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Dave Lukas, The Misfit Entrepreneur_Breakthrough Entrepreneurship

The weekly podcast with serial entrepreneur, Dave M. Lukas, devoted to giving you incredibly useful and unique insight from the world's top entrepreneurs with a focus on their non-traditional methods for achieving success, their Misfit side. Misfit was created to give YOU the breakthrough entrepreneurship strategies and actionable advice to accelerate your success! The show's open format and Misfit 3 concept, combined with Dave's intuitive and engaging interview style quickly uncover each guest's key tools, tactics, and tricks that listeners can start using in their lives right now. Learn more about the show at www.misfitentrepreneur.com and become a member of Misfit Nation by signing up for the Misfit Minute, the FREE weekly email with specific resources from the week's "Misfit 3," and actionable tips and items from the world of Misfit Entrepreneurs. It is delivered every Friday to your inbox!
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Now displaying: November, 2017

The weekly podcast with serial entrepreneur, Dave M. Lukas, devoted to giving you incredibly useful and unique insight from the world's top entrepreneurs with a focus on their non-traditional methods for achieving success, their Misfit side. Misfit was created to give YOU the best, actionable advice to accelerate your success!

The show's open format and Misfit 3 concept, combined with Dave's intuitive and engaging interview style quickly uncovers each guest's key tools, tactics, and tricks that listeners can start using in their lives right now.

Learn more about the show at www.misfitentrepreneur.com and become a member of Misfit Nation by signing up for the Misfit Minute, the FREE weekly email with specific resources from the week's "Misfit 3," and actionable tips and items from the world of Misfit Entrepreneurs. It is delivered every Friday to your inbox!

Nov 29, 2017

This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Kavita Oberoi. Kavita is one of the UK's most successful entrepreneurs. In addition to creating a multi-million pound business portfolio, she has also won awards for:

  • Being Named as one of the Top 20 most Inspirational Asian Personalities in the UK
  • The Order of the British Empire for services to Entrepreneurship and Start-up Businesses
  • Multiple honorary degrees from prestigious institutions
  • Named as one of Britain’s Top 100 most entrepreneurial women
  • And she has Appeared on a range of TV and Radio programs commenting on business as a judge or panelist, most notably on The Secret Millionaire and as a Panelist on The Apprentice

Her brand has three arms, Oberoi Consulting, Oberoi Business Hub and Oberoi Sutherland. Oberoi Consulting delivers solutions for the National Health Service and the Pharmaceutical industry, focusing on driving better outcomes for patients. The focus for Oberoi Business Hub is to provide a range of back office services to support the growth of businesses including call answering, virtual PA serviced offices and conference facilities. The latest exciting addition is Oberoi Sutherland. The first product, currently in manufacture is an innovative baby bottle that cools down milk in 6 minutes from fresh feed.

Kavita has broken through barriers in every step of her journey and accomplished things no one thought was possible.

www.KavitaOberoi.com

Kavita’s father was an Indian immigrant who was a very successful entrepreneur. She grew up in a very traditional Indian family in which women did not go to college, did not got to work, and had arranged marriages. But she had an entrepreneurial spark from a very young age and her mother helped foster this in her. Her mother would help her challenge the norm and break through barriers – even if meant sneaking Kavita out of the house for dance lessons. Kavita’s father died when she was 15 and there was a lot of pressure from the family to have her start the arranged marriage process at the age of 19. Kavita had different plans – she wanted to have an education, a career, and go to work – all of which were not allowed.

She was the first in her family to break tradition and go down this path. She originally wanted to be a doctor, but was not allowed because by the time she would get out of school she would be too old for someone to marry her arranged. She got into university but had to make a compromise that she would live at home and go to a school nearby so she would not be away.

She got a degree in applied chemistry. She took what she learned and the sales skills she picked up when was in her teens (again, made possible by her mother helping her to get the work with the condition that she never let her or the family down) and got a job in medical sales.

There was a huge backlash from the family as it brought shame that she was working. But, she still kept many of the traditions and found a way to incorporate them. She did have an arranged marriage to her husband and had certain stipulations she had to maintain in the home while working. Kavita figured out how to make it all work – even after having children and despite her new family being against it at first.

She then applied for a promotion that seemed like an easy win, but she lost. It was then that she decided that she was never going to work for someone again and set up her first business. As she says, “Failure was not an option.” She saw an opportunity to help bring more efficiency to some of the HHS programs and helping doctors meet guidelines. She managed to get herself in front of Pfizer and presented her concept on how her company could deliver this service. Before she walked out, she had an over half million-pound contract. She says that aside from the solution itself, it was her passion and belief that helped her win the deal. They knew she would not let them down.

What have you learned about breaking through barriers and making things happen?

  • You will always have barriers
  • You must stay focused
  • It is about “how you will do it”
  • Stay focused on the end goal and be ready to take multiple different directions to get it.
  • It is not that it can’t be done, but always how it can be done.

At the 15 min mark, Kavita talks about the impact of her mother on her and what she learned from her – especially the pact to never let her down.

She also talks about how she had to adapt once she got married and prove that she can be everything she had to be at home and accomplish her business goals.

You learn in many ways…

Sacrifice, dedication was a small compromise to achieve the things she wanted to do

At the 20-min mark, Kavita talks about how she structured things to be able to accomplish her goal.

  • Discipline is key
  • She worked around the schedule of her family duties
  • There is no work/life balance, especially in the beginning
  • If you really want something bad enough, you will do what you need to get it. For Kavita, it was to prove she could do it and prove her worth – Desire is a key to success

At the 22:30 mark, Kavita tells the story of how she got in front of Pfizer and got the deal that put her in business.

  • Networking was so critical – relationships from earlier in her career helped her to get the meeting
  • She got buy-in with the local Pfizer manager to do a pilot before pitching and proved it would work as it drove more sales – then she approached them at a higher level with real results
  • Build your network, strike when the opportunity comes, and never quit

Best advice for an entrepreneur starting out today?

  • Get a mentor – someone who has been there and done it, not just to help you, but to network you with the right people
  • Research and make sure you nail the need for your market. Make sure you are solving a real problem
  • As soon as you are able – invest and work with the best people in your business
  • Stay passionate about your goal and idea – make sure to stay anchored to it
  • Seek help – don’t be afraid to admit that you don’t know.

What inspires you today?

  • Her father and his philanthropy still serves as an inspiration
  • Meeting people who are making a difference
  • Finding causes that are close to her heart

What’s next for you?

Growth and what comes next is always on entrepreneur’s minds Building her brand globally Acquisitions Seeking out the next level of mentor throughout the world

 

Best Quote:  "There are no barriers to entry other than your own..."

 

Kavita's Misfit 3:

  1. Sacrifice and compromise are absolutely necessary to achieve your goals
  2. Dedication and focus.  Building a business is like nurturing and raising a child.  The more dedication and focus you give, the better it can grow and more successful it can be.
  3. Get involved.  Think about the good you can do and leverage that to help causes that connect with your heart.

 

Nov 22, 2017

Hello Misfit Nation! Welcome to another edition of "Lessons for Hannah!" In November of 2016, we introduced a new format that we are putting alongside our regular episodes called “Lessons for Hannah.” Hannah is my daughter and one of the main inspirations for the Misfit Entrepreneur. I wanted to have a place where she could go and learn from her daddy and his Misfit friends throughout her life….even after I am gone. If you haven’t listened to the first episode of "Lessons for Hannah," I urge you to as it gives some more background and tells the amazing story of how Hannah came to be in our lives.

"Lessons for Hannah" are short, very useful, and sometimes comical lessons, that I have learned which I want to share with you and give to Hannah to help in your lives. Because I want Hannah to have these for her life, I’m going to speak as though I am talking directly to her. These episodes are a lot of fun and if you think there is a lesson that we should include in these episodes, please don’t hesitate to send it over to us at support@misfitentrepreneur.com. We’d love to share it.

Hannah Sweetie,

Incredible! It has been a year since I started these lessons for you. We have covered a number of topics, but still haven’t scratched the surface of all I want to share with you. And I know there is probably more I could say about the topics we’ve already discussed. My hope is that you find one thing that can help you in these lessons.

In today’s, I want to speak to you about the power of gratitude. In life, you will experience many wonderful things. You will also go through many twists and turns, ups and downs. You will meet all sorts of people and you will have a chance to make an impact on something or someone every day.

I want you to remember that one of the most powerful tools you have for success in your life is gratitude. No matter what is happening or going on or who you are with or what is happening to you – there is always something to be grateful for, even if is a small thing like a good cup of coffee or the warmth of the sun on your face.

I want you to learn to find something to be grateful for every day in your life. When you do, it changes you. It allows you to find perspective and see the world in a different way. To know that no matter what, there is something good in your life - Something that you can truly be thankful for - gives you power. Power over yourself, over negative emotions, and the power to make the best out of any situation.

This isn’t just opinion, science and study has determined the power and effect of gratitude. Among the many benefits are the following:

  • Gratitude opens the door to more relationships – Simply saying thank you and appreciating someone can open doors and new relationships
  • Gratitude improves physical health – Grateful people have fewer aches and pains and are healthier
  • Gratitude improves psychological health – It should be no surprise that people that practice gratitude have less negative emotions like envy or frustration, regret or jealousy and are happier
  • Gratitude improves self-esteem and self-worth - People that are grateful, as I just mentioned, are less jealous or envious and thus have a healthier view of themselves and the act of being grateful makes you happier and more fulfilled
  • Gratitude improves your mindset and mental strength – Research has shown that gratitude reduces stress, but also fosters a healthier way of overcoming the challenges of life. When you can recognize and still find things to be grateful – even in the worst times of your life – it creates resilience and allows you to handle tough situations easier
  • Oh, and in case you need another reason, it helps you sleep better as well!

Taking the time to reflect and express gratitude for something each day in your life is one of the most important lessons and secrets to success that I can give you. Every day, I have to pinch myself how lucky I am to get to be with you and mommy. I am so grateful for both of you and for the life we share.

I love you,

Daddy

Nov 15, 2017

This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Michael Kimelman. We’ve never had a guest quite like Mike on Misfit before. Michael was a successful lawyer turned extremely successful trader and hedge fund owner on Wall Street.

Through a series of unfortunate events and standing on principle – Mike went to prison for insider trading. He was not willing to admit to something he says he was not guilty of or take a plea deal that stated he broke the law, so he stuck it out, went to prison, and while there through self-reflection and introspection finding who he truly is.

Post-prison, with law and trading prohibited and the prospects of getting a job as a felon diminished, Mike had to re-invent himself as an entrepreneur. He founded a company called the Clarity Group and entered real estate investing building a successful company that has done over 300 deals in the last 3 years alone. He has also entered other industries as a consultant and published a best-selling book, “Confessions of a Wall Street Insider.

He also runs a successful leadership and growth coaching business and speaks on how to overcome life’s biggest challenges.

In meeting Mike, the most amazing thing I found in our initial conversation was the sense of calm and peace that he has about him. We explore a whole host of topics from his journey to success, then prison, battles with substance abuse, and how he learned to find himself and create a new life of success.

www.MichaelKimelman.com

www.MikeKimelman.com

Book: Confessions of a Wall Street Insider

Mike grew up in southern California and had a pretty normal childhood. He was always successful and did well in school. He went to law school and excelled. Upon graduate, he had his pick of jobs and chose one of the biggest and oldest law firms in New York, as a mergers and acquisitions lawyer.

The work was not as excited as he thought and he was working 100 hour weeks. He had a lot of friends that were working in finance and technology working half as much and making more than he was, but also doing more exciting and interesting work. So, he moved over to finance and starting trading for several different funds. He quickly became a top performer and then in late 2007 started his own fund that he grew to over a quarter of a billion in assets and a team of over 50 traders – in just 18 months. The firm did well in the 2008 crisis and became a powerhouse. Until the FBI came knocking at his door…

At the 6 min mark, Mike tells the whole story of what happened to him and how we decided to go to prison rather than agree to a plea deal saying did something he did not do.

The process took over 7 years and he wrote his book telling the whole story and being part of the largest insider trading scandal in history.

He went in with what most people would consider everything. The perfect life. And then walked out with nothing. He lost it all.

What is the most important thing you learned in going through your journey?

The most important lesson is that perspective is everything and it is all relative.

Mike talks about how he had everything. Had sold a piece of his business for millions, but was miserable. He would mask his unhappiness through going to excess in everything from alcohol to exercise, etc. Prison was the great equalizer. Everyone is the same. You have nothing and your life is controlled. For Mike, once he realized that you still can survive it and in some ways, adapt, prosper, and even grow from it – it is empowering. It eliminates the fear aspect that impacts everyone in their lives. Once you have had the worst case happen to you in every area of life and realize that you still can keep going and have gratitude for the things you do have – it gives you a new perspective and fearlessness. But you don’t have to lose it all to realize this. You just have to be open to changing your perspective.

Was there a moment where you finally found meaning? And how can others find theirs?

  • Keep everything relative and see the forest through the trees.
  • Having everything taken away was a blessing in disguise
  • The ability to hit rock bottom and learn that you can still live and get a second chance is an unbelievable gift.
  • Sometimes you do have to go through a lot of pain to find out what truly matters

At the 16 min mark, Mike talks about how he has found calm through everything and uses that to succeed today – especially what he learned about gratitude.

“The ability to exercise gratitude for what you do have is a tremendous asset to be able to employ as an entrepreneur or for any person trying to find happiness and meaning in their life.”

“In my poverty, I realized that I had tremendous wealth.”

You have to take the time to work on yourself and do so in your own solitude where you can clearly think and ask yourself and get to real answers of the following questions:

  • What is going on in my life?
  • Is this what I want?
  • What do I want?
  • How can I take action on what matters?

We have tremendous reserves within us that allow us to get through and overcome anything. We just have to realize it and embrace it.

At the 25:30 mark, Mike give his advice for anyone wanting to start over in life or their career.

Success Principles?

  • Win the morning
  • Plan your day
  • Control your schedule
  • Face reality as it is and not as you wish it should be (remove the biases)
    • Validate your ideas
  • Make sure you have clarity in all areas of your life (if it feels “foggy” you need to figure it out)
  • Treat yourself like a professional athlete. Take care of your health and your body (diet, sleep, and exercise)

Where are things going? What does the future look like for investment and opportunities?

  • We are in a time of unbelievable rapid change and it is hard for people to grasp it.
  • Our world will look totally different even 5 years from now.
  • There is disruptive technology happening in every field including AI and robotization.
  • Our current system is not prepared as it is still operating off of a 1950’s type model
  • Decentralization is happening and will grow with the blockchain and that will change almost every industry
  • If you are not spending time every day to keep up with the changes in your industry and to get a feel for where things are going, you are going to miss the opportunities and fall behind quickly.

What should people know about Wall Street?

  • Wall Street today is a better entity than it was for the previous 100 years.
  • It has fundamentally changed in a good way focused on delivering value to the client.
  • For the first 80-90 years, the model was make as much off the retail client.
  • There is now more of a fiduciary duty (Hedge funds have traditionally done a better job as they are paid on the gains they create).
  • But it still is an enterprise set up to sell you something or push an agenda, so you have to ask the tough questions to make sure things are in your best interest.

 

Best Quote: “Once you’ve had everything stripped from you and faced it and realize that you can still go on, you develop a new type of fearlessness and no longer worry about the “what ifs” of life…”

 

Mike's Misfit 3:

  • Perspective is everything and it all relative. You must appreciate where you are and what you have and have gratitude for it.
  • Change your circumstances if you are not happy. If you don’t think you can, challenge yourself and you fear. If you truly cannot. Then change your perspective and accept it.
  • You have to be clean and clear. Good diet, exercise, sleep, learning, etc. you must take care of yourself mentally and physically.
Nov 8, 2017

This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Bryan Kramer. Bryan is the founder a movement. He’s worked with everyone from IBM to the NFL to NASA. He is the best selling author of 2 books, H2h, Human to Human and Shareology. He is the ranked as one of the top 25 influencers to follow by Forbes, Top 100 Most influential on Twitter by Business Insider, and he tops on a host of other lists as well. He is a global TED speaker and a columnist for Forbes.

He owns two businesses. The first, Pure Matter, is a marketing consultancy offering “fractional CMOs” to small and mid-market companies to help them build, plan, and strategize their marketing efforts through awareness and demand generation.

The second is H2H companies which helps any human marketer to master the technologies you need to connect with new customers. Through coaching, online courses, and a membership service, they help people get the tools and teaching that will change their business forever.

As noted, Bryan is a founder of a movement…a movement to get back in touch with our human side and think like a human marketer again.

www.BryanKramer.com

www.H2HClub.com

Bryan started out as an ad agency account executive out of school. In college, right before the Dot Com bust, he started working on coding websites and this is what helped him get hired. He then worked his way up through agencies working in almost every role they had. He then started a consulting firm with a couple partners and sold it to a larger firm. He then met his now partner and wife 17 years ago and they started a business consulting company which is Bryan’s main business today.

What is the most important thing you’ve learned about marketing through all of your work?

The most important thing about marketing is understanding the customer’s pain point and that the customer is at the center. Most people and companies forget this. They put themselves at the center rather than the customer. Putting the customer at the center of every touchpoint in your marketing is the best thing you can do in your marketing strategy.

At the 7 min mark Bryan talks about his approach or methodology to help ensure that entrepreneurs are keeping the customer at the center of their marketing.

He talks specifically about a very unique way to understand your customer breakdown and email list using free tools, such as Business Manager on Facebook. His advice in this area is amazing and could be one of the most important things you do for your business in the next 12 months.

What the pillars of a good marketing strategy?

  • Messaging ladder – A big mistake companies make is marketing a product or service without looking at their messaging tree. There are things you need to get clear on before you go to market such as being clear from the top down for the team involved of what can and will be said in each step of the marketing funnel(s). You need a complete picture.
    • That means top level, secondary, and individual categories of what it means to the customer (why it helps them)
    • Direct benefits
    • What are the different offers
  • If you are not crystal clear on your message – the conversions won’t happen.

At the 17 min mark, Bryan goes through an example of how he did this with a client and the results they got – especially using “human touch points.”

Marketing vs. Sales?

It all comes back to the messaging and messaging tree. Marketing has to be aligned with sales. Sales need to communicate what the clients are saying and marketing needs to listen. Marketing then needs to create the right tools that work for sales on message.

At the 26 minute mark, Bryan talks about how he came up with the concept of Human to Human (H2H) and what you should understand about it.

He talks about how we crave the nature of connecting with each other, not online, but human to human and how it is innate for us. It is the reason we all want to share which is where the book Shareology came from.

The key component that came out of all the interviews Bryan has done is that people simply want to connect which is why we need to bring humans closer to the customer and create the “human touchpoints” in our businesses and lives.

Best advice on how to grow a community online?

  • You grow them through grit
  • It starts one on one and builds through hard work
  • You need to have a human connection, not a topic connection You want to create 1000 dedicated, loyal community members
  • Your job is to help people build a community for each other and do it in the most human way possible.
  • Don’t automate in the initial phases of making a connection
  • Bryan’s example for his community - Humanmarketinghub.com facebook group

At the 44 min mark, Bryan make a great point about “Thank You Departments”

What does it take to be a successful entrepreneur?

Grit, hustle, commitment, determination. Being “all in” separates the truly successful.

At the 47 mark, Bryan talks about his low point and how he overcame it.

 

Best Quote: Putting the customer at the center of every touchpoint in your marketing is the best thing you can do in your marketing strategy.

 

Misfit 3:

  1. Embrace your “inner Focker.” If you’ve seen the movie Meet the Parents, you’ve seen how the main character is human and everyone can relate to him. Embrace that in your life.
  2. There is a difference between loneliness and solitude. A lot of entrepreneurs feel lonely at the top, but it is actually solitude. You get more thinking time and focus time on your business – embrace your solitude time.
  3. The more you can connect with people and be human, the more successful you will be. Pick up the phone and connect!
Nov 1, 2017

Hello Misfit Nation! Welcome to another edition of "Lessons for Hannah!"

In November of 2016, we introduced a new format that we are putting alongside our regular episodes called “Lessons for Hannah.” Hannah is my daughter and one of the main inspirations for the Misfit Entrepreneur. I wanted to have a place where she could go and learn from her daddy and his Misfit friends throughout her life….even after I am gone. If you haven’t listened to the first episode of "Lessons for Hannah," I urge you to as it gives some more background and tells the amazing story of how Hannah came to be in our lives.

"Lessons for Hannah" are short, very useful, and sometimes comical lessons, that I have learned which I want to share with you and give to Hannah to help in your lives. Because I want Hannah to have these for her life, I’m going to speak as though I am talking directly to her. These episodes are a lot of fun and if you think there is a lesson that we should include in these episodes, please don’t hesitate to send it over to us at support@misfitentrepreneur.com. We’d love to share it.

Hannah sweetie, I want to talk you about what it means to have principles. Principles are the things that you believe are resolute in life. They are the things that you will not sacrifice in any way, even it means limiting your personal gain. Anchoring to principles makes you who you are. They keep you from selling your soul and from straying from your true self.

As you know, I am a student of history, especially the founding of our great country, because it took great principle and true grit in adhering to those principles to not only defeat the greatest army in the world at the time, but to then come together and create a framework that gave and enshrined the power to the individual instead of a monarchy or government. During the revolutionary war, Thomas Paine has a very famous quote that went like this, “These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.”

You see, principles are everlasting. They are things that you follow and stand for in good times and bad, or when they are not popular. Adhering to principles many times will mean standing up for people and ideas you vehemently disagree with. That is the point. Principles, as I mentioned at the beginning of this message, are resolute. There are a lot sunshine patriots and summer soldiers out there – people that claim to have principles one day only to change them the next to go with herd or to appease others. I feel for these people, because they will never know who they truly are or what they stand for.

It’s OK to not please everyone. You see, When you stand for something it means that people will not agree with you. Hey, that’s part of life. But, as they say, if you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything. Don’t fall prey to this trap. Decide what you believe and hold those beliefs whatever comes your way.

But, what if you find yourself questioning one of your principles? That happens. Things may change in your life and you main gain new perspective or find that what you thought you truly believed is not what you believe now. Lord knows I have. The key. The most important key is that you think for yourself and don’t just do what everyone else does or what is popular – especially when you know you don’t believe in it and do it to selfishly enrich yourself.

Never sacrifice who you are and what you believe – your principles to enrich yourself. I’ll end by saying this – your principles are you. They determine who you are in this world and thus should be as well thought out and pure as you can make them. You should challenge them in every way to make sure they are resolute. And then you should adhere to them. One of my biggest principles is that I will always carry myself as though you and your mother are right there with me. If what I am doing is not something I would do with you and your mother or something that I would be embarrassed to do with you – I don’t do it. It has served me well and will be something I strive to always adhere to my whole life. I hope you can do the same and create a set of resolute principles for yourself that help you know who you are and be the best you can be. In the end, that is one of the best things we can have in this life.

I love you,

Daddy

 

Best Quote: "Decide what you beleive and hold those beliefs whatever comes your way"

 

Misfit 3:

  1. Your principles are the things you believe are resolute in life.
  2. You must stand for something or fall for anything. The point of having resolute principles is not for everyone to agree with you, because they won't. The point is to have a set values and steadfast believes that you don't sacrifice or change for personal gain.
  3. Think for yourself. Never sacrifice who you are or what you believe to meet the demands or others or follow the herd or you will never truly find yourself and your voice in this world.
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