John McKinley Quotes

Zefr has all the ingredients for success - dynamic, inspiring management, the ability to marry technology and content, and a business model that can scale. I'm thrilled to be part of the team.

Whatever business you're in - it doesn't matter - it's going to commoditize over time. It's going to devalue. You've got to keep moving it to a higher value.

I think Microsoft will have to change. I think that the business of Microsoft, the company of Microsoft, is going to continue to succeed. But I think the business model of Microsoft is going to have to change.

There are companies with management and companies with money. You can always find money. Management is the key to success in any business.

But Apple really beats to a different drummer. I used to say that Apple should be the Sony of this business, but in reality, I think Apple should be the Apple of this business.

... whatever business you're in, it doesn't matter, it's going to commoditize over time, it's going to devalue, you've got to keep moving it to a higher value. Keep going to a higher value in whatever it is that you do and force yourself and force the organization to always do it ahead of time

You have to have a business model you believe in and like.

Often, I'm sitting opposite a client, and I'm thinking, 'How do I convince him to not copy the best-selling product out there?' And sometimes I don't know. Really, it's smarter to be a thief.

Look at the computer industry. I've watched a lot of companies come and go, some that were right at the pinnacle of their success.

You have to have a business model you believe in and like.

If you can’t out iterate someone who is trying to copy you, you’re toast anyway.

Just like a script, you need to keep a business plan to yourself.

In the private sector, there is always innovation. There's always change. There's always improving productivity, and if you're not leading that, you'll be passed and ultimately go out of business. So there's an urgency to constantly update and renew and to rethink your enterprise.

If we look at pricing holistically, we'll create a more solid business.

Cutting prices or putting things on sale is not sustainable business strategy. The other side of it is that you can't cut enough costs to save your way to prosperity.

People follow proven formulas in any business.

A strategy delineates a territory in which a company seeks to be unique.

I tend to not discriminate when it comes to people I can learn from. Basically, if someone has built a meaningful business in software, technology or media, faced disruption and adversity, and overcame underdog status, I want to know how they did it.

I want to create something like Sony. Not in terms of manufacturing products but creating something that is innovative, makes money, improves peoples' lives.

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.

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

I look at every business and ask, How long can this last? How can I identify the status quo and change it?

You should learn from your competitor, but never copy. Copy and you die.

It's very difficult in the technology space when you have been leapfrogged to prosper again.

Except in very narrow cases, where there's breakthrough science that needs patent production, worrying about competitors is a waste of time. If you can't out iterate someone who is trying to copy you, you're toast anyway.