Ilya Sutskever ·OpenAI ·1 JAN 2018

Written just weeks before Musk's departure from the OpenAI board, this note captures a moment of genuine collegiality between two figures who would later become adversaries in court.

Michal D. Cann & John L. (Jack) Wagner ·WASHINGTON BANKING CO ·21 AUG 2008

Knowing when to kill a deal is as valuable as knowing when to sign one.

Steven E. Fass & David T. Foy ·White Mountains Insurance Group Ltd ·10 APR 2006

Risk models are tools, not oracles — and the leaders who survive bad years are the ones who say so out loud.

Jack Dorsey ·Block, Inc. ·2 NOV 2023

When the company is growing faster than the business, the fix is a hard ceiling, not a pep talk.

Richard McCathron ·Hippo Holdings Inc. ·6 MAR 2024

Before going on offense, fix the math on the losses you can actually control.

Richard McCathron ·Hippo Holdings Inc. ·2 MAY 2024

Deliberately slowing growth in the short term can be the fastest way to reach sustainable growth — if you're cutting the right risks, not the right customers.

Reed Hastings & Netflix Leadership ·Netflix ·16 JUL 2020

Formalizing power someone already has is cheaper than losing them — and clearer for everyone watching.

Andy Jassy ·Amazon ·10 APR 2025

Most companies optimize inside the room they're standing in; the best ones keep asking why the door is locked.

Andy Jassy ·Amazon ·9 APR 2026

Durable companies don't bet on one straight line — they build the muscle to zig, zag, and start over without losing momentum.

Elon Musk & Ilya Sutskever ·OpenAI ·20 SEP 2017

The moment your funder's leverage looks like a path to absolute control, your co-founders stop building and start negotiating their exit.

Jonathan Bellack ·Google ·17 OCT 2016

Senior leaders are paid not for the insight that points at action, but for the plan a hundred people can actually execute.