Reid Hoffman Quotes - Page 4

Not only CAN anyone be an entrepreneur, but they MUST be.

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.

Companies hire a lot during boom times because they're trying to adequately accelerate into the future.

A little-known company with a realistic framework that appeals to entrepreneurial employees is going to be more attractive than a famous company that treats its people like disposable assets.

You remake yourself as you grow and as the world changes. Your identity doesn’t get found. It emerges.

A product needs to be sufficiently innovative to distinguish itself from the pack, but not so forward thinking as to alienate the user.

Democracy tends to be a collaborative process, a committee, a consensus.

...Silicon Valley's success comes from the way its companies build alliances with their employees.

What I think Peter Thiel imagines is that Donald Trump has a policy, that Trump has an idea of what to do. haven't heard any of those ideas. All I hear is sloganeering, vitriol, personal attacks.

The key thing that I find that when you're kind of in boom times and you're hiring bunches, if you can hire, you know, always maintain very high standards and even if you, you know, can't find enough of, you know, what is typically called A players, then don't hire the people. All right? So, you know, use that as a way of standards.

Most of the ethical dilemmas that I have faced have all been in the category of, you know, I know something and what's my obligation to disclose it. So, for example, you see people make a mistake in the contract that you're making between the businesses and do you disclose it or do you reveal it? And generally speaking, the way that I solve these is I kind of go through a list of, you know, what's the most, what are the obligations and constituencies and in what order?

Well, well-run companies always have a focus on growth and the two lines, which includes profit. The key thing during, I think, tough times, is to make sure that you've covered the basis for when something, you know, essentially things taking longer, bad luck, adversity, other kinds of circumstances may occur. Make sure that you can monitor to win, it's potentially, you know, something is going to go wrong, monitor early enough, and then take appropriate action to essentially counteract that or shift your strategy or plan, even if in fact something is not working out as well as it is.

I am most heartened when I'm talking to a team when they're reasoning to each other.

One of the phrases I frequently look for is infinite learning curve.Because each entrepreneurial pattern is to some degree unique and new.

I find that the interesting challenges, because there's obvious things where, you know, don't be unethical, don't be evil, you know, don't break the law, don't do immoral things, those are all straightforward and don't create ethical dilemmas. The thing that's interesting is when you actually have multiple interests at stake and you have to kind of navigate your way through it.

I think the right way to do this is just to step up and do it, so I actually think we'll see more of that over the next coming weeks, because I think they'll say, "We'd like to be good for business and quiet on politics, but this is too urgent, it is too much of a key crisis in who we are going to become as Americans. We can risk too much, and so we have to step forward." And I think you will see more and more people stepping forward, like Howard Schultz, Steve Case and other folks, in order to try to make a difference in this [Donald Trump] election.

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

I think the randomness by Donald Trump's governing, by tweeting, sloganeering, attacking, will create great chaos in the entire market. I think people will have difficulties in predicting the future. I think capital will recede.

Entrepreneurship is a life idea, not a strictly business one; a global idea, not a strictly American one.

The real secret of Silicon Valley is that it's really all about the people

What makes the meaning of life is people, so you try to be good to people immediately around you and in your broader community. So a lot of my projects are about how I can affect the world in the hundreds of millions.

Donald Trump has shown that he will essentially attack individuals, make Second Amendment jokes.

People are legitimately worried about Donald Trump, almost like a schoolyard bully, if I step up, am I going to be targeted, too?

I wish to be focused on kind of the business stuff I'm doing, how do I contribute to our economic progress, how do I help create a future for American industry, American middle class, these kind of things. Those things actually really matter to me.

I think the boarding schools are like miniature versions of "Lord of the Flies."