I'm very, very used to hearing no - repeatedly! - and through my experience founding startups, I've learned to view those two little letters not as a final roadblock but as a problem to be solved.

If you know you are giving your best effort, you'll never have any reason for regrets.

Experts are able to identify patterns related to a specific problem relevant to their area of knowledge. But because nonexperts lack that base of knowledge, they are forced to rely more on their brain's ability for abstraction rather than specificity.

Athletes at all ages are bigger and stronger than ever before. And they are being encouraged - sometimes even incentivized, as we recently learned was the case on at least one National Football League team - to play to injure.

Philanthropy without scale and sustainability is like any other bad business that will simply wither and die on the vine.

Early versions of Microsoft Word left a lot to be desired. However, to the company's credit, it quickly learned where Word fell short, made the necessary changes, and repeatedly introduced new versions of the software.

Investors are right to demand a clear path to self-sustainability from every business they invest in, and I believe we should ask for the same from philanthropy.

Philanthropy is not about giving money but about solving problems. While well-meaning, the idea of writing a check and calling it 'philanthropy' is extremely short-sighted and unfortunately, extremely pervasive.

My own philanthropic efforts have always included an educational element, whether it's expanding opportunities to educate a promising mind or extending the brain's ability to learn.

'Being green' is commendable, but I hope that people don't take too much pride and self-adoration because they shut off the water when they brushed their teeth. The truth of the matter is, conservation alone will do little to save our planet.

Don't wallow in brainstorming. Time spent fiddling with a business plan or filling up whiteboards with ideas is time that you could spend actually launching your business and seeing if the idea floats. Launching gives you real, solid feedback, instead of the imaginary 'what if' scenarios dreamed up in a conference room.

I believe that entrepreneurs play an unmatched role and the accelerating pace of innovation is transforming the face of global challenges. You must think about the solution differently when you're trying to impact 1 billion people rather than affecting 1 million people.

Governments take too long to get things done and there are far too many varied interests at stake. If you were starting a business today and needed a partner, you would never choose a large bureaucratic institution like the government.

I have seen humility in many of the finest leaders I have met the world over. And indeed, it is embodied in the warm, engaging and quintessentially successful spirit of Sir Richard Branson.

The entrepreneurial bug had already bitten my son Ankur by the time he got to college. As a lifelong entrepreneur, I certainly didn't want to dampen his enthusiasm by telling him he couldn't do it, but I also wanted to make sure it was balanced with the proper attention to his studies.

We, as entrepreneurs, can be held responsible for our actions every single day, not every election cycle.

Successful entrepreneurs find the balance between listening to their inner voice and staying persistent in driving for success - because sometimes success is waiting right across from the transitional bump that's disguised as failure.

Philanthropists can learn important lessons from business entrepreneurs. They both spend their time solving problems. And to be successful, they both must overcome physical challenges and create self-sustaining operations. And ultimately, they must allow people to take action for their own benefit.

I believe we need a more opportunistic and democratic approach to lunar exploration, now that we're shifting from U.S. government-sponsored space exploration to private expeditions.

Today, people idolize athletes and celebrities - and yes, highly successful and visionary business people like Bill Gates or Steve Jobs, but not the innovators who perhaps have not seen such high-flying levels of success. Can anyone name the inventors of GPS, which has such a huge impact on our lives today?

Just think of the opportunities we can unlock by making education as addictive as a video game. This type of experiential, addictive learning improves decision-making skills and increases the processing speed and spatial skills of the brain. When was the last time your child asked for help with a video game?

I have absolutely no idea about space exploration. I'm a software guy. But because I'm a non-expert, I've been able to bring the software concept of modularity into the space sector, which was never done before.

I've found that entrepreneurial success usually comes through great execution, simply by doing a superior job of doing the blocking and tackling.

In the business world today, failure is apparently not an option. We need to change this attitude toward failure - and celebrate the idea that only by falling on our collective business faces do we learn enough to succeed down the road.

When you experience a failure as a leader, don't hide it - talk about it. Your missed opportunity will encourage others to take risks.

I've been an entrepreneur all my life, and my recent focus is on finding entrepreneurial solutions to address global challenges in healthcare and education.

What separates sports from entrepreneurism, however, is that in business we constantly have to overcome undefined and unpredictable challenges. Athletes train for specific events and conditions, whereas entrepreneurs generally have little idea what they will encounter along the way.

I believe that incentivized prizing is the best solution to help unlock the answers to the some of the profound problems that plague our planet.

Once humans traded their hunter-gatherer existences for more settled communities, we began a quest to make our lives better and more comfortable, but we've also been sucking precious finite resources from our environment ever since.

I worked for Microsoft until 1996, till I had a different angle to view life. I wanted to be an entrepreneur and control my own destiny.

I started off with a company, InfoSpace, with my own funding. The company was listed among the most successful companies and I went on to start Intelius and Moon Express. Now, I focus my time on using the skills of an entrepreneur to solve many of the grand challenges facing us in the areas of education, healthcare, clean water and energy.

Empowerment of women is the empowerment of the nation. No household, no society, no state, no country has ever moved forward without empowering its women.

Federalism is an intrinsic part of our constitutional set-up.

There is a great deal of reward when you do good work and people see how successful that work is and the happiness it brings to them.

The Beatles were here in the 1960s, with their wives, at the Maharshi's ashram. And they wanted my advice on various matters in India.

I think everyone should be concerned about people's sensitivities and feelings.

Healthy Odisha - Happy Odisha. Let us continue our endeavour to build a prosperous and strong state.

During the launch of the 'Ama Gaon, Ama Bikash' scheme, I directly spoke to women representatives from the interior villages of Sambalpur and Narayanpatna. From the way the women explained the issues pertaining to their villages and their collective needs, I understood that women empowerment has reached even the grassroots of the democratic setup.

The women of Odisha will lead the way in women empowerment in India.

As far as reading is concerned, I like historical and political books and works of art.

Odisha faces natural calamities almost every year. The assistance we get from the Centre is mostly for temporary restoration of infrastructure. We have to spend a lot from state's own funds to work for the long-term. This puts too much stress on our finances. Precisely for this reason, Odisha should be considered for special category status.

I get maximum satisfaction in seeing the happiness of poor people.

International carriers need to be given greater role in our skies on all routes like several other large countries to make our aviation industry more efficient and competitive and prevent arbitrary pricing by monopolies.

Odisha is a peaceful state; the people will not stand for violence in a democracy.

I am committed and content to work for the people of Odisha. I have no national ambitions whatsoever.

We've always tried to run a transparent and honest government.

The opposition leaders are opportunistic seasonal birds. Where were they when Cyclone Phailin, Hudhud, Titli, and even drought hit Odisha? Now it's election time, they are swarming Odisha to seek votes.

I know people voted for me only in my father's name.

I think regional parties are very important if they fulfil regional aspirations.

My health has never been an issue.