Quotes About Start-up

Before I started WeWork, I owned a baby clothing company based in Dumbo, Brooklyn.

Back in 2001, my first start-up was mentioned in the 'New York Times' and 'USA Today.' I figured that would drive thousands of visitors to the site and tons of new business. Instead, only a handful of people visited our site, and not much business came of it at all.

When I started off, I was working in a shed behind my house. All I had was a drill, an electric drill. That was the only machine I had.

No batch of 10 people will have as much an influence on the company as those first 10 people.

Sean Parker, and Half.com founder Josh Kopelman—not to

I passionately believe that you should start a company that you really believe in. Don't start something that you have no interest in, start something that you're passionate about.

I started Verite on savings from three years working at Applebee's in Times Square. I was a ridiculously good waitress. I was making more money than my brother, who worked at a start-up.

I like to compare the attitude and energy of an emerging start-up to that of the early hip-hop era. From working at labels like Bad Boy and Ruff Ryders, walking into the Def Jam offices, A Touch of Jazz and things like that, the vibe is that off making something out of nothing and making things work, and that's what I love about start-ups.

Mindtree began as an internet systems integrator when the dot-com boom was going on.

Definitely, starting my own brand would be really exciting.

Airbnb started with 'air bed and breakfast.'

One of the best times at a start-up is when you've got the eight people in the basement eating Chinese food and everybody kind of shares knowledge, and you share in your successes and failures together, and you learn together.

Shake Shack started off as a summer hot dog cart in Madison Square Park. It was not meant to be a company - it was completely accidental. It started off as an expression of community building.

I was 12 years old and in summer camp. I started a company called Aardvark Industries, which provided basic services to camp counselors.

When a venture capitalist looks for "the next big thing," the risk of missing the next Google or Facebook is far more important than the risk of making a modest investment in a start-up that ultimately fails.

When we started out, you could design a chip with a few guys in a basement.

A business can be started with very little money.

Anyone who creates a new business is a starter. You don't need an MBA, a certificate, a fancy suit, a briefcase, or an above-average tolerance for risk. You just need an idea, a touch of confidence, and a push to get started.

I almost never invest in ideas or plans, so you'll need to have a company and at least a product, if not customers.

I started my clothing brand when I was 18.

I suspect that we might actually start selling some records with these artists in about 10 years. Some the people who invested, they're a little tight-because it's a lot of money to start up a company.

I once had a job where I didn't talk to anyone for two years. Here was the arrangement: I was the first engineer hired by a start-up software company. In exchange for large quantities of stock that might be worth something someday, I was supposed to give up my life.

The biggest start-up successes - from Henry Ford to Bill Gates to Mark Zuckerberg - were pioneered by people from solidly middle-class backgrounds. These founders were not wealthy when they began. They were hungry for success, but knew they had a solid support system to fall back on if they failed.

I've always liked the fact that anyone with a great idea, access to the Internet, and an unrelenting will can spark a world-beating company simply by standing up code on the Internet and/or leveraging the information and relationship network that is the web. That's how Facebook started, after all.