Bill Maris

“We have this powerful lever at Google Ventures, which is to invest $200 million a year. This is a huge lever. It's not all going into one place; it's going into lots of start ups and founders and entrepreneurs, all of which are levers to try and change the world in one way or another.”

“You want to work with people you are excited about and they are excited about you. It's a two-way street.”

“I would draw a really big distinction between competition, or potential competition, and a conflict of interest. A conflict of interest implies wrongdoing, whereas competition is really healthy.”

“Google Ventures has a direct financial incentive to ensure the companies we invest in succeed.”

“Venture funds get beaten up for not investing in important things. Okay, if you want venture funds to invest in important things, then don't penalize or make fun of them when those important things don't work.”

“VC firms are... responsible for the full life cycle of a company: they find it, help it grow, open up a Rolodex, and sell it.”

“Healthcare is becoming part of information technology.”

“Back in the late 1990s, venture capitalists got very excited about the Internet. A whole lot of money was poured into some companies that failed rather spectacularly, and a lot of people lost a lot of money.”

“I loved dinosaurs, I loved space, and I thought maybe I'd be the first paleo-astronaut.”

“When you build relationships with entrepreneurs, they're not trying to optimize on price.”

“In genomics, there's a massive amount of information in which you can look for patterns and develop insights.”

“The reality is the technology exists now to extend life and have people live healthier, happier lives. Not to be kind of immortal - that's not what I'm talking about.”

“We actually have the tools in the life sciences to achieve anything that you have the audacity to envision. I just hope to live long enough not to die.”