Top 50+ must-know entrepreneur quotes to keep you going

Any time is a good time to start a company. Chase the vision, not the money; the money will end up following you. Ideas are easy. Implementation is hard. Are you finding it hard to cope as an entrepreneur? Here are 50 motivating entrepreneur quotes.

We’ve compiled a list of the best motivational entrepreneur quotes.

51 motivational quotes for entrepreneurs and startup founders

1. “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.”  – Michael Jordan, NBA Legendary Basketball MVP
2. “Chase the vision, not the money; the money will end up following you.”  – Tony Hsieh, Zappos CEO
3. “The critical ingredient is getting off your butt and doing something. It’s as simple as that. A lot of people have ideas, but there are few who decide to do something about them now. Not tomorrow. Not next week. But today. The true entrepreneur is a doer, not a dreamer.”  – Nolan Bushnell, Entrepreneur
4. “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.”  – Steve Jobs, Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO, Apple
5. “It’s almost always harder to raise capital than you thought it would be, and it always takes longer. So plan for that.”  – Richard Harroch, Venture Capitalist and Author
6. “Don’t worry about failure; you only have to be right once.”  – Drew Houston, Dropbox Co-Founder, and CEO
7. “Ideas are easy. Implementation is hard.”  – Guy Kawasaki, Alltop Co-Founder, and Entrepreneur
8. “Any time is a good time to start a company.”  – Ron Conway, Noted Startup Investor, SV Angel
9. “The secret to successful hiring is this: look for the people who want to change the world.”  – Marc Benioff, Salesforce CEO
10. “I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.”  – Wayne Gretzky, Hockey Star
11. “If you’re going through hell, keep going.”  – Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister
12. “Ideas are commodity. Execution of them is not.”  – Michael Dell, Dell Chairman and CEO
13. “I knew that if I failed I wouldn’t regret that, but I knew the one thing I might regret is not trying.”  – Jeff Bezos, Amazon Founder, and CEO
14. “If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.”  – Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn Co-Founder, and Venture Capitalist
15. “The way to get started is to quit talking and start doing.”  – Walt Disney, Co-Founder, Disney
16. “Projections are just bullshit. They’re just guesses.”  – Jason Fried, Founder, 37Signals
17. “User experience is everything. It always has been, but it’s undervalued and underinvested in. If you don’t know user-centered design, study it. Hire people who know it. Obsess over it. Live and breathe it. Get your whole company on board.”  – Evan Williams, Co-Founder, Twitter
18. “Life is not always a matter of holding good cards, but sometimes playing a poor hand well.”  – Jack London, Author
19. “Remember to celebrate milestones as you prepare for the road ahead.”  – Nelson Mandela, South African Leader
20. “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”  – Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister
21. “Don’t be cocky. Don’t be flashy. There’s always someone better than you.”  –Tony Hsieh, Zappos CEO
22. “What do you need to start a business? Three simple things: know your product better than anyone, know your customer, and have a burning desire to succeed.”  – Dave Thomas, Founder, Wendy’s
23. “As long as you’re going to be thinking anyway, think big.”  – Donald Trump, The Trump Organization President
24. “Whether you think you can, or think you can’t — you’re right.”  – Henry Ford, Ford Motor Company Founder
25. “Act enthusiastic and you will be enthusiastic.” – Dale Carnegie, Author, and Motivational Speaker
26. “You shouldn’t focus on why you can’t do something, which is what most people do. You should focus on why perhaps you can, and be one of the exceptions.”  – Steve Case, AOL Co-Founder, and CEO
27. “Always deliver more than expected.”  – Larry Page, Co-Founder, Google
28. “Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, remember, you can achieve.”  – Mary Kay Ash, Mary Kay Cosmetics Founder
29. “You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing and falling over.”  – Richard Branson, Virgin Group Founder
30. “Even if you don’t have the perfect idea to begin with, you can likely adapt.”  – Victoria Ransom, Wildfire Interactive Co-Founder
31. “High expectations are the key to everything.”  – Sam Walton, Walmart Founder
32. “Don’t be afraid to assert yourself, have confidence in your abilities, and don’t let the bastards get you down.”  –Michael Bloomberg, Former Mayor of New York and Founder of Bloomberg L.P.
33. “It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up.”  – Babe Ruth, Baseball Legend
34. “Trust your instincts.”  –Estée Lauder, Founder, Estée Lauder
35. “Make your team feel respected, empowered and genuinely excited about the company’s mission.”  –Tim Westergen, Pandora Founder
36. “If you’re not a risk taker, you should get the hell out of business.”  – Ray Kroc, McDonald’s Founder
37. “The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into smaller manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.”  – Mark Twain, American Humorist, and Author
38. “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.”  – Bill Gates, Microsoft Founder and former CEO
39. “Always treat your employees exactly as you want them to treat your best customers.”  – Stephen R. Covey, Author
40. “If you just work on stuff that you like and you’re passionate about, you don’t have to have a master plan with how things will play out.”  –Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook Founder, and CEO
41. “In between goals is a thing called life, that has to be lived and enjoyed.”  – Sid Caesar, Entertainer
42. “Wonder what your customer really wants? Ask. Don’t tell.”  – Lisa Stone, BlogHer Co-Founder, and CEO
43. “If you’re passionate about something and you work hard, then I think you will be successful.”  – Pierre Omidyar, eBay Founder, and Chairman
44. “When you find an idea that you just can’t stop thinking about, that’s probably a good one to pursue.”  – Josh James, Omniture CEO and Co-Founder
45. “Waiting for perfect is never as smart as making progress.”  – Seth Godin, Author
46. “Every worthwhile accomplishment, big or little, has its stages of drudgery and triumph: a beginning, a struggle, and a victory.”  – Mahatma Gandhi, Political and Spiritual Leader
47. “One can get anything if he is willing to help enough others get what they want.”  – Zig Ziglar, Motivational Speaker, and Author
48. “If everything seems under control, you’re just not going fast enough.”  – Mario Andretti, Legendary Race Car Driver 
49. “I’m convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.”  – Steve Jobs, Co-Founder and former CEO, of Apple
50. “Never, never, never give up.”  – Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister
51. “Don’t quit! Wake up! Strive now and live the rest of your life as a champion. See you at the top!”  – Victor Iyiola, Founder and CCO, Asset Writings.

Conclusion

Giving up is not an option. But when the going gets tough, only the tough get going. This is why you must see every challenge as an opportunity to prove yourself. If you lament over the challenge, you will miss the opportunity.

Regardless of whatever you’re going through, you will never be put to shame. We hope this list of 50 motivating entrepreneur quotes fuels your determination and passion. Good luck in all entrepreneurial endeavours.