quotoquotes’s most recent Quotables

It’s context, my friends. This is not Frank from Comcast. This is not the story of Zappos. I will die if this space (of people at SXSW) decides 10 years from now that what Zappos did is ‘the Golden Rule’.

There’s only two problems that I care about when I’m looking to invest in a start-up: 1. Do you really have a grasp of the problem you’re looking to solve. 2. Do you care about the end user?

Even though I’ve said, ‘Do stuff after hours. Don’t quit your job,’ when people write me and say, ‘I quit my job.’ I say, ‘No. No. No. No. No.’ For all hype, I’m obnoxiously practical.

If you look at the data, in the 1950s, the pet dog was an outside animal. Now Spot is inside the home. Now he’s in the bedroom. Now he’s not only in the bedroom, he’s in the bed. He eats gourmet food. He wears better clothes than you. Now we’re going to humanize brands.

In 2006, the Blockbuster board got together and said, ‘Do you know anyone using Netflix.’ …Look how that worked out. That is what happens when you put ten 80-year-old guys in a room…Be on record. Be on the right side of history. You don’t want to be the person that supported the Blockbuster decision.

Augmented reality is not ready. But context is ready. I invested in Path. Everything is open, I wanted restrictions.

I’m very passionate about traditional media. I don’t think it’s dead. I just think it’s overpriced.

If you’re going to make any content on the Internet you have to have a niche. You have to know yourself and you have to know your audience.

I treat my Twitter like an IM. You’re people, not just metrics and numbers. You want to be amused, you want to be touched.

Mainstream is nothing anymore. What is mainstream? Mainstream is whatever you’re interested in. Everybody can name five things they’re interested in. Being able to open doors for other creators to create projects that aren’t considered mainstream is really important to me.

Fundamentally, privacy is about having control over how information flows. It’s about being able to understand the social setting in order to behave appropriately…. When they feel as though control has been taken away from them or when they lack the control they need to do the right thing, they scream privacy foul.

Even the state department now believes that world peace will come from entrepreneurs. So you guys are ambassadors of peace.

To be successful in a start-up you have to have high intelligence, high integrity and high energy. Intelligence and energy are easier to mesure. Integrity is the most important factor.

How many of you have been asked to shoot a viral video? There’s no such thing as a viral video, until it’s become a viral video.

To create value, you must experiment.

Connections happen through shared objects.

We know SXSW fans expect progressive experiences delivered in an authentic, innovative spirit.

If everytime you talk with the founders you get more excited. That’s a company I want to work with.

Social media gives you the ability to check perception. You’re not speaking at people anymore, you are speaking with them.

The primary benefit of an application is to change behavior, without telling you to change behavior.