We go to war not because we ignore the costs, but because we know there are costs, but we are willing to pay those costs because we get something from the war which we wouldn't get otherwise.
— Christopher BlattmanJeff and I tried our best but all our father could say is, 'when I'm gone, the business is yours…' – number 1, we didn't want our Dad to go.. and number 2, it was clear the business would be gone before he was. The business was dying.
My best ideas, and most successful opportunities have come- usually- from the most unexpected areas.
The average pay, inflation adjusted, has dropped more than 40% – yet the Gretchen Morgenson's of the world want to write that it's going up and up… that's just wrong.
What if we move to a world where, because robots are so cheap... cheap labour doesn't really matter anymore? What will be China's main comparative advantage after that?
I've sat in front of the chief ideologue in the Moscow Kremlin, and I remember him saying to us in so many words, that 'you cannot govern Russia unless you have a one-party state: Our job in the Kremlin here and now, is not to recreate the communist party, but it's to recreate the one party which will be the natural choice'.
I was a semi-chubby white kid from Montana who couldn't swim. I became a Navy SEAL who ended-up in Osama bin Laden's bedroom on a Tier 1 Mission to take down the #1 terrorist in the world. My life is proof that if you put your mind to it, you can do anything you want.
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.
It's naïve to think that financial markets are not part of the battlefield.
At Cirque, we never talk about diversity because we live diversity. We have people in our organisation coming from 80 different countries. I like to describe us as citizens of the world.
I can't look an African-American parent in the eye for thinking about what they must tell their sons about what can happen to them on the streets of their country.
If I acted 8 years ago how I do today, I wouldn't have lasted 5 minutes in the business. If I acted today how I acted 8 years ago, the business wouldn't be where it is today. Entrepreneurs and founders have to learn to be the most adaptable people in their business- that's really important – otherwise, the business will outgrow the founder, or the founder will cause the business to stagnate or slow.
I firmly believe that a society cannot heal from the wounds of war without accountability for serious international crimes. How can a society move towards a shared future while fundamental disagreements about the past and about responsibility for past crimes persist?