Paul Papadimitriou

Social media is rapidly moving towards the centre of forward thinking businesses and organisations. Whereas it used to be a fringe activity [...] it’s increasingly becoming possible to align social media with wider business processes and practices. That is, social media is now making it possible for customers and stakeholders to become involved in business processes, such as product and service innovation, co-creation, and customer service. There are great opportunities for those at the centre of this revolution – people with strong communications skills – but it also requires great business acumen, with a deep understanding of the strategy, goals and ambitions of the business. [...] Communications becoming more central, and increasingly driving organisational change.

Treating a company like a utility [...] can help to lock in its dominance and discourage innovation.

Vulnerability. It is the most poignant quality in every entrepreneur I know. [...] Vulnerability is the absence of cynicism. And the absence of cynicism is love.

There’s no question that online advertising has failed to grow in proportion with the amount of time people spend online. But attributing that fact to “too many choices” is like blaming Bulgaria for the Second World War. Yes, Bulgaria was aligned with Germany — but it was hardly the driving force.

there’s a transparent wall [...] between digital spectators and direct interaction or transaction. The faster the train is moving, the harder it is to pay attention, open the window and do business.

When I started Salesforce, I asked myself why all enterprise software wasn’t like Amazon. Now I’m asking why all enterprise software isn’t like Facebook…how can we learn from that and bring that into the enterprise?

Privacy means people know what they are signing up for in plain English. Some people want to share more data. Ask them. Ask them every time. Let them know precisely what you are going to do with their data.

we are calling the end of Japan’s 3-1 victory over Denmark a record that bests the end of the Los Angeles Laker victory over the Boston Celtics [...] When the referee blew the final whistle, we saw 3,283 [Tweets-per-second]

the fact is that in many cases, particularly during a sporting event like the World Cup, Twitter is like a bar [...] It’s called social media because it’s social

Some teenager just called me lame for not being on foursquare. As I choked him, I wondered what foursquare even is.

People cannot have an emotional connection with a logo or a tagline or a building. But they can have that connection with a person