Wisdom in fragments

Are you the guy who wants to know what he gets at the end of the month? Or are you the guy who says I'll take my chances and will do very well or very badly. If you can make that distinction in your own mind, the rest is up to you. That's where entrepreneurship comes from; it means you can live with risk.

Icelandic billionaire businessman and former chess player

I would not have believed anyone if they had told me that within eighteen months I would have lost 99 per cent of my $4 billion fortune and would be pursued almost to the brink of bankruptcy by seven major banks… I would have found it impossible to contemplate that I would be treated like a pariah in my home country, saddled with $1 billion in debts and hated as a man who had supposedly almost single-handedly brought down an economy. But that is exactly what happened…

Icelandic billionaire businessman and former chess player

The people of the world are gambling for colossal stakes. Two centuries of scientific enquiry, founded in basic physics and powerful evidence, indicate that the risks from a changing climate over the next hundred years and beyond are immense.

Economist Known for Stern Review on Climate Change Economics

There is a strong possibility that the relationship between humans and their environment would be so fundamentally changed that hundreds of millions of people, perhaps billions, would have to move. History tells us that this carries serious risks of severe and extended conflict.

Economist Known for Stern Review on Climate Change Economics

Studies estimate that climate change directly contributes to the death of over 400,000 people a year, and costs the world economy over $1.2 trillion per-annum. If we factor in man-made environmental pollution alongside climate-change, over 4.5 million people each year die as a direct result of man's impact on this planet.

We are the first generation that through its neglect could destroy the relationship between humans and the planet, and perhaps the last generation that can prevent dangerous climate change.

Economist Known for Stern Review on Climate Change Economics

As the rise of populism causes increased scepticism of business we are very conscious of our role as a firm in society. We focus on the impact that our portfolio businesses have on all of their stakeholders, from investors and employees to the local communities in which they operate.

Terra Firma Capital founder; acquired EMI Records in 2007

Simply put, a great business will understand its customers, have a clear, sound strategy and a business plan that can deliver against it. In order to do this it is very important to have a management team who can execute that plan.

Terra Firma Capital founder; acquired EMI Records in 2007

I think there is huge volatility in short-term investing. If we keep a long-term perspective in mind, we will go through the good cycles and the bad cycles and reach the other side. Short-term vision does not allow one to build better businesses and create value.

Terra Firma Capital founder; acquired EMI Records in 2007

While most people are uncomfortable with change we have a business built on analysing it. Our business takes advantage of challenges and the opportunities they provide.

Terra Firma Capital founder; acquired EMI Records in 2007

To me, a great leader should be empathetic, authentic, entrepreneurial, creative, ethical and lead from the front.

Terra Firma Capital founder; acquired EMI Records in 2007

The most common mistake is to stop challenging when things are going well. I recognise failure as not having made a business better than when you were first involved.

Terra Firma Capital founder; acquired EMI Records in 2007

I learned zooming from Steve Jobs, it was something he practices all the time. Steve zoomed out to look beyond how industries are defined presently to see what the possibilities might be... You need to go beyond the defined description of an industry today, and look at it from all angles, and all contexts. Don't forget... entrepreneurship is about finding a better way.

CEO of Apple Computer Company during the 1980s and 1990s

When you look at companies that survive growth, you are seeing the importance of people- not just ideas. One of the big surprises to young people when they show up in Silicon Valley... is that there are literally thousands of people just like that across Silicon Valley who were top of their class and have incredible ideas. Successful companies that scale stand out because of their people!

CEO of Apple Computer Company during the 1980s and 1990s

To scale? you have the stars aligned- timing is everything. When we created the first personal digital assistant, the Newton... we were probably 15 years too early. Even some of the best computer scientists in the world didn't realise that at the time, we needed Moore's Law to continue doubling processing power every couple of years for at least a decade before it was practical to build products like iPhones.

CEO of Apple Computer Company during the 1980s and 1990s

I'd only been at Apple a few months and I was sitting in the Macintosh lab with Steve Jobs and Bill Gates listening to them talking about their 'noble cause.' I had never heard about having a 'noble cause' in business- for me, it was about gladiatorial competition... Here was Steve Jobs and Bill Gates talking about empowering knowledge workers with tools for the mind, making them incredibly productive, and helping them to change the way things were done in our world; creating entirely new industries in the process.

CEO of Apple Computer Company during the 1980s and 1990s