The “launch party” for Disney Brothers Studio.

They were nervous.

It’s no secret that we were sticking just about every nickel we had on the chance that people would really be interested in something totally new and unique in the field of entertainment.

They were down…

Mickey Mouse popped out of my mind onto a drawing pad 20 years ago on a train ride from Manhattan to Hollywood at a time when business fortunes of my brother Roy and myself were at lowest ebb and disaster seemed right around the corner.

But they knew….

The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.

They ignored…

I am not influenced by the techniques or fashions of any other motion picture company.

We are not trying to entertain the critics. I’ll take my chances with the public.

They believed…

All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.

and there is no “done”…

Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world.

Build what you believe in.  Believe in what you build.  

Ignore them all.

Never finish.

Win.

When you’re excellent at something, risk is reduced to near-zero.

Plus, you can swim.

Win.

What was your excuse again?

Make some noise

When the facts are on your side, pound the facts.  When the facts are against you, pound the table.

Some ideas don’t work.  The market isn’t ready for them or doesn’t want them.  You can tell when every “sale” is a grind.  The plow is just too heavy.

Admit it:  You’re already dead.

That’s when you get a little crazy.

1. Radical shift.  Not to the product (if you think it’s good)…but to the process.  Break the rules. Complete change of target, price or distribution system.
   
   
2. Make some noise.  Get loud.  Every piece of momentum gets a touchdown dance.  See who dances with you.
   
   
3. Lever up.  Put everything into the one thing that works.  Everything. 

There is no excuse for a startup dying quietly.  

That’s pride.  Newsflash— she isn’t gonna dance with the guy slinking off in the corner.

Put it all out there.

Die loudly.

Win.

Excellence eliminates reliance.

Be very, very good at what you do.

Be free.

Win.

Big companies fear you.  Let me repeat that.  Big companies fear you.

You’re fast, they’re slow.  You’re nimble, they’re not.  You’re innovating, they’re conference-calling.

Yes, their mass makes them extremely powerful.  They can monetize FAR better than you can even dream of.  That’s what they do… they push the big lever that works really well.

But if you’re smart and stay in the blue ocean, they can’t touch you.  They know it.  

That’s why they need you.  They need you to find a new lever that works.  They need you to show them the way through dangerous new water.

Don’t compete on the big levers.  Find the small ones that work and grow them.

Win.

Destruction is easier than creating.  It’s the simplest path to maximum impact.  It always will be the last refuge of good men and the first instinct of evil. 

Destruction will never go away.

Destruction will never win.

It will never win because the vast majority of us create.  We struggle.  We try.  We build.

Look around you.  All that which has been created by man.

Homes. Instruments. Skyscrapers. Networks. Art. Humor. Bourbon. Companies. Schools….. on and on.

It’s all there despite destruction.  

Because that’s what we do.

Create.

Win.

Remember where you’ve been.  Know where you’re going.

Win.