Weekly Wisdom #2
"No dream is as great as the person you might become by remaining true to it". - Dee Hock, Founder, Visa
Audiobook coming!
Who reads books with their eyes anymore? The audio format for Tao of Founders is coming up in the next few weeks. Here is a sneak peek, just for you my friends.
In Their Own Words: Dee Hock
Dee Hock, founder of Visa, built a business that has arguably one of the strongest and most durable network effects ever created. He was brilliant as a businessman already, but similar to Bruce Lee, he was also a master thinker, a philosopher. In fact he wrote Autobiography of a Restless Mind (two volumes), and summarized nicely here on the Founders Podcast. Lee’s writing is full of golden lessons for founders and anyone who wants to become a better version of themselves.
We don’t talk enough about Dee Hock. Let me leave you with some of my favorite insights and quotes from this uniquely brilliant entrepreneur who passed in 2022.
Let me leave you with some the most hard-hitting insights and quotes him. He’s definitely worth studying.
On Leadership & Action
“Tyranny shouts, you must. Leadership whispers, perhaps we should."
"There are hundreds eager to criticize and admonish for each one willing to constructively assist."
"If you never test your courage and strength, how can you measure the validity of your fears?"
"A wise man goes forth to meet difficulty rather than agonizing at its approach."
"A good part of leadership is knowing what not to do."
"If you attempt something new and innovative, do not think people will remove obstacles from your path. Expect them to add a great many more."
"Controlling others is force. Controlling self is power."
On Innovation & Creativity
"Every mistake is a bargain if you learn the lesson it contains and remember it well."
"The universe seeks perfection by paying attention to small things. A marvelous life is no different."
"To discover new lands, we must lose sight of the shore for a very long time. And one must carry a large cargo of courage, confidence, and faith as well."
"Approach great enterprises with audacious abandon, and small enterprises with meticulous care."
"Each new thing must make its way against opposition from all that came before."
"Originality and creativity do not result from calculated effort, but from the natural state of consciousness, an open mind at play."
On Purpose & Success
"Purpose is not a possession, it's a direction."
"The greatest achievement in life is to become your own best self. Nothing external can help with that."
"We need not be limited to small dreams or accept the notion that large dreams cannot be realized, providing we are willing to pay the price required for their realization."
"What becomes known is worthless until it is shared."
"Superior people achieve everything in themselves that they expect in others."
"Do what you can, suffer what you must, and leave the rest to providence. It all comes down to that."
"Life has limited meaning until it finds someone or something worth dying for.
On Learning & Growth
"The wise do not feel demeaned by asking for advice or diminished by following it."
"If you can't be precise, be concise. If you can't be concise, be silent."
"If one knows how to formulate penetrating questions and assiduously seeks answers, education with or without schools is inevitable."
"The most interesting people are always the most interested people."
"Each morning, I rise determined to change the world, to make a lot of money, to meditate, to exercise, to write something original, to paint a grand picture, to plant some trees, to read a good book and to spend more time with family. It does make some days a bit difficult."
"Teach children to think deeply, read precisely, write concisely and stimulate their curiosity about everything. Skip the rest of the stuff."
On Risk & Resilience
"Great thought, great achievement, and great love have this in common: all involve great risk."
"Life is never indifferent and never in balance. We are steadily overcoming our problems or they are steadily overcoming us."
"Wait patiently and listen carefully until something whispers to your soul. Then quietly follow the sound."
"You can't reason your way to hope. You can't logically arrive at hope. You can't beg, borrow, buy or steal hope. You either hope or you do not."
Have a nice week end! ✌🏼