Listen to your customers, but don't always build exactly what they're telling you. This is a really key distinction around building enterprise software. Aaron Levie More Quotes by Aaron Levie More Quotes From Aaron Levie Execute like there's no tomorrow, strategize like there will be. Aaron Levie entrepreneur tomorrow Opportunity lives at the intersection of what people need tomorrow and can be just barely built today. Aaron Levie opportunity people needs The product that wins is the one that bridges customers to the future, not the one that requires a giant leap. Aaron Levie giants bridges winning My workday begins around 11 A.M., with a cup of black coffee in each hand. If I had more hands, there would be more coffee. Aaron Levie black coffee hands Focus too much on the near-term and you won't get tomorrow's customers, focus too much on the long-term and you won't get today's. Aaron Levie focus today long Startups often win because it's easier to see what comes next when you don't have to worry about maintaining what came last. Aaron Levie lasts winning worry The chance of failure is almost always better than the guarantee of never knowing. Aaron Levie chance knowing guarantees Better to be too early and have to try again, than be too late and have to catch up. Aaron Levie late too-late trying If you're waiting for encouragement from others, you're doing it wrong. By the time people think an idea is good, it's probably too late. Aaron Levie encouragement ideas thinking Too little process and you can't get good work done. Too much process and you can't get any work done. Most companies never find the middle. Aaron Levie too-much done littles A lot of being productive personally is determined by how you organize your entire business. You can't separate those two things. Aaron Levie organize determined two The best technology is aimed far enough in the future that it stands out, but close enough to the present that it blends in. Aaron Levie standing-out technology enough I'm certainly not into money and prestige. For me there is simply nothing more exciting than people involved in the creation of great products. That is what drives me. Aaron Levie creation prestige people There's a lot of pride that business owners have. It's actually really critical that pride and ownership extends to everyone in the organization. I think of everyone is in the same boat in driving the company forward. Aaron Levie organization pride thinking What happens to the Microsofts, Oracles and IBMs of the world is that when they get big enough, they don't think they need to bring that same level of focus and energy to the end-user experience. Aaron Levie focus energy thinking Start with something simple and small, then expand over time. If people call it a 'toy' you're definitely onto something. Aaron Levie toys simple people I think because of the iPhone and the fact that we now have a ubiquitous internet, our creativity in the startup space is 10 times different. Every single industry, every single market, is going to be technology-driven in some way. There's an infinite opportunity for startups because now you can go and solve problems that previously looked like they had nothing to do with technology. Aaron Levie creativity technology opportunity I have a lot of faults. I often interrupt in meetings. I talk too loud. I talk too fast. Aaron Levie meetings loud faults Companies have never won. You're always either fighting for survival, or fighting for relevance. Aaron Levie entrepreneur survival fighting I think people are always able to achieve more than they think they can. While that’s cliche, I don’t know if managers think about that enough. You have to set your sights extremely high. Aaron Levie sight people thinking
