You need to work hard. I feel like I’m stating the obvious, but it is. Nothing great happens without commitment and effort. Pressure reveals character. If you push yourself, you’ll discover if you are focused on things you enjoy and can be successful.
Work with great people. We all know that anything important requires a team to be successful. Thinking about the attributes of a great team and the kind of people it takes to accomplish your goals is worth the effort. People make all the difference.
Be there for yourself. Only fellow entrepreneurs understand the loneliness and joy of being an entrepreneur and a leader. Not just believing in yourself, but also being strong enough to have the courage to continue to believe when others may not, is critical to making a difference.
Last, recognize your impact. We don’t often appreciate how much of an impact we might have on influencing how another person feels any given day. If enough people take that seriously, they probably can get enough people to care about what they’re doing. It really doesn’t take that many people to build a great company. That’s the biggest lesson I’ve had for business.
Do you have a life motto?
I don’t have a life motto, per se, but I have a philosophy for how I want to lead a productive life that is governed by the set of attributes I mentioned earlier. A productive life means that I want to be compassionate and invest in people who share my convictions and want to help me on the things that I want to improve about the world. It means that I should work hard on the things I care about. It means that I should be honest with myself about who I am and who I want to become and invest in those things – and if I’m not, then I should stop fooling myself and, of course, work harder on the things I care about.
Thank you so much for the interview!