“Don’t start a company unless it’s an obsession and something you love. If you have an exit strategy, it’s not an obsession.”

“I’m a believer that you accomplish much, much more with direct relationships than by using an intermediary. And that cash you keep in the bank can be the difference between staying alive as a small business, or not.”

“If you’ve got $25,000, $50,000, $100,000, you’re better off paying off any debt you have because that’s a guaranteed return.”

“Work like there is someone working twenty-four hours a day to take it all away from you.”

“I wouldn’t be where I am now if I didn’t fail a lot. The good, the bad, it’s all part of the success equation.”

“What I’ve learned in these 11 years is you got to stay focused and believe in yourself and trust your own ability and judgment.”

“Everyone is passionate about something. Usually more than one thing. We are born with it. There are always going to be things we love to do. That we dream about doing. That we really, really want to do with our lives. Those passions aren’t worth a nickel.”

“It’s not whom you know. It’s not how much money you have. It’s very simple. It’s whether or not you have the edge and have the guts to use it.”

“Always ask yourself how someone could preempt your product or service.”

“Watching the best taught me how to run my businesses.”

“Do we know what we are designed to be or do we find out through experience?”

“I’m scared shitless of heights.”

“With every effort, I learned a lot. With every mistake, I learned what not to do.”

“The edge is knowing people think you’re crazy, and they’re right, but you don’t care what they think.”

“Everyday I look in the mirror and make sure I don’t pinch myself so I don’t wake up. I don’t take it for granted. All the time I say ‘Why me?’”

“It’s always better if you’re honest with yourself and anticipate where the problems could come from.”

“You have to figure out what works for you.”

“I had to kick myself in the ass and recommit to getting up early, staying up late and consuming anything I possibly could to get an edge.”

“Relaxing is for the other guy.”

“Wherever I see people doing something the way it’s always been done, the way it’s ‘supposed’ to be done, following the same old trends, well, that’s just a big red flag to me to go look somewhere else.”

“I still work hard to know my business. I’m continuously looking for ways to improve all my companies, and I’m always selling. Always.”

“I worked hard and smarter than most people in the businesses I have been in.”

“Always wake up with a smile knowing that today you are going to have fun accomplishing what others are too afraid to do.”

“Always look for the fool in the deal. If you don’t find one, it’s you.” – Mark Cuban

“Because if you’re prepared and you know what it takes. It’s not a risk. You just have to figure out how to get there. There is always a way to get there.”

“Learn to sell. In business you’re always selling – to your prospects, investors and employees. To be the best salesperson put yourself in the shoes of the person to whom you are selling. Don’t sell your product. Solve their problem.”

“If you have managers reporting to managers in a startup, you will fail. Once you get beyond startup, if you have managers reporting to managers, you will create politics.”

“Pay attention to what’s happening around you. Don’t think there’s just one way to do things—context is everything.”

“One of the most underrated skills in business right now is being nice.”

“Perfectionism is the enemy of profitability.”

“In every business I have had, I have made sure my customers have had my email address and can reach me directly.”

“Great entrepreneurs invest the time, no matter how many hours a day, to learn more about their industry and the business they want to start than anyone else.”

“What is your grind?”

“It’s not about money or connections, it’s the willingness to outwork and outlearn everyone when it comes to your business. And if it fails, you learn from what happened and do a better job next time.”

“What I do know, at least what I think I have learned from my experiences in business, is that when there is a rush for everyone to do the same thing, it becomes more difficult to do. Not easier. Harder.”

“Being rich is a good thing. Not just in the obvious sense of benefiting you and your family, but in the broader sense. Profits are not a zero sum game. The more you make, the more of a financial impact you can have.”

“Time is the most valuable asset you don’t own.”

“The one person who you should never believe when it comes to evaluating your abilities is you. The very worst judge of your abilities is you. Self-evaluation is never successful. When you are the best at something, the demand for your services will grow. People want to hire the best. They want to be associated with the best.”

“In my opinion, right now, there’s way too much hype on the technologies and not enough attention to the real businesses behind them.”

“Your biggest enemies are your bills. The more you owe, the more you stress. The more you stress over bills, the more difficult it is to focus on your goals. More importantly, if you set your monthly income requirements too high, you eliminate a significant number of opportunities. The cheaper you can live, the greater your options.”

“If you’re looking where everybody else is looking, you’re looking in the wrong spot.”

“Know how your company will make money and how you will make sales.” – Mark Cuban

“Once you have found out what you love to do, there is only one goal: How can you be the best in the world at it. It doesn’t matter if you are a filing clerk, athlete, accountant, or bartender. All that matters is that you do whatever you can to be the best.”

“Focus on building the best possible business. If you are great, people will notice and opportunities will appear.”

“Sweat equity is the most valuable equity there is. Know your business and industry better than anyone else in the world. Love what you do or don’t do it.”

“Entrepreneurs have to be brutally honest with themselves and recognize where they have added value and where they have gone along for the ride.”

“I retired at twenty-nine, bought a life-time pass on American Airlines and my only goal in life was to party like a mad man and get drunk with as many people as possible. And I was happy right there. But when we started the streaming business, I knew it could be something big…”

“Money is a scoreboard where you can rank how you’re doing against other people.”

“You have to learn how to use time wisely and be productive. How wisely you use your time will have far more impact on your life and success than any amount of money.”

“Those back-to-back experiences confirmed what I already knew: That I was a shitty-ass employee and I’d better start my own business.”