Jimmy John Liautaud Quotes

It's easy to be a short-term hero. It is very easy for me to get tremendous results very short term, get that translated into compensation, and be off sailing in the Bahamas. But the goal for this company - and it's very difficult to do - the goal is to follow a four- or five-year process.

Growth does not always lead a business to build on success. All too often it converts a highly successful business into a mediocre large business.

The thing I tried to remember when I was younger was 'Do something that's at least as good, if not better, than the last thing you did.' So I started with Brian De Palma and Sean Penn. I had a pretty high bar to start with.

For me, it's not about quick grabs and quick sales; it's about having a sound that will last and sustain.

If you would hit the mark, you must aim a little above it.

You can't just tell your team, 'Think long term.' It doesn't work that way. When you are starting out, you have to always think about trying to build something of value for the customer: something they can use all the time, something of use.

There is always this perception that you want to shoot for the top, but I think there's this great place to shoot for the middle and get consistent work and try different things and do the work you want to do with the kind of people you want to do it with.

Companies that get confused, that think their goal is revenue or stock price or something. You have to focus on the things that lead to those.

Successful enterprises are built from the ground up. You can't assemble them with a bunch of acquisitions.

I'm committed to increasing long-term value for shareholders and am confident we will continue to do so through the successful execution of our core strategic priorities: the creation of high quality, branded content and experiences, the use of technology, and creating growth in numerous and exciting international markets.

You can't cost-cut your way to greatness.

At Reliance, we have always believed in investing in the businesses of the future and in investing in talent.

Because entrepreneurship is so hard and does take so long to build something great, you do have to build an environment that you yourself as an entrepreneur want to work in for the next 20 years.

Don't take shortcuts while building your company - keep trying for the best.

I'd love to see more businesses take this approach - intentionally rightsizing themselves. Hit a number that feels good and say, 'Let's stick around here.'

After my first fashion week, there were so many brands approaching us, and we said 'No' 90 per cent of the time. We didn't care about making a lot of money - it seemed so short term. We've always wanted to create something bigger.

Once you know what you want and what is important for you to achieve, also define the values associated with it. What is important? That is something a lot of entrepreneurs pass by too quickly. For us, the things that were important were, No. 1, customer success. Nothing is more important to us than making sure every customer is successful in our service.

The root of great companies is make meaning vs. make money.

As an entrepreneur making decisions for your company, always go back to your first principles of what's important to you and why you started in the first place.

I have set a standard, and I'm going to stick to the standard. I may have been able to grow faster and maybe my business could have been bigger, but because I really feel very serious about my subject, I really want to be hands-on.

Our plate is full. We have a lot to do building our company organically and that is our key focus.

I would tell startups to just keep your head down, keep building. Your contingency plan, if you have one, should be because you are still spending more than you make and you still don't have a line of sight for that J curve. That is the most important contingency. Because otherwise you are betraying that equation to your cofounders, to your investors, to your employees and to your customers.

If you think in terms of topping, you're in the wrong business. You can't think that way.

Businesses that grow by development and improvement do not die.

Growth is the mantra of our society because the economy can't remain healthy without growth.Impregnable monopolies aside (and these are few), profits are both the hallmark of capitalism and its Achilles heel, for no business can permanently maintain its prices much above its costs. There is only one way in which profits can be perpetuated; a business-or an entire economy-must grow.