I was lucky enough to be sent along by Sage to the WIRED2012 event last week held in East London.  Some of the best and brightest business folk were there, dispensing tiny snippets of advice along the way.

Here’s my mash-up of some of those pearls of wisdom

1. When in doubt do one thing with 100% commitment 
   Thomas Heatherwick – designer of the London 2012 Olympic flame
2. Always think of what people actually need, not what they say they need
   Jess Greenwood – director of business strategy R/GA
3. Change is oxygen to an entrepreneur, not a threat
   Richard Branson – via Ajaz Ahmed – founder AKQA
4. Have a passion for innovation as much as you do for profits
   Ajaz Ahmed – founder of AKQA
5. Beware the lollipop of mediocrity  lick it  once and you’ll suck forever
   Brian Wilson – via Ajaz Ahmed
6. Convenient is the enemy of the right
   Ajaz Ahmed – founder of AKQA [also in his book Velocity]
7. There’s nothing wrong with failing, but fail fast
   Michael Acton-Smith – founder of Mindcandy
8. Makes things fun – it changes peoples behaviour
   Michael Acton-Smith – founder of Mindcandy
9. Stay fluid, stay informed about the future
   Troy Carter – Manager of Lady Gaga
10. Accept that your product will have a lifecycle and innovate around that fact
    David Karp – Founder of Tumblr
11. If I had paid attention everytime someone said no, I would never have achieved everything I have achieved
    Ferran Adria – El Bulli
12. If you only speak to other cooks, you’ll get bored in the end
    Ferran Adria – El Bulli [on the need to take inspiration from differing sources]
13. Hire humans for their judgement and then trust them – otherwise you might as well hire a computer
    Stephen Cohen – founder Palantir
14. Do you want to be liked by everyone or do you want to stand up for what you believe in
    Lakshmi Pratury – Host of the INK Conference and founder of Ixoraa Media
15. To the world you are one person but to one person you are the world
    Via  Lakshmi Pratury
16. Always start with a competitive advantage – the equivalent of taking a gun to a knife fight
    Mike Lynch – founder of Autonomy
17. Focus.  Ignore all advice and do what’s important.  The rest will take care of itself
    Mike Lynch – founder of Autonomy
18. Can this much fun be legal?
    Raphael Pirker – Founder Team Black Sheep

Enjoy x

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