Alison Pincus quotes: lessons every entrepreneur needs to hear.
“As the saying goes, ‘If you can dream it, you can do it.'”
“Solve a market need; follow your passion; work smartly and efficiently and remember to enjoy the good and the hard days. Most importantly, listen to your gut.”
“Have a firm belief in your vision. Be grounded in that vision and be realistic. Also, be financially savvy and really understand the startup costs of creating a business.”
“When starting a company you must believe in yourself and your concept, even when others are naysayers.”
“Our world today is very dynamic and people are moving fast with a very short attention span. An idea needs to be very easy to digest and easy to describe.”
“You can have a great idea, but if you can’t sell your vision to someone in a few sentences, it can be deadly. Mentally prepare an elevator pitch. If it’s too complicated and others have a difficult time understanding the concept, it’s best to go back to the drawing board.”
“Questioning your idea and getting feedback from others is extremely important. Share your idea with your connections and ask people for feedback. Asking your contacts for an outside point of view allows you to get a pulse-check on your idea, and can help you identify issues or potential problems you might not have previously thought of.”
“While it’s incredibly important to solicit feedback, you also need to listen to your gut.”
“Surround yourself with a trusted and loyal team. It makes all the difference.”
“One final piece of advice we can offer to all entrepreneurs is to surround yourself with passionate and intelligent individuals in the beginning who can make a huge difference in the culture and foundation of your company. In every employee we look for passion, agility, an innovative spirit and a love for our customers. It’s a guiding principle that we’ve had from the start that’s paid off in ways we couldn’t have imagined.”
“Our biggest challenge is maintaining effective lines of communication across our three offices and never losing sight of what makes our brand so special as the company continues to grow. We overcome that challenge by keeping a constant focus on our customers and developing technology solutions that help us scale efficiently.”
“Entrepreneurs who are not well-versed in the law often rely on the expertise of others for contracts and governance guidance. Taking the time up front to ask the really hard questions and to go deep on topics will save time and unnecessary burdens in the long run. And it’s important to make sure that you are properly filing all contracts, NDAs and other important documents. It’s easy to think in the early days that you’ll always remember where you placed X, Y and Z, but in reality, your laptop or cloud-management system gets cluttered fast. It would have been wonderful to have had a startup angel providing me with guidance but like anything, you learn from just doing. If I would have had this knowledge, I would have sought more advice from my fellow entrepreneurs and spent more time researching my questions.”
“In hindsight, there are many things that I’m glad I didn’t know before I started One Kings Lane. I think if one knows too much, it’s much easier to walk away from an opportunity to be a change agent.”
“Becoming immersed in the entrepreneurial community can yield a variety of benefits, especially the sharing of knowledge and wisdom. Go on coffee dates, attend conferences, and don’t be afraid to ask for help.”
“I’m passionate about supporting, empowering and helping entrepreneurs.”
“Our greatest talent is creating an environment that nurtures talent and fosters creativity throughout the organization.”
“Entrepreneurs have always been my rock stars. And entrepreneurism is the medium where I like to play. Advising founders and CEOs is one of my most favorite responsibilities; their creativity and positivity is unparalleled. Moreover, their ability to forecast the future is equally inspirational as dream makers and providers. I just may be the greatest fan of entrepreneurs, aka change makers!”
“We hope to one day be able to help more women start their own businesses.”
“My cofounder and I both really wanted to change how people bought home and lifestyle products online. I worried that if we had this idea, somebody else might, too. My husband said, ‘It’s all about speed. The first one to the market can make it.’ We took that advice and ran.”
“Our company has been built on relationships. Whenever we would go to meetings, we would leave behind a gift and follow up with a handwritten thank-you note.”
“I’m always on email. I love it. I do everything on my BlackBerry. But my husband and I have a policy: when we’re with our kids, BlackBerrys down. We are both extremely busy, but we want to be with each other—have family time and see our friends.”
“My favorite quote: there’s a song by Blues Traveler that says, ‘It won’t mean a thing in 100 years.’ My better half shared this with me and it helps me stay focused on what’s really important.”
“When I think of celebration, I think of certain individuals in my life who always manage to bring their own unique traditions and talents to both special occasions and everyday life.”
