I was exchanging emails with a colleague that used to be at the Stanford d.school and now works with schools.  He menionted Brad Bird, which reminded my of an interview that Huggy Rao and I did with him in 2008 for the McKinsey Quarterly, just before he won his second Academy Award (for directing Ratatouille). 

It ended with a great quote that I just love:

Walt Disney’s mantra was, “I don’t make movies to make money—I make money to make movies.” That’s a good way to sum up the difference between Disney at its height and Disney when it was lost. It’s also true of Pixar and a lot of other companies. It seems counterintuitive, but for imagination-based companies to succeed in the long run, making money can’t be the focus.

Speaking personally, I want my films to make money, but money is just fuel for the rocket. What I really want to do is to go somewhere. I don’t want to just collect more fuel.