Alibaba Chairman/(ex)CEO Jack Ma talk at Stanford, May 4, 2013
Posted: May 12, 2013 | Author: grantgrant | Filed under: Founder story | Tags: alibaba, jack ma, stanford | Leave a comment »Jack Ma delivered this amazing talk to commence his “meditation days” at Stanford.
For those who understand Mandarin, this talk is more of a treat as you can feel his showmanship and humor and wisdom. Of course there are English caption as well.
Spotify founder Daniel Ek’s Playlist for Entrepreneurs
Posted: May 17, 2012 | Author: grantgrant | Filed under: Founder story | Tags: daniel ek, spotify, stanford | Leave a comment »Daniel gave a pretty interesting talk/conversation to stanford students recently, focusing on a to do/not to do for entrepreneurs:
1. He said he is not a product/technical genius at all, and he said no to an idea called skype before. He said he doesn’t know everything, in fact, he doesn’t have answer for lots of things. In fact, no one has answer for someone else’s startups. Only you yourself could know through executing.
2. Albit started his first web building business at 14 yrs old, and still under 30, he didn’t consider himself an “entrepreneur”, rather, he is a guy who sees a problem and stand up to find a solution to it.
3. He is a bit of technically trained but he admits he is a pretty scrappy programmer noadays.
4. He said his most valuable asset is that he doesn’t give up, never give up
5. He said startup is hard, it’s 95% execution. EXECUTE, EXECUTE, EXECUTE!
6. He also founded stardoll.com, a doll fashion and dress up games community for girls, even he didn’t understand his audience and he doesn’t understand doll.
7. He talked a bit about music as well, and his hobby is buying insanely expensive Guitar.
Live everyday like Steve Jobs would: Steve Jobs Address at Stanford University commencement (2005)
Posted: July 17, 2011 | Author: grantgrant | Filed under: Opinions | Tags: 2005, apple, stanford, steve jobs | Leave a comment »1. 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.
2. I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.
3. 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.
4. 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 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.
5. 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.
6. No one wants to die. Even people who wanna go to heaven don’t wanna die to get there.
7. Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.
8. The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.