Mike Costanzo

“The actions of an entrepreneurial firm can actually drive change, sometimes supplying that missing element. In other words, leaping can cause you to grow wings. In Square’s case, our big missing element was permission from the card networks. We actively pursued this change, aided by a system that was already fully functional, if not legal. Had we not already built the system, Mastercard and Visa probably never would have bothered to rewrite their rules. Even if they had, they might have written the new rules in a way that would still prevent Square from functioning as it did. Our system gave them something to aim for. Once Mastercard agreed to revise its regulations, the tone of our conversations was basically, “Square is cool, so how do we make it compliant?”
― Jim McKelvey, The Innovation Stack: Building an Unbeatable Business One Crazy Idea at a Time

“Too many people start with goals and other visions of a desired end state. Start with the challenge, and diagnose its structure and the forces at work. Once you do that, your sense of purpose and the actions you consider will change. In that diagnosis, find the crux. That is the most critical part of the challenge that you can actually expect to solve. Don’t pick a challenge you cannot yet deal with—attack the crux of the situation, build momentum, and then reexamine your position and its possibilities.”
― Richard P. Rumelt, The Crux: How Leaders Become Strategists