“When people ask me how do you make it in show business or whatever, what I always tell them — And nobody ever takes note of it ‘cuz it’s not the answer they wanted to hear. What they want to hear is here’s how you get an agent, here’s how you write a script, here’s how you do this — But I always say, “Be so good they can’t ignore you.” If somebody’s thinking, “How can I be really good?”, people are going to come to you. It’s much easier doing it that way than going to cocktail parties.”

-Steve Martin.

All of the strategies and marketing angles will be trumped by this one piece of advice everytime - “Be so good they can’t ignore you”. If you’re catching balls in the end zone week after week or motivating people to do their best and it works week after week you will be noticed. People want to notice you because it’s why the world spins. It’s why people are able to get out of bed and go to work. Aspiring to greatness is the honey in the lion.

Damn, Tim. Well put.

Labels: being the best, success, talent, wisdom

Labels: aggregation, channel, distribution, network, wisdom

"You're not really free when all you can do is stay in one place and look."

Labels: buzznet, freedom, perspective, vantage point, wisdom

Listen to what users want. Try to make the site faster and better.

Hire good people. "We work hard trying to get the right kind of folks." It pays off: they hardly ever leave.

No meetings, ever. "I find them stupefying and useless."

No management programmes and no MBAs. "I've always thought that sort of thing was baloney."

Forget the figures. "We are consistently in the black, so if we do better or worse in any given quarter it is absolutely irrelevant."

Occasionally, give people "a very gentle nudge". This can be done over lunch or on the instant messaging boards.

He doesn't reply to any of his 100 daily messages, most of which beg Craigslist to do a deal. "I'm not real chatty on e-mail."

Put speed over perfection: "Get something out there. Do it, even if it isn't perfect."

"Don't screw it up by doing things that make people feel worse about their work."

Labels: leadership, management, mba, vision, wisdom