In this ever-changing society, the most powerful and enduring brands are built from the heart. They are real and sustainable. Their foundations are stronger because they are built with the strength of the human spirit, not an ad campaign. The companies that are lasting are those that are authentic.
Companies should not have a singular view of profitability. There needs to be a balance between commerce and social responsibility... The companies that are authentic about it will wind up as the companies that make more money.
Many financial and industrial companies have been bailed out with the public's money, but very few of those who had run those companies have been punished for their failures. Yes, the top managers of those companies have lost their jobs - but with a fat pension and mostly with a handsome severance payment.
Lasting companies know how to reinvent themselves.
When screening engineers from other companies, its smart to value engineers from great companies more than those from mediocre companies.
I'm the classic old-school entrepreneur that says let's build companies of lasting value.
We have no lasting friends, no lasting enemies, only lasting interests.
What if we choose not to do the things we are supposed to do? The principal gain is a sense of an authentic act - and an authentic life. It may be a short one, but it is an authentic one, and that's a lot better than those short lives full of boredom. The principal loss is security. Another is respect from the community. But you gain the respect of another community, the one that is worth having the respect of.
Companies that hire employees..that are deeply passionate create companies that customers are really really passionate about, and those are the companies that have strong brands.
The payoff of a customer-centric approach to software and digital product design is substantial and long-lasting for both companies and their customers.
We've seen the government give out subsidies to companies, those companies turn around and use it for executive bonuses.
At Foundry Group, we always look for companies that we think build magic into their products. Occipital has been one of those companies.
Booksellers are tied to publishing - they need conventional publishing models to continue - but for those companies, that's not the case. Amazon is an infrastructure company; Apple sells hardware; Google is really an advertising company. You can't afford as a publisher to have those companies control your route to market.
The focus of our public discourse has been on how American companies are competing with Japanese, German, and other foreign companies. What this allows us to ignore is how each of those American companies is really in competition with the families of the workers. That's the real competition.
It's important that I'm a role model and that the companies that I associate myself with feel the same way about their own images. Those are companies I'd like to be associated with.
The companies we admire are like the people we admire: resilient, authentic, personable, collaborative, ambitious, and humble.