The basics of this are to understand what your interests actually are and what your priorities are—what your hierarchy of interests is. What are the things that really matter to you? What are the things on which you can be prepared to compromise?

The idea itself constitutes about 20% of the success, the remaining 80% hinges on execution. This understanding is vital for an early-stage investor to gauge the potential success of a venture.

Working for international organisations, I was caught up in the belief that we could fix broken systems simply by introducing the right resources, processes, and intentions. However, I've come to realize that good intentions alone are insufficient. The lack of access to essential services isn't a matter of moral failing but rather a systemic inability to assess risk and generate profit from these assessments.

We also habituate to the positive things in our lives. Most of us have good things—whether it's an interesting job, a loving relationship, or a comfortable home. However, because these things have been present for a long time, they may not bring us as much daily joy as they once did.

The last thing we want is to live like machines. Our research over the past 45+ years shows that when you're actively noticing, your neurons are firing, and that's literally and figuratively enlivening. And what do we do when we're having fun? We notice, we engage. So mindfulness is not just beneficial—it's enjoyable.

Our culture is one of compensation, it's bullshit. We have so many cars, so many houses and so much sex, we lose track of who we are. We need to get back to the core. Through removing stimulation, we've disconnected ourselves from nature, from our innate capacities, and we have to reawaken ourselves.

Cooking is about precision, but it's also about understanding the science behind why ingredients behave the way they do. You can't innovate without understanding the fundamentals.

I'm very old-fashioned in the sense that I still feel you need a strong manufacturing sector in your economy. I was saying that in the late 1970's and early 80's and people just laughed at me. I think my day is about to turn.

I do this thing- I say something out-loud–announce it to the public–and then I'm forced to do it because people are excited and I don't want to let them down.

It's been constantly shocking how resilient and expansive Hip Hop is.

There has been a pathetic failure of governments to invest in educating people about the rights that they hold and enjoy; I suspect because if people knew their rights, they would claim them and put the governments of the world under pressure.

I think that we must move to a model where we value nature differently and work by integrating with nature. And that's one of the things I'm very, very excited about—leveraging synthetic biology. Because if we can create excitement, wonder, and solutions to problems like loss of biodiversity, then I think that not only can we inspire the next generation, but we can give them hope.