Entrepreneurial behavior is usually thought of as risk and reward—dropping out of college and moving to Silicon Valley, for example—but that’s not always the case.

Companies are now providing opportunities for entrepreneurial behavior within their walls. With this trend becoming increasingly more commonplace, employers now are even looking specifically for the entrepreneurial skill set during the hiring process.

On yesterday’s “Dot Complicated with Randi Zuckerberg on SiriusXM,” Dave Peck, the Global Head of Digital and Social Media for PayPal and Lisa Sharkey, the Senior Vice President and Director of Creative Development for HarperCollins Worldwide, discussed how to be entrepreneurial within a big company. Check out their best pieces of advice below:

“Harper Collins is going to be 200 years old. I convinced them to turn publishing upside down, my idea was to research what’s hot & run after it before the book proposal comes in.”—Lisa

“Gabby Douglas was a breakout star of the Olympics. She won gold in the summer and we wanted to get her book out by winter. Enthusiasm, goodwill, prayers and pleading are how I get books written in two or three weeks.”—Lisa

“My goal is to get people to read, get people into bookstores.”—Lisa

“People can criticize how fast you get a book into the marketplace but you can criticize the P and L.”—Lisa

On balancing brand and company: “In the real world I try to speak as myself and avoid controversial subjects to reflect back on the brand.”—Dave

“When in doubt, don’t do it.”—Dave

“I have to be extremely conscious because I represent not only Harper Collins but my authors.”—Lisa

“I try not to get negative. I’m a big believer in happiness. But controversy is not my role in the universe.”—Lisa

“There’s nothing more beautiful than reading to a child.”—Lisa

“My friends, customers, co-workers all are together on my social networks and then I get customer service questions.”—Dave

“Do I need to respond? If I don’t need to be a part of the controversy I try not to get involved.”—Dave

“I would never step into anything unless I was delivering a message that was everyone’s message. I’m trained in neutrality.”—Lisa

“I push through my personal channels instead of my professional channels because I might not know all the details.”—Dave

“People can create anything and sell it online and PayPal wants to help. We wanted to inspire the makers movement and decided to make a video.”—Dave

“The video was made in a parking lot, employees got involved, sound was done in a Suburban. There’s boundaries but there’s no stupid ideas.”—Dave

“Having a journalist background, was amazing training. As a journalist you are an entrepreneur. You have to find a story then sell it to the editorial board.”—Lisa

“You have an idea and you have to sell it. You have to figure out who are your allies, who can you trust, who will give me a thumbs up? You have to be scrappy.”—Lisa

“Keep putting the ideas out there, get thick skin, pick yourself up and revisit rejected ideas.”—Lisa

“Use your tickle file, constantly go back to rejected ideas.”—Lisa

“I’d have a hard time starting a company because I would be lonely. I know for myself the concept of being an entrepreneur in a big company works for me. I’m a people person.” —Lisa

“Create trust between the groups. I went to the brand company and said let’s try something different. Management entrusted us to try new ideas.”—Dave

“We knocked it out because of trust. 2 millions views later….”—Dave

“For picking battles, I have to find that hill I want to die on. I have yet to find that hill.”—Dave

“You need to trust your gut and you need to be a good listener.”—Lisa

“If you lose out on Tuesday don’t worry because you’ll always have something you like on Thursday.”—Lisa

“Move on and pay attention to the vibe you get from other people.”—Lisa

“You don’t have to ask your boss to do something. If you’re self-motivated don’t wait for someone to tell you to do something. Make something out of it yourself.”—Lisa

“Get together with others at your level to get something concrete to look at together.”—Lisa

“Get out of your silo. If you live in marketing, go to lunch with the people in programming.”—Dave

“Network within your own company.”—Dave

“If you see something inspires you, go for it. Don’t wait for permission.”—Dave

“Do what you’re interested, but don’t complain about the extra hours you put into it. It shouldn’t feel like work.”—Lisa

On choosing pitches: “Something I can execute quickly. What does this win look like? I want to see clear results.”—Dave

“Most books don’t earn what you’ve paid your author. You gamble. The way I make decisions is by answering all the calls that come in and give it the gut or goosebumps test.”—Lisa

“I use my gut check and have certain colleagues whose guts I can trust as well.”—Lisa

“My job is to be the news psychic. Think, project what are people talking about two years later. I’m constantly trying to think ahead.”—Lisa

“It amazes me that big companies hire interns for social media. The right person is someone who is very outgoing, community based. It’s about engagement, conversations. Not retweeting. You’re giving that company a face. That one tweet or post can make someone become an evangelist for your company.”—Dave

Lisa’s favorite apps: “Pic Stitch because I love to make little collages.”

“Physique57 because I love the barre workout.”

“I will get the Instacube to display Instagram photos on my desk.”

“I deleted the NYC Marathon app because my friend isn’t running this year.”

Dave’s favorite apps: “Waze, I can’t survive without it.”

“RelayChat is talking to people via gifs.”

Follow Dave Peck and Lisa Sharkey on Twitter.

Click HERE to watch PayPal Voices, written, directed, and spearheaded by Dave Peck.

Join “Dot Complicated with Randi Zuckerberg on SiriusXM” next week to hear more about the latest trends in tech, only on SiriusXM channel 111 at 9am PST/12 EST.

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