Robert Metcalfe on Innovation

I read a great interview with Robert Metcalfe. There were two things that he said that stuck with me:

1. 3Com could have been what Cisco is today if Robert was not so focused on their chief competitor at the time, Novell networks. He emphasized that it is much more important to focus on the customer than on the competition.
2. Robert mentors young people and he brings them to his lavish home in the Boston area. When the visitors are wowed by the home he tells them that is was not invention or innovation that got him the rewards that come with success. It was sleeping in hotel rooms, knocking doors down and relentlessly and passionately selling his ideas.