We didn't really start the company to go build an enterprise software company. Aaron Levie More Quotes by Aaron Levie More Quotes From Aaron Levie Tip: Take the stodgiest, oldest, slowest moving industry you can find. And build amazing software for it. Aaron Levie industrysoftwaremoving Innovation is hard because solving problems people didn't know they had & building something no one needs look identical at first. Aaron Levie innovationpeopleneeds Innovation in tech favors the naive and the stubborn. If you are too rational you won't tackle problems that others once failed at. Aaron Levie stubborninnovationfavors The benefit to building a startup is that customers don't have the same kind of friction when they adopt new technology. Aaron Levie benefitstechnologykind I don't use many apps. I use naps. Aaron Levie appsusenaps Everything about the enterprise, and then by definition the software the enterprise uses has changed - just in the last 5 years. Aaron Levie definitionsuseyears If every customer is using your product "correctly", you'll never learn anything interesting about what to do next. Aaron Levie nextcustomersinteresting Startups live at the intersection of existential crisis and everything going perfectly great. Aaron Levie existential-crisiscrisisexistential In the enterprise you want to start intentionally small. Aaron Levie enterprisebuildingwant Modularize, don't customize. Build a platform as opposed to building all of the custom technology and custom vertical experiences. Aaron Levie platformsbuildingtechnology Your product should sell itself, but that does not mean you don't need salespeople. Aaron Levie doemeanneeds Read these 3 books - Crossing the Chasm, Innovators Dilemma and Behind the Cloud. Aaron Levie buildingcloudsbook Go after the customers that are working in the future, but haven't totally lost their minds. Aaron Levie buildingmindlost You want to find the really crazy but still somewhat reasonable outliers within the customer ecosystem. Aaron Levie ecosystemscrazywant You can look at the cost structure of an incumbent company and discover: where are they not going to be able to drop their prices... because that business model is fundamental to the existence of the company. Aaron Levie costfundamentalslooks Do things that incumbents can't or won't do because it's economically or technically infeasible. Aaron Levie incumbentsbuilding You can keep 'consumer' DNA at the center of your product. That will always mean that adoption is easier. Aaron Levie adoptiondnamean 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 distinctionbuildingkeys If people don't think the odds are against you, you're doing it wrong. Aaron Levie oddspeoplethinking Why we do what we do: that moment when you get to see the future on your computer screen before the rest of the world. Aaron Levie computermomentsworld