20 Inspirational Quotes for Startups and Entrepreneurs

1. “What do you need to start a business? Three simple things: know your product better than anyone, know your customer, and have a burning desire to succeed.” –Dave Thomas, Founder, Wendy’s

2. “You just have to pay attention to what people need and what has not been done.”–Russell Simmons, founder of Def Jam

3. “Chase the vision, not the money; the money will end up following you.” –Tony Hsieh, Zappos CEO

4. “One can get anything if he is willing to help enough others get what they want.” –Zig Ziglar, Motivational Speaker and Author

5. “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.” –Steve Jobs, Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO, Apple

6. “I knew that if I failed I wouldn’t regret that, but I knew the one thing I might regret is not trying.” –Jeff Bezos, Amazon Founder and CEO

7. “Ideas are easy. Implementation is hard.” –Guy Kawasaki, Alltop Co-Founder

8. “User experience is everything. It always has been, but it’s undervalued and underinvested in. If you don’t know user-centered design, study it. Hire people who know it. Obsess over it. Live and breathe it. Get your whole company on board.” –Evan Williams, Co-Founder, Twitter

9. “The best startups generally come from somebody needing to scratch an itch.”–Michael Arrington, founder and co-editor of TechCrunch

10. “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” –Bill Gates, Microsoft Founder and former CEO

11. “You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing and falling over.” –Richard Branson, Virgin Group Founder

12. “Make your team feel respected, empowered and genuinely excited about the company’s mission.” –Tim Westergen, Pandora Founder

13. “Bad shit is coming. It always is in a startup. The odds of getting from launch to liquidity without some kind of disaster happening are one in a thousand. So don’t get demoralized.”–Paul Graham, co-founder of Y Combinator

14. “Always treat your employees exactly as you want them to treat your best customers.” –Stephen R. Covey, Author

15. “When you find an idea that you just can’t stop thinking about, that’s probably a good one to pursue.” –Josh James, Omniture CEO and Co-Founder

16. “Waiting for perfect is never as smart as making progress.” –Seth Godin, Author

17. “If you just work on stuff that you like and you’re passionate about, you don’t have to have a master plan with how things will play out.” –Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook Founder and CEO

18. “I’m convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.” –Steve Jobs, Co-Founder and CEO, Apple

19. “Never, never, never give up.” –Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister

20. “Always under promise and over deliver.” – Anonymous