“Quality is the best business plan” is a saying that has been printed on many images. John Lasseter, an American animator and the chief creative officer of Pixar Animation Studios, is credited with the saying that has been cited in print since a least 2007.
 
“Quality is the best business plan of all,” Lasseter told the Los Angeles (CA) Times in 2008 when asked about Pixar’s many successes.
 
     
Wikipedia: John Lasseter
John Alan Lasseter (born January 12, 1957) is an American animator, film director, screenwriter, producer and the chief creative officer of Pixar Animation Studios, Walt Disney Animation Studios, and DisneyToon Studios. He is also the Principal Creative Advisor for Walt Disney Imagineering.
 
Lasseter began his career as an animator with The Walt Disney Company. After being fired from Disney for promoting computer animation, he joined Lucasfilm, where he worked on the then-groundbreaking use of CGI animation. The Graphics Group of the Computer Division of Lucasfilm was sold to Steve Jobs and became Pixar in 1986. Lasseter oversees all of Pixar’s films and associated projects as executive producer. In addition, he directed Toy Story (1995), A Bug’s Life (1998), Toy Story 2 (1999), Cars (2006), and Cars 2 (2011).
 
9-11 February 2007, Hollywood Reporter, “Dis draws up old game plan” by Paul Bond, pg. 1:
Ed Catmull, president of Pixar and Disney Animation Studios, said Thursday in Orlando that he and John Lasseter, chief creative officer of those same endues, intend to bring back traditionally animated movies. The news comes little more than two months after Disney eliminated 160 jobs from its staff of 800 at its Burbank animation studio that deals in movies and TV shows.
(...)
Catmull expressed an appreciation for animation of the CG and traditional variety, provided a worthy story is being told. “Quality is the best business plan,” he said.
 
Los Angeles (CA) Times—The Big Picture by Patrick Goldstein and James Rainey
Pixar defies gravity
JUNE 30, 2008 | 10:52 AM
I VIVIDLY remember two things about having breakfast with Pixar guru John Lasseter earlier this year. One was that my back was out, so unable to sit comfortably, I had to take notes either standing up or lying down on the carpet of his hotel suite. The second was that when I asked him how Pixar had managed to rack up such an astounding streak of hit films, he said simply, “Quality is the best business plan of all.”
 
23 October 2008, Hollywood Reporter, “To Infinity and Beyond” by Alex Block, pg. S10:
John Lasseter on the evolution of 3-D technology, creating quality direct-to-DVD titles and the next era of Disney animation
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Lasseter: To make very successful and entertaining films, you need to do three things really well: You need to tell a story that keeps people on the edge of their seat ; you need to populate that story with really memorable and appealing characters; and you must put that story and those characters into a believable world. My philosophy is that quality is the best business plan, and it all starts with a great story, regardless of whether it’s released in theaters or goes straight to video.
 
Twitter
Chris Yeh
‏@chrisyeh
Awesome quote from John Lasseter of Pixar: “Quality is the best business plan.” http://cli.gs/SWTGGH Thanks for the pointer, Bob Sutton!
11:24 PM - 14 Mar 2009
 
Google Books
The Art of Pixar Short Films
By Amid Amidi and John Lasseter
San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books
2009
Pg. 9:
John Lasseter, Pixar’s chief creative officer, suggested yet another reason why Pixar has continued its short-film program: “I have this philosophy that quality is the best business plan, period, and I always like to overdeliver, no matter what we’re making— a feature, a DVD, a toy.”
   
Google Books
Creativity, Inc.:
Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration
By Ed Catmull with Amy Wallace
New York, NY: Random House Publishing Group
2014
Pg. ?:
Around this time, John coined a new phrase: “Quality is the best business plan.” What he meant was that quality is not a consequence of following some set of behaviors. Rather, it is a prerequisite and a mindset you must have before you decide what you are setting out to do. Everyone says that quality is important, but they must do more than say it. They must live, think and breathe it.
 
Twitter
Tuija Seipell
‏@TuijaSeipell Tuija Seipell Retweeted Walt Disney Company
”#Quality is the best #business #plan.” True #leadership by John Lasseter @DisneyPixar Tuija Seipell added,
Walt Disney Company @WaltDisneyCo
VIDEO: John Lasseter looks back on 30 years of Pixar: http://bit.ly/1X6IiY1 
5:40 PM - 4 Feb 2016