said something 'cause I'd ask them why. And then I'd
consider whether that response made sense given everything else I knew."
43. "It's very
important to like the people you work with, otherwise life [and] your job is
gonna be quite miserable."
44. "We have a
strict 'no-assholes policy' at SpaceX."
45. "I think the
best way to attract venture capital is to try and come up with a demonstration
of whatever product or service it is and ideally take that as far as you can.
Just see if you can sell that to real customers and start generating some
momentum. The further along you can get with that, the more likely you are to get
funding."
46. "Disruptive
technology where you really have a big technology discontinuity... tends to
come from new companies."
47. "As much as
possible, avoid hiring MBAs. MBA programs don't teach people how to create
companies."
48. "Don't
delude yourself into thinking something's working when it's not, or you're
gonna get fixated on a bad solution."
49. "If
something has to be designed and invented, and you have to figure out how to
ensure that the value of the thing you create is greater than the cost of the
inputs, then that is probably my core skill."
50. "I always
have optimism, but I'm realistic. It was not with the expectation of great
success that I started Tesla or SpaceX... It's just that I thought they were
important enough to do anyway."
These really give you something to think about! Working is hard work. You should work for what you have. Working gives us something to look forward too. I also like how Will Allen talked about putting soil in the kids hands and they would calm down. I love being outside in nature, whether it is hiking or gardening. #anbloggerslinkup
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