Serial Entrepreneurs Share Their Words of Wisdom

We asked the serial entrepreneurs on our list to name the most important thing they had learned as entrepreneurs. Here are our favorites.

1. Get in over your head. --Robert Donat, GPS Insight No. 281

2. Before you build the product, write the ad. --David Friend, Carbonite No. 9

3. Focus on simple things like profitability and execution. You don't need to come up with the next Facebook to create a successful business. --Jesse Lipson, ShareFile No. 104

4. Keep the main thing the main thing. --Brad Oberwager, Sundia No. 130

5. You will be remembered for how you deal with the ups and downs. --Andy Monin, Vendormate No. 25

6. Failing gracefully is much more important than succeeding. --A.J. Lawrence, The JAR Group No. 475

7. Surround yourself with great partners and share the rewards. --Curtis Hite, Improving Enterprises No. 210

8. Hire slow; fire fast. --Justin Talerico, ion interactive No. 202

9. It's a lot harder to repair a train while it is rolling down the tracks, so get everything set up before you build momentum. --Gabriel Krajicek, BancVue No. 117

10. Systems run the company; people run the systems. --Curt Richardson, OtterBox No. 395

11. It will take four times as much work as you expect but be 10 times more rewarding than you can imagine. --Eric Albee, Aromatic Fusion No. 205

12. There is always a solution. --Gregory Lilien, IguanaMed No. 264

13. You cannot do everything yourself. --Elia Wallen, Travelers Haven No. 90

14. Without knowing where you are at all times financially, you are destined to fail. --Dean Austin, Wyngate International No. 163

15. Never confuse a consultant with a partner. --Bing Howenstein, BackJoy Orthotics No. 51

16. At its founding, a business is victim to what you don't know; at adolescence, it's victim to what you think you know; and as it matures, it's victim to how willing you are to hand the reins to those more qualified. --Kevin Burke, Centuria No. 79

17. You don't lose until you give up. --David Wachs, Cellit No. 262