What is your definition of success? Contributing, having an impact, making a difference. I have said for a while now that the goal is Innovation… but innovation isn’t what people think that it is…Creating something new is not innovation...in fact, I think it is very hard to lay claim to innovation...because in reality, isn’t it really a quality requiring a passage of time and moving beyond the creator? I still say innovation is the ability of the good you create to create good once you’re gone, and for that reason, it is something we strive for and yet rarely achieve. We simply have to send it off on its own into a world full of turmoil that is desperate to crown short-lived and short-sited heroes. Success is the long game…no room for heroes. Build something that out-lasts you and is bigger than you.
What are some of your success habits? It’s important to know your strengths but be intimately acquainted with your weaknesses. Your strengths may carry you and get the spotlight, but your weaknesses will undo you. I also think it is important to do what is necessary no matter how unpopular it is. What is necessary is never wrong…and probably less than half the time is popular.
Any advice for aspiring entrepreneurs? Building a company will consume a huge part of your life, and life should be an adventure. Life is flaws and perfection—one thing at one time, and so is building a company. It’s a calm embrace and a comfort level with crazy. It’s a disdain for insulation. It’s a craving for a direct connection —220 volts of do-not-touch but cannot-resist. That is the life you want, so you better find a way to live while you build.