“I remember when being a 'a company man' was a badge of honor; today in Silicon Valley it may brand you a loser or, in the best case scenario, someone afraid to take risks. Ten years ago, if you saw a resume that had multiple jobs in ten years, you would be worried about the capability of the individual. Not so now.” IfsMenYearsMayWould BeTodayJobsRememberIndividualCompanyCasesSawsRiskHonorTenYears AgoBrandsWorriedLoserValleysCapabilityMultipleRemember WhenScenariosResumesBadgesSiliconSilicon ValleyMultiple Jobs Author:Maynard Webb
“The industry has changed. Two years ago I could tell a company I've got Russell Crowe and that would get the film made. Now they'd ask 'And who's the girl?' Just one famous face isn't enough any more.” YearsMadeTwoEnoughFilmFacesGirlAsksCompanyChangedIndustryYears AgoJust OneTwo YearsTwo Years Ago Author:Gary Oldman
“Well, you have to understand where we came from. We are not here because we decided 10 years ago that we were going to be x-size company, and, oh, yeah, Jackson would be a good headquarters. We work here in Mississippi because we started here, and we are certainly happy here. Those of us working out of Jackson intend to continue working out of Jackson.” YearsWellsWould BeCompanyEconomyYears AgoDecidedYeahSizeWork OutMississippiHeadquartersWhere We Came Author:Bernard Ebbers
“What we learned several years ago was that one of our weaknesses would be if we didn't develop enough people with the know-how to run our company, it would come to the point where we would just stop.” PeopleIfsKnowsYearsEnoughWould BeRunningCompanyKnow HowEconomyWeaknessYears Ago Author:Kevin B. Rollins
“Some years ago one oil company bought a fertilizer company, and every other major oil company practically ran out and bought a fertilizer company. And there was no more damned reason for all these oil companies to buy fertilizer companies, but they didn't know exactly what to do, and if Exxon was doing it, it was good enough for Mobil and vice versa.” IfsKnowsYearsReasonEnoughCompanyMajorsYears AgoVicesOilRanGood EnoughVice VersaOil CompaniesFertilizer Author:Charlie Munger
“I remember my sense of shock some half-dozen years ago when I read a recommendation to sell shares of a company ... The recommendation was not based on any long-term fundamentals. Rather, it was that over the next six months the funds could be employed more profitably elsewhere.” YearsLongRememberNextTermHalfCompanyShareMonthsSixYears AgoFundamentalsSellsInvestingLong TermShockFundDozenElsewhereEmployedSix MonthsRecommendations Author:Philip Arthur Fisher
“...one of the most inventive forms of creative capitalism involves someone we all know very well. A few years ago, I was sitting in a bar here in Davos with Bono. Late at night, after a few drinks, he was on fire, talking about how we could get a percentage of each purchase from civic-minded companies to help change the world. He kept calling people, waking them up, and handing me the phone to show me the interest.” PeopleKnowsWorldYearsWellsHelpingShowsFormNightInterestBusinessCompanyTalkingCreativeFireDrinkCallingLateSittingCapitalismYears AgoPhonesBarsChanging The WorldWakingShow MePercentagesCivicsDavosCivic Minded Author:Bill Gates
“Many years ago, a large American shoe company sent two sales reps to different parts of the Australian outback. A while later, the company received a telegram from each. The first said, 'No business here - the natives don't wear shoes.' The second said, 'Great opportunity here - the natives don't wear shoes.'” YearsFirstsSaidTwoDifferentOpportunityCompanyYears AgoShoesAustralianGreat OpportunityTelegrams Author:John Capozzi
“I think maybe 50 years ago people and businesses felt like they had to choose between maximizing profits and making customers happy or making employees happy, and I think we're actually living in a special time where everyone's hyperconnected, whether through Twitter or blogs and so on. Information travels so quickly that it's actually possible to have it all, to make customers happy through customer service, to make employees happy through strong company cultures, and have that actually drive growth and profits.” PeopleThinkingYearsCultureStrongFeltGrowthCompanySpecialInformationYears AgoProfitCustomersEmployeeBlogsCompany CultureMaximizingSpecial TimesActually Living Author:Tony Hsieh
“A lot of share-buying, not bargain-seeking, is designed to prop stock prices up. Thirty to 40 years ago, it was very profitable to look at companies that were aggressively buying their own shares. They were motivated simply to buy below what it was worth.” YearsLooksCompanyShareYears AgoSeekingThirtyBuyingMotivatedProfitableBargainsPropsStock Price Author:Charlie Munger
“There is no normal. What my job was a few years ago was completely different than what it is today. As soon as I have it dialed in, the company changes and the team changes and my role changes as a result. What the company needs is always evolving, and I don't get to choose what I want to do as much as I thought I would be now - which is OK. It keeps me in this position of learning new things and keeping me humble. There is always something I don't know, and I'm comfortable with that.” KnowsWantNeedsYearsDifferentWould BeTodayJobsResultsCompanyRolesTeamPositionNormalComfortableYears AgoHumbleEvolveNew ThingsLearning NewLearning New Things Author:Sophia Amoruso
“For instance, let us say that a new stock has been listed in the last two or three years and its high was 20, or any other figure, and that such a price was made two or three years ago. If something favorable happens in connection with the company, and the stock starts upward, usually it is safe play to buy the minute it touches a brand new high.” IfsYearsHas BeensMadeTwoPlayHappensLastsThreeCompanyMinutesFiguresSafeYears AgoConnectionsInstanceBrandsThree YearsBrand New Book:How to Trade in Stocks: The Livermore Formula for Combining Time Element and Price Source: How to Trade in Stocks: The Livermore Formula for Combining Time Element and Price
“There are times when you need to step back and realize that movie studios today are not necessarily the same things that they were many years ago. Many movie studios are international conglomerates now. They own everything from theme parks to toy companies to T-shirt companies to video companies. There's a lot of different wheels to be greased.” NeedsYearsDifferentTodayRealizingCompanyStepsYears AgoInternationalStudiosVideoShirtsParksThemeWheelsToysT ShirtTheme Parks Author:Michael Uslan
“Management has failed miserably at creating increased value for shareholders. Indeed, despite some recent short-term gains, which actually only put us back where we were eight years ago, they have been devaluing our assets, turning a unique institution into just another entertainment company.” YearsHas BeensValuesTermCompanyCreatingUniqueGainsYears AgoManagementInstitutionsEntertainmentEightDespiteAssetsShort TermShareholders Author:Roy O. Disney
“If you'd asked me a few years ago about debt settlement companies, I probably would have told you to avoid them.” IfsYearsCompanyYears AgoDebtSettlementDebt Settlement Author:Jean Chatzky
“When I became CEO of Xerox 10 years ago, the company's situation was dire. Debt was mounting, the stock sinking and bankers were calling. People urged me to declare bankruptcy, but I felt personally responsible for tens of thousands of employees.” PeopleYearsFeltCompanySituationCallingYears AgoResponsibleDebtEmployeeCeoBankersSinkingBankruptcyXerox Author:Anne M. Mulcahy
“And we can see the positive impacts right here at Solyndra. Less than a year ago, we were standing on what was an empty lot. But through the Recovery Act, this company received a loan to expand its operations. This new factory is the result of those loans.” YearsResultsCompanyPositiveYears AgoStandingEmptyImpactRecoveryOperationsFactoriesLoanPositive Impact Author:Barack Obama
“The weeds of a seemingly learned and brilliant but actually trivial and empty philosophy of Nature which, after having been replaced some 50 years ago by the exact sciences, is now once more dug up by pseudo scientists from the lumber room of human fallacies, and like a trollop, newly attired in elegant dress and make-up, is smuggled into respectable company, to which she does not belong.” YearsHumansDoePhilosophyScienceNatureNaturalRoomsCompanyYears AgoEmptyScientistAccountsDressesBrilliantWeedReplacedElegantRespectableFallacyPseudoExact SciencesLumber Author:Hermann Kolbe