Russell Simmons Quotes

So many of my rookie mistakes could have been avoided by first-hand exposure to other, more experienced technology entrepreneurs.

Our mission is to help founders and anyone or anything that helps founders helps us with our mission.

My role models in the business were the older guys on my team when I first got there: Gray Scott, Adrian Smith, Roland Taylor. These were the guys who took me under their wing, and really schooled me in terms of what the business was about.

You grow up a lot in terms of your understanding of the industry and how to deal with the corporate things.

I feel like I ask people who have been in the industry for a while a lot of questions.

Great VCs are more than mere investors; they are often seasoned leaders who have built companies themselves.

Before WeWork, I had a baby clothing company. When I started out, I had no real contacts in the garment business and no mentor to guide me on how things worked. I just had an idea to put pads on the baby clothes on to protect the baby's knees.

I think Steve Wynn, who was like my mentor and a second father, has been a great inspiration. He's a great mentor because he's a guy who's had great business success but also has always been driven by creativity - and inspired creativity.

I wish I had known the value of interning at a startup before starting my own. There is so much I could have learned on somebody else's dime in a much lower-risk environment.

I have met with hundreds of young fashion designers, hundreds of fashion startups, hundreds of CEOs and business leaders. All I do is get to ask questions of professionals in the industry. I learn from every conversation. It is the best education I could have.

We're learning the business, meeting people we need to know, getting knowledgeable about our craft.

Mentorship is key to unlocking each of our entrepreneurial spirits.

In their infancy, startups need geniuses who fit their current tight-knit culture and will iterate quickly as they push towards an ambitious vision - and they need a scaffolding of advisors, strategists, early users, and product-thinkers around these savants to guide them.

We can support innovators and entrepreneurs.

I know this business better than most people, and I'm extremely passionate about it.

Your first company is like your first baby.You have this unconditional, irrational love.

The chance to interact with big shots is drawing scads of aspiring entrepreneurs to Quora, along with venture capitalists and other Valley players.

I'll be a mentor to those who want to create a business, product or service and aren't exactly sure how to do that. To me, it's a true sign of success if I can help someone have a better time of it.

When you're coming up in the business, there are so many people giving you advice and people prepping you for interviews: what to say, what not to say. When you don't know the business, you kind of take all that on and say, 'This is what I need to do, and I need to do what people tell me to do.'

When Tigana took me on at Monaco he didn't know much about me but he gave me a chance, and then he was very patient and allowed me to develop. Under him, I became braver.

If I'm with my dad, yeah, he's going to talk a good bit about the business. He just kind of mentors me and tells me what he's thinking about my stuff.

Vince McMahon made me a much better businessman, and I'm super thankful to him.

The fastest way for you to succeed is by piggy-backing on the good advice and counsel of men and women who have already spent years leaning how to succeed. When you do this on a regular and systematic basis, you will open up doors of opportunity and possibilities for you that today you cannot even imagine.

Ignore the stock market, ignore the economy, and buy a business you understand.

A real leader is not the top dog who merely shouts down orders. a leader is one who holds the space for the brilliance of others.