The Start-up of You: Adapt to the Future, Invest in Yourself, and Transform Your Career

“Get out of the weeds. Go where there’s fast growth, because fast growth creates all opportunities.”

a product feature that converts onetime customers into repeat customers is more valuable than one that brings in onetime customers.

In school, you’re told to focus on shoring up weaknesses. Parents and teachers pay special attention to the Cs and Bs on the report card, not the As. Work on your weak spots, they say. This attitude sticks. But it’s also inefficient. In adulthood, you’ll get a greater ROI (return on investment) from investing in your strengths than in your weakness

Passions Aren’t Found—They Emerge

Companies that employ part-time consultants and for-hire workers often seek specialists with very specific skills whom they can briefly “plug in” to a broader overall project. It’s easier to plug in a specialist whose role and value-add are clear than it is with a generalist whose exact roles and responsibilities may be more ambiguous.

Don’t wait until you feel ready—because we’re almost never “ready” for the biggest and best developments of our lives.

In fact, the word company is derived from the Latin cum and pane, which means “breaking bread together.”[1]

“Be so good they can’t ignore you.”

The person who is emotionally driven by what they are doing will outwork and outlast the person motivated solely by making money.