In rich countries, 'innovation' often means finding a better way of doing things. But in developing countries, it can mean finding a way to do things at all.

We are a very flexible species, and we can change things. It is clear biologically that men are more violent than women. This is true for all primates. However, there are societies we know – from anthropological studies – where violence is extremely rare because kids are elevated, from a young age, to be peaceful and not to fight at all. Even a trait that is basic in our biology is still subject to cultural influence.

Essentially, corruption entails a misallocation of entrepreneurial talent into activities that carries individual benefit, but has destructive or unproductive consequences for society at large. Because of its essentially predatory nature, it reduces productive investment, leads to an outflow of talent, lowering growth rates and increasing income inequalities.

I truly believe humans have the capacity to change. That's the definition of freedom… our ability to choose who we want to be.

Transformation is about understanding how the market is evolving and positioning your organization for the future that's unfolding. It's about ensuring that you're there when that future arrives.

We clearly have more risk around the sovereign debt of mature and developed economies. Certainly that's an issue in the US- both at the federal and state level. We're seeing that right now in very dramatic fashion in the EU also. You also see the knock-on effects of aggressive monetary policy and weak fiscal policy driving activity in precious metals, commodities and also even in equities!

In a peculiar way, failure can sometimes be simpler to grapple with. You can simply resist it, dismiss it with a defiant 'to hell with this, to hell with them', and return to square one. Conversely, success can be considerably more subtle and insidious. While initially thrilling, relieving, and intoxicating, it can harbor a profound hollowness, which makes it more challenging and bewildering to confront.

For me, starting a business was something that kind of ended up happening, not something I had the intention of doing. You so often hear stories of amazing entrepreneurs who tell you they always had that business instinct, even when they were at school they used to sell marbles or chocolate; and that wasn't me in any shape or form. It all happened incredibly naturally.

Anyone who takes the DMT space seriously is forced to live a kind of parallel life. You slip back into 'normal life mode' and almost have to ignore the implications of what you saw. It shows you that this tawdry, flimsy domain we think is foundational to reality is actually nothing more than a theatre screen.

Our envy of birds certainly helped drive our will to fly, however I think Leonardo was probably held back by trying to emulate the flapping of birds; that doesn't work with human muscles. We had to free ourselves of the perception that you need to flap your wings.

I used to keep a pair of lizards in an aquarium and fed them live crickets. At the time, I didn't think twice about it—I didn't believe crickets had any inner life at all. But now I wonder if I was actually creating the worst moments of their existence by feeding them to my lizards.

Fear is healthy, fear is natural, and if anyone's ever told you they've been to combat and were never afraid... they're either lying or a sociopath. Fear is a very good reaction; it makes you think more clearly.