you know I didn’t have as many personal
relationships as I probably would have
liked you know I put personal
relationships aside you know I had
girlfriends where it was like me or your
business and I you know I was like what
you think I’m kidding so it probably
took things to an extreme but yeah I
gave up on personal relationships in a
big respect because I really was on a
mission and once I once I realized I was
good so when I sold my first company I
bought a lifetime pass on American
Airlines and my goal was just a party
with like a rock star in as many
countries with as many people as I
possibly could then I went back and got
involved in the streaming business and I
remember sitting there and telling you
know we had probably 10 employees and
look the streaming thing I think is
going to be really big and so we really
have to focus and there’s going to be
some sacrifices and if you’re willing to
make those sacrifices let’s go and if
you’re not I understand you know you
make your own decisions and I was
willing to make those sacrifices and you
know it all turned out great in the long
run but during that time wasn’t always
wasn’t always easy and wasn’t always
yeah it was tough sometimes ask
everybody to not think in two to
three-year timeframes but to think in
five to seven-year timeframes to not
think about when somebody says to me
congratulate Amazon on a good quarter
which is a very common thing to say you
meet somebody they’re being nice they
looked at your financial results for the
quarters of a good quarter I say thank
you but what I’m thinking to myself is
that quarter all that those quarterly
results were actually pretty much fully
baked about three years ago and so like
today I’m working on you know a quarter
that is going to happen in 2020 not next
quarter next quarter for all practical
purposes is done already and it’s
probably been done for a couple of years
and so if you start to think that way it
changes how you spend your time how you
plan where you put your energy and
your ability look around corners gets
better so many things improve if you can
take a long time by the way it’s not
natural for humans so it’s a it’s a
discipline that you have to build the
kind of you know get rich slowly schemes
are not big sellers on infomercials you
know it’s and so that’s something that
you have to sort of steel yourself for
discipline and teach over time the key
the key to I think being a good business
leader is is your is how good you are
with people I think if you can care it
genuinely care about people not just
your fellow directors but you know the
cleaning lady the switchboard operator
you know everybody throughout the
company and you know if you’re a good
you know if you know if you praise and
don’t criticize you know people people
will flourish and so I think you know
it’s really your people skills that will
set you set you apart and and and and I
don’t think that can be over over
emphasized I think that just you just
got to you know if I get if I’m on a
virgin plane I will make sure that I
always have a notebook in my back back
pocket you know make sure I get out and
talk to all the staff you know if it got
issues you know make sure I don’t just
you know hear the issue are not write it
down make sure those those issues get
written down you know talk to the
passengers if they’ve got issues make
sure those issues get written down I
advise students as much as possible look
for the job that you would take if you
didn’t need a job I mean you know don’t
sleepwalk through life and don’t don’t
say it’s all going to be great you know
I’ll do this and I’ll do that you know
I’m just marking time don’t need to be
older that I’ve told people that’s like
saving up sex for your old age I mean it
just is not a
it is not a good idea yeah what are you
urging them to do guess what I’m talking
about just yeah you really want to be
doing what you love doing and you can’t
necessarily find it on your first job
right but don’t give up before you find
it the majority of people wait for the
masses to do something when the masses
do something they join in and they join
on board but they forget that the masses
are made up of individuals those
individuals each in a zone is extremely
powerful if they realize how powerful
they are if you realize how powerful you
are and what you could do to make a huge
difference that affects everybody around
you if you knew your power and what you
could achieve
we wouldn’t be outsourcing jobs as a
politician say to overseas countries we
be more than adequate to do it ourselves
here because we be two three four times
more efficient it’s all about imagining
and doing believing yourself I really
need some thought to like how can I
provide advice that would be most
helpful and I’m not sure I’ve given
enough thought to to that to give you
the best possible answer but I think I
think certainly being focused on
something that you’re confident will
have high value to someone else and just
being really rigorous in making that
assessment because people are attend
tend to natural human tendency is
wishful thinking so a challenge for
entrepreneurs is to say well what’s the
difference between really believing in
new ideals and sticking sticking to them
versus pursuing some unrealistic dream
that doesn’t actually have merit and
it’s it’s that is a
that is a really difficult thing to to
tell you can you tell the difference
between those two things
yeah so you need to be sort of very
rigorous in your self self analysis I
think certainly extremely tenacious and
and then just work like hell I mean you
just have to put in you know 80 hour 80
100 hour weeks every week and then
matter like that but all those things
improve the odds of success okay
I mean if other people are putting in 40
hour work weeks and you’re putting in
100 hour work weeks then even if you’re
doing the same thing you know that in
one year you will achieve what that you
will achieve in four months what it
takes them a year to achieve so it’s
it’s easy to have ideas it’s very hard
to turn an idea into a successful
product there are a lot of steps in
between it takes persistence
relentlessness so I always tell people
who are you know who think they want to
be entrepreneurs it’s you need a
combination of stubborn relentlessness
and flexibility and you have to know
when to bewitch and basically you need
to be stubborn on your vision because
otherwise it’ll be too easy to give up
but you need to be very flexible on the
details because as you go along pursuing
your vision you’ll find that some of
your preconceptions were wrong and
you’re gonna need to be able to change
those things so I think taking an idea
successfully all the way to the market
and turning it into a real product that
people care about and that really
improves people’s lives it’s a lot of
hard work you just have to try different
things and even even if 99% of them fail
you only have to be right one time you
don’t have to figure it all out in
advance you can be wrong you could pick
the wrong career you can pick the wrong
job you can pick the wrong spouse you
can pick the wrong whatever but you get
it right one time you’re set but if you
don’t try and if you don’t go out there
and
all those different things you never get
that one time and so it’s not a question
of okay how much different stuff do I do
or how many different things should you
try try them all try them all to you
find the one you like and then it’s like
it gets really easy cuz even when up
you’re on a mission you’re loving what
you do you know and then then it gets
easy and so that’s just the approach
I’ve always tried to instill in people
who work for me and and myself
everything I did I was following
something I really cared about something
I loved something I was passionate about
and I kept following that passion
whether it was cars whether it was
anthropology whether it was art
photography and eventually it led me to
my huge passion my real passion which
was making movies which combined all of
those things and I realized that had I
gone on to get my degree in anthropology
I would have probably made
anthropological movies in New Guinea or
someplace and eventually been on
National Geographic and you know the
History Channel and been than making
features and I had done Star Wars just
the same if I’d gone the Art Center and
become an illustrator I would have
probably started doing animation and
doing animated films and making animated
things and then ultimately I would have
gone on and been right where I was so no
matter which route I took because I
cared about all of them they all went to
the same place had I done what my father
had wished me to do which is to go into
these office equipment business with him
which I knew like was that what I do I
knew I hated that my life would have
been unpleasant and so I think it’s very
important not to do what your peers
think you should do not do what your
parents think you should do or your
teachers but to do what you inside or
even your culture of things but do what’s inside you
relationships as I probably would have
liked you know I put personal
relationships aside you know I had
girlfriends where it was like me or your
business and I you know I was like what
you think I’m kidding so it probably
took things to an extreme but yeah I
gave up on personal relationships in a
big respect because I really was on a
mission and once I once I realized I was
good so when I sold my first company I
bought a lifetime pass on American
Airlines and my goal was just a party
with like a rock star in as many
countries with as many people as I
possibly could then I went back and got
involved in the streaming business and I
remember sitting there and telling you
know we had probably 10 employees and
look the streaming thing I think is
going to be really big and so we really
have to focus and there’s going to be
some sacrifices and if you’re willing to
make those sacrifices let’s go and if
you’re not I understand you know you
make your own decisions and I was
willing to make those sacrifices and you
know it all turned out great in the long
run but during that time wasn’t always
wasn’t always easy and wasn’t always
yeah it was tough sometimes ask
everybody to not think in two to
three-year timeframes but to think in
five to seven-year timeframes to not
think about when somebody says to me
congratulate Amazon on a good quarter
which is a very common thing to say you
meet somebody they’re being nice they
looked at your financial results for the
quarters of a good quarter I say thank
you but what I’m thinking to myself is
that quarter all that those quarterly
results were actually pretty much fully
baked about three years ago and so like
today I’m working on you know a quarter
that is going to happen in 2020 not next
quarter next quarter for all practical
purposes is done already and it’s
probably been done for a couple of years
and so if you start to think that way it
changes how you spend your time how you
plan where you put your energy and
your ability look around corners gets
better so many things improve if you can
take a long time by the way it’s not
natural for humans so it’s a it’s a
discipline that you have to build the
kind of you know get rich slowly schemes
are not big sellers on infomercials you
know it’s and so that’s something that
you have to sort of steel yourself for
discipline and teach over time the key
the key to I think being a good business
leader is is your is how good you are
with people I think if you can care it
genuinely care about people not just
your fellow directors but you know the
cleaning lady the switchboard operator
you know everybody throughout the
company and you know if you’re a good
you know if you know if you praise and
don’t criticize you know people people
will flourish and so I think you know
it’s really your people skills that will
set you set you apart and and and and I
don’t think that can be over over
emphasized I think that just you just
got to you know if I get if I’m on a
virgin plane I will make sure that I
always have a notebook in my back back
pocket you know make sure I get out and
talk to all the staff you know if it got
issues you know make sure I don’t just
you know hear the issue are not write it
down make sure those those issues get
written down you know talk to the
passengers if they’ve got issues make
sure those issues get written down I
advise students as much as possible look
for the job that you would take if you
didn’t need a job I mean you know don’t
sleepwalk through life and don’t don’t
say it’s all going to be great you know
I’ll do this and I’ll do that you know
I’m just marking time don’t need to be
older that I’ve told people that’s like
saving up sex for your old age I mean it
just is not a
it is not a good idea yeah what are you
urging them to do guess what I’m talking
about just yeah you really want to be
doing what you love doing and you can’t
necessarily find it on your first job
right but don’t give up before you find
it the majority of people wait for the
masses to do something when the masses
do something they join in and they join
on board but they forget that the masses
are made up of individuals those
individuals each in a zone is extremely
powerful if they realize how powerful
they are if you realize how powerful you
are and what you could do to make a huge
difference that affects everybody around
you if you knew your power and what you
could achieve
we wouldn’t be outsourcing jobs as a
politician say to overseas countries we
be more than adequate to do it ourselves
here because we be two three four times
more efficient it’s all about imagining
and doing believing yourself I really
need some thought to like how can I
provide advice that would be most
helpful and I’m not sure I’ve given
enough thought to to that to give you
the best possible answer but I think I
think certainly being focused on
something that you’re confident will
have high value to someone else and just
being really rigorous in making that
assessment because people are attend
tend to natural human tendency is
wishful thinking so a challenge for
entrepreneurs is to say well what’s the
difference between really believing in
new ideals and sticking sticking to them
versus pursuing some unrealistic dream
that doesn’t actually have merit and
it’s it’s that is a
that is a really difficult thing to to
tell you can you tell the difference
between those two things
yeah so you need to be sort of very
rigorous in your self self analysis I
think certainly extremely tenacious and
and then just work like hell I mean you
just have to put in you know 80 hour 80
100 hour weeks every week and then
matter like that but all those things
improve the odds of success okay
I mean if other people are putting in 40
hour work weeks and you’re putting in
100 hour work weeks then even if you’re
doing the same thing you know that in
one year you will achieve what that you
will achieve in four months what it
takes them a year to achieve so it’s
it’s easy to have ideas it’s very hard
to turn an idea into a successful
product there are a lot of steps in
between it takes persistence
relentlessness so I always tell people
who are you know who think they want to
be entrepreneurs it’s you need a
combination of stubborn relentlessness
and flexibility and you have to know
when to bewitch and basically you need
to be stubborn on your vision because
otherwise it’ll be too easy to give up
but you need to be very flexible on the
details because as you go along pursuing
your vision you’ll find that some of
your preconceptions were wrong and
you’re gonna need to be able to change
those things so I think taking an idea
successfully all the way to the market
and turning it into a real product that
people care about and that really
improves people’s lives it’s a lot of
hard work you just have to try different
things and even even if 99% of them fail
you only have to be right one time you
don’t have to figure it all out in
advance you can be wrong you could pick
the wrong career you can pick the wrong
job you can pick the wrong spouse you
can pick the wrong whatever but you get
it right one time you’re set but if you
don’t try and if you don’t go out there
and
all those different things you never get
that one time and so it’s not a question
of okay how much different stuff do I do
or how many different things should you
try try them all try them all to you
find the one you like and then it’s like
it gets really easy cuz even when up
you’re on a mission you’re loving what
you do you know and then then it gets
easy and so that’s just the approach
I’ve always tried to instill in people
who work for me and and myself
everything I did I was following
something I really cared about something
I loved something I was passionate about
and I kept following that passion
whether it was cars whether it was
anthropology whether it was art
photography and eventually it led me to
my huge passion my real passion which
was making movies which combined all of
those things and I realized that had I
gone on to get my degree in anthropology
I would have probably made
anthropological movies in New Guinea or
someplace and eventually been on
National Geographic and you know the
History Channel and been than making
features and I had done Star Wars just
the same if I’d gone the Art Center and
become an illustrator I would have
probably started doing animation and
doing animated films and making animated
things and then ultimately I would have
gone on and been right where I was so no
matter which route I took because I
cared about all of them they all went to
the same place had I done what my father
had wished me to do which is to go into
these office equipment business with him
which I knew like was that what I do I
knew I hated that my life would have
been unpleasant and so I think it’s very
important not to do what your peers
think you should do not do what your
parents think you should do or your
teachers but to do what you inside or
even your culture of things but do what’s inside you
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