GigaOM

“The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas.”—Linus C. Pauling, American chemist and two-time Nobel Prize recipient.  

I received a holiday card with this quotation in it this week. I liked it. And decided it was just the kind of wisdom that startup founders need to keep in mind.Pauling won his first Noble prize in 1954, in chemistry for his writings on the nature of the chemical bond — which helped other scientists discover the double helix structure of DNA. Pauling was awarded his second Nobel in 1962, this time it was the Peace Prize, for his work campaigning against nuclear testing. (It is rare to wind more than one Nobel, rarer still to win them in separate categories, and Pauling is apparently the only Nobel laureate to receive both medals as an individual — not as a co-recipient.)Pauling had an expansive mind. He eventually developed some of his ideas about chemistry into theories of alternative medicine, and became a New York Times best selling author with the 1986 publication of his book How to Live Longer and Fell Better, about the benfits of a Vitamin-C infused diet.Pauling died in Big Sur California, in 1994.

Pauling’s Lesson:Honor ALL of your ideas, even if it means just writing them down. Then engage as many of them as you possibly can. If you don’t who will?