Seth Godin Quotes
19 quotes from Seth Godin on investing, entrepreneurship and motivation.
On investing
You cannot create a piece of art merely for money. Doing it as part of commerce so denudes art of wonder that it ceases to be art.
On entrepreneurship
The secret of leadership is simple: Do what you believe in. Paint a picture of the future. Go there. People will follow.
When you work under the cloud of anxiety, the best strategy is to play it safe, because if (when!) it fails, you'll be blameless.
There's no shortage of remarkable ideas, what's missing is the will to execute them.
The relentless act of invention and innovation and initiative is the best marketing asset.
The only way to get what you're worth is to stand out, to exert emotional labor, to be seen as indispensable, and to produce interactions that organizations and people care deeply about.
The ironic thing is that marketers have responded to this problem with the single worst cure possible. To deal with the clutter and the diminished effectiveness of Interruption Marketing, they're interrupting us even more!
In a battle between two ideas, the best one doesn't necessarily win. No, the idea that wins is the one with the most fearless heretic behind it.
Leaders lead when they take positions, when they connect with their tribes, and when they help the tribe connect to itself.
Leadership is the art of giving people a platform for spreading ideas that work.
If you are deliberately trying to create a future that feels safe, you will willfully ignore the future that is likely.
Marketing used to be about advertising, and advertising is expensive. Today, marketing is about engaging with the tribe and delivering products and services with stories that spread.
Leadership, on the other hand, is about creating change you believe in.
You need editors, not brand managers, who will push the envelope to make [a brand media property] go forward.
Anyone who says failure is not an option has also ruled out innovation.
On motivation
How dare you settle for less when the world has made it so easy for you to be remarkable?
If school is about postponing the day you have to stand up in front of the world and put yourself at risk, the resistance would like to stay there forever.
Every single important thing we do is something we didn't use to be good at, and in fact, might be something we used to fear.
How we respond to the opportunities and challenges of the outside world now determines how much the outside world values us.