What advice would you give your twenty-year-old self, and what should they ignore?
Recorded Whitney Wolfe Herd said elsewhere, not written here
I think fear and fear of the unknown and perceived failure is what holds people back. For me, I am more scared of complacency than having something not work out. I'd rather take a leap of faith and fall than stand on the edge forever.

CNBC Make It interview, conducted 2019, 11 February 2021 source ↗

Others on this question

View all 77 →
Patti Smith Musician, poet and photographer
Build a good name. Keep your name clean. Don’t make compromises. Don’t worry about making a bunch of money or being successful. Be concerned about doing good work and protect your work. […] Protect your work and if you build a good name, eventually that name will be its own currency.
Recorded Christian Lund, Louisiana Literature festival, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 24 August 2012, Louisiana Channel, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 24 August 2012 source ↗
Jeff Bezos Founder and former chief executive of Amazon; founder of Blue Origin
My grandfather looked at me, and after a bit of silence, he gently and calmly said, “Jeff, one day you'll understand that it's harder to be kind than clever.”
Recorded Princeton University Baccalaureate, Class of 2010, 30 May 2010 source ↗
Óscar Arias Sánchez President of Costa Rica, 1986–1990 and 2006–2010
History was not written by men who predicted failure, who gave up their dreams, who abandoned their principles, who allowed their laziness to put their intelligence to sleep. If certain men at times were alone in seeking victory, they always had at their side the watchful spirit of their peoples, the faith and destiny of many generations.
Recorded Oslo City Hall, The Nobel Foundation, 11 December 1987 source ↗
Marvin Minsky Cognitive scientist; co-founder of the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
So any student who wants to get into psychology, right now the students are like lemmings. They say, “Well, it’s popular to study brain science, I’ll do that.” Or, “It’s popular to do neural networks; I see 30,000 people doing it, it must be good.” And my advice is if a lot of people are doing it, don’t waste your time.
Recorded Academy of Achievement interview, 4 May 2001 source ↗

More from Whitney Wolfe Herd

View profile →

More on time & hindsight

Also answered this

Tony Fadell, Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai, Ory Okolloh, Bill Gates, Iyinoluwa Aboyeji

Search the directory for somebody in particular.

Explore further

Report this answer