If you are reading this, you’re probably a startup founder. And if you’re a founder, you probably have big hopes and dreams – aspirations of what you want your business to be and what you want to create in the world. Whether it is a pure profit play like the next photo sharing app or...
There are two types of leaders: those who thrive through war and hardship (like Winston Churchill and Abraham Lincoln) and those that excel during peace & prosperity (Angela Merkel and Margaret Thatcher). And generally, there is almost no overlap between the two, which makes sense. The thing is, this dichotomy doesn’t only apply to politics...
I don’t believe in regrets. I don’t believe in living my life looking backwards and wondering what if, as if wondering would change anything. I don’t see the purpose and I think it only damages the present, as if life wasn’t good enough as it is. Because things could have gone very differently… possibly even...
Outside of raising a child, there is almost nothing harder than founding and leading a successful startup, especially for solo founders. Turning an idea into a product and a business is quite a challenge. Scaling that business is still harder. And then there’s building and managing a team, fighting off competitors and possibly even fundraising....
Move fast and break things… that is the traditional (albeit slightly cliche) Facebook/Silicon Valley slogan we’ve heard for years. And for a time, it was incredibly effective. Just look at Big Tech’s domination of the S&P 500. Without question, wildly ambitious founders and wild rides have defined the last two decades of startups, innovation and...
Written by Matt Ward and Gerd Leonhard Adam Smith, with his landmark book The Wealth of Nations, published in 1776, is recognized by most as the father of capitalism. In 1970, Milton Friedman built upon Smith’s legacy with the Friedman doctrine, outlining the basics of what we recognize today as shareholder capitalism — which argues that a...
“There’s nothing new under the sun.” We’ve all heard it… but what then is creativity, what is inspiration? Is it the artist or entrepreneur creating something completely unique, or combining previously separate things in new and innovative ways? Does it matter? Whoever said creativity was the key to success? The starving artist is a trope for...
Growing up, I played sports… lots of them. I loved basketball and soccer, and my dad always coached our teams. It was the best… At the same time, it didn’t last. I quickly reached a level (and age) where his expertise and knowledge were outclassed by the players he was coaching. I’d reached the ‘ceiling’...
Do you ever feel like you’re living to work instead of working to live? What’s the purpose of a job, really? Is it income? Is it purpose? Is it something else entirely? Even the smartest, most influential folks in the world, like the ones I interview on The Disruptors suffer from this very same issue. Today,...
We all only have so much time in this world. It could all end tomorrow. A bus, a heart attack, a car accident… we only have the here and now. What are you doing with your life? Is it worthwhile? Could you do more, be happier, live fuller, create more? Why aren’t you? What do...