From 600+ conversations with the world’s leading thinkers.
27 years ago, when I started in UFC, I knew it was going to be one of the biggest things in sports- honestly. It was always a spectacle, but needed refining to become a mainstream, extreme sport. All the excitement we used to get from watching those movies we can now watch in reality. The men and women who come into the octagon are also really fascinating, have incredible stories, incredible personalities- UFC really captures you… it captures hearts and minds.
I often pose a critical question to businesses: if the economy began transitioning towards sustainability, would this be a boon or a bane for your business? If it's perceived as a threat, your paramount priority should be to modify your business model until this transition becomes an opportunity.
I started my entrepreneurship journey straight out of college, and at the time my goal was simple. I didn't want a real job, and I didn't want to wear a suit…. Anything more than that was a bonus.
A fantastic business stumbles onto something psychological which just gives it a fantastic edge. Netflix's killer psychological hack was 'have 3 DVDs at any one time, watch them as often as you want, change them out as often as you want, £19.95 a month. No late fees ever.' That turned into a business worth billions.
80% of self-made billionaires we studied made their mark in mature, competitive markets. They weren't all 'exactly' new products that came out – they were maybe a variation of a business model or existing product that pleased the customer in a different way. Think of Howard Schulz with Starbucks, or Sara Blakeley with Spanx for example.
The end of an X-Prize is the beginning of a new market, or a new market opportunity. We are nothing more than a distinct channel to that market.
We're up against corporate, almost criminal behaviour. We are up against corporations who are manipulating young, vulnerable people.
The daily turnover of the foreign exchange market is around USD 3.2 Trillion, meaning that in a few weeks of trade, enough capital is circulated to pay for all of global trade in a year. Capital is the driver, NOT trade.
The things that get rewarded in those systems are things that provoke, divide and drive outrage – so we end up with a broken media economy that drives us all crazy and doesn't represent the best version of ourselves – that doesn't help us come to a common understanding of truth.
When it comes to the growth of knowledge, you need to double down on the capacities you already have; you want to build on cities that possess a foundation. When you build in a remote location, costs skyrocket, attractiveness is hard to engineer, and the complementarities that help knowledge stick to a place simply aren't there.
I realised that my passion lay in the realm of high performance, irrespective of the context, and the sustainability of such performance was a fascinating query. This question is invariably present in the minds of leaders in great organisations.
It certainly plays a much bigger role than was ever intended to. A number of financial institutions and contracts rely on LIBOR as the benchmark by which other rates are set. I don't think it was ever intended that LIBOR would play such a central role between so many institutions and contracts.