Give the individual the power to be a producer as well as a consumer. Pierre Omidyar More Quotes by Pierre Omidyar More Quotes From Pierre Omidyar One of the things I tend to do is open myself up to a variety of voices. I try to expose myself to the kind of culture shock that occurs when you talk to people who speak a different language. Pierre Omidyar voicetryingpeople I just kind of had this naive approach to - well, gee, you know, why not. I’ll just go ahead and do it. Pierre Omidyar why-notwellskind In 1991, I co-founded my first start-up, Ink Development, which made software for an early tablet computer. Pierre Omidyar tabletsinkdevelopment When you look at the accomplishments of accomplished people and you say, “Boy, that must have been really hard,” ... that was probably easy. And conversely, when you look at something that looks easy, that was probably hard. And so you’re never going to know which is which until you actually go and do it. Pierre Omidyar accomplishmentboyspeople You’re able to accomplish anything you set out to accomplish. Pierre Omidyar accomplishable We need to change the way people think about business—to see that it’s not inherently evil but inherently good, my sense is that the social sector has acknowledged that, in the end, having a social impact is not the exclusive preserve of nonprofits. Whether you are nonprofit or for-profit, you need to be scalable, need to be sustainable, need to focus on customers and outcomes. Pierre Omidyar us If you give people the opportunity to do the right thing, you'll rarely be disappointed. Pierre Omidyar youdisappointedopportunitypeople What I'm really focused on is connecting people around shared interests, so together they can make good stuff happen. I'm more focused on helping people discover their power as individuals, but through those connections with one another. Pierre Omidyar goodpowertogetherpeople I'm a technologist by origin and by training, but I'm focused on philanthropy. Pierre Omidyar originphilanthropyfocusedtraining A well-functioning microfinance bank can actually be a profitable business as well. So it became a perfect proof point that, through business, you can provide an experience that leads to individual self-empowerment. Pierre Omidyar youexperiencebusinessperfect I do like to fly under the radar. When I walk around town, the only people I want to recognise me and call me by my name are the folks at Starbucks. Pierre Omidyar flywalkmepeople News organisations that have been around a while have a lot of traditions and ways of doing things that may have served them for many years but perhaps make them less flexible in the digital era. As an entrepreneur, it just makes more sense to start something new. Pierre Omidyar newdoingstartnews Ebay's success as a company depends on the success of the community of sellers. Pierre Omidyar dependscompanycommunitysuccess I have always been of the opinion that the right kind of journalism is a critical part of our democracy. Pierre Omidyar alwaysjournalismdemocracyopinion I had always been interested in markets - specifically, the theory that in financial markets, goods will trade at a fair value only when everyone has access to the same information. Pierre Omidyar valuewillalwaysinformation As a philanthropist, I try to help people take ownership. Everything I've done is rooted in the notion that every human being is born equally capable. What people lack is equal opportunity. Pierre Omidyar trybornopportunitypeople When you have mass surveillance, it's impossible to meet the intent of the First Amendment because reporters can't talk to sources because sources are afraid to talk. Pierre Omidyar meettalkyouimpossible Technologists come at a problem from the point of view that the system is working a certain way, and if I engage in that system and actually change the rules of the system, I can make it work a different way. Pierre Omidyar viewchangeworkway Advertisers don't want to put their ads next to the investigative story; it's extremely difficult to do that. And very few people today actually read those serious news stories on the Web now. Pierre Omidyar newsserioustodaypeople I had the notion that, OK, so now we have all of this wealth, we could buy not only one expensive car, we could buy all of them. As soon as you realize that you could buy all of them, then none of them are particularly interesting or satisfying. Pierre Omidyar realizeyouwealthcar
