These are just a few of the words of advice offered by Silicon Valley leaders to aspiring entrepreneurs. They were featured in the One Word educational initiative led by the Exponential Center.
The multiformat project aimed to inspire and motivate people to think about what it takes to start and build a company. It included a variety of activities in the lobby of CHM.
“I told myself inside at a very young age . . . computers are gonna be the most fascinating thing in my life. It’s gonna be my passion for life.”
Over 50 years in Silicon Valley, Larry Sonsini has advised and represented some of the most successful and legendary companies in history.
An Inc. magazine “35 Under 35,” Ching-Yu Hu cofounded Skybox Imaging when she was still a graduate student.
When she was a middle manager at Apple, Donna Dubinsky courageously stood up to Steve Jobs . . . and got a promotion.
“You are going to work hard and fail. Expect to put in 10-15 years. Ask for help and help others. That’s the magic of Silicon Valley.”
“Every show is like a startup.”
Doing unscalable and maybe unprofitable things at first to get it right leads to a better product, happy customers . . . and profits.
“To be an entrepreneur, you really have to be determined to succeed or die trying.”
“The entrepreneurs that succeed on the ground are the ones that go and understand and really exercise radical empathy . . . “
Marc Porat led General Magic through the “G-forces” that rock every startup to develop a visionary smartphone 13 years before the iPhone.
Grit helps entrepreneurs stick to their path and their aspirational goals and do what they think will best serve customers and employees.
The directory of links David Filo and Jerry Yang created by hand attracted so many fans they felt obligated to turn their hobby into a business.
With “just a lot of hustle in an uncomfortable way,” Leah Busque turned one meeting into a million-dollar C round of funding.
“Great companies are built around great discoveries, great inventions, great new technologies.”
“I think kindness is as important as knowledge.”
Arthur Rock credits luck for connecting him with the founders of iconic Fairchild Semiconductor, which put the “silicon” in Silicon Valley.
“… we just started working on it. We started figuring out how to do it. We taught ourselves as we went along.”
“Any problem worth solving is going to take time.”
“You’re probably the world expert in where you should go. Then just be tenacious about getting there.”
Born with radioactive atomic DNA, entrepreneurs are out to wreak havoc on the industry they’ve invaded.
Exhibit. A diverse collection of Silicon Valley founders and builders with their “one words” of advice in the CHM lobby.
Touchscreen. Interactive display exploring the stories behind the words and the career highlights of one word leaders.
Selfie Activity. The chance to post a word of inspiration or advice for a new entrepreneur on the wall.
Book. A companion book highlighting one word stories from the exhibit.
Video. Short clips of leaders explaining their words.
Lessons. Online activities: One Word: Advice from Silicon Valley for Aspiring Entrepreneurs.
The One Word project was made possible by the generous support of the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation.