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Ask HN: Non-Cliche Quotes That Really Hit Home

6 points by yoshyosh ↗ HN
"When I see a new web startup trying to increase click-thru ad-rates by 10%, it breaks my heart a little. It's not that what they're doing is wrong. But I just can't help but feel like I'm seeing incredible entrepreneurial talent wasted on something that fundamentally doesn't matter much." (by Nathaniel Whittemore)

Felt this was a perfect quote for me to hear as we work on our lead generation startup. Sometimes we just get waaay too caught up in the metrics rather than focusing more on creating more impact.

I'd love to hear of any non generic quotes that made a difference for you

7 comments

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bartonfink
"Everything happens to the best of us, but it happens more often to the worst of us."
RiderOfGiraffes
Regarding Optimisation:

    You can't make a computer work faster,
    you can only make it do less.

    This code isn't optimal, so it hasn't
    been optimised.  It's just less bad
    than it was.
Regard the work ethic:

    The harder I work, the luckier I get.
    (Often attributed to Thomas Jefferson)
And regarding luck:

    Fortune favors the lucky.
arepb
If you don't make things happen, things will happen to you. - Robert Collier.
keiferski
Fortune favors the bold. Cliche? Maybe, but I don't see or hear it often. It really applies to everything in your life. The fact that it's an ancient roman saying with a lot of history makes it even more relevant (to me, at least.)
slig
"What is a good idea? One that happens is. If it doesn’t, it isn’t." – Paul Arden

"Plans are nothing; planning is everything." – Dwight D. Eisenhower.

fady
"Sometimes we just get waaay too caught up in the metrics rather than focusing more on creating more impact."

Wow! I agree 100%. Now, click-thru ad-rates are important, but the impact on your clients, customers, and how they perceive you & your business is also super-duper important too. I like to say: "what produces me to use this product, or download this app, or use this "service", and what I find, is that I'm always looking for: who built the app, who runs this company, and what impression I get from the web-copy/content. The cloak and dagger approach does not work, especially if you're trying to get "respectful" clients; clients that actually pay for the service you render or who respect what you do as a company.

People forgot that we are human, and when you make someone feel that humans run a company - your impact will be huge, and you will notice this with customer satisfaction, and retention.

Take the social approach.. Be open, show who runs the company, have a blog, communicate with your customers, show them that you're real and have fun. Some companies that do this: dropbox, google, tendeapp, Ycombinator, Fogcreek, etc. etc.. the list goes on, and how many people use their service, or even pay?