This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Emmanuel Straschnov. Emmanuel is the founder of Bubble.io, a company that empowers anyone to build software without code. On Bubble, people can start businesses and tech startups without engineering talent or knowing how to code and launch products and whole businesses in just the fraction of the time it used to take. In fact, many of the businesses created today like AirBnb or Twitter could be built with a solution like Bubble. It truly opens a whole new world for entrepreneurs. And thousands of products and companies have started using the platform worldwide.

But Emmanuel didn’t start out to create a solution like Bubble. In fact, at 22, he was a waiter in a Chinese restaurant and went on to become a management consultant in China for a number of years. He and his partner bootstrapped Bubble over the last 7 years and only just recently took on venture backing. It’s the lessons learned in this journey that I’ve asked him to come on and share with you in this episode.

www.Bubble.io

contact@bubble.io

Emmanuel is also very active on Twitter​

Emmanuel’s path was not a direct one. He grew up being fairly technical, but at 18 decided that he wanted to be in management and after college took a job with the French Government. After some time, he realized that if he didn’t go abroad early in his life, he would most likely never be able to, so he negotiated a 3 year delay in his start date as a government employee. He wen to China and did management consulting for 3 years. He did a lot of different projects and unique things. After 3 years, he decided to discover the U.S. and ended up going to Harvard for his MBA. It was during this time that he began to get more clear on what he would do with his life. He took an internship in the fashion industry with Prada. It was one of the best jobs he ever did.

He decided to not go into government because it was too slow and to stay in the US and work in the corporate world. During this time, he started to get the entrepreneurial itch to build software. It was a passion for him as a kid and he re-discovered it. He dropped going into the corporate fashion world. He graduated Harvard without a job, but had a mission to become a software entrepreneur.

He started networking across New York, Boston and other cities. During this time, he got connected with his now partner, Josh, who was working on a “no-code” development concept and as Emmanuel says, “Partnered up after the first coffee meeting.” They have built the company together ever since.

Did your experience as a management consultant in China help prepare you to build Bubble?

• Yes, it taught him to deal with uncertain and ever-changing environments.
• His less technical background, but manager experience helped provide balance with his business partners skillset.
• Working in China taught him how to still thrive and contribute when he didn’t necessarily understand everything and it was useful for building Bubble as well.

Did your experience being a waiter in China do anything to help you in your business?

• It was the most efficient way to learn Chinese
• It teaches you that you are not above any task. You have to learn and do everything.
• This helped him in business because he was not afraid to take on every aspect of the business and learn it and do it as they built the company.
• In fact, this lesson led to the policy at Bubble where all employees have to be on “success rotation” in customer service for 2 weeks.

Tell us what you’ve learned about bootstrapping a company…

• There are tradeoffs.
• You go slower at first.
• You will be more customer centric because you don’t have investors to talk to, you only have your clients.
• It teaches you to be careful with cash.
• It forces you to have to generate real revenue so you can grow and hire, etc.

What advice do you have on getting the first few customers?

• They focused on the non-technical tech savvy founder struggling to find engineers for their product.
• They found them in Meetups.
• They went to their first Meetup at NYU and started networking with founders.
• The in-person connection really made a difference in getting people to give them a chance.
• They were able to help people take an idea and turn it into reality.
• The first couple years was finding clients by word of mouth and used their feedback to build out the solution.
• Once they had gotten the product to a good place, they launched on Product Hunt and started getting new clients from the recognition.
• Best advice is to not try and get too many clients up front. Find 5 great clients that are willing to work with you and your initial, somewhat ugly solution and work with them to make it great.
• “If it is an idea where everybody says, “that’s great,” it’s probably not because most likely it would have already been done. But, if it is an idea where most people say, “That’s stupid or not going to work,” but about 5% of people are extremely excited about it and want it – then that is a good idea.”

You recently took on a funding partner, tell us about it and the benefits so far…

• It was something that had to happen at some point.
• They needed to be able to balance growth while really building out and scaling the platform and it made sense to get capital to do so.
• The raise was just over $6 million. Half of it went to product/engineering.
• The rest is being used for marketing, etc.
• They chose a group that has a longer term view in how they operate. The benefit for them was to get in early.

What makes a great business partnership?

• Emmanuel and Josh didn’t know each other.
• There was a good personality match. It is a relationship like a marriage.
• They are direct in their feedback.
• They are extremely complimentary from a skill set standpoint.
• It has allowed them to be extremely efficient.

What advice would you give a new entrepreneur starting out today?

• Don’t let excuses stop you from getting started.
• Get clients as soon as possible on your MVP.
• But wait as long as possible before you make the “big splash” and launch in large way in the market.
• Get yourself in position for growth before you take on the growth.

Best Quote:  “If it is an idea where everybody says, “that’s great,” it’s probably not because most likely it would have already been done. But, if it is an idea where most people say, “That’s stupid or not going to work,” but about 5% of people are extremely excited about it and want it – then that is a good idea.”​

Emmanuel's Misfit 3:

1. Use your college and school years to do things that you would never do once into a career, etc. Learn things that you don’t think will be relevant to what you expect to in your future work. You’ll be amazed at how useful these things can be.
2. If you have the opportunity, spend a few months abroad once in your life. Go live somewhere else in the world for a few months. It will give you valuable perspective for your life.
3. When it comes to facing a hard choice, ask yourself this question, “If you will be successful no matter which decision you make, which one will you choose?” That will give you your answer.

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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.

This week’s Lesson for Hannah

Hannah, As I record this lesson, the world is going through an incredible and challenging time. The Wuhan Coronavirus or COVID -19 is sweeping the world and literally causing almost every major country to shut down, including the United States. I know you will have some memory of this event when you are older, but I wanted to document as much of it as I could for you as of the middle of March 2020.

First, for historical purposes, it is important to know how we got to where we are at the moment that I’m doing this lesson. In December 2019, China announced that it had detected an outbreak of a new type of virus in its Hubei province, with a concentration in the city of Wuhan. As of today, there are multiple theories on how it started and right now the leading one is it came from an exotic animal that are bought in markets and eaten in China. Now, we’ve had these types of things happen before in my lifetime. The most notable virus events are SARS, Ebola, MERS, H1N1 – the swine flu, and Mad Cow disease. And because these events did not rise to the level of a pandemic (we’ll talk some stats in a minute), they seemingly came and went without any of the things we are now seeing states and countries do.

Continuing the timeline, it looks more and more like China delayed telling the world that this was happening for a period of time and people were freely allowed to travel in and out of Wuhan. This allowed the virus to spread across the world, very much un-impeded into January. In late January, the United States shut down all travel to and from China as it became apparent that a large epidemic was breaking out. An epidemic is an outbreak of a virus or disease that is localized. A pandemic is one that is worldwide.

As we got into February, things really began to take hold in other Asian countries like South Korea and Europe, especially Italy. At this point, governments around the world began to take more drastic measures and over the next few weeks leading up to today, extraordinary things have been done. These things include, shutting down all travel both inside and to and from countries, quarantining people in their homes, shutting down schools, restaurants, bars, and basically anywhere people can gather. Almost all major sports have come to a complete stop and just about every aspect of life has been touched in some way.

The stock market has crashed into a bear market and fear is gripping nations.

The Coronavirus has symptoms like the flu but is especially dangerous for the elderly which is the group with the most fatalities. Now, at this time worldwide, just over people have been infected with about 60% of them recovering and getting back to normal. About 7500 people have died.

I would be remised If I did not put some context around this. While no one getting sick or dying from something like this should ever be taken lightly, I hope that the extraordinary measures being taken do limit the impact for the world at this time. But with 250,000 infected and 7 billion people on earth, an infinitely small number of people are getting this currently. You can do the math, but it is a decimal point with a lot of 0’s after it. The last major event like this was the H1N1 or swine flu outbreak in 2009/2010. Over the course of a year, 60 million Americans were infected, 12,000 died, and the government did not respond near to what we are seeing today.

At the present time, there are about 12000 people infected and just under 200 have died in the US.

So, why are we seeing the drastic action that is basically shutting down the world and potentially plunging it into a depression?

My truthful answer is that I don’t know. We are being told that the virus is highly contagious and that may be part of the reason. The governments of the world must know much more about this virus than we do to be getting the reaction we are. My other thought is that H1N1 happened a decade ago and while we had the internet, things like Smart phones were just being released for the first time and social media was just beginning. Information did not move as fast back then as it does today and while the speed of information can make our lives easier and offer a lot of great benefits, it also has the ability to be destructive in its ability to work effectively like a virus and permeate quickly through the world. So, when someone panics, many others can follow suit much faster. I think this is why we are seeing people get into fights over toilet paper – sheer panic has gripped them.

So, what lessons can I teach from where we are to date?

First, I am developed my thoughts for this episode while sitting in airport. I took all precautions we have been told to take like using hand sanitizer and wiping things down, not touching my face, etc. But, I don’t believe in emotional panic. I believe in using logic and methodically working through things. There is a chance that I can get this virus, just like there is for everyone. In fact, many of the pandemics from the past are still with us, we’ve just created vaccines and our bodies have created ways to fight them. In fact, the Spanish Flu which happened in the 1920’s and was one of the worst most devastating pandemics ever, killing millions is still with us – most of us have had it. It’s just another strain of the flu. And while we are on the subject of the flu, the common flu will kill 30-40,000 Americans this year alone. It does every year. This is why it is important to me to have perspective and not blindly follow a tweet or a post of panic from someone online. That is a big lesson in and of itself.

Speaking of perspective, the next lesson is that perception is reality for people. Whether you agree with the responses that are taking place or not, it is the reality we must deal with because it is happening. Governments and many people perceive this virus to be worse than things like what we saw with H1N1 and others and whether that materializes or not, the events leading us to where we are have happened. This is an important lesson in that what people perceive and believe in their life becomes their reality. You must understand this in people and for yourself. And it will be people’s perception and belief that things are getting better that will bring us out of this time. Belief is a double-edged sword that can be used for positive and negative. Make sure you use it for the positive as much as possible.

Another lesson is that during hard times, there are still tremendous opportunities. There are amazing deals in the market right now to pick up stocks at fire sale prices. Mortgage rates are at all-time lows for personal and investment property. In my businesses, there is opportunity to gain market share where others are pulling back. Some of the largest businesses we know about today like Hewlett Packard, Allstate Insurance and others, got their start during the Great Depression – there is always opportunity around us if we are willing to look for it and stay grounded. Now, I’m not saying we are in another great depression, but the world will suffer from the effects of this for some time and those that know how to keep their emotions in check, are prepared, and take action on opportunity when it presents itself will do very well.

Lastly, be there for people. Be a voice of reason and understanding. A shoulder to lean on. Listen to others and help them through their challenges as best you can. Give logical insight and stay grounded in facts and not emotional reactions. There are times for emotion and empathy for sure, but not if it makes things worse for you and for others. Make sure the messages you deliver are helpful, move things forward, and lift them up. This is great advice not just times of turmoil, but at all times in our lives.

Hannah, this time will pass, and we will emerge stronger, smarter, and more prosperous in all areas of our lives than we were before. That I have no doubt. I will continue over the next few Lessons to Chronicle this event and share new lessons from it as they become apparent. Just use the knowledge you gain and the lessons you learn from this period to be a light in the world and positive force in all you do.

I love you, Daddy

Best Quote: Belief is a double-edged sword that can be used for positive and negative. Make sure you use it for the positive as much as possible.

Misfit 3:

1. In times of turmoil and panic, perspective is very important to keep. Stay logical and beware emotional reactions.
2. During hard times, there is still always opportunity for those who stay grounded and look for it. You just have to take action when it comes.
3. Be there for others and help them through tough times. Be a light in a world of darkness.

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This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is JB Glossinger. JB holds an MBA and Ph.D. and is the founder of Morning Coach, a daily podcast that has been downloaded over 40 million times! But, even with all the education and advanced degrees, he still credits his “street education” with providing the life-changing lessons that have helped change the lives of hundreds of thousands around the world.

JB left a successful corporate role to to create the life he wanted built around his passions, family, golf, and writing – all within a 3-hour workday. As he achieved this goal, he wanted help other entrepreneurs and business owners turn their dreams into reality and has done so through the morning coach, his masterminds, books, and events.

By working to align his mission, values, and goals, JB has been able to create the life of his dreams and help others to do the same. In this episode, I’ve asked him on to teach you how to do it for yourself.

Go to www.MorningCoach.com/Misfit for free gifts from JB!

JB is from a blue collar family in Indiana and went to school to get his degree – which took him about 6 years. He then ran health clubs for a while, but somehow ended up in the aviation industry.

JB tells the story of how he responded to an ad in the paper to sell helicopter engines because he thought it was cool. He wrote a letter to the CEO instead of sending a resume. He got a call back. He went and met with the CEO one on one because the CEO wanted meet the person who “Wrote the worst letter he’s ever read.” But, they ended up hitting it off and JB got the jobs. So, as JB says, the worst letter he ever wrote got him into aerospace for 15 years.

This led to him buying and selling jumbo jets around the world, making 10x as much as his parents, but was completely miserable. He knew there was more than the job he was doling.

He decided to write a book. He quit his job and spent his savings on ordering the books, spending $5k on an image consultant. And he thought you just went out and started speaking. He quickly found out that things were much harder than he thought. He didn’t sell any books. It was a disaster. He even paid to speak at events and didn’t sell books.

It was depressing. IT lead him to a an evening where a buddy and him were drinking and wallowing in his failure and the friend suggested that his information was good and that he should just a morning message. That was when JB went and found morning coach. He was broke and losing his home. He built a website in a weekend with an opt-in. He started it as a live call each morning and it filled up quickly.

He then read about podcasting and decided to put it out as a podcast. After about 50 shows, iTunes spotlighted his show and we went to 40,000 downloads a day. It was then his life began to shift.

At the 11 min mark, JB and I talk about the journey of an entrepreneur

• We overestimate what we can do in a short time and underestimate what we can do in a longer time.
• 2-5 year plans and timeframes
• Continuous knowledge and education is a must
• Keep moving
• At the end of the day, it is about your drive. It has to be about the product and the love and excitement of building something – not just the money.

Why are you the morning coach? What is it that is so important about the morning and success?

• JB wasn’t a morning person.
• It’s about our own growth.
• As JB began to become the morning coach and get into the routine he needed to do for it, his life began to really change for the better.
• Starting your day off with positivity and the right perspective will shift everything for you.
• With discipline you don’t need motivation. Discipline is one of the greatest things we have. You have to find things that help you get there and keep you going.

At the 21 min mark, JB shares a story of a lady that used Morning Coach and its inspiration and message to get out of marriage of abuse.

• With discipline, consistency, and persistence – and a big why, you really can get through anything and accomplish just about anything.

You wrote the Sacred Six. What are the Sacred Six?

• JB tells the story of Carnegie and Ivy Lee and the 6 most important things.
• It is about productivity.
• Each day, you should have no more than 6 most important things to do. And each day, you should start with #1 and not move to #2 and so on until #1 is done, then #2, ,etc.
• These are the Big 6.
• Get a good mission. Establish goals.
• Projects are what complete the goals.
• Limit the projects to the most important and choose the 6 most important things each day to focus get those projects done.

You coach people all over the world every day, what is the process you take people through?

• It depends on the individual
• Every situation is custom to the person JB works with.
• He works with everyone from Rock Stars and Movie Stars to executives and entrepreneurs.
• The most important thing for a coach is to listen. Coach, don’t tell.
• Listen first, then coach.

Are there any recurring themes you see across people?

• Fear – people don’t really know what to do. They don’t know what step to take.
• Lifestyle – How put the systems in place to help people have the life they want. ​

Explain metaphysics and how it fits into success and entrepreneurship?

• It is the study of being. Why are we here and what is the reason we are doing what we are doing?
• It translates to, what is your focus and why are you doing it? Are you doing the things to really change your life and get you where you want to go in 2-5 years.
• Understanding and being here in the now and purposefully choosing doing the things to make the difference in the future.
• This relates to everyone in their lives, especially building a business.

Talk about street education vs. formal education – why was it so important for your success?

• After quitting college the first time, at 19 JB starting selling purfumes.
• He would sell to 10 bottles making about $100/day.
• He ended having 3 offices and making a ton of money until he found the product was fake.
• But, he learned to hustle and make things happen.
• Getting out there and doing it is where you learn everything whether you are selling perfume or a $180 million plane.
• Life is not just the hustle, but about working smarter and not just harder.
• Lazy general vs. intelligent general.

Selling 747’s? What did you learn?

• Assumptive selling.
• The #1 thing you can do is assume the sale.
• You must believe in what you are selling to do this.
• But if you do believe in it then why wouldn’t everyone need what you have.
• You have to be prepared, understand your customer, make sure they are a good fit, etc.
• You are selling yourself as well. Every no leads you closer to yes.
• Assuming the sale is humble confidence.

What has playing golf taught you about life and business?

• It made JB get over the guilt of not hustling all the time.
• It forces you to find your true 20% that you should be doing and be focused.
• It makes JB more efficient.
• Having a reward that if you are good with your time and get the results the fastest is something that keeps you going.

Titleist or Nike? Titleist!

Best Quote: "With discipline you don’t need motivation."

JB's Misfit 3:

1. Keep it simple. Don’t overcomplicate anything.
2. Work with small numbers. 500 people at $167/mo is a million-dollar business.
3. Stick with it. Work in 2-5-year plans.

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This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Megan Yelaney. Megan graduated valedictorian of San Diego State Business School in 2009. By 2012, she had started a network marketing business that wasn’t really making money was waiting tables in-between acting gigs and background work on film and television. She was barely making ends meet.

But, in just a short time, about a year, she turned everything around and created a million dollar business. How?

I’ve asked Megan to come on the show and tell her story of how she went from waiting tables and acting gigs to million-dollar entrepreneur – and teach you how you can do the same.

www.MeganYelaney.com

@MeganYelaney on Instagram

Megan was not an overnight success. It took her some time. When she graduated, she did the exact opposite of being practical and using her degree. She went to LA to pursue her dream of acting and fell into network marketing naturally because she was a user of the products. She didn’t treat like a business.

For 1.5 years she treated it like a hobby and made a little bit of money. But then, she had the moment where her life changed. She was at a conference for the company seeing all of these people having so much success and making huge amounts of money and they were no more talented than her. She realized she was sitting on a goldmine and decided to get serious. She committed deeply to personal growth and development. This helped her to better believe in herself and started her taking action.

After a year, she was able to quit all her side jobs and soon after made over 6-figures and became top 50 in the company. But, she felt she had a calling to do more and could be more. She felt she had so much more to offer. It was at this time that company changed from physical products to more digital products and it cut her income almost in half. She decided in 2017 to go all in and start her own coaching and training business.

It was very humbling.

But within just two years, she now has a run rate of over $1 million for 2020.

Why do “pretty” and “awkward” have such big meaning for you?

• It started because she was actually making fun of the health and wellness industry.
• It happened when she attempted to do a specific type of pose and called it ridiculous, etc. and it went viral.
• It quickly made her realize that her authenticity was what resonated, not trying to do some awkward pose and act like she has some perfect, curated life.
• Embrace your quirks and what makes you different.
• It means building a brand by being yourself.

What were the actions you took to succeed and what do you teach others to do to succeed?

• It’s very easy to put your business aside. Plan your business every week. Block in time for it. Don’t let it become “last on the list.”
• Even if you have a job, schedule in at least an hour per day.
• Once you block time, then you have to be very specific about what you will do with that time.

At the 16 min mark, Megan talks about she uses content in her business and the actions she takes with it….

• It’s important to set themes by week and month.
• You must use multiple types of content around the theme. (educational, story, side by side emotional connections, what you stand for/against – speak your mind).
• Engage and ask questions of your audience and find out how you can help them and use their feedback.
• Use the words from the feedback you are getting in your posts.

What do you find that works when it comes to content?

• Repurpose everything in different ways.
• Work weekly to two weeks out.
• Have a theme for the week.
• Start with a podcast or a blog as your anchor that the rest of the week’s posts go off of.
• Megan does 4-5 social media posts and puts them across all platforms, but main medium is Instagram.
• Free Facebook community where she does one video for them once per week.
• Literally from one podcast, you get a blog, emails, social posts, and Instagram stories.
• This avoid being overwhelmed.
• Megan doesn’t use automations, except for scheduling in Facebook groups. Other she knows uses Plan, Hootsuite and Planily for Instagram.
• Standard operating procedures are so important. Document everything to hand off to others.

Any other thoughts on how to get high tickets clients?

• Form relationships with your audience and be curious.
• Ask what kind of content people really need.
• Be clear and willing to give before you get.
• You cannot be fake and you cannot go straight to asking for business.
• Following up with people once you have created value for free for them and formed great relationships is key to success.
• Pay your dues and earn trust first.

At the 37 min mark, Megan talks about building teams and what helped her to do so in network marketing…

• Knowing what motivates people and why they show up is critical.
• The hard part is motivating people to continue to show up.
• Having her team take personality tests like DISC tells a lot about how they are motivated and what they are motivated by.
• Once you understand their personality and how to best work with them, you can create a better environment and help them succeed.

Other lessons learned from building a high level network marketing business that translate to your business today?

The people that keep showing up every day, even when they don’t want to, figure it out and find success.

• Don’t disappear.
• Consistency wins over any fancy strategy.
• It must become habitual and people will become to expect it.
• Open and honest communication – having hard conversations because you care is important and helps you build a team even better.
• It also helps them to grow.
• Coaching about helping people grow. Growth is uncomfortable.

What has your work in acting and film taught you that translates to entrepreneurship?

• Definitely work ethic.
• Preparedness.
• Eating the elephant one bite at a time. Chunk things up. One step at a time.
• “Overwhelmed is not having too much to do, it’s just not knowing where to start.”
• One of the best ways to close sales calls is to hold the space for people to just talk and listen to them. Letting them know you are listening and there for them. Really hear people.

Best Quote: Overwhelmed is not having too much to do, it’s just not knowing where to start.

Megan's Misfit 3:

1. Always go deeper. Get past the surface level. You will connect at much higher levels with people.
2. Be consistent. Show up every day no matter how big or small it is and bring your best. Infuse joy into your daily tasks.
3. Go back to why you do what you do whenever you are frustrated. You’re here for a reason. You’re doing what you do for a reason.

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This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Jonathan Horton. Jonathan is a 2-time Olympian in gymnastics, winning a silver and bronze medal at the 2008 and 2012 games, he’s a 2 time U.S. national all-around champion, and a 17-time medalist at the U.S. national championships. And if that wasn’t enough, in recent years, he also took on American Ninja Warrior and became a perennial finalist there as well.

Additionally, Jonathan is a successful entrepreneur, speaker and author starting multiple businesses, including the Ninja Coalition, a traveling Ninja Warrior experience company.

Jonathan wasn’t the most talented kid to walk through doors of a training facility, but was one of the most driven and dedicated, so much that he spent 28 years of his life in pursuit of excellence in gymnastics.

It’s the relentless pursuit and everything he’s learned along the way that I want to explore with him and share with you in this episode.

www.JonathanHorton.net

@JHorton11 on Instagram

jonathanhorton@att.net

Jonathan’s journey is full of ups, downs, twists, and turns. When most people see an Olympian, a lot of times they think that they are just that talented or gifted and while some are, Jonathan was not. He struggled from the start and wasn’t quick to succeed. As he says, he is a slow learner and things took him longer.

He was passed up by a lot of kids early on. What he did have was a lot of energy and the ability to outlast. By the time he was 20 years old, he was #1 in the country and by 22, he was going to his first Olympics.

“You don’t need to have a lot of talent to be successful in this world.”

Jonathan shares that the one thing he was gifted with was a lack of fear. He took off when he was 4 years old in a Target with his mom, and he climbed to the rafters of the store. The next day his parents enrolled him in gymnastics.

Tell us about the pursuit. What is it that drives someone like you from an early age to stick with something to its pinnacle?

• It was a specific moment that did it for Jonathan.
• When he was 10 years old, he watched his first Olympics.
• It was the 1996 Olympics and it was the moment when an injured Keri Strugg had to win the vault to secure the gold for the entire women’s team. She had a broken ankle.
• She went for it anyway and landed on 1 foot and the women’s team won the gold.
• He decided that he wanted that moment for himself.
• From then on, everything changed. His work ethic, his focus, his ability to keep going, etc. all became about getting to that moment.

It wasn’t that he didn’t have challenges. He wanted to quick almost every single, but told himself he would come back the next day.

Everyone needs to find their “Olympic moment” in their lives….

What is it that makes someone finally decide to go for true greatness and not turn back? How does find that point and make the decision and do it?

• All of the above.
• We all have different lives and thus our “switch to flip” is different.
• You have to actively search for it, you can’t wait for it to come to you. You have to search for it and go after it.

At the 13:30 mark, Jonathan gives an example using the High Bar where he talks about “waiting for the bar to come to him vs. coming to the bar.”

• You have try a number of different things, even if you don’t know if that is your thing or not. That is how you find your true calling.

At the 19 min mark, we talk about how when you are able to go through failures and keep going, it gets easier.

• You have to not be afraid to try something that may not work.
• You train yourself over time to cope with that fear each time differently.
• It is an up and down roller coaster that you get used to and become less fazed by.

Tell us about the mental side and how you mentally prepare for success….

Jonathan would look calm on the outside, but had tremendous anxiety on the inside.

Jonathan tried to eliminate, but over time realized he couldn’t do it….so he embraced it.

Embracing it shifted his ability to perform.

He embraced being nervous and anxious and made it part of his routine. He turned it into adrenaline.

This was the game changer for him. He began to train every day trying to make himself nervous to prepare himself for the real compensation.

“Practice like you compete and compete like you practice.”

At the 27:30 mark, I share a story of a discussion I had with an Olympic hopeful for this year and relate it to the mental game. Jonathan talks about his coach used to deliberately try to distract him while practicing as a technique to help him focus better and overcome anxiety.

Tell us about the importance of the “little things” and the difference they can make…

• Fundamentals are key and underpin everything you do.
• Even in his last days, Jonathan would still spend 30 mins before every session working on the fundamentals of forward and backward rolls, hand positions, etc.
• This separated the good Olympians from the great Olympians.
• Do a little bit every day, focusing on the details/fundamentals and it is amazing the difference it makes.

What are some of the key takeaways from your book Falling Forward?

• It’s Jonathan’s autobiography.
• The discipline it takes to rise to the top is the hardest part. Doing the same routine over and over and over again every day and doing it at your very best, 6 days a week, every week, for years – that is what it takes.
• There are days where you don’t want to do anything, anything! You have to get up and go.

How did the lessons you learned about succeeding at the Olympic translate to Entrepreneurship?

The biggest one is to learn is to stay in your own lane and not compromise your own game plan.

You have stick with your game plan and not worry about the others.

You are going to have great moments and bad moments, but eventually you will get to the end of your race. ​

Final thoughts?

For younger entrepreneurs – Stop Trying to Be Cool!

You can cool yourself all the way to nothing.

If you want to be successful, throw out being cool, and be laser focused on what you want. Don’t let trying to fit in get in your way, even if people make fun of you or give you crap because of it.

Best Quote: Practice like you compete and compete like you practice.

Jonathan's Misfit 3:

1. Nothing worth doing will be easy. Stick with it.
2. You don’t need to be the most gifted or talented to succeed.
3. You need a will, desire, and faith in yourself. If you want to be great at something, you have to be willing to do what others are not.

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This week’s Misfit Entrepreneurs are Adam and Kerry Anderson. Adam and Kerry are at the forefront of helping with one of the biggest challenges entrepreneurs’ face - how to create a successful relationship with your spouse and family while devoting yourself to and building a business. In fact, their business is called Whole Life Entrepreneurship, because that is what it takes to succeed on all these fronts, a whole life approach.

Adam and Kerry help entrepreneurs and their families work through the side of entrepreneurship and family relationships that most don’t want to talk about or deal with that eventually causes major issues in their lives.

In fact, they started Whole Life Entrepreneurship because they went through major challenges with Adam building his global business and eventually selling it. Everything looked good on the surface, but it really wasn’t. Their journey to regain their relationship and learn to thrive as an entrepreneur family is full of amazing lessons that I can’t wait for them to share with you.

www.WLEMission.com ​​

The journey for Adam and Kerry started when Adam was building an amazing company that he was desperately in love with. And unbeknownst to him, at the end of the day, it was causing a number of ripples across his life that he wasn’t aware of until he and Kerry reached a breaking point. He didn’t realize that he had been a whirlwind of destruction. His years of building the business took him away from the business.

This focus on the business created anger and resentment with Kerry. The business was the sun and the other things, like family, revolved around it. Their marriage began to fall apart. Adam was traveling a lot and they couldn’t work on themselves until Adam had a breaking point and after a few years of working deeply on themselves together, they made their ways through and created the life they really wanted.

What was the darkest point of your journey that you had to overcome and what kept you together through all of this?

• Things were spread out. There was a time Kerry was ready to leave and had a plan (which is a bad sign).
• She had a friend take her to task and call her out. It was jarring to have someone ask her, “Are you sure you don’t have something to do with this?
• Kerry realized that the hateful, bitter person she had become was on her and she needed to do self-work.
• Kerry realized, she may not be able to change Adam, but she could change herself.
• After a couple of years of working on herself.
• Then one night, Adam got a little out of control drinking and Kerry got a call from a cop that told her if she came and got him, he wouldn’t got to jail.
• The fact that she showed up and helped – not scream or get angry, was a turning point for Adam.
• He was a successful entrepreneur and had begun to believe his own hype on his success and thought he was invincible. He was wrong and it was a big reality check.
• They both decided that if there was a problem in the family, that they both start with self-reflection, instead of blaming. They were not going to be victims of each other. When you are the problem – you are the solution.
• They decided to be “All in” together.

What is Whole Life Entrepreneurship?

• A community that is built around encouraging, supporting, and holding people accountable to building a life of success without regrets that is powered by business and directed by the family.
• You are called to make an impact through entrepreneurship, but it cannot be done alone.
• You have to look at how you measure success and make sure you do so holistically in your life.

What are the different challenges that entrepreneur families face?

• It’s almost like a military family.
• You have risky lives.
• You are expected to get up and take action as an entrepreneur and family.
• There is no “base” to live on, you are more alone.
• Entrepreneurial lifestyle for many is “Alone, Stressed, and Scared.”
• You don’t’ have predictability, you have financials strain; entrepreneurship is a high impact, high burnout occupation.
• And many times, everything on the outside looks good, but on the inside you are screaming and that comes home if you are not intention with dealing with it.

What are the things entrepreneurs should be sharing with their family?

• If you are not on the same page with your spouse, it is very difficult to succeed. You have to share the vision and build your business and family goals together.
• Do a standing “Family Business Meeting” every week.
  • Talk about time – sync calendars
  • Talk about money
  • Talk about home, family, the kids
  • Tell each other what you need help with and ask for help

What should the spouse or significant other be sharing with the entrepreneur?

• You need to break down the walls between your roles.
• You have to discuss how to share lives.
• Ask them how you can help them.
• Remember, you as the spouse are responsible for the same things that the entrepreneur is. If they were gone tomorrow, you are on the hook for everything they are. You have have to be an active participant and take responsibility.

At the 23 minute mark, Adam and Kerry talk about the board of directors for Family Inc.

• Adam is the Chief Energy Officer
• Kerry is the Chief Family Officer

What are the 3 C’s?

• Chill: How do you learn to connect with yourself again and love yourself. It’s all about rediscovering yourself and bringing it to your partner so you both can fill each other up.
• Communication: All of the skills necessary to make Chill happen without killing each other.
• Community: How do you get a group together to support you when you get tired and keep you going.

If an entrepreneur wants to implement Whole Life Entrepreneurship, where should they start?

• Check in with your mindset on what you believe and how you are showing up.
• Adam and Kerry have assessments that you can use to see where you are.
• You can join Adam and Kerry’s community
• Kerry has written a great book, In Bed with Business.
• Dip your toe and don’t go full in all at once, take your time.

Kerry, what are a few of the biggest takeaways from your book that could share with us?

• Awareness. You’re lifestyle is unique and you are feeling alone and others can’t relate – you have probably outgrown your current community. You need to get one that reflects where you are now.
• There is a huge iceberg of the entrepreneur’s life under the water. And you don’t see it. There is so much going on to build, create, and maintain a business that most don’t understand unless they do it. Be careful throwing shade on someone if you don’t know what that is lie.

Tell us about A.S.S.

• Alone - Entrepreneur life can be lonely, but it can be just lonely or more for the spouse.
• The isolation is very important to understand and work through.
• Stressed – Make no mistake, entrepreneurship is and can be stressful. If you don’t open yourself up and work through the stress together, it is much higher.
• Scared – Entrepreneurship is a riskier lifestyle and it does have times of fear and scared times.

What is the one thing someone can do today to get on the right path?

• Forgive yourself.
• Then give yourself the permission to take the next steps.

Best Quote: "If you are not on the same page with your spouse, it is very difficult to succeed. You have to share the vision and build your business and family goals together."

Adam and Kerry's Misfit 3:

1:  Adam: Take care of yourself.

1:  Kerry: ​Let it go. Stop blaming. Learn to let it go. You cannot move forward carrying the burden.

2:  Adam: Take care of others. ​

2:  Kerry: ​Look up from what you are doing. Look at how you show up and how you are working with those around you

3:  Adam: Change the world.

3:  Kerry: Be willing to share and be authentically yourself for you person, yourself, your people, and your business.

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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.

This week’s Lesson for Hannah

Hannah, ​ I want to talk to you about 5 very important financial lessons that I wish I learned earlier in life. I’ve done my best and will continue to do my best to teach these and others to you as you grow, but I wanted to put them all in one place for you in this episode.

Your financial education is probably the most important piece of your learning journey. Understanding the language of finance and how taxes, income structures, debt, and how a host of other financial areas work is something that most people never put much time into. This may be because our school system doesn’t really teach these things, unless as an elective or unless you make your career in finance. But, even then, much of the financial education required to thrive in the real world is not taught. There is so much I can share with you about financial education that I could spend months just doing episodes on it. Thankfully, I’ve got years to teach you, but here are 5 very key lessons that are at the heart of what you need to learn.

#1. How You Make Money is Much More Important Than How Much Money You Make

Most people just focus on “making more money” in their lives when, it is never how much you make, but how much you keep that matters. And because most people make their money as employees, there is not much they can do about this because they don’t have any control. A W2 is the highest taxed form of making money. And not only is it the highest taxed, but you must pay the government before you get any of your money.

Let’s contrast that with being an owner of a business and deriving your income from that business. Now, there are a lot of different business structures that differ by country around the world, but as I teach you this, there a few predominant ones for small business owners in the U.S.. These are an LLC, closely held S-Corporation with 1 or 2 owners, and a partnership or limited partnership. These entities all have about the same tax benefits, but from a legal standpoint can be used in different ways. When you are an owner in one of these entities, the tax laws favor you. First, you don’t have to take all your income as a W2 type income. In fact, in the case of the S-corp, you take what is called a reasonable salary as a W2 and then the other income you earn from the profits of the business are taxed differently – effectively almost 15% less.

More importantly, the business allows you to deduct expenses and items that you use for it. So, for example, if you are a W2 and you want to buy a computer for your work at home, you really can’t deduct that, or maybe only a small portion on your taxes. As a business owner, you can deduct the full amount.

On top of that, you get paid first – not the government. For the profits your business earns through the year, you get to utilize that money as you see fit and then at the end of the year, you pay tax on the amount left after investing in and paying for your business. This allows you to have your money work for you instead of being taken every paycheck.

I know this is a very simplistic example of the difference between a W2 vs. deriving income as an owner of a business, and there are actually many other benefits to creating income as a business owner- what I most want you to understand is that it is not how much you make, it’s how you make it that matters. If I make $100,000 from my business, I will take home a lot more than if I make $100,000 as a W2 employee.

#2: The Super Wealthy Make their Money Predominantly Using 3 Mediums: Owning Businesses, Real Estate, Stock Market

Following on our last example, if you study the Forbes 400 wealthiest that is listed each year, you will see they overwhelmingly make their money in either being a business owner, investing in real estate, or investing the stock market. Most do all three to some degree.

As I got into my career, it dawned on me that if that’s how the super wealthy make their money, I might want to pay attention to it. I was already on the path of entrepreneurship, but It was then that I started to study real estate and the stock markets. And what I learned about these areas was shocking. There are so many opportunities and ways to create wealth. In real estate, you can purchase rental real estate, or buy tax lien certificates, invest in developer projects, flip houses, and host of other types of transactions. In the stock market, you don’t just have to buy a stock or mutual fund, you can use options or sell and write option contracts. You can do all kinds of different trades, including my favorite, selling naked puts and credit spreads, which pay you up front for even taking a risk with your money in the market, as well as put the odds of winning in your favor. Buying a stock or mutual fund gives you none of that.

It literally pays to learn about these different areas of finance and business, so learn all you can.

#3: Rental Real Estate Offers the Best Tax Benefits

Owning businesses and investing through tax advantaged business owner specific IRAs gives you some great tax advantages and leverage, but unless you have an army of lawyers to pour through the tax code each year and find every little thing you can do to maximize your wealth, the best tax advantages I’ve found are in rental real estate.

Real estate has incredible advantages as long as you are willing look at things long term and are willing to hold. That doesn’t mean you don’t get a benefit in the short term in creating cashflow from rents, it just means that the biggest benefits come over time. For example, rental real estate allows you to deduct an expense each year called “depreciation.” Basically, what it means is that you can deduct 1/27 of the value of your property each year for 27 years. Now, why does this matter, first, it is an expense you get to take without actually paying money from your pocket. You are essentially taking a deduction for your property getting older each year. This will then act like an expense against your rental income alongside your mortgage (if you have one), taxes, other expenses, etc. And like a business you get paid first and take deductions and expenses before you pay the government. Depreciation is almost like phantom income as it allows you to keep more of your rent tax free. Now, there are rules that when you go to sell a property, depreciation comes back to be taxed as part of your profits, but even then there are things like carryover than can go against it and one of the biggest tax benefits of real estate, the 1031 exchange.

1031 is an area of the tax code that basically says, if you sell a property and take the proceeds and invest them into a new property of greater value, the proceeds or profits can roll into that property tax free. In fact, many investors just keep using the 1031 laws to roll their gains over and over into new and larger properties over time.

Now, why does the government allow this with rental real estate? Because people need a place to live and the government incentivizes investors to help make that a possibility.

Again, these are simplistic examples and there are a ton of other tax advantages to real estate, but these two alone make it one of the best investments out there.

#4: 401k’s Are Not as Good of an Investment as You Think

If you are a W2 employee, you pretty much have no other choice but to invest in a $401k for retirement and when the market is good, then your 401k is good, but have you ever looked at how broker fees and expense ratios eat away at your profits over time? Tony Robbins did a great job exposing this in his book, “Money, Master the Game.” A good read for those wanting to improve their financial education. But, did you know as a business owner, you have a lot more options. You could do what’s called a Solo 401k in which you can choose the investment choices, lowering the fees, and put over $50k per year away tax free? Or you can do a Simple or SEP IRA that allow you to have total control over how you invest and what you invest in including things like real estate or physical gold. And these IRA’s allow you to invest 10’s of thousands as well each year.

What I want you to understand is that when it comes to your retirement, there are much better ways to save and grow your money than a 401k, but you need to be a business owner to use them.

#5: Keep Your Cash Working for You, Otherwise, It’s Basically Worthless

We’ve all heard the phrase “Cash is king,” and while yes, in rough times, cash can be very useful in a number of ways, the realty though, is that if you are not putting your cash to work for you, it is losing its value every day. It’s called time value of money and every day; money is worth less than it was the day before if it is not generating enough to keep up with inflation. In fact, since 1913, the dollar has lost 96% of its value. That’s right one dollar in today’s dollars is worth $.04 priced in 1913’s dollars.

So, if you are stashing a ton of money in the bank at effectively 0% interest, each day it loses some of its value.

This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t hold some cash. I advocate having a “rainy day fund” that you don’t touch unless for emergencies that is at least 6 months’ living expenses, preferably one year if you can do it. But, once you have your rainy-day fund in place, you should look to put your money to work for you.

And you must be diligent about it. I’ve shared a number of concepts in this episode, but each one of them takes knowledge, skill, and good judgment to execute successfully. Just because you have been able to make and save some money, doesn’t mean you can’t lose it. And there are always those out there looking to separate you from your money – so make sure you keep up on your financial education.

Hannah, If I had learned these lessons even one year earlier in my life, they would have made an even bigger difference for me than they already have. It’s important that you commit to your financial education and learn all you can starting as young as possible. The lessons you learn, whether you use them immediately, or at all, will still prove to be invaluable for you and help you throughout your life. And I’ll be there to help you and teach you as your grow.

I love you, ​

Daddy

Best Quote: Most people just focus on “making more money” in their lives, when, it is never how much you make, but how much you keep that matters.

Misfit 3:

1. Your financial education is probably the most important piece of your learning journey.
2. If you study the Forbes 400 wealthiest that is listed each year, you will see they overwhelmingly make their money in either being a business owner, investing in real estate, or investing the stock market.
3. Resolve to financially educate yourself starting today. It literally "pays" to do so.

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This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Mitchell Levy. Mitchell is a global Credibility Expert, TEDx speaker and international best-selling author of over 60 books. He is a serial entrepreneur who has created twenty businesses in Silicon Valley including four publishing companies that have published over 800 books. Mitchell and his teams help clients with positioning, establishing their credibility, marketing themselves, and creating best-selling books.

He’s provided strategic consulting to over one hundred companies and has been chairman of the board of a NASDAQ-listed company.

Needless to say, Mitchell knows a thing or two about how to stand out and share your value in the world. And that is exactly what I’ve asked him to come on the show and teach you how to do.

www.MitchellLevy360.com ​ ​

Mitchell starts by talking about what he does today. He works with busy professionals that want to increase their credibility with a book, but don’t have time. His firm makes you a best-selling author and does everything for your book with you putting in 8-10 hours of work.

Before he got into publishing, he was an e-commerce/business strategist in the Dotcom boom. In fact, he was labeled “Mr. E-commerce” during that time. It was great during the boom and not great when everything went under. Almost overnight, he lost a lot of revenue streams. In the early 2000’s, he saw the democratization of book publishing on the horizon and capitalized on it. His firms published over 800 books from 2005-2017. But he says that he was serving the wrong audience. He wanted to change the world, but was doing it in the wrong way.

He did a Ted Talk and a Kickstarter to fund a company that was not serving people who wanted to write a book, but for people that wanted a book and had great ideas, but didn’t have the time.

During this time, he started to become a thought leader on global credibility. He currently has a initiative to interview over 500 top minds on credibility. The information being gained on this initiative is driving his next decade of business solutions.

What’s your process for finding a market and maximizing how you succeed in it?

• You have to solve a problem.
• Look at what friends you have that can be a credibility, financial, or awareness sponsor for you.
• What friends do you have that you can offer to provide a service for that will solve a problem.
• First, you have to determine if there is a value to the problem that you want to solve. See if someone will pay you, even $1 or a discounted rate.
• Then, ask yourself “Do I want to do this again?” once you’ve solved it.
• If the answer is “no” drop it, if it is “yes,” then start to ask what you can be focused on as the expert and then outsource the rest.
• You may need to do the process once and then document and put a structure in place…but once it is done, you can hand it off and outsource it.

At the 14 min mark, Mitchell and I discuss partnerships…

What is the #1 thing an individual or business can do to cement credibility?

• For individuals – Having a book
• The book that you should have that cements your credibility is the book that demonstrates you are an expert of what you want to do tomorrow.
• You need to write your book for your customer base to solve their main point of pain.
• The title should be the pain point you solve for your customers.
• Being the author of a book that is easy to consume and easy to share is the best way to cement credibility.

What is a book?

• In the old days, it was typically something a multi-year project with the content needed.
• People don’t consume books that way anymore.
• Now people go to Youtube to learn or google things
• A book in today’s age should have 7-8 sections, color on the inside, each section having a summary and a QR code to video on the subject with the author talking about it, etc. It’s an interactive experience.
• It needs to have many “aha” messages that help your credibility.
• A book is a vehicle that shows you have expertise in an area that summarizes the aha moments and messages. It’s an asset.

What is an “Aha” message?

• An aha is that moment of time when you hear something that reinforces something you know or changes your thought process about something.
• It makes you think in a new or different way.

Are there specific sections that every book should have or does it vary by author?

• It does depend.
• It depends on the major themes or messages/problem you are trying to solve, but 8-10 sections should be max.
• You should repurpose your content in different ways throughout the book for people to consume.
• You want to make a book as 3-dimensional as possible.

What has to be done to become a best-seller?

• It’s a multi-pronged approach utilizing all types of media and mediums.
• When you elect to go into the kindle program exclusively to sell your book for 90 days.
• You can give your book away for free for 5 days with this program.
• If you can get 300-400 people to buy your book for free and this can get you onto the best-seller list on Amazon, maybe #1.

What is a CPOP?

• It stands for Customer Point of Pain.
• It’s not selling pain…it’s solving pain.
• It’s 3-5 seconds of you describing the pain point you solve from the viewpoint of your customer.
• It’s different than a value proposition.
• Most people don’t care about what you do, they care about how you can help them.
• It should know who you customers are, how you solve their problem, and your solution.
• Mitchell uses his CPOP as an example
• Thoughtleaderlife.com for examples
• 3 Steps to do it
  • Narrowly define your customer.
  • What is the overarching issue/pain that you solve for them?
  • Say it without leading with “I do this” or “We do that.” ​

At the 44-minute mark, I dig one of Mitchell’s old principles, the HELP principle and we have some fun with him remembering it…

• Healthy Following in the particular market you serve.
• Execute well. If you execute well, people will recommend you.
• Leadership. What are you sharing that helps people know that you are the expert at what you do and driving success?
• Platform. This is where you share your thought-leadership. You should play on the platforms where your prospects are.

At the 47 min mark, Mitchell talks about other patterns/thing he’s learned from the hundreds of interviews on credibility he’s done.

• Show up. And when you show up, come early, be prepared, and show your heart.
• Of his interview 7% come early and 6% show up after the 30 min window for the meeting.
• 98% of people cannot answer their CPOP, even with a 4 min video Mitchell sends prior.
• Show your heart – be open, be honest, be vulnerable. That is how people know, like, and trust you.

Best Quote: "Develop your CPOP - A 3-5 second answer on how you solve your "customer's point of pain."

Mitchell's Misfit 3:

1. Show up when you show up. Come early, be prepared, show your heart.
2. Go through life with 5 sponsors: Financial, Accountability, Content, Awareness, Credibility
3. When you find someone, who is a friend that fits you well, do the work necessary to keep them in your life.

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This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Jay Abraham. Jay needs no introduction as the world’s top marketing and business growth expert and founder of the Abraham Group. Jay has worked with most of the Fortune 500, been featured just about everywhere on TV throughout the world to Forbes, Entrepreneur, and Investor’s Business Daily and he’s helped increase the bottom lines of over 10,000 clients working across a 1000 plus industries.

Jay’s become who he is because he looks at things in a totally different way. He has an uncanny ability to find overlooked opportunities and create significant profits where not else can see them.

Jay has probably forgotten more about how to succeed in growing a business than most of us will ever learn in a lifetime and I’m going to do my best to squeeze every ounce of wisdom I can from him in today’s episode. 

www.Abraham.com ​

Jay got started in an unusual way. He was married at 18, had two children by the time he was 20 which meant he had the needs of a 40 year old in his life. He was fortunate and challenged enough that a bunch of entrepreneurs found him interesting and gave him commission only positions. As Jay says, “When you only eat when you earn, you find out very quickly what works and what doesn’t.”

That experience was his “trial by fire.” He began to jump around from industry to different industry over the next 4 years taking things he had learned in one industry and bringing them to other industries where the strategies were unfamiliar. Jay notes that he was sort of the one-eyed man in the land of the blind. He imported ideas from outside industries and combine them with other ideas to turbocharge results. It wasn’t that Jay was that great, but he had an uncanny ability to bring different strategies together in new and never before-seen ways.

At the 8:30 mark, Jay talks about “best practices” in the context of seeing beyond “best-practices” in your industry to create new ways of generating and growing revenue.

• Studying other industries and what succeeds in them is like when you travel around the world to other countries.
• It opens your eyes to ways of doing things and ideas you never thought of.

What is Pre-Imminence? Why is it so important?

• It is the ultimate strategic philosophy that guides and governs your business.
• It is a way of living.
• It is the foundation on which a business, culture, philosophy is built.
• It is based on premise that you want to be seen in the eyes of your audience as the most trusted adviser they could ever turn to in the category that your business serves – for life.
• You want to be seen as the only viable choice for your solution/service.
• Second to that is being able to provide people with authentic advice in their best interest – not in yours. Sometimes your product or service is not the best fit.
• Your role is not transactional, but transformative. Making clients lives better, safer, happier, more enriched, etc.
• Look at your prospects like clients, not customers. Customer is a someone who buys a commodity. When you approach things for “customers” you commoditize yourself.
• A client is defined as someone who is under the care, well-being, and protection of another.
• Clients are 3 categories:
  • People you transact business with
  • People you employ
  • People who provide products/services to you
• You must strive to examine and explore and understand these people in every way possible so you can serve them in the best way.
• People should be better off every time they interact with you.
• Then it is translated into your foundation.

Patterns of success you’ve seen throughout your career?

• The ability of the entrepreneur to understand and appreciate the dynamic that their target audience is experience.
• The best ones are the ones that have been there and done and suffered through the challenges they set out to solve.
• Intention and attention – external focus is important.
• The ability to listen. To listen to the market. Ask questions and utilize the answers.
• Passion, purpose, and a sense of possibility
  • Passion for the people the product or service will help.
  • The greatest can genuinely rally people together for the purpose and give them the sense of possibility.

Biggest problem with business growth?

• The more success entrepreneurs get, the more distant they become from the initial purpose.
• Money is interesting. We are rewarded in our lives for the quantity, quality, consistency of the problems we solve for others and opportunities we make possible for others.
• When we stop doing that, the rewards diminish.
• The biggest mistake people make is trying to make money first vs. trying to solve problems.
• Value is the key to everything. If you know how to create value, you’ll never truly fail. There will be setbacks, but you’ll win long-term.
• You are playing a long game in life, even if you don’t know it, you are accumulating your whole life. It compounds one way or the other, good or bad.
• If you build something solid, it will serve you for years to come.
• There is much joy in playing the long game, it is much more fulfilling.
• You have to constantly look to make things better, but if it’s built solid with the right intentions, it serve you well.

How can someone use the Socratic method to close more deals and grow their business better?

• If you want to ethically own relationships, you want to ask a lot of questions and listen deeply to the responses. You can then build on every answer
• This build trust
• You’ll understand their needs very well.
• They will feel understood and appreciated.
• Anyone that interacts with those who transact business with you, should practice this method.
• When you ask the right question, you uncover better ways to add value, create more need, and better serve.
• Assumptive thinking is the kiss of death.
• Assessing is the process of question – most salespeople don’t do this. The dialogue should be about adding value, not manipulating.
• By mastering soft skills, you can 3-4x outcomes. It’s geometric.

The first thing Jay does with a new client is look at how a client is performing in all areas of their business because most of the time, they are not optimized in any of the areas.

At the 46 min mark, Jay talks about how to sell better.

It’s best to just listen.

One thing you can do now to grow your business?

• Create a serious, focused referral strategy.
• Referrals are the easiest and best way to grow your business.
• There are hundreds of ways to get referrals – stop and think deeply on how you can do it in your business.
• Doing nothing is much more dangerous than experimentation. You must start trying strategies.

One way to improve your processes is to look at the people doing the work in your business, see how the best is at certain things, and then take what they do and teach it to the others doing the role, the whole group will improve. When you find who is better what, you can take all the best practices, put them together and teach everyone making them better.

At the end of the day, there are 3 ways to grow a business:

• Increase the number of buyers
• Increase the size of the transaction
• Increase the number of transactions

Working on one will make a big difference, but you get geometric increases by improving all 3 together.

Best Quote: When you only eat when you earn, you find out very quickly what works and what doesn’t.

Jay's Misfit 3:

1. Every human being has value. You can’t appreciate the value if you don’t take the time to examine and explore it. How they see life is a denominator in how you impact them.
2. Every time you interact with anyone for any reason in your life, you need to make them better off for interacting with you.
3. Listening is more powerful than talking. And listening can help you learn to grow outside your comfort zone and understand in new ways.

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This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Eric B. Schultz. Eric is the author one of my new favorite books, Innovation on Tap, Stories of Entrepreneurship from the Cotton Gin to Broadway’s Hamilton. As a lover of history and entrepreneurship, this book was made for me.

Aside from the book, Eric has spent his career in entrepreneurial and leadership roles, including senior vice president of Midwest operations for American Cablesystems, co-founder and president of Atlantic Ventures, and chairman and CEO of Sensitech, a venture-backed business twice named to the Inc. 500 before being acquired by Carrier Corporation. He has also served as a CEO and partner with Ascent Ventures, executive chairman of HubCast, on the board of advisors of multiple other companies, and as a mentor for student start-up teams in the Brown University B-Lab.

Eric’s not only written an incredible book that I think every entrepreneur should read, but he has a wealth of experience and wisdom we can all learn from to help us on our journey.

www.TheOccasionalCEO.com

LinkedIn – Eric B. Schultz ​

Eric has a degree in history and liberal arts background. He then went on to get an MBA in 1983. He then made the decision to go into entrepreneurship which wasn’t the thing it is today. His path took him through a number of entrepreneurial pursuits. His last position was at Sensitech where he helped move the company into a digital company and develop a data strategy. Eventually, they were acquired by Carrier Corp and he started doing some consulting. It also gave him some time to write. He had written a few books, but really wanted to write a book about entrepreneurship. In doing a further consulting engagement for Carrier and UTX, he found inspiration in the founders’ stories.

His goal with Innovation on Tap was to write a history of innovation for America across 3 centuries. It was almost overwhelming. He found his inspiration in an afterhours event from a venture firm’s pitch session. The idea was to bring all of these incredible entrepreneurs together in “a bar” and have them tell their stories. Just like the stories being told at afterhours events he had attended.

Who is Steve Dodge and why is the book dedicated to him?

• If Eric had a mentor, it would have been Steve.
• Steve passed away unexpectedly before his time.
• Steve was the guy who gave him his first managerial role.
• Steve also advised in his first CEO role and helped him.
• He taught him to build credibility with the board, investors, and gave him specific advice of “Make your numbers.” Which really means do what you say you will.

Define Innovation as you see it in today’s world…

• Eric used Austrian economist, Joseph Schumpeter as “the bouncer” for the bar in making his definition of Innovation the key to what got an entrepreneur through history in.
• He said the most important thing for capitalism is for it to continue to grow. The way it can grow is by an agent called an entrepreneur.
• An entrepreneur has two functions.
  • They have to put together a novel combination.
  • They have to disrupt an economic flow.
• The new combinations are innovations.

What advice can give entrepreneurs on how to better develop their skill of innovation?

• Think about how we define innovation.
• We focus on too much technological innovation when there are many major innovation opportunities outside of it.
• Get out of the technology box and think as broadly as you can about innovation.

At the 21 min mark, Eric tell us about the 6 themes of entrepreneurship…

• Mechanization – Taking something done by human labor and automate it with machinery. Eli Whitney and the cotton gin is good example of mechanization.
• Mass Production – Once things are mechanized, things can scale. An example of this would be King Gillette and razor blades.
• Consumerism – Continuing to create customer demand for increased supply. Alfred Sloan and GM is a great example of this.
• Sustainability – How do we make sure that we don’t ruin our ecosystem while remaining good capitalists.
• Digitization – How do we use digital platforms to change the way we innovate and use products/services.
• Social/Cultural - At any given time, there are people that conform to traditional things. The play Hamilton is good example of this.

At the 26 min mark, we have a great discussion on Consumerism being one of the biggest shifts in entrepreneurship.

“Consumerism is a fundamental change where America went from a land of sober and frugal citizens defined by what they produced, to a land of ravenous consumers defined by what they purchased.”

What are the 3 lessons of entrepreneurship?

• Entrepreneurs are given 3 gifts.
• First is your talent.
• Second is your community or your network.
• Third is your business model. This is where the rubber meats the road. You can still win without much talent or community if you have a great business model.
• You work on your talent and your community/network long before you get to your business model.

What are the elements of a great business model?

• Using Eli Whitney as example.
• Whitney was around at a time where the south was hurting and needed a solid crop. This crop became short, stable cotton. But it had a challenge in getting the cotton to a usable state that was very laborious and time consuming.
• Whitney created a machine that could “gin” 50x the cotton in one day than the standard that was happening.
• He then created business model where he told people to bring the cotton to him, he would “gin” it and then keep some for himself.
• His biggest issue was that they had not created enough machines to keep up with the supply coming from the fields.
• Instead of pivoting his model to building and selling machines. He kept it to themselves and didn’t deliver. This caused people to steal his machine and make their own. This resulted in years of litigation on patents.
• You can see what even technological innovation that big needed the right business model to go with it.
• The model is not about the product as much as it fits into the customer needs. Think about that.
• Figure out how you can focus on best fulfilling the customer need.
• Don’t fall in love with the product.

What lessons didn’t make the list of Top 3?

• It’s OK to think small.
• You have choice over how you think.
• It’s very hard to predict the future. If you can improve the lives of the people around you today, that is the best place to focus.

Not everything you learn today is not necessarily applicable today. Sample information widely. You never know when the information will make itself useful to you. ​

Which entrepreneur is your favorite and why?

• Alfred Sloan, founder of GM.
• Eric would say he was the greatest entrepreneur of them all.
• When Sloan takes over GM, Ford has 45-50% market share. When Sloan retires, GM has the 50% market share. H
• e was very effective and a great competitor.

Best Quote: Not everything you learn today is not necessarily applicable today. Sample information widely. You never know when the information will make itself useful to you.

Eric's Misfit 3:

1. Don’t be fooled by the dominant narrative. There are always other ways to succeed.
2. It’s OK to start small and solve a problem that’s right in front of you and helps those around you.
3. Be kind. It is a huge personal competitive advantage.

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