Evan Williams Quotes

I've always been an entrepreneur. I start businesses for a living.

We all get into business, and we take a risk in terms of putting capital.

Entrepreneurs love to view risk as binary. The more you put on the line, the greater the potential for reward.

You can't be successful in business without taking risks. It's really that simple.

Starting a company is rough. It's even harder when you're young - I know this firsthand, because my first company flopped when I was 25.

The most dangerous thing for an entrepreneur to do is to actually go into a business that he does not understand fully.

If you want your company to succeed, you have to have the confidence in your business to take a bet on its future - to risk destroying a mediocre business model for the chance to have a strong one.

Nine out of ten businesses fail; so I came up with a foolproof plan - create ten businesses.

Well, I think that there's a very thin dividing line between success and failure. And I think if you start a business without financial backing, you're likely to go the wrong side of that dividing line.

An entrepreneur assumes the risk and is dedicated and committed to the success of whatever he or she undertakes.

I think that sometimes people are frightened to take the risk of entrepreneurship.

When you've got a great business going, you go open another and take the risk of losing the whole thing. It's fun!

I still remember 2002. It's a very hard time for Hong Kong industry, no movies in Hong Kong, and also at this moment I start my new company, so many people said, 'You're crazy.'

Recessions are the best time to start a company. Companies fail. Others hold back capital. If you are willing to do the preparation and work, it is the best time to invest in yourself and start a business.

Running a real business is exacting, daunting, repetitive work. Even in Silicon Valley.

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.

The opportunity for an entrepreneur to start a company from scratch today is abysmal.

I think that anyone who wants to start their own business can, but not any type of business.

If you are handed something, it's a blessing and a curse. Look at hip hop artists, they produced everything themselves. Even people like Robert De Niro are getting into production. Again, it's art vs. marketing. Not everyone can take the risk. You have to break a few eggs to make a good omelet.

Starting a company is like throwing yourself off the cliff and assembling an airplane on the way down.

Arcadia was a typical venture capital deal, but I'm the adventurer and the capitalist.

Mitt Romney understands free enterprise, he has worked in it. He has seen companies succeed and he has seen them fail, too. He knows what people think about when they invest their money.

There's no such thing as a good time. I started an apparel-manufacturing business in the tech-boom years. I mean, come on. Get out of your garage and go take a chance and start your business.

Whenever you start a new business, the sheer number of variables at hand makes failure a constant possibility.

Business books are generally read and written by people who aren't good at business.