“Government investment unlocks a huge amount of private sector activity, but the basic research that we put into IT work that led to the Internet and lots of great companies and jobs, the basic work we put into the health care sector, where it's over $30 billion a year in R&D that led the biotech and pharma jobs. And it creates jobs and it creates new technologies that will be productized. But the government has to prime the pump here. The basic ideas, as in those other industries, start with government investment.” YearsIdeasGovernmentCareJobsCompanyTechnologyHugeIndustryAmountInternetActivityResearchInvestmentBillionsHealth CarePrimePrivate SectorNew TechnologyPumpsGreat CompanyBasic ResearchBiotech Author:Bill Gates
“In the theater, when people hear that you're writing a play, they want to know what it's all about, whether there's a role for them. You write it fairly quickly, and it becomes a group activity before you're really ready to have company.” PeopleKnowsWantWritingPlayCompanyRolesGroupsReadyActivityTheater Author:Marsha Norman
“Even non-commercial media rely on transferring cost to users through licence fees, donations from listeners, viewers, or readers, or grants from companies and foundations that have wrestled their funds from the public in some form of earlier commercial activity.” FormCompanyMediaReaderCostActivityFoundationRelyFundGrantsUsersListenersViewersFeesDonation Author:Robert G. Picard
“For corporations to be bedfellows with the arts is good business for both. The architecture that houses a company is a more visible statement than the president's in the annual report. Ditto interiors, particularly of offices and sometimes, dramatically, in plants. For solvent businesses, support of community cultural undertakings in music, drama, dance creates great goodwill. Also, the existence of such activities is often important to the executives and their families that companies want to keep or attract to keep.” WantArtImportantSometimesCultureHousePresidentCommunityExistenceCompanySupportDramaActivityOfficeArt IsPlantArchitectureStatementsCorporationsVisibleReportsExecutivesInteriorsGoodwillUndertakingsAnnualsGood BusinessBedfellowsAnnual Reports Author:Malcolm Forbes
“Technology has made it easier for different firms to coordinate their activities with one another, and they don't have to be part of one company. They can get the benefits of scale without the inertia of scale.” MadeDifferentCompanyTechnologyEasierActivityBenefitsScalesMade ItFirmInertiaCoordinates Author:Erik Brynjolfsson
“One of the ironies of the stock market is the emphasis on activity. Brokers, using terms such as 'marketability' and 'liquidity,' sing the praises of companies with high share turnover... but investors should understand that what is good for the croupier is not good for the customer. A hyperactive stock market is the pick pocket of enterprise.” ShouldTermCompanyShareActivityPicksPraiseInvestingCustomersIronyEnterprisePocketsInvestorsEmphasisBrokersLiquidityTurnoverMarketability Author:Warren Buffett
“The start of the New Year is a perfect time to start a stop doing list and to make this the cornerstone of your New Year resolutions, be it for your company, your family or yourself. It also is a perfect time to clarify your three circles, mirroring at a personal level the three questions... 1) What are you deeply passionate about? 2) What are you are genetically encoded for - what activities do you feel just "made to do"? 3) What makes economic sense - what can you make a living at?” FeelsYearsMadeThreePerfectLevelsBusinessCompanyEconomicActivityPassionateListsCirclesOur FamilyResolutionNew YearCornerstonesNew Years ResolutionMirroringFeels Just Author:James C. Collins
“One of the things that really gets me excited and makes me start up companies is the fact that you can basically build something new, try to introduce a change in a way that people are used to doing certain activities, and basically create something out of scratch that doesn't exist and would revolutionize whatever it is that you are trying to do with it. So that's part of the reason I love being able to be a technologist.” PeopleWayTryingReasonFactsAbleUsedCertainLove IsCompanyActivityExcitedSomething NewIntroducingScratches Author:Anousheh Ansari
“Being an entrepreneur is really exciting for me. Whether it's creating something or just building a company and giving others the opportunity to build a career, I think it's exciting to be at the helm of these types of activities.” ThinkingGivingOpportunityCompanyCareersBuildingTypeActivityCreatingExcitingEntrepreneurCreating SomethingHelm Author:Anousheh Ansari
“Engineers are not the only professional designers. Everyone designs who devises courses of action aimed at changing existing situations into preferred ones. The intellectual activity that produces material artefacts is no different fundamentally from the one that prescribes remedies for a sick patient or the one that devises a new sales plan for a company or a social welfare policy for a state.” DifferentStatesActionCoursesSocialCompanySituationPlansPolicyDesignProduceMaterialsActivityIntellectualSickPatientWelfareDesignerEngineersRemedySocial WelfareArtefacts Author:Herbert Simon
“It's completely legitimate for a company to continue striving for growth and higher profits. But business activities have to be conducted in a sustainable manner.” GrowthCompanyHigherActivityStriveProfit Author:Paul Achleitner