they have to feel the light is worth the candle.

Go buy a copy, and when the going gets rough, my friend, or appears to be rough to you at the time, think of Vincent van Gogh, tramping his way across a nightmare landscape of destitution and rejection for what he believed in. A man who believed he had failed. But a man who never gave in.

1. Make annual bonuses generous.

Team spirit is for losers, financially speaking. It’s the glue that binds the losers together.

Be lucky. Get rich. Then give it all away. (We’ll get to that bit later.)

It is doubt multiplied by the fear of failure, unconfronted, which leads to the creation of a vicious cycle where self-belief is eroded and nothing is achieved.

Venture capitalist short-termism, with its eye firmly glued to the sale of an enterprise within three or four years, is the hallmark of nearly all venture capital activity. As is their insistence on a massive stake, often a controlling one, in any business they provide capital for. Experience has shown them that this control, combined with growth

To sum up then, if you wish to be rich, you must grow a carapace. A mental armor. Not so thick as to blind you to well-constructed criticism and advice, especially from those you trust. Nor so thick as to cut you off from friends and family. But thick enough to shrug off the inevitable sniggering and malicious mockery that will follow your

instead: “Once begun—the job’s half done.” Because taking that first, irrevocable step has proved to be the most difficult part of nearly every venture I have been involved in.