Andrew Yan Quotes
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Technology companies tend to operate in winner-take-all spaces and thus adopt a very high-commitment culture.
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A company can set off in one direction, figures out that it's not the right way to go, and then go in an entirely new direction. Over time, the product or service improves, and the company gets better at executing and delivering.
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I try not to bring my phone to the gym - it's too tempting to play with it.
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In most every business, you learn by doing. The apprenticeship model is much more effective than the classroom for cultivating entrepreneurs.
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I sometimes compare starting a business to having a child. You have a moment of profound inspiration, followed by months of thankless hard work and waking up in the middle of the night.
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Starting a company is rough. It's even harder when you're young - I know this firsthand, because my first company flopped when I was 25.
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It's hard to get started as a young entrepreneur - often much harder than one would ever realize.
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In my experience, entrepreneurship tends to be kind of cumulative, like a layer cake. Taking some time away can make it hard to rev up.
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One thing I disliked about being a lawyer was billing for my time.
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The image of entrepreneurship as the province of the unprivileged and un-entitled - the Horatio Alger, rags to riches myth - flies in the face of reality.
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Finding initial funds is the primary barrier most entrepreneurs face. Many people don't have three or six months' worth of savings to free themselves up to do months of unpaid legwork.
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When I graduated from Brown, I had a very limited conception of jobs, careers, and what I wanted to do. Basically, I figured I should do some kind of thought work that paid well, but I wasn't sure what.
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The vast majority of small business owners want nothing to do with figuring out a website. They are neck-deep in their business trying to keep it going.
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We need more women solving different problems, starting companies, and creating jobs to drive our economy and society forward.
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If I need a pick-me-up, I pull up a memo file on my phone and type in three things I'm grateful for. The things I've typed on other days are still there. It's a long list. Always helps.
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After graduating from Brown, I went to law school and became a corporate lawyer in New York City.
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We need people building companies all over the country to innovate in aviation, consumer products, education, health, cybersecurity, biotech, manufacturing, and everything in between.
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Venture for America operates in communities that could generally use more innovation: Detroit, New Orleans, Baltimore, and other U.S. cities. So I'm obviously a big believer in innovation and progress as key drivers of economic growth and prosperity.
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The best organizations are filled with people who have a wealth of choices as to what work they choose to do. We need to give them every reason possible to solve the world's problems.
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At Venture for ,we've worked with hundreds of aspiring young entrepreneurs who want to build businesses and change things for the better.
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Tell young girls they can be anything, including entrepreneurs and self-made billionaires. Encourage your friends/daughters/female students/yourself to take a shot.
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What was a profitable business in one era can become a public utility and a recognized public good in the next.
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If you go deep into a problem, you'll find most all of the time that there are yet more problems to be solved from the ground up.
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It's easy to see how non-profits become engrossed in catering to donors, which may or may not be the best thing at all times, while if a company is ultra-engaged with its customers, it's universally positive and helpful.