Wisdom in fragments

Without truthfulness I would never have been able to grow anything of any significance, I would have been 'found out.' Having truthfulness and ethics within a business creates trust among employees at all levels and is critical. I led the company with an approach of complete honesty.

Billionaire British entrepreneur and founder of Phones 4u mobile retailer

In line with most highly-tuned talents, I absolutely believe that entrepreneurship is a genetic gift that you're born with. What you do with that gift depends on your upbringing, opportunities and inspirations; you either make them massively better or neglect them. That combination of genetics and sheer hard work is the 'secret' of getting to the top.

Billionaire British entrepreneur and founder of Phones 4u mobile retailer

The key lesson I have learned from looking at 600 years of technological controversies is that human history is a footnote on the tensions between innovation and incumbency.

Harvard Professor of International Development & Innovation Policy Expert

I tend to go with scholarship that argues that there no people called entrepreneurs but people perform entrepreneurial functions at different times. Edison performed great entrepreneurial acts. But he was also fierce opponent of innovation when it threatened his business interests.

Harvard Professor of International Development & Innovation Policy Expert

The idea that education can reduce resistance to innovation is often informed by the misguided view that people oppose new technologies because of ignorance. This is not the case.

Harvard Professor of International Development & Innovation Policy Expert

I would even say that people really don't oppose new technologies but they question the way they are used so the challenges are more social than they are technological.

Harvard Professor of International Development & Innovation Policy Expert

It is natural that a society would want to keep what they think works, the status quo. We are also acutely aware that technological changes alters society in unpredictable ways. It is the uncertainty associated with change—especially the fear of losing what we value—that leads to resistance to change.

Harvard Professor of International Development & Innovation Policy Expert

We are born creative and often seek to transform our surroundings to suit our existence. Everything around us constantly changes and so creative options for adapting to this change become the only guarantee we have for a meaningful existence.

Harvard Professor of International Development & Innovation Policy Expert

Power is the capacity to get others to do or stop doing something now, or in the future. Power is also a source of order, and a source of comfort for some people. Remember that the extreme situation where nobody has power, is anarchy… and anarchy leads to inferior social outcomes [versus] societies where structures and entities that impose power, limits and rules to create stability and prosperity.

Venezuelan author and scholar on power shifts and global geopolitics

What investors want the most is a team committed to a cause for the right reasons (passion about solving a problem, not passion about financial game), who can go and get people to buy into the vision, and who can build and manage teams.

Co-Founder of Foursquare, Location-Based Social Networking Pioneer

Here's the thing: if people really want to do something, all they need to do is meet someone who's built something from scratch to show them that it can be done by someone just like them.

Co-Founder of Foursquare, Location-Based Social Networking Pioneer

All the talks I give are about failure, how hard it is, how much this job kinda' sucks and genuinely how tough it is. People often go into this world thinking it's all roses, and it's not.

Co-Founder of Foursquare, Location-Based Social Networking Pioneer

With Foursquare, our original app was a good idea but it wasn't a hundred million users good idea. The data behind the app, and what we do with the data? That's our good idea. That's our hundred million dollars in revenue idea.

Co-Founder of Foursquare, Location-Based Social Networking Pioneer

I don't really like the term entrepreneur because I think to some it implies that you start businesses for the sake of starting businesses. My view is this. If there's something you want to see in the world that doesn't exist, go build that thing. If that means you have to build a company? so be it.

Co-Founder of Foursquare, Location-Based Social Networking Pioneer

CSR does not help with me as a buyer, why? Because I'm cynical about it now, I don't believe it. After the success of Toms Shoes, every 23 year old told me they're starting an umbrella company and giving an umbrella to the people that need it in the Amazon. CSR has clearly become a tactic. Every strategy of every company and human being should come from a truth.

Serial Entrepreneur, Author & Digital Marketing Strategist

In today's climate, and over the past 5-7 years, people have been building financial arbitrage machines not actual companies. Most people's behaviour is more predicated towards raising the next round of financing rather than building towards a profitable company. We're going to have a massive crash and 90% of the people will go back to working at Bank of America, Chase, GE and companies like that- and the people who are good enough will continue to build businesses.

Serial Entrepreneur, Author & Digital Marketing Strategist