Jay Samit Quotes

Whether by design or circumstance, every startup will eventually get disrupted.

No first-time entrepreneur has the business network of contacts needed to succeed. An incubator should be well integrated into the local business community and have a steady source of contacts and introductions.

Zuckerberg rejected $2 billion for Facebook and has successfully created a company worth nearly $200 billion.

Instagram, Swiffer, and Nest had to compete with consumer habits and perceptions. Breakout products face competition from the formidable inertia powering the status quo.

When Thomas and John Knoll launched Photoshop 1.0 in 1990, the software couldn’t even handle color images. But their offerings got the startup noticed by Apple and Adobe, both of whom became key to the fledgling company’s later success.

I always say the more problems you have, the more opportunities you have.

My job is to hire the best and brightest employees and empower them to do their best work. As a manager, I am not a mind reader nor an expert at every job function. Therefore, it is incumbent on all hires to feel empowered to tell me what resources they need to do their job.

Building a great team is the lifeblood of any startup, and finding great talent is one of the hardest and costliest tasks any CEO will ever face.

New ideas for innovation grow out of the minds of each new generation. Having an institution of higher learning that can help young people put those ideas into action is critical.

Design is how you make your first impression with your consumers. Make sure it is a lasting one.

The greatest challenge to most innovation centers around the world is many nations‘ punitive attitudes towards failure. In most of the world, if your first business fails, no one will work with you again. But, trial and error is the genesis of innovation.

All too often, new hires have a different expectation of their job and responsibilities than the organization does. Any miscommunication during the recruiting process needs to be cleared up ASAP. Whenever possible, give new employees a written plan of objectives and responsibilities.

Some of the most lasting contacts and friendships that I have developed began by just grabbing a drink or breaking bread with a stranger at an industry event.

The secret to fundraising comes down to three magic words: before, more, and strategic.

To effectively reach consumers in the new social environment, brand managers need to learn how to translate their budgets into the digital realm, which also means understanding the advantages that digital can provide over television advertising.

Networking is all about connecting with people. But then again, isn’t that what life is about? The more time you can find to get out of the office and build true friendships, the farther your startup will go. Entrepreneurs need to remember to spend as much time working on their business as they do in their business.

To thrive, all businesses must focus on the art of self-disruption. Rather than wait for the competition to steal your business, every founder and employee needs to be willing to cannibalize their existing revenue streams in order to create new ones. All disruption starts with introspection.

State funds, private equity, venture capital, and institutional lending all have their role in the lifecycle of a high tech startup, but angel capital is crucial for first-time entrepreneurs. Angel investors provide more than just cash; they bring years of expertise as both founders of businesses and as seasoned investors.

In my experience, there are only two valid reasons to take a company public: access to growth capital and investor fatigue.

You need to begin to network with angels and VCs while you are still ideating. It is easier to ask someone you know for funding than a stranger. Build your financial network by attending as many industry functions and reaching out for advice from experts online.

With less and less television being watched live, consumers are enjoying the freedom to record at home or in the cloud, watch locally or on the go, and binge watch entire series that they never had the time to enjoy.

Too many investors overvalue companies in the near term while undervaluing them in the long term.

You will always need more capital than you think, because it will always take you longer to reach profitability than you can imagine.

The very first thing I tell every intern on the first day is that their internship exists solely on their resume. As far as I am concerned, they are a full-time member of my team. For all the negative stereotypes about millennials, you would be astounded by how hard they work when they believe their contribution matters.

Too many startups get in the habit of continually raising more and more money, which has the deleterious effect of both pushing out profitability and limiting your exit options. The less rounds of capital you need to raise, the more of your company you get to own.

In order to protect against being disrupted, startups also need to recruit employees that are committed to life-long learning. The skills that made your team members valuable may not be the skills needed to take your company to the next level or to compete in emerging markets.

As a serial entrepreneur, angel investor and public company CEO, nothing irks me more than when a startup founder talks about wanting to cash in with an initial public offering.

Founding a successful startup is no different than forming a rock band.

I tell people: walk around for one month and write down three problems in your life every day. At first it’s easy – you got stuck in traffic, you missed your alarm – but by the end of the month you’re looking really hard to get your 90 problems. The most common things on your list are now billion-dollar businesses.

Instead of focusing the traditional planning cycles where companies benchmark their businesses against existing competition, teams need to be developed to foster internal change and disruption. Self-disruption is akin to undergoing major surgery, but you are the one holding the scalpel.

Venture-backed startups with billion dollar market caps are called ‘unicorns’ because they are supposed to be rare mythical creatures that few entrepreneurs will ever ride.

Creating something that builds lasting value and changes the lives of millions of people requires forging a team that will work hard to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles, stand up to the pressures of fame and fortune, and stay true to the original vision long after others stop believing.

To truly launch a great product, you need partners. Channel and marketing partners share in your success and share in the costs of reaching your target audience.

While commercials interrupt consumers’ enjoyment of a TV program, social media allows video to enter the conversation between friends in a non-intrusive way with an opt-in choice.

So many of the major decisions that affect the entire future of your enterprise happen during its first year in business. In fact, most don’t make it because they don’t know how to get the resources they need to survive.

The strength of brand loyalty begins with how your product makes people feel.

Numerous studies, and my own experience as a serial entrepreneur, have proven that companies with a diverse management team provide greater financial returns to investors.

I’d been on the Internet since the 1970s when it was just for nerds. I started saying, ‘Who would benefit from this?’ I started imagining a world where young people could have their own email address, back in the days of family AOL accounts.

I never understood why women wanted equality in the workplace when in fact, that would be selling them short.

For all founders, going public is a momentous milestone that has to be experienced to be fully understood. It is the culmination of years of hard work and personal sacrifice.