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Fried: Ambition should mean sustaining a business, not destroying competition

Jason Fried · Bootstrapping vs. Venture Capital · Dec 20, 2023 · at 10:46

37signals co-founder Jason Fried discusses his philosophy on long-term business survival and redefining ambition away from venture-scale growth.

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“The ambition typically, or ambition is typically a word used to talk about, like, amassing, and collecting, and growing. You know, it can also mean, in my opinion, like, it should mean existing, sustaining. I'm ambitious at that level, but I don't need to go destroy the competition. That doesn't interest me.”

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