“Launching a start-up, you need to get a lot done quickly. Every day is...” — Kathryn Minshew Quote

Launching a start-up, you need to get a lot done quickly. Every day is different. Everyone pitches in with everything. It's easy for the founding team to say, 'We're flexible. We all help out with everything!' But when it comes to making decisions - that flexibility can spell inefficiency and disaster.

The most important thing in startups is getting a product to market, as imperfect as it may be, and then iterating on it and continually making it better. A first rev of a site that has a few typos may not be perfect, but it was the start of something that I deeply believed in.

I am a big advocate for having an open discussion about team norms and preferences. At The Muse, some of us like to start working at 7:30 A.M. Others focus best from 10 P.M. to 2 A.M. Create a culture where it's acceptable not to be working when someone else is working.

It's hard when you have a lot of naysayers to know when they might be right or when to ignore them and go with your gut and do something that may seem risky.

There is just no substitute for seeing a disaster area firsthand and getting the chance to speak in person to victims and responders.

There are two things in New York, euphoria and disaster.

No nation helps more people around the globe. Our deep generosity is given so freely that it is simply expected, by others and by ourselves. From Ethiopia to Haiti to Japan where there is tragedy, famine or disaster, we lead the way with private and public help.

Research is so unpredictable. There are periods when nothing works and all your experiments are a disaster and all your hypotheses are wrong.