Ziad K. Abdelnour Quotes
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When people tell you that this venerable firm or private investor invested X millions of dollars in that entity and that it is a good investment, be skeptical and stay open to the option of running as far as you can in the opposite direction. We have all seen the biggest names on Wall Street along with the largest sovereign wealth funds on the planet make the dumbest investments ever made. Do your due diligence; ask the right questions, and most important, check out the character of the people involved unless you want to end up being prey to another master of the universe à la Bernie Madoff.
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Fear and self-doubt are the greatest killers of personal genius.
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We always look for operators with a combination of guts, passion and genius.
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You can make excuses and you can make money, but you cannot make both.
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Age is just reality we create for ourselves.
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Real Learning comes from failures and mistakes...rarely from success.
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Unless you choose to do great things with your life it makes no difference how much money you make or how much power you have.
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One of the advantages of living in a constitutional federal republic is that we have the ability, if not the duty, as citizens to repair or replace those acts of legislation under which we have agreed to live. We must act when it has become evident that said legislation no longer serves us as a people or advances the principles upon which this nation was founded, one of these being “the pursuit of happiness,” which may only be secured through wealth creation. If it burdens the debt obligation of the government, it cannot be creating wealth. If it does not advance the cause of regaining American competitive dominance in the global marketplace, it is not creating wealth. If legislation and regulation were proposed that taught people how to fish instead of providing fish, then the unemployed would find a way to create jobs for each other. Wealth creation is mankind’s natural objective when given the opportunity. and the tools.
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No one is fearless. The difference between achievers and everyone else is that they take action despite their fears.
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Start-ups fail for a lot of different reasons, but one I see repeatedly is ego. It presents as a dangerous sense of self-importance. Or the entrepreneur thinks they are the smartest person in the room who knows better than anyone else and either doesn’t seek out advice or doesn’t want to listen when it’s offered. Such know-it-alls delude themselves into thinking they have everything figured out, even though they don’t. For as hard as it is to elbow your way into the marketplace in ideal circumstances, it’s made exponentially harder when you don’t check your ego at the door.
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Always remember: When government accepts responsibility for people, then people no longer take responsibility for themselves.
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Words are useless without action. Stop fantasizing and just DO it. Be a "game changer" or get played like an idiot.
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There's a story behind every person. There's a reason why they're the way they are. Think about that before you judge anyone.
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I strongly believe that the best economic policy for any administration is the one that seeks to produce more entrepreneurs, not just more minimally educated college graduates with nowhere to go. Nothing against recent college graduates, but many of today’s best universities are no longer providing the basics of a classical liberal education. “I strongly believe that the best economic policy for any administration is the one that seeks to produce more entrepreneurs, not just more minimally educated college graduates with nowhere to go. Nothing against recent college graduates, but many of today’s best universities are no longer providing the basics of a classical liberal education. That is why the single most important economic issue of our time—and one that impacts the poor and middle class alike—will be how we treat the entrepreneurs and wealth creators among us, from both the government and the private-sector viewpoints.
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Smart people think. Brave people talk. Great people act.
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My book is not for everyone in the venture capital and entrepreneurial world, and that’s okay. If you try to please everybody and worry about offending anybody, nothing is going to happen. You might make some money, but you certainly won’t create wealth.
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Never erase your past. It shapes who you are today and will help you to be the person you'll be tomorrow.
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Our debts don't leave us much in terms of choices. We can choose to pay now or try to pay later. But the longer we wait the steeper the bill.
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Frankly speaking, making money isn't hard in itself... What's real hard is to earn it doing something worth devoting one's life to.
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There are two theories to arguing with a woman. Neither one works. Don't bother.
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Once you find your dream, risk everything to make it come true.
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If you look at big companies, only 1/3 of them will exist in 2 decades.
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Worrying is a waste of time. It doesn't change anything. It messes with your mind and steals your happiness.
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Geniuses are always marginalized to one degree or another. Someone wholly invested in the status quo is unlikely to disrupt it. Did you get to where you are by accepting the status quo? I didn’t.