Ross Perot once famously described trickle-down economics as little more than "political voodoo." Richard Wilkinson backs up Perot with a comprehensive and highly compelling case that income equality systematically correlates with societies that are healthier, happier, safer and enjoy greater literacy, numeracy, and economic opportunity.
Learn more about the data here, here and at equalitytrust.org.
Even back then, Jobs described Apple in the terms he would use repeatedly over the years, as “an intersection between science and aesthetics.” When I suggested that he seemed to be striving for an almost Zen-like simplicity in his designs, he agreed, mentioning an early brochure with a single image of an apple against a white background.
“Fruit, an apple,” he said. “That simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. When you start looking at a problem, it seems really simple—because you don’t understand its complexity. And your solutions are way too oversimplified, and they don’t work. Then you get into the problem and you see it’s really complicated. And you come up with all these convoluted solutions. That’s where most people stop, and the solutions tend to work for a while. But the really great person will keep going and find the key underlying principle of the problem and sort of come full circle with a beautiful, elegant solution that works. And that’s what we wanted to do with Mac.”
At 28, he had already figured out a philosophy that would serve him the rest of his life.
Forbes has published a great story on Drew Houston and Dropbox.
Here are Drew Houston's presentations at the 2010 and 2011 Startup Lessons Learned conferences:In Program or be Programmed, Ten Commandments for a Digital Age, Douglas Rushkoff writes:
"The difference between a computer programmer and a user is ... like the difference between a driver and a passenger. If you choose to be a passenger, then you must trust that your driver is taking you where you want to go. Or that he is telling you the truth about what's out there. Only the car has no windows and if the driver tells you there is only one supermarket in the country, you have to believe him. The more you live like that, the more dependant on the driver you become, the more tempting it is for the driver to exploit his advantage... The longer you live this way, the less access you have to the knowledge that it could be any other way, or that you ever had a choice in the matter."
We all have one life to live and one of the basic principles of happiness is to enjoy how you choose to live it. To be happy pursuing the uncertain life of an entrepreneur takes a certain kind of mind. Martin Zwilling is a veteran startup mentor, executive, blogger, author, tech professional, and angel investor. Over the years he has identified the following entrepreneurial personality profile:
You enjoy being the visionary leader. Being able to envision what the business and the industry will be like in years to come is a skill that can guarantee that you will be around for the long haul. What makes most success stories in business is not totally reinventing the wheel, but leading the charge to make the current wheel better.
Sometimes you are creative, sometimes logical. A successful entrepreneur has to come up with innovative ideas, but also turn them into a value-creating profitable business. That requires good amounts of both “left brain” and “right brain” activities, with enough common sense to find the balance.
Risk energizes you. To really enjoy the ride in the world of entrepreneurship, you need to be able to sustain yourself outside of your comfort zone and have a sense of adventure. Startups never ever go as you anticipated. This is why you need to be ready to go “off the script” and improvise, and enjoy the thrill of victory when it works.
Actively seek others input. The quicker you learn not to take it personally (and it’s hard when it’s your business and your creation), the more successful you will be. You will always come across people that will criticize you, no matter how great or valuable your product or service may be.
Motivated yet patient. When you start a business, you need to have the frame of mind that this is what you want to do for the rest of your life. Most people want financial freedom, but they want results immediately, and that is not the case 99% of the time. Most successful entrepreneurs understand that overnight success takes years.
Jack of all trades. When running a business, you'll be doing a little bit of everything. You have to be good but not an expert at everything you do, and you have to know when to be flexible and when to ask for help. If you are one to specialize in just one thing, then running a business might not be for you.
Read more here on Martin's blog.
Previously here I shared with you a video of Steve Job's 2005 commencement speech at Stanford, delivered a year after he began treatment for pancreatic cancer. It is a truly profound speech. Now, the day after he resigned as CEO of Apple due to his health, perhaps it is helpful to ponder his perspective on mortality:
“No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true. Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
“When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”
Dave Meslin is a "professional rabble-rouser" based in Toronto and had this to say at TEDxToronto 2010:
CBC Radio's Ideas ran a wonderful, charming documentary on pasta, written and narrated by Megan Williams. I love listening to Italians speak, even if I can only understand when they are speaking English.
