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The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do.

Finally, strategy must have continuity. It can't be constantly reinvented.

So companies have to be very schizophrenic. On one hand, they have to maintain continuity of strategy. But they also have to be good at continuously improving.

Well, you can't be trying to achieve success of any kind in this business without accepting that there's going to be a flip side to it.

Every company needs to have a skunkworks, to try things that have a high probability of failing. You try to minimize failure, but at the same time, if you're not willing to try things that are inherently risky, you're not going to make progress.

Entrepreneurs have the flexibility and the ability to do things that large companies simply cannot. Could a large company pull off a trick like Amyris, going from anti-malaria medicine to next-generation fuel?

I don't think it's a good idea to plan to sell a company.

There must be an opportunity that matches with our strategy. Just because we have a gap, we don't want to go and acquire anything and everything. What we acquire should fit in with our strategy, human resources and market expectations.