Mitch Kapor Quotes

Powerful Mitch Kapor for Daily Growth

About Mitch Kapor

Mitch Kapor, born on March 15, 1950, is an influential American software entrepreneur, philanthropist, and political activist. He is best known as the co-founder of Lotus Development Corporation and the creator of the pioneering software application, Lotus 1-2-3. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Kapor displayed a keen interest in computers at an early age. After receiving his Bachelor's degree in Mathematics from the University of California, Berkeley in 1972, he co-founded Lotus Development Corporation in 1982. Lotus 1-2-3, released in 1983, became the first software application to challenge Microsoft's dominance and was instrumental in establishing the IBM PC as a business machine. Kapor left Lotus in 1987 and founded Go Corporation, where he developed the revolutionary handheld computer, the GRiD Compass. In 1995, he co-founded E-Loan, an online consumer lending company that revolutionized the mortgage industry by offering loans over the internet. In addition to his business ventures, Kapor is a noted political activist and philanthropist. He has supported numerous progressive causes, including open source software, digital rights, and environmentalism. In 2001, he co-founded the Kapor Center for Social Impact, an organization dedicated to increasing diversity in tech and promoting social impact technology. Kapor's life and works have been marked by a relentless pursuit of innovation, a commitment to social change, and a passion for technology's transformative potential. His contributions to software development, the tech industry, and social activism continue to influence the tech landscape today.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"The future isn't what it used to be."

This quote by Mitch Kapor suggests that our understanding and expectations about the future are constantly evolving, reflecting changes in technology, society, and human consciousness. As we make advancements and progress, the future becomes something different than what we once imagined it to be. It's a reminder that we should remain adaptable, flexible, and forward-thinking as we move through time.

"Software is a conversation between people and the tools they use."

Mitch Kapor's quote underscores the interactive nature of software, suggesting it is not just a static tool but rather an ongoing dialogue between users and the digital platforms they employ. It implies that effective design requires understanding human needs, behaviors, and preferences to create intuitive interfaces that facilitate productive interactions, thus enhancing work efficiency and user satisfaction. In essence, good software empowers people by making complex tasks simpler and more engaging, ultimately shaping how we communicate, collaborate, and innovate in the digital age.

"The best way to predict the future is to invent it." (often attributed to Kapor, but originally from Alan Kay)

The quote emphasizes the idea that instead of merely trying to foresee or guess what the future will bring, one should actively shape it through innovation and creativity. It suggests a proactive approach where we don't wait for opportunities to come to us but create them ourselves. By inventing new solutions, technologies, ideas, or systems, we can influence the course of events and predict the future more accurately, as we have directly shaped its direction. This quote inspires individuals and organizations to be forward-thinking and imaginative in their efforts to build a desired future rather than just reacting to circumstances.

"Everybody wants world peace, just not until they've had their lunch."

This quote by Mitch Kapor humorously underscores the human tendency to prioritize immediate needs and concerns over long-term goals, such as global peace. It suggests that while people may claim a desire for world peace, they often place personal or short-term interests first, delaying or denying their commitment to working towards this lofty ideal. The phrase "just not until they've had their lunch" implies a momentary postponement, symbolizing how small everyday distractions can prevent us from tackling larger global issues that require sustained effort and sacrifice.

"It's not enough to do your best; you must know what to do, and then do your best."

Mitch Kapor's quote emphasizes the importance of both knowledge and effort for achieving success. Simply putting in a lot of effort without understanding what needs to be done can lead to wasted energy or misdirected action. On the other hand, knowing what needs to be done but not putting forth the required effort will also result in failure. Therefore, one must possess the right knowledge and then apply their best efforts in executing those actions for optimal results.

When new technology in the classroom starts happening, some people get very excited and think of it as a panacea. It attracts very high amounts of money; it raises expectations, and those expectations aren't met.

- Mitch Kapor

New, Some, Very, Panacea

The kind of products you envision as an entrepreneur is a function of your life experience.

- Mitch Kapor

Kind, Life Experience, Your, Envision

The computer environment is radically different today. In the 1980s, it was like the Wild West, with a lot of open territory. Now, the cowboys have moved out and the farmers have moved in.

- Mitch Kapor

Farmers, Like, Moved, Wild West

The Internet, the network of networks, is growing at an exponential pace. It's growing so fast, in fact, nobody really knows how many people use the Internet.

- Mitch Kapor

Fact, Pace, Use, Exponential

Technology advances at exponential rates, and human institutions and societies do not. They adapt at much slower rates. Those gaps get wider and wider.

- Mitch Kapor

Adapt, Wider, Rates, Exponential

Life in cyberspace seems to be shaping up exactly like Thomas Jefferson would have wanted: founded on the primacy of individual liberty and a commitment to pluralism, diversity, and community.

- Mitch Kapor

Individual, Like, Pluralism, Individual Liberty

Diversifying our tech talent pool is an imperative for the tech sector. More diverse engineers and entrepreneurs will bring about a new type of innovation that Silicon Valley has yet to see.

- Mitch Kapor

Innovation, New, Tech, Silicon

When regulations restricting competition are relaxed, nobody's market share is protected. If telephone companies can offer video programming, cable revenue will surely drop.

- Mitch Kapor

Drop, Will, Surely, Restricting

I'm fascinated by management and organizations: how organizations get things done and how successful organizations are built and maintained, how they evolve as they grow from start-ups to small companies to medium companies to big companies.

- Mitch Kapor

Small, Grow, Big, Big Companies

Reversing the escalation of health care costs is going to need more than legislation, yet it can be done without imposing rationing, as critics of reform fear.

- Mitch Kapor

Going, Costs, Imposing, Health Care Costs

Managerial and professional people hadn't really used computers, hadn't sat down at keyboards, until personal computers. Personal computers have a totally different feel.

- Mitch Kapor

Personal, Feel, Sat, Keyboards

I actually built a tiny computer as a junior high school project.

- Mitch Kapor

Computer, High, Actually, Junior

I originally invested in Dropcam because I foresaw what the company and their products could do for consumers and the industry. I've been deeply impressed with what they've done in such little time, and I'm confident that they'll continue to exceed my expectations.

- Mitch Kapor

Confident, Been, Impressed, Exceed

Jazz was a bomb. That was also the low point of Mac sales. People had just written it off.

- Mitch Kapor

Jazz, Had, Also, Low Point

People in the industry foresee a time in which, for many people, the only thing they'll need on a computer is a browser.

- Mitch Kapor

Need, The Only Thing, Which, Browser

Lotus's efforts around the Mac were pathetically unsuccessful, which is sad.

- Mitch Kapor

Efforts, Which, Were, Mac

There are excellent public interest grounds to have a search engine whose rankings are transparent.

- Mitch Kapor

Search, Public, Grounds, Engine

Startups, in some sense, have gotten so easy to start that we are confusing two things. And what we are confusing, often, is, 'How far can you get in your first day of travel?' with, 'How long it is going to take to get up to the top of the mountain?'

- Mitch Kapor

Some, How Far, Gotten, Startups

Fundly is at the dynamic intersection of high-growth technology startups, social entrepreneurship, and the exploding world of social media. Kapor Capital is proud to back this passionate team, their product, and Fundly's impressive customer base.

- Mitch Kapor

Product, Capital, Exploding, Startups

If we're not creating an educated and skilled workforce, there is just no conceivable way that were going to be economically competitive.

- Mitch Kapor

Way, Going, Skilled, Workforce

There's an admirable belief about the virtues of meritocracy - that the best ideas prove the best results. It's a wrong and misguided belief by well-intentioned people.

- Mitch Kapor

Prove, Virtues, About, Admirable

There's a great deal of suspicion and misunderstanding about IT among practicing doctors. One hears things like, 'I don't want to be turned into a data entry clerk, and I don't want some machine between me and my patients.'

- Mitch Kapor

Some, Deal, Turned, Clerk

A typical medical practice is like an old-fashioned business which keeps all of its records on paper. It can probably track down any individual transaction if it needs to, but it's basically helpless when it comes to overall measurements of performance. And that's the big problem.

- Mitch Kapor

Medical, Practice, Big, Helpless

We've already gotten a significant grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and a university consortium. I think the whole sector of Foundations, potentially with government support, is promising - more than promising, I think, it's substantial.

- Mitch Kapor

University, I Think, Gotten, Grant

Human intelligence is a marvelous, subtle, and poorly understood phenomenon. There is no danger of duplicating it anytime soon.

- Mitch Kapor

Poorly, Human Intelligence, Marvelous

I give Bill Gates an A for vision because, as a business person and a strategist, he's brilliant. His flaw is that his view is not informed by a humanistic or compassionate vision of how to make computers work for people.

- Mitch Kapor

Give, Brilliant, Informed, Compassionate

'Silicon Valley' has come to mean the Bay Area, not just down the Peninsula.

- Mitch Kapor

Bay Area, Area, Silicon, Peninsula

The widespread adoption of broadband and the continued advances in personal computing technology are finally making it possible for the collective creation of an online world on a realistic scale.

- Mitch Kapor

Making, Scale, Finally, Broadband

Physicians today, as human beings, are not exempt from the perverse economic pressures created by fee-for-service regimes to see more patients for shorter appointments and order more tests and procedures. If the incentives were changed to pay to foster better health outcomes, I am convinced physician behavior would change over time.

- Mitch Kapor

See, Incentives, Physicians, Procedures

It's illegitimate to talk about a post-scarcity Utopia without talking about questions of distribution. There have always been these Utopian predictions - 'electricity too cheap to meter' was the atomic promise of the 1950s.

- Mitch Kapor

Always, Utopia, Been, Utopian

I'm like George Lucas, bringing together a creative team that will come up with a unique, well-crafted product.

- Mitch Kapor

Product, Like, Lucas, None

I'd always wanted to live in San Francisco, and my circumstances never permitted it. I'm so happy I made the move.

- Mitch Kapor

Always, Francisco, San, Permitted

Oakland's time is coming. In fact, Oakland's time is already here. Tech is coming to Oakland, and it's terribly exciting.

- Mitch Kapor

Fact, Here, Tech, Oakland

For people who know both New York and the Bay Area, it is a complement to say that Oakland is San Francisco's Brooklyn. It's a complement both to Oakland and to Brooklyn. And, if you look at Brooklyn, Brooklyn is hot; Brooklyn is cool.

- Mitch Kapor

Bay Area, Area, Francisco, Oakland

Hackers are seen as shadowy figures with superhuman powers that threaten civilization.

- Mitch Kapor

Superhuman, Shadowy, Figures, Hackers

It became clear to me by 1984 that Microsoft was likely going to be the big winner in the PC software apps and operating system category, partly because of the dynamics of owning and controlling the operating system: that gave you enormous power, and I came to see Bill Gates was fierce competitor.

- Mitch Kapor

Software, Big, Became, Category

People are hungry for community. They're hungry for meaning in a society that is oriented around the production and consumption of consumer goods.

- Mitch Kapor

Community, Production, Goods, Consumer

Even though I had the talent, programming just didn't feel right. I never considered it very seriously. Some people get gratification from bending a machine to their will. I didn't.

- Mitch Kapor

Some, Very, Though, Programming

Both VisiCalc and MultiPlan were available when the IBM PC shipped in October 1981. 1-2-3 didn't hit the market until January 1983.

- Mitch Kapor

Market, Available, Both, January

We have a responsibility to give people opportunities to do what they can do. It's a fundamental tenet of democratic society. Libertarians who believe in a completely minimalist state, and don't feel we have that responsibility, are harming humanity.

- Mitch Kapor

Give, Libertarians, Minimalist

E-mail is a victim of its own success.

- Mitch Kapor

Success, Own, Victim, E-Mail

Successful entrepreneurs develop products that inspire their passion. They have to. It's that passion that gets them through the long, arduous, uncertain and frightening early days of a start-up.

- Mitch Kapor

Through, Them, Early Days, Uncertain

Few industries have the ability to transform society like tech, yet too few companies are asking the questions or working on the problems that would create meaningful social change.

- Mitch Kapor

Asking, Like, Tech, Industries

Velano Vascular has developed a simple, game-changing innovation that will improve the way medicine has been practiced for decades.

- Mitch Kapor

Innovation, Will, Been, Decades

Every year we are greeted by a host of new apps that will 'change the way we think' about ordering takeout, 'fundamentally transform' our shoe purchases, or 'revolutionize' the way we edit photos.

- Mitch Kapor

Think, New, Revolutionize, Shoe

Life in cyberspace is often conducted in primitive frontier conditions, but it is a life which, at its best, is more egalitarian than elitist and more decentralized than hierarchical. It serves individuals and communities, not mass audiences, and it is extraordinarily multi-faceted in the purposes to which it is put.

- Mitch Kapor

Frontier, Primitive, Which, Extraordinarily

The culmination of all of that was the decision to start a company, which became Lotus, to do a product, which became 1-2-3. By the time I reached that point it had been four years, and it felt like a lifetime, but really it was kind of evolutionary.

- Mitch Kapor

Been, By The Time, Became, Culmination

That's why it has to be a nonprofit, because a nonprofit is required to take monies it receives and use them for the purposes for which it's chartered by the government. It can't be pocketed.

- Mitch Kapor

Nonprofit, Use, Which, Receives

Today, in the Internet gold rush, so many people go into dot-com jobs right from school or even before finishing. Their motivation is understandable, but sometimes they just lack experience.

- Mitch Kapor

Motivation, Before, Dot-Com

I think there is widespread agreement that there is a crisis in public education.

- Mitch Kapor

Think, Public Education, Widespread

The main languages out of which web applications are built - whether it's Perl or Python or PHP or any of the other languages - those are all open source languages. So the infrastructure of the web is open source... the web as we know it is completely dependent on open source.

- Mitch Kapor

Other, Source, Main, Dependent

The accomplishment of open source is that it is the back end of the web, the invisible part, the part that you don't see as a user.

- Mitch Kapor

Invisible, Back, Part, Open Source

Open source can propagate to fill all the nooks and crannies that people want it to fill.

- Mitch Kapor

Want, Source, Fill, Open Source

I was trying to figure out what to do next, I'd been accumulating ideas for productivity tools - software people could use every day, particularly to help organize their lives.

- Mitch Kapor

Next, Been, Figure, Organize

I've been around long enough to know that empires come and empires go, and I can't tell how long the Google empire is going to last - but I'm pretty convinced that the answer is less than forever.

- Mitch Kapor

Pretty, Been, Last, Empires

Computers ought to help people find their own best path through lots of textual information.

- Mitch Kapor

Best, Own, Through, Ought

I routinely failed to understand that 'simple and straightforward' would have been a much better product strategy for Lotus.

- Mitch Kapor

Been, Straightforward, Strategy

No, my family is Russian, Georgian, via Ellis Island.

- Mitch Kapor

Family, Island, Russian, Ellis

In my case, having knocked around at different jobs helped me get a sense of what the world is actually like and also helped me get out of a cocoon.

- Mitch Kapor

Like, Jobs, Having, Case

Often, the disconnect between the marketing hype around a new product and what the product actually does is astounding.

- Mitch Kapor

New, Disconnect, Actually, Hype

We are living in an era of anxiety produced by computer and communications technology.

- Mitch Kapor

Anxiety, Living, Computer, Produced

There are a lot of similarities between cyberspace and the frontier. It's pretty raw and primitive. I mean, you have to churn your own butter in cyberspace. You can't go down to the 7-Eleven and buy a stick of butter because it's not that well developed.

- Mitch Kapor

Own, 7-Eleven, Primitive, Cyberspace

Bulletin boards are sort of the garage bands of cyberspace.

- Mitch Kapor

Garage, Sort, Boards, Cyberspace

Linden Lab's technological breakthroughs have made 'Second Life' a truly revolutionary experience.

- Mitch Kapor

Made, Breakthroughs, Lab, Technological

One of the perks of being the founder is that you get to build the company in your image.

- Mitch Kapor

Build, Image, Founder, Perks

If you can command a lot of attention, that's what is valuable, and many in the commercial ecology would like to have a piece of that attention.

- Mitch Kapor

Commercial, Like, Many, Command

Old ways of thinking die hard, particularly when they were weaned by legally enforced monopolies.

- Mitch Kapor

Die, Die Hard, Enforced, Monopolies

If advertisers want to decorate their ads to increase their conversions by showing what users think, that's a good thing.

- Mitch Kapor

Think, Want, Decorate, Increase

You can't be in the tech community... without realizing there's a big shortage of talent.

- Mitch Kapor

Talent, Big, Tech, Shortage

I don't think Silicon Valley understands the power of Wikipedia, how it works, or the opportunities it represents.

- Mitch Kapor

Think, Silicon Valley, Works, Understands

In an economy where more and more value is in information - is in the bits, not the atoms, where bits can be copied essentially for free - any time you have that situation, economic schemes that rely on existing models of intellectual property laws for protection are going to do less and less well.

- Mitch Kapor

Protection, Copied, Atoms, Schemes

Beware angel investors: they can be disruptive.

- Mitch Kapor

Angel, Beware, Investors, Disruptive

I'm an inveterate note taker - I scribble all these things down on pieces of paper. I wanted to create some way of organizing all of them.

- Mitch Kapor

Some, Note, Them, Inveterate

I woke up nights, worrying that Lotus was out of control - that no one would know what to do.

- Mitch Kapor

Woke, Nights, Would, Lotus

My history is to find the next big thing early.

- Mitch Kapor

Big, Next, Find, Big Thing

I believe in having an impact in doing things.

- Mitch Kapor

Impact, Doing, Having, I Believe In

Failing to continue to support the public higher-ed system in California will have devastating long-term consequences.

- Mitch Kapor

Will, System, Public, Devastating

I'd been a great angel investor, but professional venture capital was clearly not the right thing for me.

- Mitch Kapor

Angel, Been, Capital, Investor

On a personal note, I was born in Brooklyn. My folks moved out to Long Island when I was quite young, but once a Brooklynite, always a Brooklynite.

- Mitch Kapor

Always, Long Island, Note, Folks

It is possible to take a population of students who are failing and whose schools are failing them, who are being written off as not being college material, and if they have the right support, they can all go to college and succeed.

- Mitch Kapor

College, Students, Go, Population

The more you eliminate the inefficient use of information, the better it is for productivity.

- Mitch Kapor

Productivity, Better, More, Inefficient

I had no fear of speaking to large audiences.

- Mitch Kapor

Speaking, Large, Audiences, No Fear

I tell people that the history of Mozilla and Firefox is so one of a kind that it should not be used - ever - as an example of what's possible.

- Mitch Kapor

Kind, Tell, The History Of, Mozilla

Wikipedia has a way of compiling compendiums of information on subjects.

- Mitch Kapor

Information, Way, Subjects, Wikipedia

If you look at the history of other movements, whether Civil Rights or environmental rights, these are all decades-long undertakings.

- Mitch Kapor

Environmental, Other, Civil Rights

If you go back to the '50s and '60s... there was zero tech in S.F. It was all in the Valley... and it crept northward in early 2000s.

- Mitch Kapor

Go, Back, Tech, Valley

Well, I had a lot of help from my father with the soldering and so on, and he was very good at math and was fascinated with computers, and so I was fortunate enough to have a bunch of exposure going all the way back to high school - this was in the 1960s.

- Mitch Kapor

Father, Back, Very, Math

I was not a student of Wall Street, but I was a quick study.

- Mitch Kapor

Study, Student, Quick, Wall

The critical thing in developing software is not the program, it's the design. It is translating understanding of user needs into something that can be realized as a computer program.

- Mitch Kapor

Software, Needs, Critical, Translating

Everyone has a subconscious and automatic preference of this over that. Once you're aware of that, you can take steps to change.

- Mitch Kapor

Over, Aware, Take, Preference

If only I'd stayed on the West Coast, I might have made something of myself.

- Mitch Kapor

Might, Coast, Stayed, West Coast

Microsoft represents the best of ourselves or the worst.

- Mitch Kapor

Best, Worst, Represents, Microsoft

Before I started a company, I was an employee with a bad attitude. I was always felt like, bosses are stupid, and people weren't well treated.

- Mitch Kapor

Stupid, Always, Treated, Company

If information wants to be free, then that's true everywhere, not just in information technology.

- Mitch Kapor

Information Technology, Everywhere

I soon realized that the best thing I could do for the profession of human services was to get out of it.

- Mitch Kapor

Get, Could, Profession, Services

StumbleUpon has humanized the Web and mastered a way for people to discover online content by incorporating an individual's personal preferences and recommendations of friends and like-minded people.

- Mitch Kapor

Discover, Preferences, Online

We have to examine very carefully any privacy-reducing technology.

- Mitch Kapor

Technology, Very, Examine, Carefully

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