My goal has been to encourage jointness, to push people to think of affiliations rather than to operate as solo entrepreneurs.
A. Bartlett Giamatti
Steve Jobs is the most epic entrepreneur of all time. He served as a guiding light for any emerging businessperson who wanted to learn how things should get done. He'll be looked at as one of the best business leaders of all time, and certainly one of the best tech entrepreneurs.
Aaron Levie
One of my top tips for aspiring entrepreneurs: Tell everyone you know about your idea. This runs contrary to the instinct that most people have, because they're afraid someone is going to 'steal my ideal.' Ideas alone are worth very little; it's in the execution and market feedback that companies are made.
Aaron Patzer
I believe that Bitcoin is going to change the way that everything works. I want entrepreneurs to tell me how its going to change. Build the equivalent of an Iron Man suit with Bitcoin.
Adam Draper
Coinbase is 'the' brand in the Bitcoin space. Their founder Brian Armstrong was amongst the first good entrepreneurs to emerge in this space. While others championed ideological or underground/illicit interests, Brian saw an opportunity to change the world for the better and build a big business out of it.
There is a saying in entrepreneurship that your early employees are all commandos. Commandos are people who can do almost everything well: emails, strategy, code, design.
Adeo Ressi
The most successful entrepreneurs in the world have a combination of the right type of personality and fortunate life circumstance. A lot of them have been doing it most of their life.
There are a number of traits that combine to create entrepreneurial potential. We find that openness coordinates very well with successful entrepreneurs. The more open-minded you are, the more you see the world as it actually is. The more closed-minded, the more you see the world as you want it to be.
I really have become very interested at working with and helping entrepreneurs at the early stages of their growth.
Aileen Lee
Having been a venture-backed CEO, and having an established background in working with consumer-focused companies, I've built a strong network of entrepreneurs and people who can help startups.
A lot of the entrepreneurs and founders have big dreams and are on a mission to build things that the world has never seen before.
Many entrepreneurs, and the venture investors who back them, seek to build billion-dollar companies.
Some investors may grumble about entrepreneurs wanting 'unicorn valuations.' But let's be honest: most investors want them, too, and are supporting the massive capitalization of these companies.
I think, from a woman's perspective, that my interest as an investor and the way that I relate to entrepreneurs is a little bit different.
High-speed Internet access, or broadband, is giving entrepreneurs anywhere an unprecedented chance to disrupt entire industries and transform our country.
Ajit Pai
Entrepreneurs are constantly developing new technologies and services. But too often, they're unable to bring them quickly to market for consumers because regulatory inertia stands in the way. Unfortunately, the FCC can suffer from this government-wide problem.
Bottom line: government shouldn't be a bottleneck for entrepreneurs looking to design a better mousetrap.
My view is that the Internet should be run by engineers and entrepreneurs, not lawyers and bureaucrats.
Countries which favour openness and the mobility of skilled talent secure the development of more diverse and culturally rich work environments, a higher level of innovation, as well as entrepreneurship and wider international networks.
Alain Dehaze
As someone who understands what's needed for entrepreneurs and start-up companies to succeed, I can tell you there is nothing more integral to their success than operating in a stable financial system.
Alan Patricof
Entrepreneurship, to me, means that you're a psychopath. The world doesn't work in the way you want it to, and you have a vision for how it should work. Unlike everyone else, this isn't OK with you. You have to go out, against every possible odd, and do something about it. That's what makes you crazy.
The successful entrepreneurs that I see have two characteristics: self-awareness and persistence. They're able to see problems in their companies through their self-awareness and be persistent enough to solve them.
It's gotten more open and easy to create a business on the Internet. That's a really awesome thing for entrepreneurs and for the world.
Great entrepreneurs are often great listeners and they can spot patterns and pick up on small details in customer stories.
Founders go wrong when they start to believe their business plan will materialize as written. I advise entrepreneurs to burn their business plan - it's simply too dangerous to the health of your business.
Like most entrepreneurs, getting motivated to work has never been a problem for me; focus comes through delegating tasks to the best people you can find.
Entrepreneurs are more likely to be successful if they're able to be present while pitching their ideas. It's about maintaining presence during big challenges - very high stakes moments with some component of social judgment. Everyone has them, whether they're entrepreneurs or not.
The thing that really sticks - and when you talk to entrepreneurs, they say the same - is just thinking about the next day, the next week.
We can support innovators and entrepreneurs.
I would say to young entrepreneurs and budding philanthropists - are you giving to feel good or do good?
There are two companies that the AI Fund has invested in - Woebot and Landing AI - and the AI Fund has a number of internal teams working on new projects. We usually bring in people as employees, work with them to turn ideas into startups, then have the entrepreneurs go into the startup as founders.
I think the Indian AI ecosystem is growing rapidly. A lot of Indian entrepreneurs reach out to me seeking feedback about startups and products. And some of them have very interesting business ideas.
In most every business, you learn by doing. The apprenticeship model is much more effective than the classroom for cultivating entrepreneurs.
Tell young girls they can be anything, including entrepreneurs and self-made billionaires. Encourage your friends/daughters/female students/yourself to take a shot.
There is a common and persistent belief out there that entrepreneurship is about creativity - that it's about having a great idea. But it's not, really. Entrepreneurship isn't about creativity. It's about organization-building - which, in turn, is about people.
In my experience, entrepreneurship tends to be kind of cumulative, like a layer cake. Taking some time away can make it hard to rev up.
One reason why entrepreneurs are admired is that they often take on a degree of risk in launching a new business.
I like most of the venture capitalists I know; they're smart, well-intended guys who genuinely enjoy helping entrepreneurs succeed. And I love venture capital and investment capital of all categories - its economic impact is proven. The more of it the better.
For most students at universities around the country, studying entrepreneurship is a pleasant intellectual diversion, not a professional choice, path, or commitment.
The image of entrepreneurship as the province of the unprivileged and un-entitled - the Horatio Alger, rags to riches myth - flies in the face of reality.
At Venture for ,we've worked with hundreds of aspiring young entrepreneurs who want to build businesses and change things for the better.
Every parent pursues the best possible opportunities for their child while climbing over obstacles and limitations each day. So in a way, all parents are entrepreneurs.
In 2011, I started a nonprofit organization, Venture for America, to help bring talented young entrepreneurs to create thousands of jobs in Detroit, Cleveland, St. Louis, Birmingham, Baltimore and other cities around the country.
Finding initial funds is the primary barrier most entrepreneurs face. Many people don't have three or six months' worth of savings to free themselves up to do months of unpaid legwork.
I have started or run several companies and spent time with dozens of entrepreneurs over the years. Virtually none of them, in my experience, made meaningful personnel or resource-allocation decisions based on incentives or policies.
In my experience, fledgling entrepreneurs focus way too much on the money - you can get most things done and figure out a lot without spending much. That said, most businesses require money to launch and get off the ground.
The technologists and entrepreneurs I know are generally good people. If they were given a choice, 'Do your job and eliminate normal jobs' or 'Do your job and create abundant opportunities,' they would choose the latter. Most of them would happily even take a small hit to do so. But this isn't a choice they're given.
The Internet has democratized content, and the gatekeepers are no longer in control. That democracy is wonderful for entrepreneurs.
Like many other chef-entrepreneurs, I am convinced that fast food does not mean bad food.
The general rule is that entrepreneurs need the fear of their brand's demise to make it magic. It is too safe to do it as a corporate subsidiary.
