Instead of trying to make your life perfect, give yourself the freedom to make it an adventure, and go ever upward.

The only way to learn on a zero dollar budget is to talk to people

Surrounding yourself with inspiring people is now just as important as being talented or working hard.

Even if it doesn't work out, the experience is so valuable to so many employers that your worst case scenario is, 'Ok, so that was a bust, I'll get a six-figure job at whatever company.' Risk is this outmoded idea - your parents might not understand that, but taking these types of risks doesn't have a downside.

We've had customers from the beginning. The reason people use Dropbox is because they really love it. We think more about who is going to be competing with what we are going to be doing, not with where we started.

One misconception is that entrepreneurs love risk. Actually, we all want things to go as we expect. What you need is a blind optimism and a tolerance for uncertainty.

You can’t focus on what everyone else is doing — it has to be about what’s really broken and what you can do to fix it.