Marc Benioff is an American billionaire internet entrepreneur, author and philanthropist with a net worth of $6.4 billion as of December 2018. He is the founder, chairman and co CEO of Salesforce, an enterprise cloud computing company. As of November 2018, he owned approximately $2.58 billion worth of Salesforce shares. In 2000, he established the ‘1-1-1 model’, whereby the company contributes one per cent of the product, one per cent of equity, and one per cent of employee hours back to the communities it serves globally. Benioff and his wife, Lynne, have focused their personal philanthropy on improving public education and advancing children’s health care through UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital, at the University of California, San Francisco. May his quotes inspire you to take action so that you may live your dreams.
1. “You need to get to the future, ahead of your customers, and be ready to greet them when they arrive.” Marc Benioff
2. “In order to remain relevant, you must establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry.” Marc Benioff
3. “The more transformative your idea is, the more patience you’ll need to make to happen.” Marc Benioff
4. “Nothing is more important to us than making sure every customer is successful in our service.” Marc Benioff
5. “The secret to successful hiring is this: look for the people who want to change the world.” Marc Benioff
6. “You must always be able to predict what’s next and then have the flexibility to evolve.” Marc Benioff
7. “Customers want new functionality, but they don’t want the traditional complexity that has marred products in the past.” Marc Benioff
8. “In business, we say that people overestimate what you can do in a year and underestimate what you can do in a decade. This is true in philanthropy as well.” Marc Benioff
9. “I love software and I love technology.” Marc Benioff
10. “The only constant in the technology industry is change.” Marc Benioff
11. “You need to have a beginner’s mind to create bold innovation.” Marc Benioff
12. “I was in meetings with managers and they were all men. I was really worried that there was something wrong with the company.” Marc Benioff
13. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend, so that makes Google my best friend.” Marc Benioff
14. “You never want to be completely alone at what you do. Competition is good for everyone.” Marc Benioff
15. “You have chosen the wrong path if it’s not fun. And you are probably not taking enough risk if it’s not hard and rocky sometimes.” Marc Benioff
16. “One idea alone is a tactic, but if it can be executed a number of different ways, it becomes a great strategy.” Marc Benioff
17. “I strongly believe the business of a business is to improve the world.” Marc Benioff
18. “Presentation skills are key. People who work for you represent your brand. You want them to present themselves – and represent you in a certain way.” Marc Benioff
19. “My inspiration comes from all of you, our Trailblazers. You are the innovators, the disrupters, the shapers. You’re shaping the future.” Marc Benioff
20. “Most of all, I discovered that in order to succeed with a product you must truly get to know your customer and build something for them.” Marc Benioff
21. “The world is being re-shaped by the convergence of social, mobile, cloud, big data, community and other powerful forces. The combination of these technologies unlocks an incredible opportunity to connect everything together in a new way and is dramatically transforming the way we live and work.” Marc Benioff
22. “Learning how to interact with customers is something that anyone starting any business must master.” Marc Benioff
23. “Philanthropy isn’t just about gifts; it’s about participation. It is about the grace that comes from working together.” Marc Benioff
24. “You innovate and add value, deliver value back to customers, and you get value back from the world.” Marc Benioff
25. “To be truly successful, companies need to have a corporate mission that is bigger than making a profit.” Marc Benioff
26. “I was learning from the best.” Marc Benioff
27. “You can do things in every part of the world. You can do things in every discipline. You can do large things, you can do small things. But it takes a while to figure out what you actually want to do. And it changes. As you change your interest and desires in philanthropy change, I think you have to be open to that change. ” Marc Benioff
28. “you must always examine what’s working, evolve your ideas, and change the way you do things.” Marc Benioff
29. “Realize that you won’t be able to bring the same focus to everything in the beginning. There won’t be enough people or enough hours in the day. So focus on the 20 per cent that makes 80 per cent of the difference.” Marc Benioff
30. “Life grows relative to one’s investment in it.” Marc Benioff
31. “Speed is the new currency of business.” Marc Benioff
32. “I always knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur. I started my own software company in high school and went to college to study entrepreneurship.” Marc Benioff
33. “I’m amazed by the potential of more companies employing integrated philanthropic initiatives at earlier stages in their life cycle. What if this were done on an even more massive scale? Consider what would happen if a top-tier venture capital firm required the companies in which it invested to place 1% of their equity into a foundation serving the communities in which they do business.” Marc Benioff
34. “Don’t forget to do something for other people.” Marc Benioff
35. “The real joy in life comes from giving. It comes from doing things for other people. Nothing is going to make you happier in your life than giving.” Marc Benioff
