Many companies forget what it means to make great products. After initial success, sales and marketing people take over and the product people eventually make their way out.

Focusing is all about saying no

It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it.

Design is a funny word. Some people think design means how it looks. But of course, if you dig deeper, it's really how it works.

I don't want to fail, of course. But even though I didn't know how bad things really were, I still had a lot to think about before I said yes. I had to consider the implications for Pixar, for my family, for my reputation. I decided that I didn't really care, because this is what I want to do. If I try my best and fail, well, I've tried my best.

To follow the path that others have laid before you is a reasonable course of action; therefore all progress is made by unreasonable men.

A lot of companies have chosen to downsize, and maybe that was the right thing for them. We chose a different path. Our belief was that if we kept putting great products in front of customers, they would continue to open their wallets.