Ben Silbermann Quotes

I think it's important for people to know that bad things do happen to good people and that life can throw a serious curveball at even the most cautious and "prepared" people out there.

It's always a surprise! This business is always an adventure.

What separates sports from entrepreneurism, however, is that in business we constantly have to overcome undefined and unpredictable challenges. Athletes train for specific events and conditions, whereas entrepreneurs generally have little idea what they will encounter along the way.

There's really no way to plan how to play an alien.

After the first ball is bowled, it's only chaos. What you are trying to do is you're trying to manage the chaos. It's not like a script that happens.

But that's how life is. You never know how it's going to turn out, and you can't plan for everything. You just have to do your best dealing with things as they come and hope people forgive you when you make a mistake.

I try to take life as it comes, and just hope it keeps coming.

In today's rapidly changing world, the people who are not taking risk are the risk takers.

If one does not expect the unexpected, one will not find it out, since it is not to be searched out, and difficut to compass.

My direction as a person working in film has been to never get comfortable with anything I was doing. At the time that I decided to do action films, people were telling me, "Well, you can't do it. You're not that type. It's not going to work." And so obviously that made me think, "Well, that's not comfortable. Maybe I should try it. What can I do with it?" So I did that, and I'm glad I did it. I'll probably do it again, and I did other kinds of things that seemed like challenges for me, because I like being on the high wire.

Never assume. Never make plans. Keep doing the press-ups and deep knee bends: you'll need all your strength and flexibility when your life suddenly implodes. Maybe it won't — some people do lead enchanted lives — but odds are that it will. Some time.

I'm always after putting people in extreme circumstances. I'm always after not knowing what I'm doing in those extreme circumstances.

Have a baby, and you realize: The second you think you got sh-t figured out, you don't. It's the greatest wake-up call.

Starting a business is like jumping out of an airplane without a parachute. In mid air, the entrepreneur begins building a parachute and hopes it opens before hitting the ground.

You are about to start the greatest improvisation of all. With no script. No idea what's going to happen, often with people and places you have never seen before. And you are not in control. So say 'yes.' And if you're lucky, you'll find people who will say 'yes' back.

People who need certainty are unlikely to make good entrepreneurs.

I don't think it's something you can be prepared for. I'm just going with the flow.

...even the most independent people sometimes needed help. And if I'd learned nothing else from my life thus far, it was that you don't always end up where you think you're going.

...." I was rather discouraged when I discovered that Paul and Hotch had no marketing survey, no business plan, no budget, no organized strategy for the introduction of the sauce. When asked about this lack of preparation, the haphazard nature of their business, Paul said, 'Me in this business is just part of life's great folly. Stay loose, men, keep 'em off balance.'"

People think you're like The Godfather, waiting for scripts to come in. But, you're hustling, you're desperate, you're panicked and you're horrified. The movie you think you're going to do next, you don't do. The movie you think you're never going to do, you make.

When something doesn't go exactly to plan, money is tight or a business is struggling - see it as a challenge rather than a failure. Look outside the box and try and find a solution - you'll be surprised how many great opportunities and possibilities arise when things look bad. You've just got to open your mind and not be afraid of sticking your neck out!

In Italy the Coach is a paratrooper who jumps out of the plane but doesn't know if the parachute will open or not.

Principally, I'll give anything a chance, only because the greatest challenges are the ones that you never see coming.

You really can't prepare for anything in life. The second you know what's going to happen, there's always a curve ball, so I'm just chillin', cruising along for the ride.

The entrepreneurial journey starts with jumping off a cliff and assembling an airplane on the way down.