My mother is an amazing woman. Not only did she manage the entire household, she noticed a gift in each of her kids and instilled confidence in all of us that that gift would take us wherever we wanted to go.

Most great entrepreneurs I know are nothing like the other kids. They're almost like tangent lines - those lines that seem to go nowhere. Nothing connects them, until they get out in the real world. Then they connect just fine.

The joy is in the getting there. The beginning years of starting your business, the camaraderie when you're in the pit together, are the best years of your life. So rather than being so focused on when you get big and powerful, if you can just get the juice out of that... don't miss it.

Become better at firing than hiring - it's crucial for building a business.

A good organization is like a box of crayons. You need different colors of the spectrum, but all the crayons should fit in the box.

Refinancing doesn't reduce your debt, it just restructures it, so be clear about what you want to achieve with a refi.

Your people smarts will prove ten times more valuable than all the book smarts you can't get.