The Downside of Ambition

Entrepreneur Jason Fried delivers a brief yet very helpful entrepreneurial advice keynote, during which he shares his tips for budding entrepreneurs. His first piece of advice is to cut any new idea you have in half. He believes that new entrepreneurs are far too ambitious and set on achieving unrealistic goals. He suggests that it is easier to do one thing exceptionally well than to do various things in a mediocre fashion. He believes in mastering the basics. For example, getting the beds "right" at a hotel is crucial, it doesn't matter if the rooms are adorned with today's most popular flatscreens.

His second piece of advice is to focus on what you or your company is doing right now and tomorrow, instead of six months from now. He also touches on the idea of focusing on what you have and polishing it, optimizing it and making it more efficient.