I always tell people: Life is the dance between what you desire most and what you fear most. You've got to be able to deal with the threshold of control.

You need to have a beginner's mind to create bold innovation.

My summers at Apple had taught me that the secret to encouraging creativity and producing the best possible product was to keep people fulfilled and happy. I wanted the people who built salesforce.com to be inspired and to feel valued.

I love software and I love technology.

I'm amazed by the potential of more companies employing integrated philanthropic initiatives at earlier stages in their life cycle. What if this were done on an even more massive scale? Consider what would happen if a top-tier venture-capital firm required the companies in which it invested to place 1% of their equity into a foundation serving the communities in which they do business.

If there wasn't any competition, I'd be very worried, because it would mean we were not doing very well.

I've worked with a variety of presidents over the years on both sides of the aisle and congressmen and senators, so I'm not into trying to demonize anybody. It used to be that people would fight like hell on the floor of the house and they'd go have a beer together. Now it's like you're radioactive if you talk to the other side, which keeps us from getting anything done. I'm an independent personally, and I vote for who I believe will make the biggest difference.