I always say separate your abilities from your disabilities. You know, if I could play the violin, I don't have to play it standing up. I can play it sitting down and so on.
Making those around you feel invisible is the opposite of leadership.
If you have never failed at anything, then you haven't been trying hard enough, aren't very imaginative, or have had such extraordinarily good luck that you have come to believe you are invincible.
For good ideas and true innovation, you need human interaction, conflict, argument, debate.
Companies don't have ideas. Only people do. And what motivates people are the bonds of loyalty and trust they develop around each other.
I don't think you ever know anyone until you see them in action.
Huge open source organizations like Red Hat and Mozilla manage the collaboration of hundreds of people who don't know one another and have spent no time hanging around the water cooler.
Let me ask you a question Alex. What do you think is the greatest evil on this plant today?" "Is that including, or not including you?
I try to practice my religion in a very devout way and follow the teachings of my church in my own personal life, but I don't believe in America, a first amendment nation, where we don't raise any religion over the other, and we allow people to worship they please, that the doctrines of any religion should be mandated for everyone.
It seems unwise to allocate a large portion of investable capital to any one deep value opportunity, even if the latter promises a large expected return.
At Ucross I learned that I am capable of focusing deeply for long periods of time. I love to write. I don't think I would have said that before this trip.