Tim O'Reilly Quotes

Entrepreneurs almost always have to step out of existing institutions that embody old ways of doing things to build their vision.

If I had known how hard it would be to do something new, particularly in the payments industry, I would never have started PayPal. That's why nobody with long experience in banking had done it. You needed to be naive enough to think that new things could be done.

An entrepreneur is someone who brings a pattern change.

I've never been one who enjoys maintaining the status quo. I'm always pushing for new ideas, whether it's in business or philanthropy.

Google worries - and rightly so - about how hard it is for a big company to come up with the next hot thing.

Most entrepreneurial ideas will sound crazy, stupid and uneconomic, and then they'll turn out to be right.

Innovation happens because there are people out there doing and trying a lot of different things.

When you innovate, you've got to be prepared for everyone telling you you're nuts.

If the idea is really new and unique and big, other people will all think it is bad and is going to fail.

I believe in being an innovator.

Innovation never comes from the established institutions.

There's a reason why start-ups, especially disruptive start-ups - like Google or Amazon or Uber - are full of young people. That's because young people are not as wedded to the old fashioned ways of doing things.

As a venture capitalist, I invest in people and ideas that are fresh, vibrant, and willing to disrupt the market. As a political donor, I like to see the same energy in the people I support.

Industries that are chaotic are ripe for innovation. They are open to anyone who has an idea.

Fundamentally there is a narrative around where innovation can come out from.

People trying new ideas are a blessing for gamers and in the industry in general.

There is no way to create wealth without ideas. Most new ideas are created by newcomers. So anyone who thinks the world is safe for incumbents is dead wrong.

Thank heaven for startups; without them we'd never have any advances.

The business has some problems, substantial problems. You go fix it, you young people. That's what you're there for. Don't believe what the old generation tells you. We don't know a damn thing, including Bogle.

Startups often win because it's easier to see what comes next when you don't have to worry about maintaining what came last.

Competition is overrated. In practice it is quite destructive and should be avoided wherever possible. Much better than fighting for scraps in existing markets is to create and own new ones.

Never let money get in the way of an idea

Progress of any kind is always at variance with the old and established ideas and therefore with the codes inspired by them. Every step of progress is a change involving heavy risks.

Five years after I started CD Baby, when it was a big success, the media said I had revolutionized the music business. But 'revolution' is a term that people use only when you're successful. Before that, you're just a quirky person who does things differently.

So the fact that the first movie about Steve Jobs was made by a guy who was completely entrepreneurial and outside the film industry, I think is very appropriate.