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Sometimes, all you need is motivation to kickstart your day. Here are five talks we think are compelling enough to make you rethink your startup strategies, and in the meantime, your life.

How To Get Your Ideas to Spread”: Seth Godin, serial author and entrepreneur, gives some quick marketing hacks for businesses to grow. He encourages adopting unique and quirky marketing ideas as the key to success in the digital age.

“The safe thing to do now is to be at the fringes, be remarkable. And being very good is one of the worst things you can possibly do. Very good is boring. Very good is average. It doesn’t matter whether you’re making a record album, or you’re an architect, or you have a tract on sociology. If it’s very good, it’s not going to work, because no one’s going to notice it” – Seth Godin

How to pitch to a VC”: If you’re a startup looking for investor advice, this talk is definitely for you. Serial entrepreneur and investor David S. Rose, known as the Pitch Coach, gives a fast-paced talk on pitching to a venture capitalist, from character traits to the slideshow format you present.
What trait does David say venture capitalists seek out?: “[…] Passion. If you’re not passionate, why should anyone else be, or put money into your company if you’re not passionate about it? Integrity [and] passion [are] the most important things.” — David S. Rose

Thomas Suarez: A 12-year-old app developer”: This exceptionally gifted boy launched an app…at the age of 12. “Bustin Jeiber” a whack-a-mole game in app form, is popular amongst the youngsters. This talk is cool because it shows the value of hard work and dedication at an early age.
“These days, students usually know a little bit more than teachers with the technology.” — Thomas Suarez

Why we have too few women leaders”: Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg gives valuable insights into the gender equality gap and advice to women aiming for the senior executive positions.

“Don’t leave before you leave. Stay in. Keep your foot on the gas pedal, until the very day you need to leave to take a break for a child — and then make your decisions. Don’t make decisions too far in advance, particularly ones you’re not even conscious you’re making.” — Sheryl Sandberg

The single biggest reason why startups succeed”: Bill Gross, founder of startup studio Idealab, incubated many startups and tells us why some succeed (and conversely, fail). “Execution definitely matters a lot. The idea matters a lot. But timing might matter even more. The best way to really assess timing is to really look at whether consumers are really ready for what you have to offer them.” –Bill Gross

We hope you can make the most out of the valuable insights given in these talks. Visit the TED website for more powerful talks.