Joe Lonsdale Quotes

There's nothing more invigorating than being deeply involved with a small company and a young team of founders out to do something incredibly special.

I love working with really early stage startups where the outcome is still in doubt. Maybe they'll go on to greatness, or maybe they'll never get off the runway at all.

Entrepreneurs can't forecast accurately, because they are trying something fundamentally new. So they will often be laughably behind plan - and on the brink of success.

Passion gets an entrepreneur through the startup days and the enormous efforts it takes to build a business.

Startups, in some sense, have gotten so easy to start that we are confusing two things. And what we are confusing, often, is, 'How far can you get in your first day of travel?' with, 'How long it is going to take to get up to the top of the mountain?'

About 10 million people start a business each year, and about one out of two will make it. The average entrepreneur is often on his or her third startup.

I think the biggest myth entrepreneurs have is that the growth and performance of their startups depends more on their entrepreneurial talent than on the businesses they choose.

It's hard to tell with these Internet startups if they're really interested in building companies or if they're just interested in the money. I can tell you, though: If they don't really want to build a company, they won't luck into it. That's because it's so hard that if you don't have a passion, you'll give up.

You can make something big when young that will carry you through life. Look at all the big startups like Microsoft, Apple, Google, Facebook, Twitter, etc. They were all started by very young people who stumbled on something of unseen value. You'll know it when you hit a home run.

Look at MIT—the smartest people in the world. They start up 50 companies a year. Only 1 makes it.

When we started CANANA, I wasn't married, so I guess I was married to the idea of CANANA.

When we talk about Techstars, we think of it as this worldwide network that helps entrepreneurs succeed.

I was never meant to, like, work and then turn it off and sit on the couch. I just have a vision, and I'm inspired by it. It's sort of what makes me tick.

I have seen a lot of now-great companies at their earliest stages, and these early-stage startups are not built by the senior people who know how to run and scale big-company machines.

What business would judged on the first week that it's in business?

There is something I have noticed about desire, that it opens the eyes and strikes them blind at the same time.

Startup success is driven most by the product passion, quality, vision, team-work and persistence of the founding team and the talent that the team attracts.

I love having real conversations with entrepreneurs who have built their companies from the ground up, with nothing but their own drive, passion, and courage, and I'm constantly learning new things as I hear each one's unique journey.

It's one thing to see a vision; it's another thing to be seized by a vision.

Photography my passion, the search for truth, my obsession.

It now lately sometimes seemed a black miracle to me that people could actually care deeply about a subject or pursuit, and could go on caring this way for years on end. Could dedicate their entire lives to it. It seemed admirable and at the same time pathetic. We are all dying to give our lives away to something, maybe.

A good, true, intense love is not complete without madness.

In the closed world of the gynaeceum, despite the gardens and parkland extending beyong the horizon, despite the insurmountable walls separating pavillions and palaces, the tangled web of our fate was inescapable. Why did these women love each other to the point of madness? Why did they loathe one another so vehemently, and why did sworn enemies feel such horror and fascination for one another? Why should furious hate become obsession, then intoxication and the very reason to live?Because love and hate were the two heads of the demon.

For most software startups, this translates to keep growing. For hardware startups, it translates to don't let your ship date slip.

Then I lie down on the horse blanket and drift into a dream about Marlena that will probably cost me my soul.