“the sky is the limit”

These are some quotes from yesterday’s talk at Stanford (European Entrepreneurship) from Mariana Bozesan.

Mariana’s experience was certainly interesting: she was born in the communist Romania where she grew up at the border of starvation but with a great education and without knowing that women had ever been discriminated. I guess this is a mentality change that made her live, as she says, believing that “the sky is the limit“.

She studied Computer Sciences in Germany and went to an exchange program to Stanford. That changed her life. She worked for big companies (what she considers the “Learning Phase”), she started several companies (in her “Entrepreneurial Phase”), she became an Angel Investor (“Investor Phase”) and she’s now in what she calls the “Integration Phase”: building bridges and making meaning.

She shared experiences and advices on all of these phases. Being an women born in the 60s, entrepreneur, and coming from Europe, she’s a surprising exception. I hope we won’t be an exception for too long.

1. “People who risk might loose, but people who don’t have already lost”
2. “Problems are part of life, but suffering is a choice”
3. “You can study as much as you want, but you’ll never know it all” – “Build an integral team”
4. “ALWAYS put people (customers, employees, partners) first”
5. “Be a life-long learner”
6. “Invest in things you can be proud of”
7. “DARE to take risks”
8. “The world is flat indeed. To be successful you MUST understand it.”
9. “You are always in CHARGE, learn how to take responsibility”
10. “Finding good partners is key, but stay in charge and keep control” – “Become independent thought unique expertise”
11. “Spend 20% on the problem and 80% on the solution”
12. “What really matters is who you are as a person and who you become in the process”
13. Know WHAT you want, WHY you want it and HOW to make it sustainable”
14. “Success without happiness is failure”
15. “Science of Achievement; Art of Fulfillment. Success beyond success is the balance between the two”