Don't undertake a project unless it is manifestly important and nearly impossible.
Edwin LandRead
I believe quite simply that the small company of the future will be as much a research organization as it is a manufacturing company.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The future of small companies will focus equally on research and manufacturing.
Edwin Land's quote reflects the evolving landscape of business, suggesting that small companies in the future will prioritize innovation and research just as much as they emphasize production and manufacturing. This paradigm shift highlights the importance of creativity and development in staying competitive in a rapidly changing market.
Themes
ResearchManufacturingInnovationFutureBusiness
In practice
Example use cases
In a pitch meeting, you might use this quote to emphasize the importance of research in your business model.
More from Edwin Land
All quotes βIndustry is best at the intersection of science and art.
Edwin LandRead
It is a curious property of research activity that after the problem has been solved the solution seems obvious. This is true not only for those who have not previously been acquainted with the problem, but also for those who have worked over it for years.
Edwin LandRead
My motto is very personal and may not fit anyone else or any other company. It is: Don't do anything that someone else can do. Don't undertake a project unless it is manifestly important and nearly impossible.
Edwin LandRead
Work only on problems that are manifestly important and seem to be nearly impossible to solve. That way you will have a natural market for your product and no competition.
Edwin LandRead
Intense concentration for hour after hour can bring out resources in people that they didn't know they had.
Edwin LandRead
Similar quotes
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 KaporRead
Any new technology, if it's used by evil people, bad things can happen. But that's more a question of the politics of the technology.
Geoffrey HintonRead
The EU can lead the world toward more humane technology. But doing so requires thinking more broadly about reining in social media platforms to prevent them from degrading our democracies.
Tristan HarrisRead
I wrote an ad for Apple Computer: "Macintosh - We might not get everything right, but at least we knew the century was going to end".
Douglas AdamsRead
It really matters whether people are working on generating clean energy or improving transportation or making the Internet work better and all those things. And small groups of people can have a really huge impact.
Larry PageRead
If an NSA, FBI, CIA, DIA, etc analyst has access to query raw SIGINT databases, they can enter and get results for anything they want. Phone number, email, user id, cell phone handset id (IMEI), and so on - it's all the same.
Edward SnowdenRead