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David Vélez

Co-founder and chief executive of Nubank

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here
Moving closer to work. I live in São Paulo, Brazil, and I used to spend an hour or more in traffic every day, just sitting in the car getting frustrated and anxious. It was a waste of my time.

questionnaire, Sequoia Capital, 15 August 2018 source ↗

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Andrew Ng Co-founder of Coursera and of Google Brain; founder of DeepLearning.AI
I just finished reading BJ Fogg's new book, Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything. Fogg explains that the best way to build a new habit is to start small and succeed, rather than starting too big and giving up. For example, rather than trying to exercise for 30 minutes a day, he recommends aspiring to do just one push-up, and doing it consistently. This approach may be helpful to those of you who want to spend more time studying. If you hold yourself accountable for watching, say, 10 seconds of an educational video every day — and you do so consistently — the habit of studying daily will grow naturally.
Recorded Ng's own newsletter, The Batch, DeepLearning.AI, 2020 source ↗
Abby Wambach United States international footballer, 2001–2015
You see, soccer didn't make me who I was. I brought who I was to soccer, and I get to bring who I am wherever I go. And guess what? So do you.
Recorded Barnard College commencement address, Radio City Music Hall, New York, Speakola, 16 May 2018 source ↗
Barack Obama 44th President of the United States, 2009–2017; United States Senator from Illinois 2005–2008
You'll see I wear only gray or blue suits. … I'm trying to pare down decisions. I don't want to make decisions about what I'm eating or wearing. Because I have too many other decisions to make. … You need to focus your decision-making energy. You need to routinize yourself. You can't be going through the day distracted by trivia.
Recorded Michael Lewis, Vanity Fair, October 2012 issue, 11 September 2012 source ↗
Juana Molina Singer, songwriter and former television comedian
Yeah, I remember exactly that—I was in San Francisco, playing at a beautiful venue, and the siren of an ambulance came through, and it fit so well with the song that I started to play more to draw it out. I like to play in more noisy places so that I can take advantage of all the sounds helping me to build new things. But the one I remember the most is that siren in that venue. Sometimes I’ll play in venues where they’ll have coffee machines or milkshake machines—all these noises that I hated maybe five years ago—I love them now.
Recorded Josh Kun, Conducted by telephone, The Believer, Issue 35, 5 April 2006 source ↗

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Question What bad recommendations do people in your field repeat too often? Craft & work
The second thing there was another thing I learned at Sequoia is that the culture of a business is built in the first six months by the first ten to 15 employees. These are magical, really, really important times. And I used to hear a lot even at Sequoia, a lot of entrepreneurs saying, “Hey, I'm too busy to think about culture. When we become a unicorn, when we grow, I'll worry about culture.” And for whoever has kids, it's almost like saying I'm too busy about educating my kids. When they turn 18, then I'll figure it out. Too late.
Recorded John Waldron, Goldman Sachs Talks, Goldman Sachs (official event transcript) source ↗
Question Who alive today do you admire most, and what draws you to them? Values & belief
Vicky, qué pregunta más difícil (risas). Voy a hablarle de los casos que nos han inspirado, como Charles Feeney, cofundador de los Duty Free Shop en los aeropuertos. Él hizo eso en los años ochenta. Se volvió uno de los hombres más ricos del mundo cuando vendió su compañía e inmediatamente se dedicó a la filantropía y gastó todo su dinero en metas sociales.
Recorded Vicky Dávila, interview, Semana, 1 October 2022 source ↗

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