CEO Quotes
A great way for any entrepreneur to improve their chances of becoming successful in business is to study the habits and consider the advice given from other successful founders and CEOs. Read through our collection of inspiring and motivational quotes by famous CEO’s and business leaders.
Below, you will find the best quotes from popular CEOs. These quotes will guide and inspire you on your journey to become a successful CEO.
60 Motivational Quotes From Famous CEOs
“Timing, perseverance, and ten years of trying will eventually make you look like an overnight success.” – Biz Stone
“Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.” – Steve Jobs
“Every time you make the hard, correct decision you become a bit more courageous, and every time you make the easy, wrong decision you become a bit more cowardly. If you are CEO, these choices will lead to a courageous or cowardly company.” – Ben Horowitz
“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.” – Steve Jobs
“The question I ask myself like almost every day is, ‘Am I doing the most important thing I could be doing?’… Unless I feel like I’m working on the most important problem that I can help with, then I’m not going to feel good about how I’m spending my time. And that’s what this company is.” -Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook
“Life is fragile. We’re not guaranteed a tomorrow so give it everything you’ve got.” – Tim Cooke
“You don’t need to be a genius or a visionary, or even a college graduate for that matter, to be successful. You just need framework and a dream.” – Michael Dell, CEO of DELL
“The heart and soul of a company is creativity and innovation.” – Robert Iger, CEO of Walt Disney
“If you can’t feed a team with two pizzas, it’s too large.” – Jeff Bezos
“The most dangerous poison is the feeling of achievement. The antidote is to every evening think what can be done better tomorrow.” – Ingvar Kamprad
“There’s nothing wrong with staying small. You can do big things with a small team.” – Jason Fried
“Get big quietly, so you don’t tip off potential competitors.” – Chris Dixon
“The only thing worse than starting something and failing… is not starting something.” – Seth Godin
“No matter how brilliant your mind or strategy, if you’re playing a solo game, you’ll always lose out to a team.” – Reid Hoffman
“Whether you think you can, or think you can’t – you’re right.” – Henry Ford, Founder of Ford Motor Company
“Your reputation is more important than your paycheck, and your integrity is worth more than your career.” – Ryan Freitas
“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.” – Warren Buffett
“Chase the vision, not the money; the money will end up following you.” – Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos
“High expectations are the key to absolutely everything.” – Sam Walton, Founder of Wal-Mart
“Without passion, you don’t have any energy, and without energy, you simply have nothing” – Donald Trump, CEO of the Trump Organization
“It’s not about having a specific set time; both personal and professional lives are 24/7. It’s simply, more about making the right allocation to each one and recognizing that it’s going to be different every single day” – Ellen Kullman
“Be undeniably good. No marketing effort or social media buzzword can be a substitute for that.” – Anthony Volodkin
“The value of an idea lies in the using of it.” – Thomas Edison, Co-Founder of General Electric
“Always look for the fool in the deal. If you don’t find one, it’s you.” – Mark Cuban
“An entrepreneur is someone who has a vision for something and a want to create.” – David Karp
“Anything that is measured and watched, improves.” – Bob Parsons, Founder of GoDaddy
“If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.” – Reid Hoffman
“Embrace what you don’t know, especially in the beginning, because what you don’t know can become your greatest asset. It ensures that you will absolutely be doing things different from everybody else.” – Sara Blakely
“Always deliver more than expected.” – Larry Page, CoFounder of Google
“You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing and falling over.” – Richard Branson, Founder of Virgin Group
“Don’t worry about failure; you only have to be right once.” – Drew Houston
“To me, business isn’t about wearing suits or pleasing stockholders. It’s about being true to yourself, your ideas and focusing on the essentials.” – Sir Richard Branson, CEO of Virgin Group
“Don’t bunt. Aim out of the ball park. Aim for the company of immortals.” – David Ogilvy
“Rule No. 1: Never lose money; Rule No. 2: Don’t forget Rule No. 1.” – Warren Buffet
“You have to be very nimble and very open minded. Your success is going to be very dependent on how you adapt.” – Jeremy Stoppelman
“Don’t worry about people stealing your design work. Worry about the day they stop.” – Jeffrey Zeldman
“Fail often so you can succeed sooner.” – Tom Kelley, Founder of Ideo
“Don’t play games that you don’t understand, even if you see lots of other people making money from them.” – Tony Hsieh
“The secret to successful hiring is this: look for the people who want to change the world.“ – Marc Benioff
“Fearlessness is like a muscle. I know from my own life that the more I exercise it the more natural it becomes to not let my fears run me.” -Arianna Huffington
“Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, remember, you can achieve.” – Mary Kay Ash, Founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics
“Don’t take too much advice. Most people who have a lot of advice to give with a few exceptions generalize whatever they did. Don’t over-analyze everything. I myself have been guilty of over-thinking problems. Just build things and find out if they work.” – Ben Silbermann, Founder of Pinterest
The world is changing very fast. Big will not beat small anymore. It will be the fast beating the slow. – Rupert Murdoch
It’s in our best interest to put some of the old rules aside and create new ones and follow the consumer—what the consumer wants and where the consumer wants to go. – Robert Iger
Leaders get out in front and stay there by raising the standards by which they judge themselves—and by which they are willing to be judged. – Frederick W. Smith, CEO of FedEx
But as an entrepreneur you have to feel like you can jump out of an aeroplane because you’re confident that you’ll catch a bird flying by. It’s an act of stupidity, and most entrepreneurs go splat because the bird doesn’t come by, but a few times it does. – Reed Hastings
I’m responsible for this company. I stand behind the results. I know the details, and I think the CEO has to be the moral leader of the company, … I think high standards are good, but let’s not anybody be confused, it’s about performance with integrity. That’s what you have to do. – Jeffrey Immelt
I always did something I was a little not ready to do. I think that’s how you grow. When there’s that moment of ‘Wow, I’m not really sure I can do this,’ and you push through those moments, that’s when you have a breakthrough. – Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo
I think as a company, if you can get those two things right — having a clear direction on what you are trying to do and bringing in great people who can execute on the stuff — then you can do pretty well. – Mark Zuckerberg
A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them. – John C. Maxwell
“Work like hell. I mean you just have to put in 80 to 100 hour weeks every week. [This] improves the odds of success. If other people are putting in 40-hour work weeks and you’re putting in 100 hour workweeks, then even if you’re doing the same thing, you know that you will achieve in four months what it takes them a year to achieve.” – Elon Musk, Founder and CEO of SpaceX and Tesla Motors
“I never took a day off in my twenties. Not one.” – Bill Gates, Co-Founder of Microsoft
“Risk more than others think is safe. Dream more than others think is practical.” – Howard Schultz, Founder and CEO of Starbucks
“Data beats emotions.” – Sean Rad, Founder of Adly and Tinder
“Stay self-funded as long as possible.” – Garrett Camp
“Nothing works better than just improving your product.” – Joel Spolsky
“Make every detail perfect and limit the number of details to perfect.” – Jack Dorsey
“It’s not about how to get started; it’s about how to get noticed.” – Steve Case, CEO of America Online
“No man can be successful, unless he first loves his work.” – David Sarnoff
“Any time is a good time to start a company.” – Ron Conway, Founder of Angel Investors