This blog post is part 2 of a two-part series on transformational growth and disruptive change.

Recently, I met with my friend Dan Levitan. Dan is the managing partner of a successful consumer-oriented venture capital company called Maveron. Maveron has backed such companies eBay, Zulily, and Allbirds.

Even with all the best intentions and passion in the world, entrepreneurs face many obstacles trying to get a new idea off the ground. 

Even though a picture is worth a thousand words, sometimes the right words or an inspirational quote is just what you need to make it through the day, to inspire your team or to change your perspective. 

 Just one day after he stepped down from GE's top job, I got the chance to talk with Jeff Immelt and hear what he’s learned about leading during times of change. Here are three ideas that I took away.

It’s that time of the year again. We’ve all come up with resolutions to make 2018 our best year ever. This first week of January, everyone is on his or her best behavior but the problem is never getting started. The problem is keeping the resolutions going throughout the year.

 I can't lie, I used to think having remote workers was a terrible idea. I couldn't see any path for working remotely that created a better and more effective team. Having said that, the realities of commuting, employee demands, and cost have flipped the traditional work model on its head and have even forced some of my own team to work remotely. 

For big organizations especially, the pressure to change—to adapt to new market pressures and seize unprecedented opportunities—is high. That’s why I sat down at this year’s Minds & Machines conference in San Francisco with four experts from around the world who have led change in their own organizations, especially in the face of digitization... Here’s a distillation of their advice to changemakers everywhere.

One thing (unfortunately) that we do know is that most start-up businesses never reach the heights that match the dreams of the founders…yet others are a run-away successes. I’m not yet putting my enterprises in the category of ‘runaway’ successes – but we are managing to serve many customers, grow, and have a good time while we are doing it. So, we are getting something right.