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People are your most important resource. Successful leaders motivate, not intimidate.
--Robert Amter, MBA ’66
Founder/Principal, Amter Associates
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Read everything. Everything! It may sound impractical until you actually do it and discover how much of the real world was in the fine print you neglected to read.
--Al Berrios, BS ’00
President, Al Berrios & Co.
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Customer service is everything you do! Assign this function to every person in your company, and do everything possible to make every contact with every customer a positive one, especially when there is a problem.
--Myron I. Blumenfeld, MBA ’65
Founder, Myron I. Blumenfeld & Associates
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Nobody buys a product or service, they buy a benefit. Make sure you understand what your customers value. It's all about making their lives better.
--Professor Jeffrey A. Carr
Executive Director, Berkley Center
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Remember the business of fashion, is just that--a business.
--Julie Chaiken, MBA ’93
Owner, Chaiken Clothing
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Set clear achievable goals for each day, month and year. Let nothing stand in the way of achieving those goals.
--Liz Elting, MBA ’92
Cofounder/Co-CEO, TransPerfect
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Avoid competing on price; compete based on value. Always ask for what you’re worth. Never underestimate the value of your goods or services. If customers don’t wince a tiny bit when they hear your price, you’re probably not charging enough!
--Cynthia Franklin, MBA ‘92
Senior Associate Director, Berkley Center
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Follow your gut. So much about doing well in business is about making good decisions --for your company and for you.
--Mary Ellen Georgas, MBA ’93
Principal/Owner, Georgas Consulting, LLC
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Just remember that everything takes twice as long and costs twice as much as you expect it to.
--Matt Heyman, BS ’84
President, Grupo Cinemex
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The best advice I ever received was from my advisor Peter Drucker: One must have a burning desire, be willing to take risks and be prepared to fail, but also prepared to pick yourself back up and try it again.
--Tom Itin, MBA ’59
Founder/Chairman/CEO, LBO Capital Corp.
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Lead from behind—like a shepherd. Shepherds allow the most agile of the herd to journey ahead, with the others following.
--Sajid Khan, MBA ‘98
President, MicroAgility Inc.
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There are many parallels between running a marathon and running a business. Entrepreneurship isn’t always about the sprint and being the first innovator or mover. Entrepreneurs create a business that may be built on an incremental idea and plan out their expansion and changes in stages that complement the pace of the marketplace. They learn to persevere and make deals with themselves, especially in tough times—like around mile 18 or so.
--Professor Jill Kickul
Director, Satter Program in Social Entrepreneurship, Berkley Center
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Don’t be afraid of the word “no”. Entrepreneurs hear it a lot so get used to it.
--Bob Klein, BS ‘64
President, Assured Environments
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Always keep overhead low, and don’t ask any employee to do anything that you can’t or won’t do yourself.
--Reginald Kyle, MBA ’91
Managing Partner, e-bitda LLC
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The first year in business is always the most uncertain. The key is to quickly evaluate your environment, articulate your ideas into a vision and develop a plan of action.
--Carlo Mantica, MBA ‘01
President, Mantica Ventures
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Hire for attitude over skill sets. Skills set can be taught, but attitude is intrinsic and a bad attitude cannot be trained away. An employee with a positive attitude who is a team player is invaluable.
--Joe Miscione, Langone ‘07
Managing Director, Providge Consulting
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Stay lean and flexible. SimulTel’s biggest challenge has been driving adoption by operationally and financially stretched hospitals. Our early decision to minimize our cost and organizational structure and retain business model flexibility has allowed us to grow.
--Siddharth Rastogi, MBA ‘00
Cofounder, Simultel
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Stick to your guns on matters that are important to you, but at the same time, take other people’s input and advice as much as possible. Striking that balance is a real challenge.
--Shabnam Rezaei, MBA ’01
Managing Director, Big Bad Boo Studios
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In the early stages of pursuing an endeavor, it’s wise to conduct “due diligence” diligently and seriously weigh its viability against the strength of our conviction, the time and effort involved, and the value of the outcome.
--Rosalind Rock, MBA ’85
President, Rock International
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Listen critically to others but don’t let people dissuade you from pursuing your own ideas. Be willing to go it alone.
--Stewart A. Satter, MBA ’82
CEO, Consumer Testing Laboratories
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Be responsive and treat everyone with kindness and respect.
--Robert J. Simon, Sr., MBA ’84
Senior Managing Director, Bradford Equities Management, LLC
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Consistency in your value offer to all stakeholders builds trust and is a prerequisite for success.
--Irwin Tantleff, EMBA ’91
Owner/CEO (retired), IJT Limited, t/a Foodtown Supermarkets
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Whenever you are thinking about spending any money, ask yourself: "Will this help me get and keep a customer?" If not, don't spend it.
--Professor Jeffrey A. Carr
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Hire your weaknesses. Know what you’re good at and what you’re not, then hire someone to do the latter.
--Cynthia Franklin, MBA ‘92
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Your job as boss is to eliminate all the reasons that people under you give for why they cannot accomplish the results they have agreed to accomplish. Listen to their reasons for not succeeding and help them to find positive solutions that will get them back on track.
--Myron I. Blumenfeld, MBA ‘65
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