[MUSIC PLAYING]
The process of editing has a lot to do with the way
that you decide what to leave in and what to leave on the figurative cutting
room floor.
As an entrepreneur you have limited resources,
especially when you're starting out.
So understanding the essence of the problem that you're solving
is absolutely critical.
Do you have a process where you distill something
this big into its very core element?
Absolutely.
I think that's the most incredible thing that you can do, you know?
Even within one piece or within your career.
You first learn about all the things you can do,
then you learn about what you can leave out
to still say exactly what you're saying. [INAUDIBLE]
philosopher writes on Francis Bacon's work.
I love this.
He talks about a painting having everything in it to start with,
and then what you're doing when you're painting
is you're actually eliminating or covering
things you don't want people to see.
So that the only thing left is the thing.
Painting, or any art, really, we think it's a this, and a this,
and a this, and a this.
It's just so many things where-- it's an additive thing.
But I think it's-- add, often, we associate with covering,
and I think that art's job is not to cover, but art's job is to reveal.
And I think an entrepreneur's job is the same thing.
A real entrepreneur is revealing something that we didn't know.
Every company, every product, every thing that's created
is ultimately a story.
It's a dialogue between the creator and the consumer,
and as people we know that the simpler the story, and the more central
we are to that intention and that message
that we're trying to communicate, the better it is understood.
Kanye West and Rihanna and Paul McCartney
recently had a song called "FourFiveSeconds." and they just
do like four lines and then they go to the chorus, and then they do, I think,
maybe eight lines, and they get back to the chorus.
But that first time that they get to the chorus, which
is so soon after they introduce the verse,
puts the listener in the frame of mind of being--
of concision, of being concise.
Being a concise communicator.
And communicators that take too long to get to the point
will bore the audience, will often not introduce any new concepts
that are helping the story.
There is power in simplicity.
It has this magical effect of cutting through all the noise,
cutting through all the distractions, and really hitting its target right
where it's intended to.
There is a very famous story of Steve Jobs, where years after he
left Apple somebody brought him an expanded Apple keyboard.
And he took a look at it and there was all these function keys-- F1, F2, F3.
So he looks at the person who gave him the keyboard
and says, when's the last time you used the F1 or F2 key?
And the guy said, I don't really remember.
And he says, that's exactly my point.
So he yanks his car keys and starts taking keys out,
and he says, I'm changing the world one key at a time.
And this is illustrative of the fundamental philosophy
that companies like Apple have, which is that there is discipline in simplicity.
Great artists like Picasso are well known in terms of going through
a particular process where they reduce an animal,
and there's a very classic example of Picasso's-- The Bull--
to its very essence, down to 5 or 6 or 7 or 10 lines.
And businesses, and products, and entrepreneurs ultimately
have to go through this particular process, where
they're reducing an idea to its fundamental essence and acting on that.
It goes back to nature.
If you look at any entity, any person, any animal, any plant, anything.
Stuff comes to them.
Water has minerals in it.
Salt, and this, and that.
That plant or animal absorbs what it needs, and passes what it doesn't need.
I believe we have an incredibly high-fidelity engine that
knows whether we need something or not.
Your job is to filter out what doesn't belong.
I'll always take away clutter.
An assiette is really three little dishes on one dish,
and people can get lost in the numbers.
Right?
They can say, wow, yeah, OK, yeah, you know, there was three things here,
those three things were good, collectively.
I'm the opposite.
If I could give someone one thing on a dish,
even if it's one piece of Buffalo mozzarella cheese, right?
That one thing better be exceptional.
So for me, it's all about-- it's about less clutter.
It's about less noise.
Don't give me the frills on the outside, right?
The chopped parsley and sprinkle it all around the plate,
or the sauces that people kind of splash around everywhere,
and say, yes, you know, I'm artistic.
It's exactly the same in business.
So it's about minimal for a very certain reason, but it's got to have impact.
At their best, the simplest products tend to give us the most satisfaction.
You have to be 100% sure that what you left in
is what will fundamentally be the most impactful thing for your customer
and who you're trying to reach.