Think I listened to 8 Charlie Rose episodes yesterday while working. All of Michael Arrington’s (because I was curious), a few with Bill Gates and the newest with Jeff Bezos.

I think if I could trade places with any successful tech CEO/entrepreneur, it would be Jeff Bezos. He’s 100% likable, with tons of energy.

Charlie asked Jeff which qualities most helped him be successful and Jeff responded, “The willingness to be misunderstood. The willingness to fail. The willingness to be long-term oriented.”

Jeff also gave great advice about focusing on the things that won’t change in your business (or the world) any time in the near future. Customers will always want lower prices, and better customer service. So one should put tremendous amounts of energy into doing those well.

William Gates Sr. said of his son, regarding the characteristics that he thought most contributed to Bill’s success:

• Insatiable curiosity
• He remembers everything he reads

I couldn’t agree more. Nor could I be more jealous of those characteristics. With those qualities one’s exposure to the world would be so rich. It would provide the best possible vantage point for identifying problems that have yet to be sufficiently solved. Unfortunately, I have neither of those qualities, and in great supply.

Oh, I failed to say something about Michael Arrington’s appearances. The interviews were fine, but mostly about tech news of the day, which is of little value to me years later, or even a day later.

• A Personal Touch
• Survey Experiments
• RC, A/C and Other Improvements
• This is Awesome
• Firm power bottom personals