Favorite quotes from this episode: 1. I didn't want to be rich. I didn't want to be famous. I didn't even want to be happy. I wanted to be great. 2. I told David Geffen I wanted to start a record label. He said: Do it. There are a lot of record people a lot dumber than you. 3. I was on a mission. A very, very intense mission. 4. When you have great artists, great talent. What you do is you give them the keys and you say: Drive. 5. Jimmy had this mad, obsessed focus on the big picture. 6. Jimmy is not afraid to partner with other visionary people. 7. I don’t give a fuck what anyone thinks. When you are a racehorse, the reason they put blinders on these things is because if you look at the horse on the left or the horse on the right, you’re going to miss a step. That’s why those horses have fucking blinders on. And that’s what people should have. When you’re running after something you should not look left and right. What does this person think? What does that person think? No. Go! 8. I like to pivot. I get complacent and bored. I got bored of producing records. I got bored of running a record company and I wanted to move on. And that's how Beats got started. 9. Whenever I get sad or scared— I wish I knew other therapeutic ways of doing things —but the only thing I know how to do is completely bury myself to the point off absurdity in my work. 10. Great can come from anywhere. (On Eminem growing up poor in a trailer park in Michigan) 11. The reason Interscope was successful versus a lot of the other startups at the time, was Jimmy was an animal. The most driven and brilliant person at the same time. He was never off. And he didn’t understand why everybody else wasn’t the same way. 12. Jimmy’s career is based on a tremendous lack of fear of moving forward. 13. David Geffen on Jimmy: My first impression of Jimmy was that he was a sponge. He picked up everything he heard or saw. 14. I was working 24 hours a day. I never did anything other than work. I didn’t want to do anything other than work. 15. Jimmy’s gift is the clear thought. He hears the clear melody and applies that wherever he is. 16. He chased us around the world until we agreed to come to the studio with him. 17. He would not take no for an answer. 18. He happens to you. He is like a virus and takes over your organs and brains. He just knows this is going to work out well for both of you. 19. You’re only as good as the artist that you’re working with. Any producer who says I did this and I did that is full of shit. 99% of what’s going on in the studio is the artist. 20. I only knew one thing. That every time I went back to the studio, I felt better, and my life would get better. It was the simple. 21. Great *is* success 22. Jimmy became so obsessed with getting the right take on a song that we did over 100 takes. “I think we should do one more” Jimmy would say. 23. After everything is said and done, Jimmy wants a win.