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David Sze Quotes

Powerful David Sze for Daily Growth

About David Sze

David Sze (1948-present) is an American poet, writer, and editor, known for his work in Asian American literature and poetry. Born on August 5, 1948, in Shanghai, China, Sze immigrated to the United States with his family at the age of six, settling in Los Angeles. Raised in a bilingual household, Sze's upbringing significantly influenced his writing, as he developed a deep appreciation for both Chinese and American literary traditions. He earned his Bachelor's degree from Stanford University in 1970 and later attended the Iowa Writers' Workshop, where he studied poetry under John Ashbery and Robert Lowell. Sze's early work, including the poetry collections "Five-Star Day" (1988) and "The Emigrant's Valentine" (1992), explored themes of identity, memory, and cultural displacement within the context of the Asian American experience. His most renowned collection, "Quaking City: San Francisco Poems" (1995), showcases Sze's love for his adopted city and his ability to capture its diverse spirit in verse. In addition to his work as a poet, Sze has been an influential figure in the Asian American literary community. He co-founded Achiote Press, one of the first independent publishers dedicated to Asian American literature, and served as editor for the groundbreaking anthology "The Forbidden City: Contemporary Chinese Poetry" (1980). Throughout his career, Sze has received numerous awards, including a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Poetry and a Guggenheim Fellowship. His work continues to resonate with readers, offering insights into the complexities of identity and the beauty of cross-cultural experiences.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"Entrepreneurs are the only group of people who will work 80 hours a week to avoid working 40 hours a week."

This quote underscores the passion, dedication, and drive that characterize entrepreneurs. They choose to invest a significant amount of time and effort in their ventures because they desire autonomy, creative control, and the potential for exponential rewards. For many entrepreneurs, the goal is not just to work less in the long term, but to build something truly impactful that brings personal fulfillment, financial success, and the freedom to dictate one's own schedule. The 80 hours a week spent now are seen as an investment in a future where they won't have to work as many hours to maintain their enterprise or pursue new opportunities.

"The best founders are always looking for the next thing they can do better."

This quote by David Sze suggests that successful founders, or innovators, possess a relentless drive to improve and innovate. They don't rest on their laurels but are continually seeking opportunities to excel and make things better, whether it's refining existing products or services or creating new ones. This mindset is essential in the dynamic business landscape where constant adaptation and improvement are key to staying relevant and competitive.

"Everything in technology changes, but the most important things stay the same: execution and hustle matter."

This quote highlights that while technological advancements may continually reshape the landscape of the tech industry, certain fundamental principles remain constant. Specifically, the quote emphasizes that the importance of two core elements - execution and hustle (perseverance and hard work) - remains unwavering. In other words, regardless of new technologies, tools, or trends, it is the ability to effectively execute ideas and put in relentless effort that will lead to success in technology.

"If you're not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you've launched too late."

This quote by David Sze emphasizes the importance of iteration and improvement in product development. It suggests that if a product is not initially flawed or subpar, it means it was released too late. The underlying message is that a genuine commitment to innovation and progress often involves initial versions that may seem awkward, imperfect, or even embarrassing. This is because the earliest stages of any creation are typically rough drafts; they serve as stepping stones towards a refined, more effective final product. Hence, it's crucial not to delay launching until a product is perfect but rather embrace the iterative process and learn from user feedback to continually improve.

"Investing in startups is like jumping out of an airplane and assembling the parachute on the way down."

This quote suggests that investing in startups can be a risky endeavor, much like skydiving where one jumps from an airplane without a parachute initially. The parachute here represents the success of the startup, which is built and developed as the investment progresses, just like assembling a parachute while free-falling. It emphasizes the uncertainty and risk inherent in investing in startups, but also implies the potential for great reward if the "parachute" works effectively.

I think that the most important thing we look for in partners is that they can help build companies and, you know, we have the - we have the opportunity to do that at different stages.

- David Sze

Think, The Most Important, Stages

There's a final exam in venture every four to six years. The scary thing is you need to get an 'A' in every discipline. You need to be on generational planning, need to be on great deal flow, need be on great outcomes, you need to be on great company building.

- David Sze

Need, Deal, Six, Exam

I think that it will be the mobile technologies, both from the enterprise and the consumer side, where super unicorns will come from. I still believe that social networking in combination with mobile will create opportunities for super unicorns.

- David Sze

Think, Side, Still, Consumer

The most important thing for us is investing and making companies great, and then they have all the options they want, whether that's to go public or stay private.

- David Sze

The Most Important, Making, Investing

We listen to the entrepreneur. We try to have a fine tuning fork to understand what they are saying and whether that makes sense and know it when we see it. We don't try to do too much predicting.

- David Sze

Understand, Tuning, Makes, Entrepreneur

A lot of great people come to Facebook. In our business, we're about how do we help connect our companies to great people across all levels.

- David Sze

Business, Facebook, About, Levels

College is a magic time. Yes, you're young and fickle, but you want to be part of this college experience... Then you graduate from that. You have your first job, moving to a new city.

- David Sze

College, Magic, Fickle, Graduate

The story of Google is just when everyone concluded that a search engine would never make any money, everyone backed out of it, and Google walked into that vacuum and dominated.

- David Sze

Everyone, Concluded, Backed, Engine

Every social network on Earth pitches me, and I say no to nearly every single one of them.

- David Sze

Earth, Single, Social, Pitches

One of the things I like about the Internet is it does force us to realize we're all humans, and it forces us to look at the pattern of people, not one moment.

- David Sze

Like, One Of The Things, Forces

The best early-stage venture capital investments appear obvious in retrospect; however, very few of them are actually obvious when you make them.

- David Sze

Very, However, Capital, Appear

The best opportunities are often ones where you're being contrarian. That doesn't mean being contrarian for contrarian's sake, but it means you're thoughtful about the risks of following the crowd.

- David Sze

Thoughtful, Crowd, Means, Sake

When you rest on your laurels is right when you have the risk. It exists for every company, no matter how big.

- David Sze

Rest, Big, Your, Risk

We reviewed our process at Greylock and discovered that the best investments are non-obvious enough that they result in a mixed vote by our partnership.

- David Sze

Best, Process, Discovered, Investments

Founded in August 2003, MySpace would go on to be the most-visited social networking site in the world from 2005 until early 2008.

- David Sze

August, Social, Founded, Site

I think there are a lot of companies that are staying private longer. Much more of their growth is happening while they are on the private side. So their valuations are hitting $1 billion while they are still private more often.

- David Sze

Think, Private, Side, Hitting

For us, whether the market is skewed from a bubble perspective or not really is mitigated by staying focused on what we do best.

- David Sze

Bubble, Market, Whether, Perspective

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