It's Not An Adventure Until Something Goes

When I Die And Go To Hell, The Devil Is Going To Make Me The Marketing Director For A Cola Company. I’ll Be In Charge Of Trying To Sell A Product That No One Needs, Is Identical To Its Competition, And Can’t Be Sold On Its Merits. I’d Be Competing Head-on In The Cola Wars, On Price, Distribution, Advertising, And Promotion, Which Would Indeed Be Hell For Me. Remember, I’m The Kid Who Couldn’t Play Competitive Games. I’d Much Rather Design And Sell Products So Good And Unique That They Have No Competition.

I Wanted To Distance Myself From Those Pasty Faced Corpses In Suits I Saw In Airline Magazine Ads. If I Was Going To Become A Businessman, I Was Going To Do It On My Own Terms.

Growth Isn't Central At All, Because I'm Trying To Run This Company As If It's Going To Be Here A Hundred Years From Now. And If You Take Where We Are Today And Add 15% Growth, Like Public Companies Need To Have For Their Stock To Stay Up In Value, I'd Be A Multi-trillion-dollar Company In 40 Years. Which Is Impossible, Of Course.

Hiring People With Diverse Backgrounds Brings In A Flexibility Of Thought And Openness To New Ways Of Doing Things, As Opposed To Hiring Clones From Business Schools Who Have Been Taught A Codified Way Of Doing Business.

I Believe The Accepted Model Of Capitalism That Demands Endless Growth Deserves The Blame For The Destruction Of Nature, And It Should Be Displaced. Failing That, I Try To Work With Those Companies And Help Them Change The Way They Think About Our Resources.