Founders Quotes - Page 12

• Before 20 or 25 employees, most companies are structured with everyone reporting to the founder. It's totally flat.

  Sam Altman

  Employee, Flats, Company

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• Most founders have not managed people before, and they certainly haven't managed managers.

  Sam Altman

  People, Havens, Managers

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• . . . Thirteen governments [of the original states] thus founded on the natural authority of the people alone, without a pretence of miracle or mystery, and which are destined to spread over the northern part of that whole quarter of the globe, are a great point gained in favor of the rights of mankind.

  John Adams

  Religious, Father, Rights

  John Adams (1851). “The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States: With a Life of the Author, Notes and Illustrations”, p.293

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• The lunatic populism that preceded the Pearl Harbor bombing is astonishing in its permutations, its crisscrossings. Guys like [Catholic priest and controversial radio broadcaster] Father Coughlin and [racist and anti-Semitic agitator and founder of the Christian Nationalist Crusade] Gerald L.K. Smith started out as share-the-wealth socialists.

  James Ellroy

  Christian, Father, Guy

  Interview with Chris Wallace, www.interviewmagazine.com. September 9, 2014.

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• I don't want to be defined by being the founder of the Body Shop, and I don't want to be defined as a woman suffering from Hepatitis C. There's more to my life than that.

  Anita Roddick

  Suffering, Body, Hepatitis C

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• To be a good Zen Buddhist it is not enough to follow the teaching of its founder; we have to experience the Buddha's experience.

  D.T. Suzuki

  Buddhist, Teaching, Enough

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• After 100 years of trying, finally we passed health care for all Americans as a right for all - not just a privilege for a few. It honored the vows of our Founders: Of life, a healthier life; liberty; the freedom to pursue our own happinesses. ... We knew that ... this bill was ironclad constitutionally.

  Nancy Pelosi

  Years, Trying, Liberty

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• I directed and produced Conviction, a movie about a man who spent 18 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. I got to know Innocence Project co-founder Barry Scheck very well - he's a character in the movie - and I got very passionate about the cause. It's just so inherently dramatic.

  Tony Goldwyn

  Character, Men, Years

  "President Fitz (R-Scandal) Explains What’s Wrong With the Republican Party". Interview with Patrick Caldwell, www.motherjones.com. September 24, 2014.

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• The government now has license to transfer property from those with fewer resources to those with more. The Founders cannot have intended this perverse result.

  Sandra Day O'Connor

  Government, Results, Resources

  "McCain's August 6, 2007, speech addressing private property rights". www.cnn.com. August 6, 2007.

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• I can't tell Black people to fight a war that is Israel's war. What kind of leader will you be, or should I be, to allow these babies Black, white and brown, to fight Israel's war, because Zionists dominate the government of the United States of America and her banking system.

  Louis Farrakhan

  Baby, Religious, War

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• When I look at founders and CEOs like Mark Zuckerberg at Facebook and Brian Chesky at Airbnb and Sebastian Thrun at Udacity, these are companies that are creating extraordinary social good and extraordinary economic and educational empowerment, all within with context of a for-profit model.

  Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen

  Educational, Zuckerberg, Creating

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• If you trace the history of Islamist terrorism, you see that its founders were great admirers of European fascism. They read the texts of European fascism, they quoted them in speeches and letters. This is not from the Koran - the Koran doesn't teach you how to repress people; there's nothing in there about women having to cover their faces, there's certainly nothing about suicide bombing.

  Bernard-Henri Levy

  Suicide, People, Letters

  Source: www.spiegel.de

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• There are three things you need to do as a CEO-founder. Think strategically, drive design, and drive technology. Some people who are really good at one can build a pretty foundational company. Most people who are very successful are good at two. But Jack is the only person in the Valley I've met who's all three. He's a first-rate strategist, a first-rate designer, and a first-rate technologist.

  Keith Rabois

  Successful, Technology, Thinking

  "The Many Sides of Jack Dorsey" by Steven Levy, www.wired.com. June 22, 2012.

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• When I meet with the founders of a new company, my advice is almost always, ‘Do fewer things.’ It’s true of partnerships, marketing opportunities, anything that’s taking up your time. The vast majority of things are distractions, and very few really matter to your success.

  Evan Williams

  Opportunity, Advice, Marketing

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• The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity

  John Adams

  Father, Independence, Principles

  John Adams, Charles Francis Adams (1856). “The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States: With a Life of the Author, Notes and Illustrations”, p.45

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• Two other things that we hear again and again from our founders, they wish they had done earlier, and that is... simply writing down how you do things and why you do things.

  Sam Altman

  Writing, Two, Wish

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• In the early days of a startup, people's compensation is whatever you negotiate with a founder and it's all over the place.

  Sam Altman

  People, Compensation

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• Losing focus is another way that founders get off track.

  Sam Altman

  Track, Focus, Way

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• The thing that kills startups at some level, is the founders giving up.

  Sam Altman

  Giving Up, Giving, Levels

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• Founders need to figure out what the message of the company is going to be.

  Sam Altman

  Messages, Needs, Figures

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• The construct of a dashboard, first of all should be drafted by the founder.

  Keith Rabois

  Dashboards, Firsts, Should

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• The reality is: a founder is someone who deals with a ton of different headaches and no one is universally super powered.

  Reid Hoffman

  Reality, Different, Headache

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• This is classic when you begin thinking about what is a great founder is, you navigate what is apparent paradoxes.

  Reid Hoffman

  Thinking, Classic, Paradox

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• Part of what being a great founder is, is being both able to hold the belief, to think about where it is you want to be doing and want to be going, but also be smart enough that you are essentially listening to criticism, negative feedback, competitive entries.

  Reid Hoffman

  Smart, Thinking, Listening

  "How To Be A Great Founder". Reid Hoffman's Lecture at Stanford University, startupclass.samaltman.com. November 4, 2014.

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• If I ever hear a founder talk about oh this is how I have a balanced life so on and so forth - they're not committed to winning.

  Reid Hoffman

  Winning, Committed, Balanced Life

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