Limping on Water Quotes

“Hire as few of the best people available, pay them well, give them equity and autonomy in an ethical company and leave them alone.”
― Philip Beuth, Limping on Water: My 40-year adventure with one of America's outstanding communications companies.

“always try to make others look good, because when they profit, so do you. And always leave something on the table.”
― Philip Beuth, Limping on Water: My 40-year adventure with one of America's outstanding communications companies.

“Though I might not have been the most coordinated kid in my class, I did my utmost to remain active in the schoolyard, then at stickball and, in later years, playing baseball. But because I ran slowly I was always the last player chosen when picking teams, and always relegated to right field. A problem I later solved … by picking and forming my own teams!”
― Philip Beuth, Limping on Water: My 40-year adventure with one of America's outstanding communications companies.

“This did not deter Frank Smith, who now had his curiosity trained like a mongoose on this quest. He visited Washington and learned from some crafty engineer friends there might be a “Hail Mary” long shot possibility for a VHF “drop in” to the Tri-City market. Their initial review of separation and coverage restrictions for the Albany region had revealed VHF signal coverage for cities like Rochester to the west, and Providence to the east. Those pre-existing saturations seemed to preclude additional VHF drop-ins. However, the engineering beagles also spotted a small region near Great Sacandaga Lake, called Vail Mills, where a drop-in might be possible because it fell between the prior contiguous coverage areas. That’s all he needed to hear, and so began Frank Smith’s Quixotic “crapshoot”—the purchase of WROW-TV along with its sister station, WROW-AM, both of which were teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. One of Smith’s very first decisions was only surprising to those unfamiliar with his panache and style.”
― Philip Beuth, Limping on Water: My 40-year adventure with one of America's outstanding communications companies.

“Surely this venerable newsman, the confidante of Franklin Roosevelt and the Dalai Lama, who had attained near legendary status in the world of radio and who’d “discovered” Lawrence of Arabia, would be able to offer some useful guidance in the related realm of television broadcasting. (In retelling the story years later, “LT,” as we came to know him, told us “I didn’t know a damn thing about TV stations!”) Lowell immediately referred the question to his longtime business manager, Frank “Smitty” Smith and, thus, a most interesting chain of events was set in motion.”
― Philip Beuth, Limping on Water: My 40-year adventure with one of America's outstanding communications companies.