Tim O'Reilly Quotes

Salads was a big indicator of that - there was a huge market out there for it. And why not tap it? Some of the things we are doing now around the globe are responding to customers. It's not because some guy sued you.

I started my own little carpet and upholstery cleaning business. I've done it for 20 years. I live well.

The best customers for us are the ones that present us with a new problem because chances are, if one customer has that problem, 100 more have it, or 1,000, or 10,000. So you start thinking about solution development rather than product development.

You need to run the company on an even keel, and you need to be thinking about the company long-term and how to drive your next innovation.

The thing I learned from Travis Kalanick, Elon, and others is they don't spend their time thinking about competition. They think about what they're going to build next.

Growth hacking is a mindset, and those who have it will reap incredible gains.

I'm the classic old-school entrepreneur that says let's build companies of lasting value.

There are players who tend not to look at the money short-term: they have a bigger plan.

I always wanted to have a headphone line but I feel like I'm going to do more than just headphones eventually, but we want to wake the world up right now with this.

I want to take a long-term view. Being distracted by short term things can be dangerous when you are making cold, calm, long-term decisions.

Technical co-founders are great at envisioning where the company's going from a strategic standpoint. They have what I call the 'gut-feel' of building out their business.

People look up to Techstars because they get funded by Techstars; they go through the accelerator. What we do impacts what they do. What we care about we hope has a meta impact on those entrepreneurs and how they think about the world.

I think there's real value in having a founder CEO. Obviously, I'm biased, but I'm driven by a purpose and a mission and a vision, not just profits.

When [competitors are] in the shower in the morning, they're thinking about how they're going to get ahead of one of their top competitors. Here in the shower, we're thinking about how we are going to invent something on behalf of a customer.

Having a good idea is one thing, but persuading other people to buy it is quite another. Good inventors are polymaths: they think with their hands and their brains. They're experts in design, engineering and business.

Risk taking and the drive to pursue innovative ideas are the fuel that stokes the entrepreneurial spirit.

Ideas are always more important than money.

There isn't a plant or a business on earth that couldn't stand a few improvements-and be better for them. Someone is going to think of them. Why not beat the other fellow to it?

Good startups usually take 10 years.

I wake up every morning and think to myself, 'How far can I push the company forward in the next 24 hours?

Know your stuff. Have an angle. Know how to grow business, how to develop products, have patents and an undeveloped market that could be huge.

Being an entrepreneur isn’t just a job title, and it isn’t just about starting a company. It’s a state of mind. It’s about seeing connections others can’t, seizing opportunities others won’t, and forging new directions that others haven’t.

Before there is a business, a successful entrepreneur is designing this type of business in his or her mind's eye. According to my rich dad, this is the job of a true entrepreneur.

To be successful in business and life, spot the possibilities while others look for problems.