talk of the future at #fflondon 2017
every year some of the world’s most beautiful minds come together and learn from one another. this group of very human humans mostly talk about the future, because the future, that place there on the horizon, is a very important place … the future is that mirror that will show us who we are right now.
below is a collection of the random thoughts i overheard, gathered, debated and pondered in the last few days:
“be doing what start-ups *need* to do in the early years … do the stuff that few people can handle doing. you’re doing the hard stuff. it’s foundational” martin moshal
“i start every day with MMA practice. it sets the course for the entire day.” dan schulman
“i fell into product design by accident because of a motorbike accident where i broke my arm. i took my eye off the road, looking at a girl, and hit a truck. i had to retire from playing bass guitar. i came home and realised that i loved making physical objects so i started, right there in my room.” tom dixon
“it’s not what you learn. it’s how you think.” marissa mayer on how she fell into business from neurosurgery
“my job actually became about saying no” marissa meyer on her days at google when she became known as “the defender of the homepage”
“as a CEO you don’t really get to do anything … you simply set the direction and help people to run” marissa mayer on her first 6 months inside yahoo when 1/3 of the staff left the building
“very few people can handle honesty. work needs more brutality when it comes to truth about the actual work being delivered. if it’s a f*?! stupid idea, it’s better to know that sooner rather than later. that’s what i appreciated about steve. he told me when my ideas were stupid.” joshua bernstein on working inside the siri team at apple
“i couldn’t take maternity leave, so i built a playroom inside my office. it was a box compartment in between two offices and i nursed him there while on conference calls.” marissa mayer
“every women needs to have help help help help help help help help help help help help and then even more help to retain a career and be a mom.” linda fayne levinson after marissa shared her 3H formula for women in the workplace
“i could’ve worn my jet pack but then maybe you wouldn’t have heard me.” richard browning on his invention that will change human movement forever
“the chance of there being life on another planet is a “surety” based on the sheer maths backing it up. start multiplying galaxies and universes and the numbers stack up.” yuri milner
“i invest in fundamental science because what was invented and discovered a hundred years ago is impacting us right now, and i want to ensure that we are impacting ourselves and other life on other planets, hundreds of years from now.” yuri milner
“founders underestimate what it takes.” yuri milner
“founders don’t realise the sacrifice.” yuri milner
“little companies need to do what big companies don’t want to do because they are too lazy.” bill mcdermott on how startups and corporates play well together
“the people who want to rise have to take on the toughest assignments.” bill mcdermott on his first assignment which felt like a prison sentence to the middle of nowhere
“if it doesn’t feel authentic, don’t do it.” bill mcdermott on working inside a truly german company
“humans function according to discretionary effort: 80% of everything they do is for themselves. 20% is for their team. never reward the 80%. only ever reward the 20%.” bill mcdermott on rewarding and measuring performance in teams
“create exceptional experiences.” bill mcdermott on his beginnings when he acquired a corner cafe to sustain his family
“i’ve stayed with the economist for as many years as i have, which is very unusual for our age, because i have absolute freedom to really find the story: to truly dig.” alexandra suich on working for one company for more than a decade
“after many many many years, the dots connect and your brain’s decision-making method emerges.” trina van pelt on doing more than 40 m&A transactions
as i sit here reflecting on the week that was, in one of my favourite corners of london, i realise that i know so very little and that the world is a truly heartbreaking, shattering, magnificent experience… it’s not a place. it’s an experience. every second of it. it’s you and me, pulsing hearts and neurons with an opportunity to change, shift, impact, and delve so very deep into the essence of life itself. if we choose to.
