From 600+ conversations with the world’s leading thinkers.
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.
If your strategy is to do everything, you have no strategy at all.
...the most serious financial crisis we've seen at least since the 1930s, if not ever.
You will never find opportunities in your comfort zone, you have to push yourself. You have to be hungry and willing to go into the unknown. The unknown is where you will always find opportunity.
The contract between an employer and employee has changed quite a bit. When I first joined Adobe I was hoping that there would be a meaningful impact and that I could contribute to the purpose. I was hoping that I would have an opportunity to grow and develop. I was hoping to have some autonomy and flexibility. All of that now has become a must have, not a nice to have.
Choosing not to rely on outside funding offers greater freedom overall. While there's significant sacrifice upfront, about 10 years down the line, you begin to truly value the autonomy it provides.
If somebody told me the US stock market returned 12% per annum over the last 50 years, I would simply ask them what the returns were over the last 150 years, 250 years, 10 years and so on. I could make up any return I want just by picking the appropriate time period.
It's differences in tastes and preferences, resources and technology together with ways of thinking (manifesting in managerial and design differences) which are the reasons countries benefit when they trade with each other in goods, services, finance and labour.
I got into boxing promotion by accident. One of my cousins was a boxer, so I used to go watch him fight as an amateur and then when he turned pro. He had a fight, I went to watch it… he got beat and had a return match… he beat the guy… they had another match, but they wanted to pay them crap money. I went to the meeting, turned around and said, '…I don't need you, we'll promote it…' I don't know why I even said that! The next minute, I was in the promotion business and helping to get this thing together; I got bitten by the bug, and it went from there.
After Amaranth, I think to a significant extent, the business side became more important and of greater focus for institutional investors than the investment side.
They don't just dive into a project; they begin by exploring its purpose. If they're working with a client, their first question is often, 'Why are you undertaking this project?' They don't move forward until they have a clear understanding of this 'why', dedicating considerable time to uncover its various facets.
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.