Tag Archives: failure

I did things in my 30s that were ignored by the world, that could have been quickly labeled a failure. Here’s a classic example; in 1974 I did a movie called Phantom of the Paradise. Phantom of the Paradise, which was a huge flop in this country. There were only two cities in the world where it had any real success: Winnipeg, in Canada, and Paris, France. So, okay, let’s write it off as a failure. Maybe you could do that.

But all of the sudden, I’m in Mexico, and a 16-year-old boy comes up to me at a concert with an album – a Phantom of the Paradise soundtrack- and asks me to sign it. I sign it. Evidently I was nice to him and we had a nice little conversation. I don’t remember the moment, I remember signing the album (I don’t know if I think I remember or if I actually remember). But this little 14 or 16, whatever old this guy was… Well I know who the guy is now because I’m writing a musical based on Pan’s Labyrinth; it’s Guillermo del Toro.

The work that I’ve done with Daft Punk it’s totally related to them seeing Phantom of the Paradise 20 times and deciding they’re going to reach out to this 70-year-old songwriter to get involved in an album called Random Access Memories.

So, what is the lesson in that? The lesson for me is being very careful about what you label a failure in your life. Be careful about throwing something in the round file as garbage because you may find that it’s the headwaters of a relationship that you can’t even imagine it’s coming in your future.

Paul Williams  (via albinwonderland)

Things I learned at CUTC

  1. Just do it.
  2. To succeed you must fail.
  3. The internet allows start-ups to get going without much capitol.
  4. Incubators are where it’s at.
  5. Persistence is crucial.
  6. The businesses on top made it there at night and on weekends.
  7. Luck is all about perspective.
  8. If you don’t do it, someone else will, and they will beat you.
  9. You learn best when surrounded by people smarter than you.
  10. Networking is most effective when you’re genuine and look for common ground.
  11. “Tell me more” will save you when you’re lost in a conversation.
  12. The start-up lifestyle is a lot less glamorous then you may think.
  13. Reach out to people you want to connect with, regardless of their title.
  14. New technology may enable old ideas to become plausible.
  15. Small companies are the bomb.
  16. Look for a career where you’re not only making money and good at what you do, but you’re passionate about what you do, and you’re changing the world.
  17. CTFW – Change The Fucking World
  18. We must place are bets on the crazy people, the unreasonable people, the mad people. The incremental steps that are being taken towards the big issues such as poverty, green energy, population growth, scarcity of resources and global warming don’t have enough impact to fix problems of this magnitude. We need to take chances on brilliant, revolutionary ideas, regardless of how impossible they seem, because that will give us the best chance and progress.
  19. The way we think about failure can be extraordinarily disabling – give yourself incentives to fail and embrace failure on the path to success.
  20. Start now, what’s the point of waiting?
  21. If you aren’t maximizing your productivity, you’re being lazy. Busy work is a form of laziness.
  22. 9-5 jobs and flex hours are becoming a thing of the past, the new model is results based only – work when you need to work,  where you want to work, and only spend time on things that relate to your result.
  23. Cell phone banking is starting to have a huge positive effect on Africa.
  24. Incremental product development produces the most value for your time and money.
  25. Predictions based on trends of the past can be interesting, but are still usually wrong.
  26. Multitasking is a myth.