Business Quotes

Money is not the motivating force. It's nice to have money, but I don't live high. What I enjoy is running the business.

If the head man in a company is not working 12 hours a day, doing things, taking risks, but also standing with his people in the trenches at the most difficult of times, then the company loses something.

We've got to lift our game tremendously. We'll sell our business news and information in print, we'll sell it to anyone who's got a cable system, and we'll sell it on the Web.

What is scandal? Scandal is saying one thing and doing another; it is a double life, a double life. A totally double life: "I am very Catholic, I always go to Mass, I belong to this association and that one; but my life is not Christian, I don't pay my workers a just wage, I exploit people, I am dirty in my business, I launder money ..." A double life.

Christ is risen, he is alive! He is no longer a prisoner of death, he is no longer wrapped in the shroud, and therefore we cannot confine him to a fairy tale, we cannot make him a hero of the ancient world, or think of him as a statue in a museum! On the contrary, we must look for him and this is why we cannot remain stationary. We must take action, set out to look for him: look for him in life, look for him in the faces of our brothers and sisters, look for him in everyday business, look for him everywhere except in the tomb.

In this world of globalisation we have fallen into a globalisation of indifference. We are accustomed to the suffering of others, it doesn't concern us, it's none of our business.

Great companies are built on great products.

It's OK to have your eggs in one basket as long as you control what happens to that basket.

Brand is just a perception, and perception will match reality over time.

Starting and growing a business is as much about the innovation, drive, and determination of the people behind it as the product they sell.

As much as possible, avoid hiring MBAs. MBA programs don't teach people how to create companies.

Starting a business is not for everyone. Starting a business - I'd say, number one is have a high pain threshold.

I always invest my own money in the companies that I create. I don't believe in the whole thing of just using other people's money. I don't think that's right. I'm not going to ask other people to invest in something if I'm not prepared to do so myself.

The odds of me coming into the rocket business, not knowing anything about rockets, not having ever built anything, I mean, I would have to be insane if I thought the odds were in my favor.

In the case of Apple, they did originally do production internally, but then along came unbelievably good outsourced manufacturing from companies like Foxconn. We don't have that in the rocket business. There's no Foxconn in the rocket business.

A company is a group organized to create a product or service, and it is only as good as its people and how excited they are about creating. I do want to recognize a ton of super-talented people. I just happen to be the face of the companies.

Nobody wants to buy a $60,000 electric Civic. But people will pay $90,000 for an electric sports car.

Invention is not enough. Tesla invented the electric power we use, but he struggled to get it out to people. You have to combine both things: invention and innovation focus, plus the company that can commercialize things and get them to people.

Lots of companies don't succeed over time. What do they fundamentally do wrong? They usually miss the future.

Many leaders of big organizations, I think, don't believe that change is possible. But if you look at history, things do change, and if your business is static, you're likely to have issues.