Trip Adler Quotes

It turns out that no undergrad class prepares you to start a startup - you learn most of it as you do it.

I think the mistake people make most often when they invest in other kinds of startups is they say, 'This is totally different.' And so the things that matter, like making a product that people desperately want, like talking to customers, they throw this out the window. That is a recipe for heartache and tears.

I want to create an environment where I can create technology, get it into the hands of someone to market it, and move on to other technologies so I can keep innovating. I want to be a serial entrepreneur: Incubate an idea, get it to a good state, and make that an enabler to get to the next state. It's every researcher's fantasy.

The thing about startups is you can make it, and if it's wrong you can remake it, and you can build a team that you want to have, a product that you want to have. You're utterly focused on your users or your customers and their needs, and trying to figure out how to meet those needs.

Entrepreneurship works on the apprenticeship model. The best way to learn how to be an entrepreneur is to start a company and seek the advice of a successful entrepreneur in the area in which you are interested. Or work at a startup for a few years to learn the ropes.

Almost anything worth doing involves some measure of risk - from learning to ride a bike, moving to a new city, and certainly, starting your own business. The point is that no one has ever started a business or created a new product with a guarantee of success.

It's important for founders to think about how they would build their company from scratch - again.

We now understand the distinction between startups - who search for a business model - versus existing companies - that execute a business plan.

A startup is not just about the idea: it's about testing and then implementing the idea. A founding team without these skills is likely dead on arrival.

As an entrepreneur, my problem was that I had too many ideas.

If you want to build a startup that has a good chance of succeeding, don't listen to me. Listen to Paul Graham and others who are applying tons of data to the idea of startup success. That will maximize your chance of being successful.

I always knew I wanted to start my own line. Nights and weekends, I would work on my business plan.

The point of an accelerator is to teach you about companies and business, not about technology.

The goal wasn't to create a billion-dollar company. The goal was to create something useful where I could learn things.

What interests me is starting businesses on our own, finding ideas that we can support, and simply investing in invention.

When you start a business, go for the lowest hanging fruit.

Entrepreneurship is not really building a product, it's not having an idea, it's not being in the right place at the right time. It's fundamentally company building.

For me, the winning strategy in any start-up business is, 'Think big but start small.'

Small businesses, you can give them capital, but what they often need as much is mentoring, advice and help with their business plan.

By definition startups usually do not turn a profit.

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.

If every effect of any new products or methods were required to be known before they could be produced and marketed, they would not be true innovations - and thus not represent new knowledge of what people would like, if offered.

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.

One of my earliest ventures was when I was nine years old. I realized there was a shortage of pencils at school, so I started Rent-a-Pencil. But I made a fundamental mistake. Everybody stole my pencils.

There's an idealization of being an entrepreneur, but the most important thing is to have a really great idea.