Mike Krieger Quotes

So many entrepreneurs approach me and say, 'I want to start the next big thing,' and I say, 'Well, what are you solving?' And oftentimes they say, 'Oh, I'm not sure. I want to start something big.' You can never start something big without solving something small, right?

Entrepreneurs are natural problem-solvers, which means that we always have ideas for new businesses popping into our heads. Having a lot of options is great, but sometimes it can be hard to focus on one when you are keen to move onto the next.

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

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

Fact is, inventing an innovative business model is often mostly a matter of serendipity.

Real entrepreneurs have what I call the three Ps (and, trust me, none of them stands for 'permission'). Real entrepreneurs have a 'passion' for what they're doing, a 'problem' that needs to be solved, and a 'purpose' that drives them forward.

All throughout my life I have been deeply immersed in startups, either because I was running one or investing in them or helping them.

What does an entrepreneur do? The first thing is they've given themselves permission to see a problem. Most people don't want to see problems... Once you see a problem and you keep looking at it, you'll find an answer.

Look at MIT—the smartest people in the world. They start up 50 companies a year. Only 1 makes it.

If opening your own business is the dream, then it must start with a Dream - not only to understand what it is that you want to do, but also, how you are going to build something better than the same chaotic environment you just left.

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

Entrepreneurs are moving from a world of problem-solving to a world of problem-finding. The very best ones are able to uncover problems people didn't realize that they had.

Some of the most successful products are born from a personal need to solve a problem rather than a desire to turn a profit.

It's worth noting that everything - from the Internet to electric cars, genomic sequencing, mobile apps, and social media - were pioneered by startups, not existing companies.

On Day One, a start-up is a faith-based initiative built on guesses.

Like many of my fellow entrepreneurs, I didn't create Hearsay Social with my co-founder Steve Garrity because it would be fun and easy, but because we're at our best when faced with enormous challenges.

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

No idea for a new growth business ever comes fully shaped. When it emerges, it's half-baked, and it then goes through a process of becoming fully shaped.

I love building companies; I love making products.

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

In a startup, in the early days, it can be hard to explain what you do.

What is interesting to me is to find ways to work with early-stage innovators to build from the edge and work on tomorrow's ideas.

How many times have you been out for a beer or dinner and people are coming up with business ideas? Everybody wants to think they've got that great business idea.

Basically if you study entrepreneurs, there is a misnomer: People think that entrepreneurs take risk, and they get rewarded because they take risk. In reality entrepreneurs do everything they can to minimize risk. They are not interested in taking risk. They want free lunches and they go after free lunches.

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.