• The top maxims from this episode on Jimmy Iovine   
  • Do not stop until you get it right 
  • If you go to sleep on a win, you will wake up with a loss 
  • Push through fear and use it as a tailwind 
  • Drop the ego and do whatever it takes to win 
  • Find the best people, then empower them 
  • Keep the main thing the main thing 
  • Focus on the big picture and be fearless about moving forward 
  • Opportunity is a strange beast; it often appears after a loss
  • Go for great and know that it can come from anywhere
  • Prioritize speed, go all in, and get more reps  
• You must be relentlessly and unapologetically determined if you are going to accomplish something that has not been accomplished before 
• If you are trying to push the boundaries on something, you need to be surrounded by people who truly believe in what you are doing
• Always stay focused on the big picture; the work – the project – is what matters  
• Be mindful of ‘breathing your own exhaust’: Success can be one of the most dangerous things that can happen to you
• Find the very best people to work with, work like hell to get them to partner with you, and then give them the keys so that they can go drive 
• “I didn’t want to be rich. I didn’t want to be famous. I didn’t even want to be happy. I wanted to be great.” – Bruce Springsteen  
• When you are running after something, do not look left or right; just go! 

You grow up in a rough neighborhood in Brooklyn. You drop out of college. Your dad is your best friend but you don’t want to work the docks like him. You’re determined to “do something special.” You get a job sweeping the floor at recording studio. You get fired—twice. You’ll do anything to work in the music business, including working on Easter Sunday. That’s how you meet John Lennon. This is the day your life begins. You focus on being of service. You stay in the room and in the saddle. Bruce Springsteen teaches you what work ethic really means. You work with Tom Petty, Bono, Patti Smith, Stevie Nicks, and countless others. You’ll produce hundreds of songs. You get restless, start a family, and start a record company. You get advice from David Geffen. You figure out your edge is producing the producers. You work with the absolute best, hand them the keys, and tell them to drive. You’re a scrapper, you’re persistent, you use fear as a tailwind, you keep the main thing the main thing, you work all the time, you put 100% into whatever is in front of you. You’re described as fiercely competitive, insanely driven, and brilliant. You can never turn it off and you don’t understand why everyone else isn’t like that too. You start multiple companies, make billions of dollars, and tell the best stories when you go on podcasts after you retire. You are Jimmy Iovine. 

This episode is what I learned from rewatching the documentary The Defiant Ones and listening to these excellent interviews with Jimmy Iovine. 

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