I have never seen Jeff Bezos, Marc Benioff, or Reed Hastings complain about being public. Nor have they ever argued that being public prevented them from doing things with a long-term focus.
The best part of the high school in Hastings must have been the Music Department. Its orchestra and concert band did well in county competitions, and the dance band formed by its students was the best in the region. I played lead trumpet in all of them.
I quite clearly remember driving home at 9 a.m., after shooting all day, in a bathrobe, with bodypaint all over my face, and going through McDonald's drive-thru. I ordered a coffee to make sure I didn't crash on the way home. And the girl working there, she didn't even bat an eyelid. I guess it's a regular thing down in Hastings McDonald's.
I swam at school a lot. Long-distance swimming in pools, and diving, then when we moved to Hastings when I was 13 I used to swim in the sea all the time; I loved it out of season and when it was rough.
I have always regrets about selling anything of Reed Hastings because he's really a good manager and a great capitalist.
I didn't know Michael Hastings very well, but one thing about him was always obvious - he was born to be in the news business, he loved it, he was made for it. He wrote about Iraq and Afghanistan as places he had always been destined to visit.
Daphne: Nonsense! You don't need a man to wear a beautiful dress!
Paul: But it doesn't hurt...
[Paul gets down on one knee in front of Viola]
Paul: Viola Hastings it would be my pleasure to escort you.
Sheriff: Freddie Lee Cobb! We got something to talk about. Hastings, you belong over there with them.
[shoves Hastings over to Freddie]
Sheriff: Get over!
