Staying relevant is key. When you're telling your story, you better have a modern story to tell. If I was still saying the same story I was saying 10 years ago, it would not be that interesting.

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.

The future of communicating with customers rests in engaging with them through every possible channel: phone, e-mail, chat, Web, and social networks. Customers are discussing a company's products and brand in real time. Companies need to join the conversation.

Learning how to interact with customers is something that anyone starting any business must master. It's an amazing opportunity to be able to learn the ropes at an established company and then employ your expertise at your own company.

Customers get vested in certain paradigms of computing, and those large vendors will try to keep those customers in those paradigms of computing for as long as possible. That's where you basically get the term cash cow.

All this green stuff is great, it's great we don't have plastic bottles or plastic bags and all of that, but how about some great schools?

Philanthropy can be integrated into business. I believe strongly that companies can be incredible agents of good in the world.