#with the entrepreneur skill i think i can go back to my original plan?

[sonicblooms]

our girlie is #MakingMoves 🎉

[pokedash55]

Ninjobservation #2

Analyzing the Elemental Alliance as a group and uncovering the real reason the Time twins (Twims for short) were "traitors"

So I have rewatched Hands of Time for the 3rd time this past year and Me and my sister Purplefern (She has a ton of good Twims fics on Ao3 ^^) have learned a lot about the old elemental alliance (EA).

THE CLAIM

The EA were a strong clique that did not appreciate the Twim's general attitudes and personalities. Chen saw the growing discourse and manipulated both sides into turning on each other.

[[They be judgin' (””art”” by me) ]]

To start let’s look at all the Leaders of this Alliance

Wu

Wu back before his eventual growth with the ninja was a strict teacher. Morro ran away due to his inability to understand his problems (problems he may have caused with his teachings). He is generally harsh towards the Ninja in season 1, forcing them to train all day because they simply talked during his lesson ("Never trust a snake").

Due to being the son of the FSM he put pressure on himself to always be virtuous and leaderlike (believes he has to uphold order) and he takes this believed expectation of authority to heart. He is no nonsense, yelling at Libber (the Master of Lightning) for simply talking slightly off topic before an important battle. He has a strong sense of right and wrong, according to his own moral standards and does not waver on what he believes is in/appropriate.

Garmadon

Although less righteous than Wu, joining the alliance after the war began, he has also been seen as a strict and serious teacher. Because of the growing venom in his blood I'd argue he was even more strict, less in attitude but more in general rules of law and order. We see in Rebooted that Garmadon set strict rules for himself like "no weapons" to keep his destructive side in check and we know that Young Garmadon is so sensitive to rules as he claims that even reading another's mail is a crime. He joined as a leader and most likely upheld rules not just for the alliance but for his own sake.

Ray and Maya

We see little of them but they are both good friends- and Ray appears to be the right hand man-- of Wu They are such good friends that Ray is the one trusted with the Map to the Golden Weapons. From his tone and diction he seems very dogmatic and if he's anything like Kai, he's quick to assumptions and to attack people who he perceives as bad according to his own strict principles. He just feels like a stuffy guy. I don't have much on Maya but she's a good people person so she gets along with the others really well. Also she married Ray, so that has to say something. They both went along with the Time Blade plan.

Other Elemental observations

 Except for Libber (Lighting), all the Masters are older than the Time twins. (Krux can fight in S7 so he's not older than 70. They are most likely mid to late twenty's during the war)

 The EA is a pre-established group (Garmadon refers to them like they are a pre-existing entity in ToE flashbacks). They were two confident and arrogent twenty year olds strolling into a pre-established clique of old honorable fighters during a war. Not the best time for bonding.

 Ice feels very much like Wu and Garmadon, considering he gave his powers to an analytical robot like Zane is saying a lot about him. He most likely does not tolerate "shenanigans", especially during a war.

They battle in a tight group

Krux and Acronix

These two act like they don't belong in the group. During the party celebrating the end of the war they are seen standing away from the rest and are genuinely happy to be recognized by Wu for their efforts. Although retcon, the two are not seen battling with the rest of the group. They instead most likely are so powerful (and impulsive and difficult to work with) that they are sent on duo missions to protect villages (They are also not the best followers).

It's also a nice parallel to our ninja in ToE. They stuck together like a family and were disliked and excluded from the rest of the EM's. The same could be said for The Twims since they always fought together and were similarly excluded.

Krux

Krux is a planner and a sassy dude. He’s stubborn and will tell people they are wrong to their face. The 16 personalities that matches him best is INTJ (the Architect). This analytical type hates people who are who they consider idiotic, do not participate in formalities, and are aggravated by heavy rules and restrictions made by someone else, especially someone they do not respect (which is most people).

Although we do not see him much as a young man we know that he is prone to grudges and will resort to less kind methods in sake for the means to an end. Definitely not someone Wu and Garmadon would like since they are trying to uphold order and keep a chain of command. But Krux believes in his own plans and his own chain of command. He is not good at small talk and would mostly stick with his brother during group events like meetings and parties, so in general his terrible social skills probably made him pretty unliked.

Acronix

Acronix is quick witted and heavily proud of himself. He won’t admit he is wrong and is very loud in general. This may be a side tangent but Acronix may have ADHD, which would not be understood back in the day and people would regard him as annoying or rude.

EVIDENCE FOR ADHD

-He is shown to stand in a position that suggests hand fidgeting (A LOT)

-Quick to anger over minuscule details

-yeah he's distractible but he's also quick to move through ideas/activities

-impulsive

- During their important battle back in time his attention is on the pretty fusion dragon flying around instead of listening to Kruxs plan of attack.

-His attention shifts to the destiny's bounty and he toys with the ninja despite saying right before he couldn't stay and fight Wu cause he had to meet up with Krux.

- in general he is constantly shifting from idea to idea, oftentimes leaving his original plans completely un-finished

He could have trouble paying attention to meetings and with his bond with Krux and tendency to quick action he would choose his brother's plan and strike independently rather than following whatever Wu is doing. This leads them to fight beside each other alone instead of with the main group, making the elemental alliance think they believe to be better than them. 

In terms of Personality types he’s a hardcore ESTP (Entrepreneur). Like his brother, they are free analytical thinkers who do not respect higher authority simply because they claim to be the leaders and hate rules and regulations getting in the way of their progress. He says what's on his minds regardless of feelings and will defend his opinions despite others sensitivities. He is perceptive enough to pick up on small changes and habits but he is quick to share that knowledge (usually in a snarky remark). I doubt the alliance appreciates what he has to say when he’s blabbering about everything in such a rude tone.

MOE

Now this all may start to look like a silly “Hands of time did nothing wrong” theory. But there is a key factor in this that not many people talk about. The previous Master of Earth (or Moe for short).

We know that Chen manipulated Moe into turning against the alliance so it was not technically his fault. Chen could’ve said that because the serpentine rose from the earth he was entitled to fight for them. Heck he could’ve been 100% hypnotized by Clouse’s dark magic (His eyes were not swirly so it was not hypnobrai like is suggested in WOTD). He is most likely some lovable dummy who was easily swayed and a kind person to apologize once the truth about Chen is revealed (considering that he’s Cole’s grandfather). Moe as a person is fine. What is sketchy is Moe being easily forgiven and allowed into the alliance despite turning on all of HUMANITY. What he did could’ve hurt way more people. He fought with the snakes and attacked innocent people and powerless soldiers (like the rice farmers) and was off scott free! The Twims only fought the elemental alliance and Wu and Garmadon at the monastery. Not nearly as destructive.

They figured out that Chen made the alliance turn on each other after the war and forgave Moe for that, but isn't it strange that they never gave the Time Twins that same benefit of the doubt? We know from “Way of the departed” and general logic that Chen and Clouse helped tip them over the edge. Whether you believe this to be canon or not is irrelevant because if the EA knew that Chen was involved once why would they not assume he was with the time twins too? Seems like they already disliked the two and were just ready for a reason to punish them. All flashbacks we get are told from unreliable sources like Wu and Ray (who both were enthusiastically the ones planning to strip them of their powers.) Speaking of, let’s analyze this example of their “betrayal” shall we?

THE BATTLE IN QUESTION

This is the flashback we get of them fighting against the alliance. The first time you watch it all you really know is that they are fighting against the EA, when Wu is describing their arrogance and the danger of their powers. How evil right? To attack their companions like that? But there is a lot wrong with how Wu phrases the fight and how it actually goes down.

They have Bamboo staffs.

A weapon that is primarily defensive and not a good weapon of choice for a planned ambush or assault. They are non lethal weapons. And Acronix is said on LEGO.com to be quick to learn any weapon so someone as adaptable as he is would not intentionally bring something so weak to a fight unless he had been forced to improvise.

Always on the defensive.

Someone as tactical as Krux and skilled as Acronix would never let themselves be on the defensive like this if they had the first blow. We see that Ray has the first attack in the flashback. Although Acronix is known to jump in without thinking he has his brother who would not just go into a fight just to lose. And even if they did end up on the defensive after having the first strike Acronix has his powers. He would’ve brought both of them out of a situation if things got too hard (which he is known to do in battles HE starts). But they clearly did not start this battle.

They are surrounded.

These two guys with nothing but staffs are encircled? Krux as a planner and Acronix as a quick witted warrior would never let themsleves get into that position if it had been a battle that they had started and had been planning to win. This framing makes it feel like they are being ganged up on.

In a remote location.

The battle takes place on a gravel road no where near a major city. If they wanted to take over wouldn’t they strike somewhere more populated? And if they were attacking the EA...they would have attacked the EA directly. They were probably just walking and talking and got ambushed.

Chen?

Very possible that Chen sent an “anonymous” note to the EA telling them of the Twims plans to attack. They are arrogant, have openly hated Wu’s leadership, and don’t gel with the group so of course they would take a tip like that and attack someone they don’t like. It’s possible they had ideas of taking over the EA but the world seems a bit out of their morality range until provoked.

Now that they have been attacked the two form a real plan to overthrow these fools who don’t like them and have unfairly attacked them (just like Chen had been telling them they were likely to do). They bring real weapons (swords) to an important location (the Monastery) to fight the specific people they do not like (Wu and Garmadon).

The Punishment

Ok so these powerful elemental masters are going to attack the EA. They were once allies and they are too powerful to defeat with their powers. If only there was a way to temporarily suspend their powers so they could talk this out and have an understanding of each other and perhaps uncover Master Chen's involvement-- since the Hands of Time were semi-sensible war heroes who were the sons of a previous master of time who presumably responsibly used the element without issue (and was most likely a samurai since Krux says their helmets are samurai helmets)... sigh too bad there is not such a material… oh wait.

WHAT ABOUT VENGESTONE???

These fools really decided that destroying an important element forever, and violently ripping it out of its users was the only option? There were generations of time elementals before them that had the element. They could throw vengestone nets at them or fight until they get knocked out and then vengestone cage them. But they don’t want to know why they betrayed the alliance. It was not because the element was too dangerous. It was not because they had to strip them of their powers (cause there are less lethal ways of doing so). They just did not give these two any mercy.

CONCLUSION

The Time twins are hard to work with and stuck together no matter what. The alliance is very strict and dogmatic which both Krux and Acronix would hate being trapped in their day to day alliance meetings and group mentality. Chen used their egos and their exclusion to his benefit to keep the fight going after he was banished and sent a letter to start up conflict with the EA. The EA did not like the Twims so they were ruthless and did not give them the same mercy they did for Moe (They also are not Elements of Creation. Wu would do anything to protect the main 4 but he’ll punish these punks). 

[robert-c]

Consultant or In House Professional

At one time or another I suppose most compensation professionals have wondered what it would be like to be one of those consultants that their management always seems to regard with more respect than themselves, their own employed professionals. Having been on both sides of that business perhaps I’m in a particularly good place to offer some thoughts.

The pros and cons of each position are fairly obvious.

The In House Expert

Pro:

Has regular     income,

Generally a much     more secure  position, and

Much more     detailed knowledge of the company and its strategies (enabling better     recommendations – in theory)

Con:

Typically not as     highly regarded for professional expertise as the outside consultant,

Often charged     with implementing plans that were designed by non-professionals     (executives), and

Held accountable     for their success or failure, usually the latter.

Outside Consultant

Pro:

Typically gets     to design and recommend the plan they think is best,

Not bogged down     in the details of administration and implementation, and

Variety of     companies and industries to work with keeps things interesting and     challenging.

Con:

Income/benefits     is either extremely variable or insecure; depending on being your own firm     or working for a larger one,

Rarely get to     see things work out with your recommendations, and

Must spend as     much time developing business (selling) as actually doing the work you     presumably love and are best at.

My career went pretty much as follows: in house, consultant, in house, consultant, and finally in house; altogether roughly equal total times in each role. My consulting experience was divided between being a sole practitioner and an employee of a large consulting firm. I suppose I’ve seen the field from just about every vantage point.

Based on my parents’ Great Depression Era experience, I put too much importance on job security. In addition, I was too fearful about business development or selling. Everyone has to examine their own feelings about these elements and determine if they are willing to push through and learn how to do or accept something different or if they really aren’t suited to those aspects of work. My personal opinion is that most in house professionals would do well as consultants, in larger firms where someone else is taking the lead on the business development, i.e. selling.

There are frustrations in either role, the key to a happy and satisfying career is finding the role that minimizes the frustrations that are most annoying and then learning not to focus on them. A lot of people (me included) have the habit of looking at life and seeing what is missing from their “perfect” view of what they would like, it’s the “squeaky wheel” view. If it is something that can be “fixed”, fine, do it and move on. But when the things that are missing can’t be had (because they are not in your control) then focusing on them only increases the sense of frustration and dissatisfaction.

There are things not specifically covered in the pros and cons above. My first consulting job was with a large firm as their employee. The partner I was assigned to made a statement whose accuracy and importance was much greater than I realized at the time. “There is a fine line between what we do and prostitution.” We were primarily working in executive compensation so the applicability of the statement should be obvious.

But it applied in a broader sense. I discovered that even in matters of base pay for the rank and file, we often had to navigate between the preconceived notions of the client and good professional practice. In order to ensure continued business from the client there was always the pressure to give them whatever they thought they wanted. Diplomatically “selling” the recommendations we made is a skill that is needed for both the in house and outside consultant roles. Naively, I originally thought the basic facts and logic would be enough to carry the day.

The topic of executive compensation deserves its own article; but let’s just say being hired by and working for the executive whose compensation plan you will be designing and recommending to the Board of Directors is, at the very least, a conflict of interest with the goal of objective and professional counsel.

Let me say that I do admire and respect those entrepreneurs who see an unmet need in the market and fill it and make a success of their business. My admiration can sometimes border on reverence. At the same time, many of these individuals had unrealistic ideas about themselves and their employees. Too many thought of themselves heroically and that others should consider themselves privileged to be allowed to help them achieve their lofty objectives.

I remember the businessman who wanted to double his profits. He wanted an incentive plan to motivate his people to do more to upsell, retain and get new customers (by having current customers refer others). However, his idea of a sufficient reward for doing this was a maximum potential bonus of 5% a year over the next 5 years. What this means in practice is that each year the maximum bonus for helping double the business (and the owner’s profit) is the equivalent of working 1⅓ hours of overtime each week. Over the course of five years the maximum bonus for helping double the owner’s business (in virtual perpetuity) amounts to about 25% of one year’s base pay. True, those requirements might reasonably be part of the job currently. But if that isn’t having the desired results, how sure are we that having the staff ramp it up, add more enthusiasm is going to change things? Is the service really up to the best possible? In short, how much extra effort are people going to put out to double the boss’ pay for that amount of reward?

So I guess what I’m saying is that the first “pro” under consulting, (gets to design and recommend the plan they think is best) really depends on how good you feel you are at selling your idea to the client and/or how willing you are to risk them not liking it simply because it contradicts their life long biases.

The third “pro” under in house expert (more familiarity with the company etc.) only matters if your opinions and recommendations are being heard or considered by executive management.

So the basic choice is, in house for regular earnings and a modicum of job security, with limited opportunities for job satisfaction; consulting for variety and the excitement of pressure.

Sometimes you can hit the winning combination. I had a period as an in house expert where I actually was listened to and made a difference with my recommendations. I even had a good period as a consultant where the business development was handled by a very good sales person who brought me in to let the prospect see that I had good ideas and could work well with them.

Of course there were situations that were all of the bad elements together, but there isn’t much to say about those, except that if you are in one, get out as soon as you realize it. Don’t let fear of financial insecurity hold you back. Those situations don’t change from the inside as often as folks like to believe (you have a better chance of winning the lottery). And if you still think your loyalty to the company will count for something, I’m sorry, but wake up – this isn’t the 1950’s.

[claritalunaluna76]

MBW’s World’s Greatest Managers series profiles the best artist managers in the global business. This time, we speak to Mark Gillespie, founder of Three Six Zero and manager to huge artists like Calvin Harris. The World’s Greatest Managers is supported by Centtrip Music, a specialist in intelligent treasury, payments and foreign exchange – created with the music industry and its needs in mind.

Mark Gillespie grew up in Redditch, just south of Birmingham, England – where, as a teenager in the mid-’90s, he developed his passion for electronic music as a record collector and amateur DJ.

From there, he met local promoter Eddie Boulton, who gave him a job handing out flyers for Birmingham’s soon-to-launch legendary superclub Godskitchen.

Within a couple of years, Gillespie – deemed something of an internet-age whizkid within Godskitchen – was becoming an increasingly influential figure within the club, helping pick out emerging DJ talent, while also building websites, launching digital marketing campaigns and acting as a talent liaison.

This was a heady lifestyle for an 18-year-old dance music fanatic, which, by Gillespie’s own admission, invited “all kinds of crazy shit” into his life. Including the fact that local gangs – particularly the notoriously violent Birmingham Zulus – liked to frequent the club.

“For quite a while, I wore a bulletproof vest to work,” says Gillespie, matter-of-factly. “That was just being sensible; there’d always be standoffs between various gangs over who was and wasn’t allowed in the club. And then one night, this guy pulled a gun out and waved it right in my face.”

Funny thing is, Gillespie (pictured) doesn’t actually count this incident as his worst ever day at work. That came a couple of years before, when he considered turning his back on the music game for a ‘proper job’, by starting an engineering apprenticeship (similar to an internship) at UK car maker Rover.

“They were good people, but I hated it,” he says. “One day, I just stood up and walked out; I realized I had to make my music stuff work, otherwise I’d be at Rover for the rest of my days.”

Getting a gun thrust in his mush for Gillespie was, relatively speaking, still living the dream.

By 2003, Gillespie had progressed to booking the DJ’s at Godskitchen and its related festivals, as well as processing payments for talent and managing project budgets.

If anyone ever tells you that learning on the job is somehow bested by an academic education, let’s just run through the skills that Gillespie acquired within a few years of joining a nightclub as the flyer kid, aged 16: promotion, artist liaison, accounting, digital marketing, coding, talent booking, self-preservation – not to mention one of the best contacts books in the world of electronic music.

The next step was inevitable, wasn’t it? Godskitchen began releasing compilation albums through Sony Music, giving Gillespie a taste of how the wider record business worked.

Inspired by the likes of UK indie labels Defected, FFRR, and Toolroom, he hatched a plan to launch his own part-time record company – while still working at Godskitchen – and began scanning MySpace “for hours and hours most days, just trying to find new music played by interesting people”.

Eventually, Gillespie landed on the MySpace page of Scottish producer/DJ, Calvin Harris, and hotfooted it up to Glasgow to meet him. Leaving the city deeply impressed, Gillespie made a life-changing decision. “I pivoted,” he says. “I decided I didn’t want to be Calvin’s label – I wanted to be his manager.”

This was the beginning of what would become globe-straddling artist management powerhouse, Three Six Zero. Via his role at Godskitchen, Gillespie had become friendly with influential UK DJ and broadcaster Pete Tong and, in mid-2006, Gillespie passed Tong a CD with a bunch of Harris’s music on it. Tong played his track, The Girls, on his Friday night show on BBC Radio 1, and Gillespie’s cell phone began lighting up.

“I made the decision, right then, to quit my job and become a manager full time,” says Gillespie. “Calvin said to me, ‘Are you sure you want to do this?’ Looking back now, leaving [Godskitchen] probably was a real leap of faith, but it didn’t feel like it at that moment.”

Before we come on to the status of Three Six Zero in 2019, it’s worth reiterating the enormity of Calvin Harris’s worldwide success. He has sold 12 million records globally to date, including 44 million singles, and has had 14 UK No.1s. He has also amassed over 16 billion audio and video streams.

Originally signed by Mike Pickering at Columbia in the UK, Harris is one of Sony’s bestselling, and perennially prioritized, global artists. He’s worked with everyone from Rihanna to Dua Lipa, Florence + The Machine, Sam Smith, Khalid, Pharrell Williams, Ariana Grande and Migos.

In tandem with Harris’s rise, Gillespie, alongside his former business partner Dean Wilson, has built Three Six Zero into a truly blockbuster player in the global music industry. Based in Los Angeles, TSZ has one of the strongest rosters in dance music globally – with Harris, Tiësto and Disciples on its books, amongst others. It also reps leading lights in other genres like Louis Tomlinson, Kacy Hill and Grammy Award-winning producer Noah Goldstein.

Gillespie has an excellent story about his first foray into the United States with Three Six Zero: A major record label was interested in hiring the British exec to run a dance music-focused subsidiary. He took the meetings, and the paid flights to New York, gladly – but while in town, he was also meeting with Roc Nation’s Jay Brown, with whom Gillespie and Three Six Zero ended up going into business with for almost a decade.

Today, after a transformational year, Three Six Zero is fully independent, and fully-owned by Gillespie. TSZ recently launched a new office in London, headed up by long-term friend of the company, Phil Sales.

Gillespie, a major movie buff, has also quietly made a name for Three Six Zero in the film world, managing the likes of feature-maker Brady Corbet, Shameik Moore – the lead actor in Academy Award-winning animated movie, Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse – and bestselling author/ scriptwriter Bret Easton Ellis.

Three Six Zero’s ambitions in Hollywood moved up a couple of leagues earlier this year, when Music Business Worldwide broke the news that the firm had acquired Westbrook Entertainment. That firm’s on-screen talent – including Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith, Jaden Smith, Willow Smith, Kenna and Crespo – are all now integrated into the TSZ family.

What’s more, Three Six Zero launched its own first feature film – the acclaimed Vox Lux, starring Natalie Portman and Jude Law – at the end of last year. The soundtrack to the movie was released on Three Six Zero’s in-house record label, headed up by Pete Tong, which Gillespie runs as a JV with Sony Music Entertainment.

MBW recently sat down with Gillespie over dinner in Los Angeles to map out Three Six Zero’s history, and to learn what the British entrepreneur has up his sleeve for the future…

YOU’RE NOW FLYING SOLO AS THE HEAD OF AN INDEPENDENT THREE SIX ZERO – HAVING ALWAYS HAD BUSINESS PARTNERS SINCE YOU LAUNCHED THE COMPANY IN 2007. WHAT’S THAT LIKE?

The idea of running this company solo used to terrify me. But now it’s different: I like the autonomy, and I like that you can craft decisions that are entirely yours.

There isn’t any interruption in what you’re doing. In some ways, it’s more difficult, but in other ways it’s more enjoyable.

WHAT ARE THE BEST THINGS ABOUT THE MUSIC BUSINESS IN THE US?

I love the professionalism; people really take pride in what they do and that resonates with me. The level of execution that you see in the US business is very impressive – some of the festivals and the live touring setups in particular. You regularly come across people that are prepared to push the envelope [in order] to be able to ensure that really great and interesting things happen.

The potential scale in America is fascinating – the business here really thinks about things on a global basis. I’m really proud of the fact that we’ve managed to handle our business over here, and I’m really grateful that we’ve been enabled to do that.

We all know that some people [from international territories] come to the US with an attitude that they’re going to tell people what to do – to me, that suggests those people believe it’s somehow easy to conduct business over here, and it’s really not.

The flow of business and the way that things are done is totally different to the UK but I love it, and I’m hugely passionate about it.

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE TRANSITION FROM CALVIN HARRIS THE FRONTMAN TO CALVIN HARRIS THE SUPERSTAR DJ? SOME PEOPLE IN THE STATES MIGHT NOT KNOW THAT HE STARTED OUT AS A SINGER, VERY MUCH IN FRONT OF THE DECKS – BEFORE EMBRACING HIS KINGMAKING ROLE AS THE ARCHITECT BEHIND THE SCENES….

It’s one of the smartest decisions that he made in his career – and it was all him. He used the live touring circuit in the early stages of his career to help establish his business and hone his identity.

At that moment in time [indie/dance crossover acts with ‘frontmen’] was what was happening in the UK, but he saw what was coming and very intelligently saw that the world was turning in a slightly different direction. He also happened to write some of the greatest records ever released at the right time. That always helps.

HOW GOOD IS CALVIN?

His successes broadly speak for themselves. I may seem biased but I think he’s the best writer/producer of his generation.

I love him as an artist and a person. He’s ridiculously hard working, always has been, and he’s a huge a supporter of mine. His drive has definitely helped pushed me along over the years.

OTHER THAN JAY BROWN AND ROC NATION, WHO ELSE HAS BEEN MENTOR FIGURES IN THE US FOR YOU?

Rob Stringer. He’s really perceptive, and gave me some of the soundest advice in the early stages of my career. He’s also helped guide me, on more than one occasion, through what can sometimes be quite a complicated and political business.

Then there’s Michael Rapino – one of the smartest guys in the industry. He has a very direct, knowledge-based approach, which I respect him for. [That approach] is why, above anything else, I think he’s so tremendously successful.

On the subject of mentors, no-one comes close to my mum. She was an entrepreneur and raised three kids on her own. We didn’t have a lot, but she managed to get us into a place where we all had enough.

Redditch is a very ‘normal’ place; part of it’s really nice, part of it’s shitty, and the town center is ‘burger, fries and two black eyes’. It’s not South Central, but it’s not Kensington either. She’s been an incredibly good example to me that if you work really hard, you can achieve important things.

WHY HAVE YOU GOT SUCH A HUNGER TO MAKE MOTION PICTURES OR AUDIO/VISUAL CONTENT?

Partly because I think that the world that we live in now requires the ability to work across multiple disciplines. And partly because I love film, and always have.

Film, TV, short-form digital content, music and socials all used to be very separate, different disciplines. But over the past few years, with the massive growth in streaming, they’ve all moved closer together – and I think they’ll continue to move closer together.

A lot of people ask me whether I’m moving more towards film [at the expense of music] and I’m not. I work pretty much every moment that my eyes are open, and the film thing began as a hobby. I decided to do a few things that made us a bit more of a [Hollywood] entity, and which showed that we have reasonably good taste.

We’ve had a few successes now, and I think that all of the practical lessons that we learn from the [film] business will be hugely beneficial to the music side of our business. But, by no means, am I getting out of the music business. If anything, I’m more focused on music than I ever have been for my entire career; I think this is the most exciting time that the music business has ever seen.

WHY?

There are fewer barriers. There is opportunity for all different types of music to be able to break through.

Also, streaming is working, so there’s the revenue there, if distributed correctly, for the industry to develop and build big artists.

Interesting things are happening in the music business on a daily basis. Since the start of my career, I’ve been hugely into technology, and hugely into music, and I feel like at this moment in time, I get to do a bit of both every single day.

WHY DID YOU START A LABEL WITH SONY?

Three Six Zero has always run labels since the beginning of our business. [The company previously released albums from the likes of The Prodigy in the US via a JV deal with Warner Music Group and label-managed Mau5trap, Rising and Fly Eye Records.]

Running a label helps define your level of taste as a company. It also means you can have different levels of involvement in the careers of talent. The most enjoyable part of that is the ability to work with other managers, actually.

As for why Sony, part of it is because [via Calvin] I’ve spent eleven years getting to know everyone in that system; if I need to ask a question of somebody in Mexico, I know who to pick the phone up to. I know all the label heads in all the major markets, and there’s some really great people there.

Sony’s a really good company at the moment with a great perspective.

YOU’VE HAD SOME BIG CHARACTERS AS CLIENTS DOWN THE YEARS, INCLUDING TRAVIS SCOTT, MORRISSEY AND FRANK OCEAN. ONE OF THE MOST NOTORIOUS MOMENTS INVOLVED FRANK AND THE RELEASE OF BLONDE, WHERE HE COMPLETED HIS ALBUM DEAL WITH UNIVERSAL WITH A VIDEO-LP, ENDLESS, THEN INDEPENDENTLY RELEASED WHAT APPEARED TO BE HIS ‘REAL’ ALBUM WITHIN DAYS. HOW DID THAT SITUATION COME ABOUT?

Frank is a private guy, and that’s part of what makes him so great. So if that story is ever to be told, he should be the one telling it.

WHAT DO YOU THINK IS GOING TO BE THE NEXT MAJOR TECHNOLOGICAL SEA CHANGE IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY?

The business needs to find a new format, in order to protect itself.

The biggest threat to the music business right now is decentralized networks. Thanks to Daniel [Ek] and Spotify, a new economy has been created in the business from streaming, but decentralization is a potential threat to that. Decentralization [i.e. blockchain technology] is something that was super buzzy for a year or two, and has gone away a bit, but I think it will swing back around at great pace in the next five years, and could be potentially devastating for the entire entertainment content business.

What happens after streaming is something that we need to focus on. The good news is that there are people within the major record companies and major publishers that are a hell of a lot more technologically savvy than they were when Napster hit.

One other thing is that I think other streaming platforms, from outside music, will want to get into music. That’s going to make things interesting but it’s potentially a threat as well – making sure that music is valued at the correct amount when that happens.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR THREE SIX ZERO?

We’re in a place where we can largely do what we want, which is interesting. Over the last eighteen months, I’ve spent a lot of time reconnecting with my British roots, and I’ve come to the conclusion that, if everything came to an end tomorrow, I’d like to be seen as the guy who took some good British stuff to America and made it successful.

I hope for us to do more of that, which means spending a bit more time back in London, re-establishing the business there. I love seeing some of the new, young managers from the UK having a go at moving out [to L.A] and getting stuck in.

And obviously I’m really excited to see what we can achieve with Will [Smith], Miguel [Melendez] and the Westbrook guys. I’ve known them for seven or eight years, we all share a similar philosophy, and they’re very smart and innovative people. There is a real opportunity to work with them to grow our intellectual property [portfolio] while expanding our entertainment management business.

WHAT’S HAPPENING WITH THREE SIX ZERO UK? LAST WE HEARD IT WAS BEING CLOSED BUT NOW IT’S BACK.

It would be impossible for us to be champions of British talent and not have an office in London. Phil [Sales] is our head in London; we’re partners in the UK business and we’re building it around him.

He’s very direct, he’s honest, he truly loves music, and he’s incredibly passionate about what he does. I’m seeing lots of great things happening in the UK, musically.

The British business seemed to get very locked off [outside the US] for about a year and a half, but that seems to be changing now.

WHAT SIZE DO YOU WANT THREE SIX ZERO TO BECOME AS AN INDEPENDENT COMPANY?

I’m definitely not looking for mass scale – I’m not trying to be the biggest anything ever again. That’s one of the most important lessons I’ve learned in my career so far; being the biggest is not necessarily being the best.

Continually re-assessing what success means to you – especially after you have prolonged success – is the most difficult bit of running a business, but it’s essential.

A specialist in intelligent treasury, payments and foreign exchange, Centtrip Music works with over 450 global artists helping them and their crew maximise their income and reduce touring costs with its award-winning multi-currency card and live foreign exchange rates. Centtrip Music also offers record labels, promoters, collection societies and publishers a more cost-effective way to send payments across the globe.

Music Business Worldwide - July 10, 2019

[sheldoningram]

The Hot New Way To Find A Profitable, Pandemic-Proof Franchise To Buy

New Post From The Franchise King®

(Valvoline® Image courtesy of jeepersmedia on Flickr)

I know what you’re asking yourself.

“Should I really be looking for a franchise to buy right now? In the middle of the pandemic?”

Guess what? If I was thinking about becoming my own boss I’d be asking myself the same thing. And I probably wouldn’t be sharing that thought with others because they would think I was nuts.

It’s clearly a crazy idea, right? Too risky.

You’re going to buy a franchise right now?

During the End Times?

(It’s not the End Times. This will pass.)

So, stay with me. The things I’m going to share with you will make sense. I promise.

  The Pandemic: I Have Good News And Bad News

First, the good news: pandemics don’t last forever. The latest prediction is that this one may last anywhere from 18 to 24 months. And believe it or not, that is good news. It is going to pass.

The bad news: the world economy is being hit hard. And no one knows when things will return back to normal.

In light of that, you should probably hunker down. Wait things out for a bit. It’s the safer thing to do. And I can’t blame you.

  Except playing it safe won’t get you very far.

“We really only have two choices. Play it safe or take a chance. For me, pulling back because of fear has always made me feel worse.”

– Gail Sheehy

Now, in a moment, I’m going to get to the heart of the matter…how to find Coronavirus-proof franchise opportunities.

Royal Hint: Every franchise can be grouped into one very, very, very, very specific business sector. One.

But before I reveal what it is, you first need to look inside yourself a bit, because going into business is a big step. Let’s make sure you’re ready.

  Look At Your Life

This is a great time for you to evaluate your life up to now. Especially if you’re thinking of going into a franchise business now.

This 3-minute video may help you get in the mood to do it.

Great song. Anyway…

I encourage you to take some “me time.”

That means taking stock of your life.

Are you happy where you’re at, or do you have more to do?

And remember…

“If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.”

– Jim Rohn

Finally, it’s not as if you’re alone in this. A lot of your fellow travelers are at a crossroads. But I only want to talk about you now. About a road you can take. One that’s proven.

  Franchising

When it comes to going into business for yourself, there are 3 ways to do it. You can:

Come up with an idea for a business and launch it

Purchase someone else’s existing business

Buy a franchise

I’m going with the last one.

Because when you own a franchise, you get:

A proven business model

A business system that’s been tested

Support

Technology that helps drive revenue

Turnkey marketing programs

Name recognition

Vetted suppliers

A built-in network of fellow franchisees to talk to

That’s good stuff, right? And I’ve only scratched the surface. Now for the easy part.

Choosing the right franchise opportunity to own.

Picking one franchise.

One out of 3500.

In fact, there are currently over 3500 different franchise opportunities being offered in the U.S. But don’t let that number worry you, because I’m going to show you how to quickly narrow your search down to only a few.

  The Franchise Segments You Need To Focus On

This pandemic has rocked the franchise world.

Every franchise business has been affected one way or another.

However, some have fared better than others. And those are the ones I want you to focus on.

Sounds pretty simple, right? Well, it’s not.

Case in point: fast food franchises.

  To be sure, you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to figure out that fast food franchises that offer drive-thru service, curbside pickup, and delivery are doing pretty well.

(Pictured: NASA rocket scientists.)

It’s as if fast food restaurants were designed for pandemics.

Maybe McDonald’s entrepreneur, Ray Kroc, more of a visionary than previously thought.

With that in mind, it would behoove you to take a look at the fast food segment of franchising. It’s a segment that can be a very profitable venture (as long as you choose the right concept).

Of course you need to have adequate capital, a lot of energy, and good management skills to qualify for today’s food franchise opportunities.

But what if you don’t see yourself working 14 hours a day in a hectic, fast-paced environment? (Not that there’s anything wrong with it.)

In other words, what if you’re not at all interested in owning a food franchise?

What if you want to find other types of franchises to learn more about?

I’m referring to other franchises that can do well in times like these.

If that’s the case, give me a second. I need to get out of my chair and peel back the curtain.

  There we go.

  The Hot, New Way To Find The Right Franchise To Buy

This is the moment you’ve been waiting for.

If you want to find profitable franchise opportunities that make sense to pursue during this pandemic, I’m talking about bullet-proof franchises, you need to focus on these two words: essential businesses.

Now, I’m not going to jump into a debate about what businesses are deemed “essential” and which ones are not. It’s a waste of time. But you need to key in on essential businesses.

That said, I have been able to identify essential businesses within the franchise industry. Like:

Healthcare Services

This Pet-Related Franchise

Automotive Franchises

Cleaning Franchises

Plus a lot of other franchise opportunities you need to know about. The essential ones.

As a matter of fact, I put together a massive list of pandemic-proof franchise opportunities you can start learning about right now.

List Of Pandemic-Proof Franchises

Just make sure you head back here after you look at the list.

But only if you want to learn how to make a smart choice in a franchise to buy.

  What To Do When You Find A Franchise That May Makes Sense To Buy In Times Like These

Finding franchises you think have potential is one thing. Doing the work needed to make sure they’re winners is quite another.

The best thing you can do (right now) is to read and bookmark my step-by-step guide on how to buy a franchise. Everything you need to know about buying a franchise in a really smart way is included in it.

Next, if you’ve found a couple of franchises that look promising, you need to grab “The Definitive Guide To Franchise Research.” Click the link to see why you need my all-encompassing guide.

Third, if you start getting close to buying a specific franchise, hire a competent franchise attorney to go over the FDD and the franchise agreement. That way you’ll be able to sleep at night.

To conclude, the hot, new way to search for the right franchise to buy is pretty simple.

Only look at franchises that must stay open during a pandemic, or that can adapt (with proof) their business model to the current conditions.

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The post The Hot New Way To Find A Profitable, Pandemic-Proof Franchise To Buy appeared first on Best Franchise To Own | The Franchise King®.

Originally posted on The Hot New Way To Find A Profitable, Pandemic-Proof Franchise To Buy via Starting a Franchise Information

[seriouslyhooked]

The Same Soul (Part 1/?)

Available on FF Here and AO3 Here.

Our world AU where Emma and Killian knew each other as teenagers. Killian was sent to spend a summer with family in America. He met foster kid Emma while there. They fell in love but then he was forced back home and she couldn’t take the memories so she ran away, trying her best to move on from the dreams they’d always hoped for. A chance meeting brings them back together years later, and this time nothing and no one will keep them apart. Rated M. 

A/N: Hey all! So it’s been a pretty long time since I dropped a new multi-chapter story, and for good reason. I am still very much working on finishing ‘Lost Souls’ and I have about a million mixtape prompts to respond to sometime this summer and into the fall. But when inspiration strikes, you have to run with it, and while listening to a song I’ve loved a long time, ‘Same Soul’ by PVRIS, I thought of this AU. It’s set in our world where Emma is a bail bonds person living a lonely life in Boston. She and Killian met years ago, there were definite fireworks, but fate kept them apart. Now, years later, fate steps in again reuniting them. For the rest, you’ll have to read and see. Anyway thanks so much for taking the time and hope you all enjoy!

“Listen Lady, I told you before, you got the wrong guy! That shit that happened, whatever it is the cops are spinning, it wasn’t me. You hear me? Hey! I’m talking to you.”

Yeah, unfortunately for me.

Emma did her best to try and drown out the noise currently emanating from the back of her car. It was hard work seeing as how the perp she’d picked up for jumping bail this time was one of the biggest whiners she had ever had the displeasure of bringing in. But at the end of the day this was manageable. In just a few more minutes they’d get to the courthouse and she would pick up a big fat check for all the trouble of interacting with this asshole. He was a big fish in a big city, and according to court records the state had him on the line for not one, not two, but twenty-five stolen luxury vehicles. And how had he done that? Simple – by preying on unsuspecting marks who thought he was the valet, or an assistant, or just a garden variety good Samaritan. Emma surprised a snort at even the thought of the last one. This guy was so obviously rotten to the core that she could smell his shit from a mile away, and despite his repeated denials, August Booth had been a very busy guy this summer.

“Okay I get it, you’re doing this for the money. Hell I respect that. You’re a regular entrepreneur. So what would it take? 10 grand? 20? I can get you that. All you gotta do is let me go.”

Now Emma really had to laugh. This idiot really thought so little of her. Didn’t he realize she’d been tracking him for a full week, and that in order to do that she’d had to do a deep dive not just into his personal life and habits, but also every last trace of his financial capabilities? He had no way in hell of making good on this offer, and yet he continued to lie and beg like it would somehow sway her.

“Seriously, I know people, and I’m good for the money. No one even has to know that you helped me out. Just pull over, undo these cuffs and I’ll get you the dough.”

“The dough?” Emma asked, incredulous and yet somewhat amused by how dissociated this guy seemed to be. “Who even says that? This isn’t a mafia movie from the 70s. You conned a bunch of people, stole a bunch of shit, and then skipped bail. I don’t care about the money that I know you don’t have, or the guys you think you know who are supposedly going to help you out of this. You’re not just a skip – you’re a bad guy. I’m not about to just let you go.”

“Aw fuck,” the man said from the back, his whole persona deflating as the realization finally dawned on him that she couldn’t be bought off so easily. “You’re one of those do gooders. Damn it! Just my luck.”

Emma didn’t bother to correct him even though she was hardly a ‘do-gooder’ as he’d so scathingly labeled her. Instead she reminded herself that talking to this man was nothing but a waste of time. Honestly, talking to most men felt like a waste of time, and at the end of the day, every man tended to show their true colors one way or another, and none of them ever appealed to her when they did. They might hide themselves well in the beginning, but no matter what men always seemed to find a way to fail to meet even the most baseline of expectations.

Except for Killian. He never let me down. He always did his best by me.

The thought was automatic as it rang out through her mind, and Emma’s immediate instinct was to miss him, which was crazy. Killian was a man – nay a boy – that she’d known more than ten years ago. She was sixteen the summer she met him, and though the thought was honest (he had, in fact, always been so good to her), it was also irrelevant. That was a whole lifetime ago. Hell, it felt like dozens of lifetimes ago. So much had changed. She was no longer the same person, and she had to imagine he was no longer the same either. Still, she wondered if that was true. Here she was writing off men in their entirety, but one possible outlier still remained.

“Get it together, Emma. You’re better than this.”

She whispered the words aloud under her breath, a common tactic to shift her thoughts from yesteryear that she’d developed as time went by. She had to pivot her thinking, and talking to herself, however strange, always seemed to help her do that quickly. The only problem was she still had an audience, and she’d totally forgotten that, only remembering when her perp responded to her with a pointed question that made her jump.

“So you are considering my proposition?”

“Hell no,” Emma rebutted, her eyes automatically rolling at the level of stupid that kept coming from this guy’s mouth. “I’m dropping you off, collecting my check, and then promptly forgetting you even exist.”

“Then what are better than?” Booth asked, his face shifting from hopeful to something a bit more sinister. Emma could see him trying to calculate an angle, no doubt aimed at manipulating her into letting him go. People didn’t get so far in running cons like he did without having that ability to play off a person’s weaknesses. “Sounds like you have a lot on your conscience Emma. Something weighing heavily on you? An old regret perhaps?”

“That’s none of your business,” Emma said with as much calm as she could muster, thankful as she rounded the corner and sidled up to the courthouse. She parked her car and opened the back door, not surprised that her guilty guest was less than interested in complying. He remained seated, and Emma tried to anticipate if he was going to play the dead weight card or try to make a run for it. “We can either do this the easy way or the hard way. But fair warning, the hard way is also the painful way.”

“Yeah right – like you’re going to hurt me somehow.”

“I took you down didn’t I?” Emma asked, her hand moving to her hip as she raised a brow at him. How fickle some people’s memories were. Clearly he’d forgotten the finer details of her apprehending him, including the part where he started running across the pizza joint she’d found him at and she stopped him by pushing a chair in his way, causing him to trip and fall with a crash to the ground.

“You got lucky. Bet you can’t do that twice.”

“Yeah, maybe. But see the thing is I don’t need luck, because I have this.” She pulled out her trusty tazer from the pocket of her red leather jacket and just because this guy was pissing her off, she fired it up, letting the buzz of the electricity start to circulate as a spark jumped visibly before them. “So let me ask this again. Are you going to get smart, or am I about to have a lot more fun than I bargained for?”

“All right, all right! Jeez, you really are crazy,” he exclaimed, getting up from the car and allowing her to maneuver him into the side door where on the lam defendants were deposited.

“That’s what they all say,” Emma sighed dramatically. “You could at least go for something more original.”

There was no reason to bother with goodbyes once Emma was inside. She’d meant what she said before; she absolutely planned to get her money and immediately forget about this low life. With minimal fuss she handed Booth over to the officers at the scene and then moved to the administrative desk to collect her skip amount and put yet another successful catch down on her record.

“Damn, Emma! Are you serious right now? The earliest person on the office pool said Booth would be at least a month long hunt. The BPD has been yammering on about his connections and underground network, but you make this look so easy.”

The words of praise came from Ruby, a sassy and sarcastic worker here who Emma always seemed to get along with. She wouldn’t call them friends per se, but they understood each other, and Emma was always willing to engage with her a little more than the others who worked here at the courthouse. Ruby had a good sense of humor, and she too seemed to genuinely understand the less than stellar nature of the average man too, which came up a lot when Emma dropped off her fugitives.

“What can I say? I was born for this.”

“Born to be a bail bonds person?” Ruby asked with a laugh. “Hardly. I still think you should be using those skills elsewhere. You’d make a great cop, or sheriff, maybe FBI. Or ooh – CIA! I can totally see you as a spy. You’d lure them all in with a little black dress and then you’d take down them down, and a whole country with it.”

“Eh, sounds like a lot of work,” Emma said with a shake of her head. “Besides, we both know no one else in this city is as good at this as me. What would the greater Boston area even do without me?”

“Good point,” Ruby acknowledged. “You’re practically the savior. Or the garbage collector. God I can’t believe some of these people. Like Booth – no morals. He stole a car from an elderly couple at a hospital. A hospital! It’s disgusting,” Ruby said with a shiver, and Emma absolutely agreed. It was heinous, but unfortunately not the worst crimes she’d ever heard of around these parts. “Anyway let’s get your forms all filled out. I know how the savior really operates – you’re probably jonesing to be alone.”

Emma offered a friendly smile, but even the off-handed turn of phrase sparked something in her. Jones. That was Killian’s last name and now that was twice that she’d thought about someone who should have long ago been forgotten. What was with her today? It wasn’t totally unheard of for her to think of him, but still. This was a lot – and yet she couldn’t help thinking that it wasn’t enough.

“If you want my advice though, you should really stick around. There’s a new ADA here today, I guess he’s heading that children’s advocacy unit that the Governor installed last month, and he is hot – hot – HOT,” Ruby proclaimed without a care in the world as she fanned himself.

“I didn’t think you went for hot shot lawyers,” Emma teased, knowing that based on the guys who came in here claiming to want her attention after a night or two of her time, a lawyer would not be Ruby’s usual cup of tea. “Not enough tattoos to pass the Ruby Lucas standard.”

“I know, I know. Sadly I’m more likely to find a match on the wrong side of the bars in here. It’s really terrible. I wish they made something to cure that.”

“Extensive therapy?” Emma offered and Ruby shook her head.

“Nah I’m thinking tequila. Speaking of, some of the girls from my apartment building are going out this weekend. You should come with us.”

Emma was stunned at the offer. This was an escalation in terms of attempts at friendship made by Ruby and Emma didn’t know how she felt about that. She knew she liked Ruby and that she was a good person with a good sense of humor, but she didn’t really do the whole ‘friends’ thing. Emma was a loner and that was sort of all she knew.

“Let me stop you before you tell me something like ‘I don’t want to intrude’ or ‘I might be busy.’ You are coming out with us, and you’re going to have fun. It’s a great bar near Fenway – hidden enough so we don’t have to deal with tourists, but a good vibe all around. We’ll drink, we’ll eat, we’ll talk shit about celebrities or whatever and you will love it, even if you hate it at first.”

“You sound awfully convinced that this is happening.”

“I am. I know you’re guarded, Emma, but I’m not looking to break down any walls or anything. This is just fun, and when’s the last time you really had fun?”

It had been forever since Emma could recall a time when she was more than just content or surviving. Fun was a foreign concept to her, and in her life as a foster kid and then an independent adult, she had very few glimpses in her past that a normal person would consider enjoyable. It was for this reason that she was hesitant to commit to anything, but her gut, the intuition that she always trusted, was talkative in this moment, and it told her to give this a try even if it scared her just a little bit.

“Okay, I’ll go,” Emma said, prompting an excited squeal from Ruby. Before her new friend could get any ideas Emma put her hand up in physical warning. “But I will not be talking about my feelings and I am not getting blindly set up, so if this an attempt at doing that you better squash that idea now. We clear?”

“Crystal,” Ruby said with glee. She gave Emma the details of where they were going, and looked like she was about to talk more about the impending outing when something caught her gaze across the way. “Oh shit, incoming! Hot lawyer guy at two o’clock.”

An announcement like that would usually never mean much to Emma. She didn’t get worked up over the prospect of a hot guy, but before she turned she felt her stomach flutter slightly, a very unfamiliar feeling for as of late. It was strange and unexpected, but nothing could compare to the feelings that slammed into her all at once and she saw who was standing there, talking to one of the bailiffs outside of the courtroom.

“Killian?” Her voice was barely a whisper, and Emma didn’t even mean to say his name aloud at all, but she knew she must have when Ruby replied.

“Oh my god, do you know him?! You really do work fast, honey. He like just got here. This is his first day in the courtroom, and from what I hear he’s already killing it.”

Emma had no ability to respond to that information even though she craved more on a cellular level. She was consumed with so many thoughts and wants and emotions. Could this really be Killian? He was so different, so altered. The boy she knew was just that – a boy – but this man… Holy crap he was hot! Ruby had not been exaggerating, but it was more than just attraction. Emma could see in his mannerisms and from the easy smile that he had with a man who must be a relative stranger that he was still good and kind. It made her knees tremble to behold him in all the glory of this suit and with the swagger and confidence of a damn good attorney. Then he turned to her and she was totally lost, and after only the briefest moment of worry that he wouldn’t remember her, he eased her every fear on the subject.

“Emma?” he said, excusing himself immediately from the bailiff’s company as he walked towards her.

Oh shit! Oh shit! He’s coming this way. What do I do? What do I say? Ahh!

“Uh, hi,” was all she could come up with and she almost groaned at how basic that was. If someone could die of mortification, Emma was currently coming close to such a deadly level. She hadn’t felt this way since she was a girl, and she couldn’t tell if she loathed it or kind of loved it.

“I can’t believe it’s you. What are you doing here? How did you – I mean where did you…?”

Killian’s questions trailed off as his gaze took her in. He hid nothing from her, and the deep cerulean eyes she’d always loved and dreamed of for years traced her features with undeniable longing. She could get lost in the intensity of his expression, and again she was struck by how impossibly handsome he was, but this moment was made all the more breathtaking when she noticed how glad he was to see her again. He was more than happy, and he even seemed relieved, as if somehow, all this time, he’d been looking for her. The thought made her heart pound in her chest because she herself had considered looking for him for ages. It was one of the great ironies of her life: she found people for a living, but for years she’d kept herself from finding him again, scared that the response wouldn’t be enough. She’d always been tempted, but she’d never gathered the courage to take the leap and try.

“God, I can’t believe it’s really you,” he murmured, his voice clear but also filled with emotion. His touch of an accent washed over her, sending a buzzy sensation coursing through her and lighting her up inside. She wanted to smile, but she was still too stunned to even speak.

“This is the part where you reciprocate the feeling, Ems,” Ruby said, pulling Emma back from her wandering thoughts and the feeling of shock that seeing Killian stirred in her. Emma was still speechless, and she looked at Ruby in a silent cry for help that the brunette immediately answered. “Not sure how long it’s been since you too have seen each other, but Emma is a bailbonds person. She’s actually the best damn asset in the city. She’s got the most catches three years running.”

“Doesn’t surprise me,” Killian said with a smile and Emma’s heart skipped even as she gave him a quizzical look. “You were always brilliant, and tracking people down is no easy feat. Believe me, I’ve tried.”

“You have?” Emma asked, finally finding her voice.

“Aye,” he said, moving forward so the air around them practically crackled with anticipation. Emma felt a rush of energy; her whole body felt fit to burst with an instinctive want to move closer even while her rational brain said she should bolt. This was too much; it was too impossible. She shouldn’t be feeling this. She shouldn’t start hoping for things, because hoping for things was the surest way to end up disappointed. “Emma, I-,”

Whatever Killian was going to say got interrupted by a boisterous gaggle of defense attorneys stampeding in the door. They had no respect for the ‘Quiet please’ signs in the area and completely broke the moment. Ruby, for her part, was extra irritated since the nuisance pulled her from openly gawking at Emma and Killian. She had to go and shush the offenders, but the sudden change of pace was all the interruption Emma needed to start feeling like her only choice was to flee. This was too much for her to handle and she was seconds from making a run for it, but then she felt Killian’s hand touch hers and the world stopped. The noise faded away and a hundred beautiful, perfect memories came rushing back to her as he held her hand in his.

“Please, Emma.” His tone begged for her to look at him and when she did she could see the earnest desire written all over his face. “I know it’s been a long time – God it feels like lifetimes ago – but I can’t leave you again thinking it’ll be the last time I see you. I don’t have it in me.”

“I know,” Emma confessed, her voice starting to break. “But it’s crazy. Everything’s different. We’re different. We have different lives. You could be married. You could be -,”

“I am not now nor have I ever been married,” he stated firmly, as if he was offended that she’d even suspect a catch like him could have tied the knot.

“Girlfriend?” Emma asked, hating that her curiosity was getting the better of her.

“No. There’s been no one truly special in my life. Not for a very long time.”

Emma knew instinctively that he was talking about her, and it was the only way she found the bravery to reply with complete honesty. “Me too.”

“Thank God for that,” he exclaimed, his breath coming out in a relieved wave as his thumb ran across her skin, sending sublime sensation through her whole being. “Go out with me tonight.”

“Tonight?” Emma asked, surprised at how immediate that request was.

“Aye. I don’t think I could bear the wait, and I’ve no shame in admitting that. I’d ask you out for this very moment, but I have another case being called in thirty minutes that I can’t postpone.”

Emma smiled despite the flurry of emotions she was grappling with. God, she’d always loved that about him. He was so unabashedly open with her, and that tendency had given her the space to be exactly who she was when they’d been together all those years ago. She never felt alone with him, and through some kind of magic, he always made her believe that it was okay to be vulnerable and to admit what she really wanted most of all.

“All right, tonight. But where are we going?”

“Leave that to me, love,” he replied and the term of endearment made her light up instantly. She’d missed that so much. She’d missed him so much, more than words could ever say. “Do you trust me?”

“I want to,” Emma replied quietly and though she thought he might be disappointed by her inability to promise absolutely faith in him right now, he only grinned in that boyish, charming way he’d been prone to way back when.

“We’ll get there. Starting with this date – we’ll find our way, together.”

“So it is a date?” Emma confirmed, excitement bubbling over at the firmness in his tone as she typed in her number to the phone Killian had quickly handed her.

“Aye, love. It’s a date.”

With that, and with a all too fleeting final farewell where Killian took her hand once more and raised it to his lips in a gentle kiss, her long lost what-if took his leave of her again. And though she still didn’t love the feeling of him walking away, Emma was comforted with the fact that she’d see him again in just a few more hours, and that hopefully this time she’d never really have to let him go again.

Post-Note: So despite the fact that I have so much other stuff on my plate writing-wise, I got struck with this story idea and I couldn’t put it down. It was originally going to be a mixtape and end right here (I know, it’s barely even begun!) but I have decided to make it into a short multi-chapter story. It’s pretty surface level stuff, a brief burst of fluff, and probably only about three parts, but it will be filled with cuteness, rest assured. Anyway thank you so much for reading, and I can’t wait to hear what all of you think!

[aiaz-marx]

Why failing your Kickstarter might be a good thing

Here is my little article about dealing with "failure" as an indie game dev. There is also a something about my #Jacksepticeye experience and Russian community.

I hope you find it useful or at least fun to read! :)

Originally published on Gamasutra.

This article is dedicated to all entrepreneurs, game developers, and just creative passionate people.

Is it a sad story about failure, or just another tale about recognition and success? That depends on what you take from it.

Okay, bear with me.

My name is Aiaz Marx. Originally from Russia, I moved to Spain about 4 years ago and I’ve lived here ever since. Now I'm 20.

Last year I finally graduated from high school, but because of the economic situation in my family, I couldn't go to college. A normal person would try to find a job and hope to enter the next year, right?

Well, guess what? I was always far from normal. I decided to take the difficult path of becoming a successful game developer from nothing, in just one year! I know what you think. Don't be judgy.

So, I convinced my parents to give me this time and I started my journey.

Escape.

First of all, I had to improve my pixel art, coding and storytelling skills.

But the hardest thing for me to learn was to share my work and take critique for my games... and there was a lot of it. Believe me, being a solo dev in the Russian internet community is like surviving a zombie apocalypse.

So after months of trial and error, in December, I finally found a good idea for a game and escaped from my soviet bunker to Twitter and Tumblr.

It was a truly pleasant experience, and my small community was gradually growing. Soon I managed to find an editor and release my first demo on itch.io.

Recognition.

Two weeks later I received this life-changing message:

"Hey, just letting you know that Jacksepticeye just played your game."

This can't be true, right?! I immediately checked my YouTube feed and indeed... there it was - a full 50 minute long play of my humble 2D horror story-driven game!

My heart was pounding, my hands shaking.

I posted this on my Tumblr and in just a few minutes I somehow got a response from Jack himself!

Needless to say, it was HUGE for such a tiny solo dev like me.

Financial success?

A celebrity playing your game. Check!

Now it's time for Kickstarter!

I had it all planned out. My Tumblr and Twitter communities were growing fast. If I release a new demo, even cooler than the old one, and translate it into three languages, I would easily reach my $3,000 goal!

On June 1st I launched my game ironically called "Dead Dreams"... and it flopped.

Remember all these people who didn't believe in your success? They were right.

The next two days were some of the worst days of my life. I realized that my Kickstarter page looked very poor, as well as the game trailer.

I suddenly felt a crushing weight, as if a giant rock was on my chest. I couldn't eat. I was in constant pain and suffering from anxiety attacks. I no longer believed in my project or my abilities to make good games. I was disappointed in myself.  Nonetheless, I spent this time trying to fix my errors. I put too much work into this project and couldn't just let it die.

My worst fear was that this feeling could last forever...

Days like these, you'll need support, but please don't put your frustrations into public view. People may feel pity for you, but trust me, it will make things even worse and can irreparably damage your image. Instead, think about taking a long walk.

Acceptance.

On the third day, I accepted my failure and started to realize that it actually wasn't one! And I was finally feeling better.

First of all, the fact that your Kickstarter has failed doesn't mean your project is bad.

Take a fine look at their website and you're going to find a handful of great games which couldn't reach their goal. You're not alone!

A successful project’s average goal is $5,000 and the truth is a lot of them were funded by the financial support of the creator’s family and friends. In many cases, the creators themselves will pledge a significant amount of money to save their campaign.

So if you're like me and can only count on your community - chances of failing are much higher.

Realization!

The dream of becoming a game developer has changed me for the better, regardless of the results of my Kickstarter campaign.

Through this experience I learned to:

accept critique and share my work with other people

organize myself and schedule my workday

manage the community and promote my product by reaching out to regular users, YouTubers, artists, game developers, and other amazing people!

Don't forget, your followers are here to stay! And now you have a bunch of friendly contacts who could help you out in the future.

But most importantly this "failure" made you stronger. You reached the bottom but managed to heal your wounds, learn from your mistakes and get back on track! Be proud of it! Don't depreciate this experience!

So now you're back on track, but really it's just the beginning of your journey!  

I recommend that you don’t get too fixed on your project and take some time off to think it all through all over again. Let's take another long walk.

Do you still want to finish it?

Here are some options:

Relaunch.

Patreon. A friendly, pressure-free environment for small creators like you!

You can also try to find a publisher!

It's hard to be a solo dev. When you have an experience like this, perhaps it's time to think about working with other people. Reach out to your contacts, maybe they could use some extra help. And if you've got an idea for a new project - build your own team!

Conclusion?

Of course, after all, this is just my experience, but I hope you’ll find it helpful.

I'm still working on the game and there is no pressure, just enjoyment. I wish for you to feel the same.

I'm 20 and my dreams aren't dead. Pun intended :)

[raystart]

The Evolution of Entrepreneurial Education and Corporate Innovation

I was interviewed by Philip Bouchard, Executive Director of TrustedPeer Entrepreneurship Advisory, about how entrepreneurship education has changed, mission-driven entrepreneurship, and what we’ve learned about corporate innovation.

Worth a read.

Interview highlights:

How is the way that universities teach entrepreneurship evolving?

Lean LaunchPad class developed for Stanford

Innovation and entrepreneurship will become the liberal arts of the 21st century

Teaching basic entrepreneurial appreciation

Mission-Driven Entrepreneurship

Hacking for X classes

Ethics in entrepreneurship

How has innovation in large corporations evolved over the last 10 years?

Innovation theater in large corporations

“I want to see what you look like in a prison suit.”

What are companies doing beyond innovation theater?

How innovation can succeed inside of a large company

The easy part is, “Let’s have an incubator.” The hard part is, “How do we deliver something?”

“Heroic innovation” within large corporations

End-to-end “Innovation Pipeline” process

Innovators are not entrepreneurs

Building an entrepreneurship ecosystem

How can corporations work more closely with universities?

Philip Bouchard: You’ve started teaching at Berkeley since 2002, Columbia in 2003 and at Stanford since 2011. How is the way that universities teach entrepreneurship evolving? What changes have you seen in the last 15 years?

Steve Blank: When I first starting teaching, the capstone entrepreneurship class was how to write a business plan. Other classes were on how to prep for VC pitches or develop the five year income statements, balance sheets and cash flows or read case studies. Today, people laugh if somebody says that’s a capstone entrepreneurship class. But years ago, we had no alternative – how to write a business plan was it.

My contribution has been, “Why don’t we design classes more closely modeled to what innovators and entrepreneurs actually do.” Today the capstone class is most often experiential, team-based, hands on, focused around the search for a repeatable and scalable business model. And the Lean LaunchPad class I developed at Stanford was the first such class. It was adopted by the National Science Foundation for commercializing science in the United States. It’s called NSF I-Corps.

The other change is that universities, instead of being passive, have become active in building an entrepreneurial community. In addition to Stanford I also teach at Columbia, and at these research universities – Stanford, Columbia, Berkeley, and others – they all now have an internal incubator, they have maker spaces, they have their own venture funds, they connect to the community, they connect to venture capital. They’ve become outward-facing universities. It’s a big idea.

Years ago, entrepreneurship was taught like everything else, inward-facing, which was a mindset of, “I focus on what I know as an academic and I will teach you that,” which was mostly theory and/or consulting experience with large corporations. And the odds of learning from faculty who actually had experienced the chaos and uncertainty of building a startup was low. It wasn’t really part of the job as an educator. Today, if you’re building an entrepreneurship program, the teaching team most often includes adjuncts with entrepreneurial experience as complements to the tenured faculty, classes are experiential and the community you’re building is a set of additional components that never existed before.

PB: In addition to being more outward facing, how should universities be thinking about what to offer next? What do you see in the next 2-3 years?

SB: I think innovation and entrepreneurship will become the liberal arts of the 21st century. With the nature of work changing, the core skills entrepreneurs need to know to become practitioners are actually core skills that everybody will need to know to get a job: creativity, agility, resilience, tenacity, curiosity.

The analogy I like to use is that 500 years ago in the Renassiance we realized that the best way to teach artists, painters and sculptors, was by via hands-on apprenticeships and long-term commitment. You learned a modicum of theory and got a ton practice. (Today, if you’ve decided the arts are your career, your goal might be to get into Juilliard or CalArts.)

But about 100 years ago, in the art world, somebody had a lightbulb moment and said, “Wait a minute, in addition to the capstone classes, why don’t we teach art appreciation at the earliest possible age to everyone?” For example, finger-painting, making clay ashtrays and writing. The reason for that is two-fold. One is to have people self-identify at an early age that, “Oh, my gosh. Painting can be a career? I knew I was interested.” And second, so that the rest of us who are not going to be artists can appreciate how hard it is, and learn how to look at art and how to look at sculpture and how to appreciate good writing.

I believe the analogy is identical for entrepreneurship.The capstone entrepreneurship classes like NSF I-Corps or a Lean LaunchPad class, are for those who have already decided they want to be entrepreneurs. The part of the entrepreneurship curriculum that’s missing is offering entrepreneurial appreciation classes to everyone. We ought to be creating a set of classes on creativity, agility and resilience and being able to tell facts from “fake news” — components of innovation and entrepreneurship that I think are going to be required 21st century skills.

PB: The trend is to add majors, minors and certificates in entrepreneurship. Not just in the business schools. For example, you can minor in entrepreneurship at the University of Colorado College of Music. In terms of teaching basic entrepreneurial appreciation, how saturated should entrepreneurship become? Is it one or two courses? Where do you see this trend going?

SB: Teaching basic entrepreneurial appreciation in the 21st century is literally the equivalent to liberal arts of the 20th. Forward thinking schools will start offering a series of classes that are core curriculum like liberal arts were in schools in the ’50s through the ’80s that said “for a liberal arts education you need to understand literature and you need to understand art.” In the 21st century we’re going to add some additional core skills.

That said, entrepreneurship education needs to be a combination of theory and practice. It’s pretty easy to offer classroom entrepreneurship lectures and forget that it’s the hands-on application that makes the theory relevant. Think if medical schools just taught doctors the textbooks, but never had them touch a patient.

The other direction where teaching is going – and what we’ve been pioneering – is Mission-Driven Entrepreneurship. Instead of students or faculty coming in with their own ideas — we now have them working on societal problems, whether they’re problems for the State Department or the military or non-profits/NGOs, or for the City of Oakland or for energy or the environment, or for anything they’re passionate about. And the trick is we use the same Lean LaunchPad / I-Corps curriculum — and kept the same class structure – experiential, hands-on, driven this time by a mission-model not a business model.

Mission-driven entrepreneurship is the answer to students who say, “I want to give back. I want to make my community, country or world a better place, while solving some of the toughest problems.” These classes include Hacking for Defense, Hacking for Diplomacy, Hacking for Energy, Hacking for Impact, or Hacking for Oceans, etc., but the umbrella term is “mission-driven entrepreneurship.” The class syllabus uses exactly the same pedagogy as the Lean LaunchPad and I-Corps classes.

PB: How has your Lean LaunchPad course, ENGR 245, evolved?

SB: I’ve always believed that great classes continue to thrive after the original teachers have moved on. To be honest, as I watch other instructors now run these classes, I feel a proud “passing of the torch” though touched by moments of King Lear and Kurosawa’s Ran. Way past my ad hoc activities, the Stanford teaching team has thoroughly professionalized the class.

After eight years the class is still taught to students working on their own problems. It’s taught at Stanford, Berkeley, Columbia and probably another hundred universities and colleges because I open-sourced the class and trained educators on how to teach it. 98 universities teach it through the National Science Foundation.

As I mentioned, the Mission-Driven Entrepreneurship classes are a new variant that’s taught in ~30 universities. The nice part is that we have educators who are already trained on teaching Lean LaunchPad or I-Corps, so for the educators there’s nothing particularly new. The only hard part about it, is to get well-defined problems from sponsors in the local city or government agency that you offer to students.

PB: Everyone looks for a turnkey solution. “I want a low overhead, self-guided solution.” Can someone go through your Lean LaunchPad step-by-step course without a trainer? Can it be self-directed? How long does it take to train a trainer?

SB: All my class lectures are online at Udacity.com for free. Can you become a founder by watching videos? Perhaps, but founders are closer to artists than any other profession. So can you become an artist by reading about art? Can you learn entrepreneurship without taking an experiential hands-on class or better, actually be part of a startup? Well, you can read a lot about entrepreneurship and learn the theory, but it’s like reading about painting or sculpture or music. You need theory and practice – lots of practice.

PB: Is ethics in entrepreneurship going to be part of the broader entrepreneurship curriculum like a general liberal arts education? Is ethics something that you bring into your Lean LaunchPad course or your ENGR 245 course?

SB: I think ethics are a critical missing component of most business curriculums. At Stanford, Tom Byers, who runs the innovation and entrepreneurship program inside the engineering school, has made that a big deal and it’s now part of the curriculum. Tom has added a class on entrepreneurial ethics.

However, the problem with teaching entrepreneurial ethics is the same as with teaching corporate ethics: Everything is great in theory until the sxxt hits the fan. When you don’t have any checks and balances, that is, when the government isn’t really paying attention or there are no consequences, you tend to get people who game the system, whether they’re corporations or they’re entrepreneurs and innovators.

It’s exactly like if you’ve ever been driving on a highway and reach a merge and people are cutting into the line and you go, “What the heck am I’m doing waiting for the merge while people are cutting in?” Then everybody else starts doing it and you think “Why am I the only person who’s patiently waiting?” There’s a social component about what’s the norm for behavior.

It’s not like we need a nanny-state, but if there’s no enforcement at all, we can teach ethics all we want, but people tend to devolve to the least common denominator.

PB: How has innovation in large corporations evolved over the last 10 years? You talk about “innovation theater” in large corporations. What’s the trend in terms of corporations developing cultures of innovation and programs for intrapreneurs?

SB: If you’re a large corporation, the world has turned upside down. In hindsight the 20th century was the golden age for corporations. Today, companies face five challenges they never had to deal with:

Challenge one – As companies are discovering every day, the web has changed everything. Distribution channels, brand loyalty, etc.

Challenge two – Large companies are dealing with startups that are funded with unimaginable capital. In the past, the idea of a startup having more capital than an existing corporation was a fantasy. But today if I’m a startup and I’m raising a hundred million dollars or billions of dollars, like Uber, Airbnb or Tesla, I can take on an entire industry.

Challenge three – Today, investors willingly fund startups to do anything on day one. Anything. Including break the law. Tesla, Airbnb, Uber, all were predicated on, “Well, what if we said, ‘screw the law’. How big would that opportunity be?”

In the 20th century no venture capitalist would have funded that. In the 21st century they got out their little eyeshades and calculators and said, “Ha! If we actually succeed, there’s a $10 billion company here.”

In contrast, as much as a corporation wants to do that, the first thing that will happen is your general counsel’s in your office saying, “I want to see what you look like in a prison suit.” Because a company can’t do the things that a startup can.

Challenge four – In a startup, 100% of the company is focused on innovation and entrepreneurship. In a large corporation, 99% of the company is focused on executionof the current business model by building repeatable processes and procedures. And a very small percentage are focused on innovation. I could keep going on down the list.

Challenge five – In a startup, if you win, it’s a payout of billions of dollars. In a large company, for the individual, there is no such payout.

PB: However, there are some companies that do evolve, that do pivot and make the right changes. What you’re talking about, “A large corporation is not a startup,” doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to go the way of the dodo. What are companies doing beyond innovation theater?

SB: I just wanted to give you the setup of why it’s harder for corporations. Not why they can’t do it. In spite of all the things that I just mentioned, there are large companies that have figured out how to build innovation ecosystems. My favorite is a private company called W.L.Gore. At their core they make products out of expanded PTFE like Gore-Tex. But they’ve taken that basic technology past fabrics into multiple markets – medical, filtration, fibers, cables, etc. They have a process of continual innovation – an innovation pipeline. But this type of innovation requires leadership who understands that is their goal. If you’re a large company’s CEO today, the problem is that you’re dealing with, well, lots of issues, not just innovation.

One – “How do I deal with activist investors who want to take my company apart and sell it for pieces?”

Two – “I’ve been hearing about this innovation stuff, but if I’m running a 10,000-person company, my skill-set is about execution, not innovation. I might give you some head nods about innovation, but I really don’t have that in my DNA.”

Three – Companies are driven by processes and procedure, those same processes and procedures strangle innovation in its crib. For innovation to succeed inside of a large company, you need a parallel set of processes, not to replace the existing ones, but to operate on a fast track.

Some companies have figured out how to do this, not just internally, but by just acquiring those that do. So, if you think about how a large company can innovate, they could build, they could buy, they could partner, they could license. All parts of their toolset where startups don’t have those opportunities. Basically, startups are just building.

PB: Large corporations have a number of tools they use for innovation. One area is innovation challenges and idea challenges to come up with a thousand new ideas. A second option is for corporations to provide accelerators where they invite startups to apply to be part of their accelerator program. A third is incubators and makers’ spaces. Do you see those as innovation programs that can work? They’re spending a lot of money on it.

SB: No. What you just described is innovation theater. These are innovation activities, not deliverables. The hard part in a company is not getting a demo or setting up an internal accelerator, it’s getting something delivered all the way through your existing sales channel. What does it take to get from that demo into your engineering group, to be delivered as a product into your existing sales channel? And that’s where the difficulties are. You run into, “Well, wait a minute, this isn’t on our budget or schedule.” “Wait a minute, this conflicts with our existing product line.” “This will put our most profitable product out of business,” or “We don’t even have a sales force that knows how to sell this thing.”

A good number of companies focus on the easy part, which is, “Let’s have an incubator/accelerator.” The hard part is, “How do we deliver something with speed and urgency?” For example, when I teach this for the government, our focus is on innovation that gets deployed and fielded, not demos. (Yes, you might need a demo to convince someone to fund your program, but the demo is not the goal – delivery is.) Companies have more demos than they’ll ever need. But really the goal of a successful innovation program is figuring out how do you deploy something by getting through the hard political wiring diagram of who owns what, and how does this differ from what we already have, and which budget is it going to come from, and “this is unscheduled” and “wait a minute, it doesn’t meet our quality standards” and “we’re going to screw up our brand”?

How do we solve those problems? And that doesn’t mean it’s not solvable. It just means the “Let’s throw a party” approach reminds me of the old Andy Hardy movies of “Let’s put on a show.” Ok, we’ve got a show, now what?

The “now what” is that we lack a corporate innovation doctrine.

PB: I’m going to read a quote from you, which is “We believe the next big step is to get teams of leaders to think about the innovation process from end to end. That is, to visualize the entire flow of how and from where an idea is generated – the source – all the way to deployment – how to get it into the user’s hands.” You also have talked about an innovation stack and operational innovation, which is absent and so difficult to implement. What prompted these insights?

SB: Here’s what I observed. Large companies and government agencies have always had innovation, but it’s what I call “heroic innovation.” That is, there was no process, no procedure, but you always hear stories about somebody who managed to get a new product or idea out the door. We tend to celebrate those without anybody ever thinking, “Well, wait a minute. Maybe the fact that there are no formal innovation processes is the problem, not that there was some heroic stuff happening.”

In the last couple years, my work, Eric Ries’s work, Alexander Osterwalder’s work, all were focused on building a body of professional knowledge – doctrine – around innovation. And as part of that we’ve developed a set of tools that could be used to search for business models. Companies have adopted this innovation doctrine and startup tools and have been running accelerators and whatever. The problem is that there still wasn’t an end-to-end innovation implementation process, inside a large company.

What we came up with last year is called the Innovation Pipeline, a process inside a company or a government agency that says, “Let’s start with innovation sourcing. And then build a process to take that all the way to delivery or deployment. What are the steps internally we need to take that are different than how engineering builds products today?”

This end-to-end pipeline has a couple of steps. The first step is where the ideas or technology come from. They can come from inside the company, outside as acquisitions, universities, etc. The second step is, “What problem are we solving?” which we call problem curation. “Is this a real problem or is this a neat piece of flashy technology? How do we prioritize all the things we’re now doing inside this pipeline. And then how do we test solutions and hypotheses?”

In the middle of this pipeline is the I-Corps Lean LaunchPad methodology for customer discovery and validation. Next, how do we incubate it, and then how do we transition and integrate it with our existing engineering and sales organizations to deliver this stuff That’s an end-to-end process.

By contrast, an incubator and accelerator is a point activity.

As we’ve been teaching organizations this end-to-end Innovation Pipeline process we realized that at each one of those steps the team evolves. At the beginning of that pipeline you might have an innovator, a technologist in R&D. That’s great, but we now know that either in startups or large companies innovators don’t make sxxt happen. They invent things.

Typically, to partner with the innovator on the first step, you need to find an entrepreneur. An entrepreneur inside of a company is somebody who knows how to get stuff across the finish line inside the bureaucracy. That’s very different than the innovator. The mistake that we tend to make is, “Oh, let’s teach the innovators how to do that.” But innovators are almost never entrepreneurs. You can make them appreciate entrepreneurs, but they’re not the same people.

PB: A trending challenge for directors of university entrepreneurship programs is to build an entrepreneurship ecosystem. These executive directors are struggling to decide, “What do I build out next? What program do I add next?” Is there some way to take your approach and to direct it to building university entrepreneurship ecosystems?

SB: An example of what you just talked about is the tech transfer and venture group at Columbia University, run by Orin Herskowitz. Orin has spun seven different programs out of the Lean LaunchPad and Hacking for Defense programs. In energy and biotech and devices and whatever. Basically, using this pedagogy and building an entire ecosystem around it. It’s really impressive. Columbia’s tech transfer organization is a model of how universities may want to think about entrepreneurship ecosystems.

The other leading thinkers you should talk are Tom Byers and Tina Seelig at Stanford. Stanford and Tom and Tina and their STVP program are still ground zero for entrepreneurship programs in the world.

Also to watch is Stephen Spinelli who just took over as Babson’s president. Between Spinelli, Orin, and Tom and Tina I think you’ll get an idea of the bleeding edge university entrepreneurship programs. If you want to talk to people who are inventing the future rather than talking about it, I would start with these three universities.

PB: How can corporations work more closely with universities? How can they tap into student entrepreneurship talent for developing the kind of disruptive initiatives that corporations want? Instead of waiting until something happens. How can you create a pipeline with universities that are local or even virtually with universities?

SB: For decades companies have been the primary acquirer of university research via tech transfer. And companies were the magnet for universities best and brightest students. No longer. In the 21st century companies are no longer competing for this tech and talent with their corporate peers, but with startups. To tap into university talent corporate innovation programs need to be more than an afterthought. Corporate leadership needs to make their internal commitment to innovation a beacon to the talent they desire.

[eden-rosebct]

Through out this semester I have been studying the concept of Balance, using minimalism and maximalism to define this idea within interior spaces and spatial design in mind. Furthermore intertwining productivity in spaces into my motivation behind the project. Through my research I discovered there are five overarching themes I would like to continue exploring.  

Balance, Minimalism, Maximalism, Spatial design and Productivity. These are the key themes I am using to inform my prototyping and testing phase. 

What was the testing you did: 

To test and define a “balanced space”, I used 10 key attributes to define maximalist and 10 to define minimalist characteristics, these words are based off a summary of my research so far. Though some of these terms are superficial, they are guides into understanding where balance lies within a space. 

(checklist and glossary are below). 

Furthermore to test productivity I chose spaces recommended from articles based around productive work spaces. This includes a bus, cafe, library and a shared workspace. I also wanted to have a scale based off ideas from an article Environment Phycology (Evans, Mccoy 1998). This including, Degree of stimulation 1-10, Effectiveness to provide privacy 1-10 and Productivity influence  1-10. 

The testing strategy I have pursued is similar to one of my past assignments “optimal time of day and productivity potential”. I am taking a subjective approach into discovering “what is it about the space”. Using a check list and scales to analyse my five themes. 

To test I would.

-Sketch the space

-Take notes on characteristics 

-Complete check list 

-Assess my productivity to assess said task with scales

The main things I have learned so far in this testing process is that I am actually unable to define maximalism and minimalism easily. I think overall I am discovering the difference between the superficial uses of the terms (the aesthetic uses) and the true meaning behind them. By assessing their extremes and their superficial aesthetic in one I think these concepts are more intertwined than what I originally thought. 

I am also learning about where I work most productively, so far it is spaces with background noise as I feel this creates a sense of privacy where you can discuss and work. High ceilings, plants and windows also is what I am find helps me stay focused and inspired. I have noticed the noise in these spaces plays a huge role, if it is so silent I tend to feel more exposed and less likely to speak freely, if the space is to loud than it over whelming and distracting. I have also found I don’t mind a closed off space, as long as there is something contributing such as large windows and high ceilings to help release a constrained feeling. Too much open space I find overtly distracting and give me a straight up headache when I am trying to complete work.

I am also learning that perhaps balance isn’t meant to be defined, there are so many variants effecting this testing that results will have to be a purely subjective assumption.

The main problem is simplifying and conceptualising my research into something to show. However I know this shouldn’t be my main concern compared to my workflow. My limited skill set due to me working alone will also influence the outcome as I do not have the diversity to further push my work. 

I think also another main concern is me being to wrapped up in concepts, or being overwhelmed with the complexity of this topic.

My plan at this point is to stop reading so much and to starting making and playing. Take my laptop and articles away and go experience spaces, gain a physical and practical understanding. I am a tad behind on my timeline, however I think this can be caught up to date in the first week back. A lot of guidance around direction will help clarify my ideas I think. 

Lisa Evans (2015) Entrepreneur: The Best Places to Work Aren't In the Office

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/243615

Paul Morello (found 2/4/19)  Life hack:11 Productive Places You Should Try Working In

https://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/11-productive-places-you-should-try-working.html

GARY W. EVANS, JANETTA MITCHELL MCCOY (1998) Journal of Environmental Psychology: WHEN BUILDINGS DON’T WORK: THE ROLE OF ARCHITECTURE IN HUMAN HEALTH

https://ac.els-cdn.com/S0272494498900895/1-s2.0-S0272494498900895-main.pdf?_tid=2311b578-d99c-48c4-a63c-c592ff91e6c4&acdnat=1551138340_44328ed6b4e616ebe39c68a7e3f3e560

[evagordonus]

An Interview with John Angelicchi

Originally published on IdeaMensch.com

  John Angelicchi is an Orlando-based real estate agent who provides his clients with award-winning results. In an industry fueled by bottom-lines, John is a breath of fresh air at LoKation Real Estate. His motivation in business is to help his clientele make the most fiscally wise decisions possible.

Demonstrating his mission to provide customers with unwavering dedication, John strategizes in creating efficiencies, budget reductions, and game-changing real estate investment deals. In addition to being highly knowledgeable about property listings and management, John Angelicchi also has training and expertise in the foreign exchange market and brand marketing. He utilizes all these skills together to produce the best results for his clients.

A graduate of Ohio University with a Bachelors in Sports Management, John is a firm believer in the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. After a life-threatening car accident, he witnessed first-hand how temporary life can be, and has turned a near catastrophe into a blessing, both for himself as well as those around him. John Angelicchi now spends his time outside of work giving back to the community.

Where did the idea for your company or organization come from?

A severe car accident left me to analyze whether the life I was living is the one I wanted to continue living. The answer was no. I had to make a change for the better and, to be honest, it is the reason why I feel so strongly about serving my community. As humans, we can be very selfish and that tragic experience humbled me to realize that anything can change in a split second, so I want to make sure that I live a life of joy, not misery.

How do you bring ideas to life?

Writing has helped me in things I want to accomplish. I write everything from tasks that I need to complete, tasks I did not complete the day before, and pretty much anything on my mind. After I complete my daily writing, I analyze the top three that I need to focus on for that day. If my idea does not align with my big picture goal, it stays on the list until those are complete.

What’s one trend that excites you?

Technology. Time and Money are the two major triggers for entrepreneurs. How much time am I spending on tasks and how much money is that equivalent to. Technology is only going to keep evolving and I am always looking for people who are looking at current problems in today’s world and looking for solutions. It opens up possibilities to allow me to focus on what I do best. Real Estate.

What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?

Reading. For me, it has helped me channel the creativity that I feel to help me redefine the real estate experience. I believe that any path you want to go on in life, someone has already documented that journey, so my opinion is to learn from others’ experiences instead of just trying to wing it. Enjoy the process of success. Everyone has a different definition of that word.

What advice would you give your younger self?

“If you don’t stand for something you will fall for anything.” Stand for what you believe in and go after what you want and not what others want for you. Everyone has a unique voice, story, message, and if you don’t act on it, then you will fall into darkness. Don’t be afraid to feel like you deserve good things in life.

Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.

The Cleveland Browns are America’s team, not the Dallas Cowboys.

As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?

Take care of your health. What you eat and how active you are have a direct correlation on how your brain functions and the thoughts you create. If you can’t take care of yourself, who else will?

What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?

I don’t look at situations as failures, I believe failures only happen when someone gives up or quits. Instead, every time I get knocked down I look at it as a lesson and take away things that I can improve on for the next time I encounter it.

What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?

Learn to invest in yourself (reading, working out, detach from devices). I think we as humans have so much responsibility that we forget what it’s like to care for ourselves. We forget that as entrepreneurs that our bodies are our business. If we’re not able to work because of health reasons, then we’re not able to fulfill our promise to our community, family, and ourselves.

What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?

If you have any interest in real estate, I recommend starting with the book The Millionaire Real Estate Agent by Gary Keller.

Why? Because it helps you form a plan to execute. It gave me the cornerstones that you need in order to understand real estate as a whole. If you don’t like reading, then look into audible and listen to the audio version.

What is your favorite quote?

“Success is not a fantasy; it’s a formula.”

source https://www.redefineestate.com/blog/interview-john-angelicchi/

source https://johnangelicchi.home.blog/2019/04/16/an-interview-with-john-angelicchi/

[elvirabeckus]

An Interview with John Angelicchi

Originally published on IdeaMensch.com

John Angelicchi is an Orlando-based real estate agent who provides his clients with award-winning results. In an industry fueled by bottom-lines, John is a breath of fresh air at LoKation Real Estate. His motivation in business is to help his clientele make the most fiscally wise decisions possible.

Demonstrating his mission to provide customers with unwavering dedication, John strategizes in creating efficiencies, budget reductions, and game-changing real estate investment deals. In addition to being highly knowledgeable about property listings and management, John Angelicchi also has training and expertise in the foreign exchange market and brand marketing. He utilizes all these skills together to produce the best results for his clients.

A graduate of Ohio University with a Bachelors in Sports Management, John is a firm believer in the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. After a life-threatening car accident, he witnessed first-hand how temporary life can be, and has turned a near catastrophe into a blessing, both for himself as well as those around him. John Angelicchi now spends his time outside of work giving back to the community.

Where did the idea for your company or organization come from?

A severe car accident left me to analyze whether the life I was living is the one I wanted to continue living. The answer was no. I had to make a change for the better and, to be honest, it is the reason why I feel so strongly about serving my community. As humans, we can be very selfish and that tragic experience humbled me to realize that anything can change in a split second, so I want to make sure that I live a life of joy, not misery.

How do you bring ideas to life?

Writing has helped me in things I want to accomplish. I write everything from tasks that I need to complete, tasks I did not complete the day before, and pretty much anything on my mind. After I complete my daily writing, I analyze the top three that I need to focus on for that day. If my idea does not align with my big picture goal, it stays on the list until those are complete.

What’s one trend that excites you?

Technology. Time and Money are the two major triggers for entrepreneurs. How much time am I spending on tasks and how much money is that equivalent to. Technology is only going to keep evolving and I am always looking for people who are looking at current problems in today’s world and looking for solutions. It opens up possibilities to allow me to focus on what I do best. Real Estate.

What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?

Reading. For me, it has helped me channel the creativity that I feel to help me redefine the real estate experience. I believe that any path you want to go on in life, someone has already documented that journey, so my opinion is to learn from others’ experiences instead of just trying to wing it. Enjoy the process of success. Everyone has a different definition of that word.

What advice would you give your younger self?

“If you don’t stand for something you will fall for anything.” Stand for what you believe in and go after what you want and not what others want for you. Everyone has a unique voice, story, message, and if you don’t act on it, then you will fall into darkness. Don’t be afraid to feel like you deserve good things in life.

Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.

The Cleveland Browns are America’s team, not the Dallas Cowboys.

As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?

Take care of your health. What you eat and how active you are have a direct correlation on how your brain functions and the thoughts you create. If you can’t take care of yourself, who else will?

What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?

I don’t look at situations as failures, I believe failures only happen when someone gives up or quits. Instead, every time I get knocked down I look at it as a lesson and take away things that I can improve on for the next time I encounter it.

What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?

Learn to invest in yourself (reading, working out, detach from devices). I think we as humans have so much responsibility that we forget what it’s like to care for ourselves. We forget that as entrepreneurs that our bodies are our business. If we’re not able to work because of health reasons, then we’re not able to fulfill our promise to our community, family, and ourselves.

What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?

If you have any interest in real estate, I recommend starting with the book The Millionaire Real Estate Agent by Gary Keller.

Why? Because it helps you form a plan to execute. It gave me the cornerstones that you need in order to understand real estate as a whole. If you don’t like reading, then look into audible and listen to the audio version.

What is your favorite quote?

“Success is not a fantasy; it’s a formula.”

source https://www.redefineestate.com/blog/interview-john-angelicchi/ source https://johnangelicchi.tumblr.com/post/184231833016

[johnangelicchi]

An Interview with John Angelicchi

Originally published on IdeaMensch.com

  John Angelicchi is an Orlando-based real estate agent who provides his clients with award-winning results. In an industry fueled by bottom-lines, John is a breath of fresh air at LoKation Real Estate. His motivation in business is to help his clientele make the most fiscally wise decisions possible.

Demonstrating his mission to provide customers with unwavering dedication, John strategizes in creating efficiencies, budget reductions, and game-changing real estate investment deals. In addition to being highly knowledgeable about property listings and management, John Angelicchi also has training and expertise in the foreign exchange market and brand marketing. He utilizes all these skills together to produce the best results for his clients.

A graduate of Ohio University with a Bachelors in Sports Management, John is a firm believer in the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. After a life-threatening car accident, he witnessed first-hand how temporary life can be, and has turned a near catastrophe into a blessing, both for himself as well as those around him. John Angelicchi now spends his time outside of work giving back to the community.

Where did the idea for your company or organization come from?

A severe car accident left me to analyze whether the life I was living is the one I wanted to continue living. The answer was no. I had to make a change for the better and, to be honest, it is the reason why I feel so strongly about serving my community. As humans, we can be very selfish and that tragic experience humbled me to realize that anything can change in a split second, so I want to make sure that I live a life of joy, not misery.

How do you bring ideas to life?

Writing has helped me in things I want to accomplish. I write everything from tasks that I need to complete, tasks I did not complete the day before, and pretty much anything on my mind. After I complete my daily writing, I analyze the top three that I need to focus on for that day. If my idea does not align with my big picture goal, it stays on the list until those are complete.

What’s one trend that excites you?

Technology. Time and Money are the two major triggers for entrepreneurs. How much time am I spending on tasks and how much money is that equivalent to. Technology is only going to keep evolving and I am always looking for people who are looking at current problems in today’s world and looking for solutions. It opens up possibilities to allow me to focus on what I do best. Real Estate.

What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?

Reading. For me, it has helped me channel the creativity that I feel to help me redefine the real estate experience. I believe that any path you want to go on in life, someone has already documented that journey, so my opinion is to learn from others’ experiences instead of just trying to wing it. Enjoy the process of success. Everyone has a different definition of that word.

What advice would you give your younger self?

“If you don’t stand for something you will fall for anything.” Stand for what you believe in and go after what you want and not what others want for you. Everyone has a unique voice, story, message, and if you don’t act on it, then you will fall into darkness. Don’t be afraid to feel like you deserve good things in life.

Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.

The Cleveland Browns are America’s team, not the Dallas Cowboys.

As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?

Take care of your health. What you eat and how active you are have a direct correlation on how your brain functions and the thoughts you create. If you can’t take care of yourself, who else will?

What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?

I don’t look at situations as failures, I believe failures only happen when someone gives up or quits. Instead, every time I get knocked down I look at it as a lesson and take away things that I can improve on for the next time I encounter it.

What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?

Learn to invest in yourself (reading, working out, detach from devices). I think we as humans have so much responsibility that we forget what it’s like to care for ourselves. We forget that as entrepreneurs that our bodies are our business. If we’re not able to work because of health reasons, then we’re not able to fulfill our promise to our community, family, and ourselves.

What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?

If you have any interest in real estate, I recommend starting with the book The Millionaire Real Estate Agent by Gary Keller.

Why? Because it helps you form a plan to execute. It gave me the cornerstones that you need in order to understand real estate as a whole. If you don’t like reading, then look into audible and listen to the audio version.

What is your favorite quote?

“Success is not a fantasy; it’s a formula.”

source https://www.redefineestate.com/blog/interview-john-angelicchi/

[starmarketingz]

7 Ways to Extinguish Your MLM Business

Do you really want to ruin your network marketing company?

If I asked 10 MLMers this question, I'm sure they'd all say no. However, they are unaware that what they are doing is suffocating their MLM company. I'm no exception since I didn't know that some of the things I was doing were destroying my company until I was taught the exact things you're going to read. You will become a professional network marketer if you use these techniques. How to Put an End to Your Network Marketing Business 1. Lack of Training If you are completely new to the profession, you must go through the appropriate training before even attempting to speak with your first prospect. I'm not referring to your company's history, goods, or pay plan. Yes, they are essential, but prospecting is the most crucial skill you can acquire. Discover how to approach, invite, and follow up.

You are compensated for prospecting and enrolling distributors, so make this your first focus when it comes to training. 2. Working as a Salesperson It's a terrible idea to try to sell your chance. Trying to persuade your prospect to join your network marketing company may be much more difficult. Do you really want to work alongside someone you persuaded to join your company? If you do, odds are they will be dissatisfied with the company and will leave. You want to collaborate with individuals who share your vision and enthusiasm for the company. You're not a salesperson. It is your responsibility to provide information about your opportunity so that your prospect may make an informed choice. Allow your company's presentation to do the selling and persuading for you... after all, that's what it's for. 3. Getting Your Prospects Started Let me ask you a question: would you want to work for someone who begs you to join their company? You'd assume that in order to earn money, you'd have to beg and plead with your prospect. Position yourself as the one who has what your prospect need to satisfy their goals, requirements, and desires. Be the successful entrepreneur who is developing a company and does not need Mr. Prospect's participation. People are drawn to individuals who have what they desire, therefore positioning or posing oneself in this manner will improve your chances of enrolling more people. 4. Having an Emotional Attachment This is with the business you work for and the results of enrolling prospects. You must separate your emotions from business and make choices based on the long-term viability of your company. Second, while attempting to enroll a prospect, avoid becoming emotionally connected to them. You shouldn't care whether or not they join you... even if you believe they will be an All-Star recruiter. If the company isn't for them, let them go. There are millions of individuals seeking to work from home, and becoming angry if a prospect declines shows a lack of mindset. 5. Lack of realism Never make false promises to a prospect about how much money they will earn or how long it would take to get them there. There's nothing wrong with showing kids what's possible, but make it clear that achieving their objectives is entirely reliant on their own efforts and skill sets. Never consent to any unrealistic objectives they may have. If your prospect claims they want to earn $20,000 in their first month working one hour a day, don't agree and bring them back to earth. You will only harm yourself if you create fraudulent claims in order to enlist a representative. You'll get a reputation for being sleazy, dishonest, and untrustworthy, and you'll have to cope with a grumpy reputation. All of them are well-deserved. 6. Dissing Your Competitors What good can you get out of slamming another salesperson or network marketing company? Nothing. You are simply causing harm to yourself and the business as a whole. If you and your business are that much superior than the person or corporation you're bringing down, it will be obvious without you having to say anything. This is also true if you are soliciting someone who has had a bad experience with MLM in the past. Investigate what went wrong for them and demonstrate that you have the training and support in place to ensure that if they join you and your network marketing business, it will not be an issue. 7. Ignoring Your Business I saved the most heinous assassin for last. You may get the first six correct, but if you don't work your business, you won't have one. What exactly do you get compensated for? Prospecting, enrolling, and instructing others on how to do the same. You must establish contacts every day in order to show them your company. Make that your number one priority every day. You are not compensated to organize your office, alphabetize your prospects, or work on your scripts. Those things have their place, but you should spend 80 percent of your time talking to individuals about your business and giving them your company's presentation. You want to fill your pipeline with quality MLM leads so you can present and follow up on a daily basis. Can you think of any more methods to sabotage your network marketing company? Source of the article: http://EzineArticles.com/7765935

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This content originally appeared on Linkedin Pulse - the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world.

[teshknowledgenotes]

HOW I BUILT THIS - GUY RAZ

What I love most about starting your own business is the journey of coming up with a big idea and turning it into something tangible, though it would take me until my late thirties to start to feel even a tinge of confidence about some of my ideas or my ability to execute them. For most of my career before then, I struggled with the kinds of worries I thought charismatic entrepreneurs never confronted: anxiety, fear, imposter syndrome, even depression. But over the course of my time doing deep-dive interview with hundreds of busienss founders and CEO's for my shows, I've come to understand that, for the most part, they are just like you and me. Which is to say, they're human. They all have sleepless nights and midnight terrors. Most of them, at some point, feel like omposters. They are not natural superheroes, they are all Clark Kents. The only difference between them and you, at this moment, is that when opportunity presented itself, they went into the phone booth and put on the cape. They took the leap. That's basically it.

PART I: THE CALL

1) BE OPEN TO IDEAS People start businesses for all kinds of reasons. They do it to satisfy a dream or so solve a problem or to fill a void in the market. Some people want to improve on something that seems obsolete, and others want to reinvent an entire industry. There are literally dozens of on ramps to the entrepreneurial journey. But no matter which one you take, at some point you are to need an idea. Something specific. Something concrete and unique and new. An idea that makes life better or more intersting and delivers on the reason you wanted to start a business in the first place.

Sounds simple enough right? After all, ideas are a dime a dozen. Or atleast that's what many of us are led to believe. That ideas are easy and abundant. That what matters is execution. And all of that is true to some extent. It's just not the whole truth, because coming up with a good idea is hard. Good ideas are hard to find and hard to get right. But once you find one, they are also very hard to turn away from. That what makes good ideas so initimidating. Not that you won't ever find one, but that one day you will, and when you do, it's very possible that your life will never be the same again.

So where do you find one of these good ideas? Where do you look? Can you look? Or do you have to wait for the angels to sing in your ear and the light bulb to go on over your head? Some people are lucky, and this epiphany happens for them early. An idea hits them out of the blue and sends them on their way. For most of us, though, it isn't so simple. We have to look for a good idea, or at least be open to receiving it.

It's one of the eternal entrepreneurial questions: Can you actually find a good idea, or does it have to find you? The answer it the same for both option: yes. The way to get startup ideas is not to try to think of start up ideas, it's to look for problems, preferably problems you have yourself, It sounds obvious to say you should only work on problems that exist. And yet by far the most common mistake startups make is to solve problems no one has. - Paul Graham There is a name for a person who creates something purely out of passion: hobbyist. There is a name for a person who creates something out of passion that solves a problem only they have: tinkerer. There is a name for a person who creates something out of passion that also solves a problem they share with lots of other people: entrepreneur.

2) IS IS DANGEROUS OR JUST SCARY?

Michael Dell the creator of Dell at the age of 19, was told by his parents not to start a business and to focus on school. For Michael's parents coming from a family of well-educated people at a time when personal computing was mostly a curiosity that was often dismissed as a fag, leaving school to tinker with computers and resell them must have felt like their son was in danger of throwing his life away. What is more dangerous to a parent than a child taking their first steps out onto the high wire act of adulthood and doing so without a net?

But for Michael, there was nothing at all dangerous about his idea. He loved working on computers. He knew them well enough as a teenager that professional adults with even more to lose than he did trusted his insight and his work. He was solving their problems. Moreover, having found early success and having seen what was on the other side of this big leap, it was impossible to go back and see the world in the same way again, to ever again see it as his parents had. He knew the rules of this new world, and becaues of that, any last vestiges of danger melted away. And, hey if it didn't work out for whatever reason, he could always just go back to school and slot right back into the premed program. He was nineteen years old, he had his entire life ahead of him. The reality was the scariest part of starting Dell Computer Corportaion was the same thing that is scary about starting any business: it's the unknown. What did a teenage Michael Dell know about running a business? About hiring? About leading people? About find and leasing office space? About corportate taxes? 

What do any of us know about that stuff before we confront it? Nothing. That is truly terrifying to the first-time entrepreneur. But it is also eminently knowable, if you choose to learn it. Even though it comes from an old French word "entrepreneurship" is a fairly new term in the vocabulary of business. Founders today self-identify as entrepreneurs in a way that the generations who came before them struggle to understand, mostly because they didn't have the language back then to describe what they were doing as they built their businesses. Fundamentally though they were doing the same thing. They were taking the detour, taking the leap away from the type of professional life they didn't want, and toward something new and exciting and their own.

As a group they have made entrepreneurship both less scary and less dangerous. By developing a lexicon for the process of starting a business, by giving it a name, many of the modern founders whom you will meet in this book have helped to demystify the prospect of taking the leap. By breaking new ground, the older generation of foudners of which Jim and Mike are a part have made taking the leap seem almost normal.

They are why you can trust the rope threaded through your harness by experts and counterweighted by mentors, and have fait that the anchors hammered into the cliff face by those who came before you will hold, as you take that first big step backward off the cliff and into the unknown. Because they know what it means to take you fate into your own hands and to feel that you've got a real grip on this idea that has it's own grip on your soul.

3)LEAVE YOUR SAFETY ZONE... BUT DO IT SAFELY

There is something romantic about the struggle to do something new, isn't there? About taking the leap. At one point or another, all of us who are enamored of the pursuit of big ideas have ourselves enthralled by the origin story of a successful enterprise: the marathon coding sessions, the all-nighters that stretch across an entire week, the four friends stacked on top of one another inside a one bedroom apartment, meeting every evening at the kitchen table in the "boardroom". In commencement addresses and keynote speeches, famous founders talk wistfully about these memorable and crucial moments. Being down to their last dollar, maxing out their credit cards, eating nothing but ramen noodles and drinking nothing but Mountain Dew for months on end.

Those were the good old days.

There are some people who find those stories exhilarating, others, terrifying. For the longest time, I would have counted myself as one of the latter. And to an extent, I still do. I mean, what kind of maniac would just throw caution to the wind as Reid described? Who in their right mind would ever take such a huge risk? If building a company or creating something big and new is like jumping off a cliff and hoping to put enough pieces together before it, and you, die a horrible death, the question I always want to ask founders and creators is, Why do it? 

What are you thinking? Why whould you ever jump? Most of the successful entrepreneurs I've met left the comfort of their previous lives as safely and smartly as possible. And they did this in one of two ways: either they stayed in their "real jobs" until their startups demanded more time than they could spare, or they went for it with a fallback plan in their hip pocket, which made the risks inherent in entrepreneurship manageable enought for them to be able to sleep at night.

Having a fallback plan does not mean you are building an escape hatch from your dream. It's not an excuse not to try hard, nor is it a ready made reason to quit. It just means you've give yourself a cushion at the bottom of your entrepreneurial leap of faith that if you do crash, you can bounce back to fight another day.

4) DO YOUR RESEARCH

5) FIND YOUR CO-FOUNDER Many of the same founders I talked about at the beginning of this chapter, whom we have now elevated to godlike status in our culture, have talked openly about the importance of the partners they had in their early fight to bring their ideas to fruition, many of them while the fight was still happening.

"My best business decisions really have to do with picking people" Bill Gates said in a 1998 conversation with Warren Buffett on the campus of the University Of Washington. "Deciding to go into partnership with Paul Allen is probably at the top of the list, having somedboy who you totally trust, who's totally committed, who shares your vision and yet has a little big different set of skills, and also acts as a check on you, and just the benefit of sparking off of somebody who's got that kind of brilliance, it'snot only made it fun, but it's really led to a lot of success"

In a 1985 Playboy interview, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs talked about the importance of both his partner Steve Wozniak's differing interests and their shared lack of a vision. "Neither of us had any idead that this would go anywhere, Woz  was motivated by figuring things out. He concentrated more on the engineering and proceeded to do one of his most brillian pieces of work, which was the disk drive that made the Apple II a possibility. I was trying to build the company, I don't think it would have happened without Woz and I don't think it would have happened without me" Jobs said.

The power of partnership is not just a modern tech phenomenon. Partnerships are a hallmark in the history of innovation, regardless of the industry. Many of them are cultural icons we know by the name on the door: Ben and Jerry. Hewlett and Packard. Harley and Davidson. Wells and Fargo. Procter and Gamblr. Aso for Warren Buffett and his part in that conversation with Bill Gates in 1998, he was in complete agreement about the importance of picking people: "I've had a partner like that, Charlie Munger, for a lot of years, and it does for me exactly what Bill is talking about."

6) FUND THE BUSINESS, PART 1: BOOTSTRAPPING

7) GET YOUR STORY STRAIGHT Telling your story is a more cost-effective way to take your advertiseing beyond usefulness and effiacacy and efficiency as topics of conversation. It's like a growth hack that enables consumers to connect to your brand in a deeper, more personal way, which is a big part of how you differentiate and de-commodify your product, create brand loyalty, and set yourself up for long term success. While many legacy companies struggle to see the innovation and origin stories right under their noses, it is nevertheless as true for them as it is for young upstart brands that their busienss is a story, that every business is astory. The store, more than anything else, is what connects you and me and everyone out there to the thing you're building. And every defining element of that thing you're building, of that business, helps to tell its story. This goes from the name and the logo, to the function of the product or the style of the service to the partners that founded it, all the way to the customers who partronize it. The purpose of that story changes with time and with whom it is being told to, but fundamentally its goal is to answer a hundred different variations on the simple question: Why?

Why should i buy your product? Why should I join this company? Why should I be excited to work here? Why should I invest in this company?

These are just a few of the variations identified by Ben Horowitz the brilliant tech entrepreneur, best selling author, and co-founder of the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. He describe in 2010 how his company evaluates CEO's, whose main job, he contends it to be "the keeper of the vision and the story" A few years later, in talking to Forbes, Horowitz put the role of the company's story even more succinctly: "The story must explain at a fundamental level why you exist." It is a story you have to tell to you customers, to investors, to employees, and ultimately to yourself. Kind of in that order, in fact, from the bottom up, like the old food pyramid or Maslow's legendary hierarchy of needs.

One of the reasons for this approach seem prettty obvious: in most markets there are already plenty of options to choose from, so you need to give us a really compelling reason why we should choose yours. And in the cases where you're making something no on has ever seen before, when you're creating an entirely new market, it's not always immediately clear what we have been missing. As such, you need to tell us why we need to choose anything new at all. The other, slightly more complicated reason you need a terrific story is that there are so many other questions one could ask in an effort to understand why you exist, and your current answers don't reveal very much: what you do, where you dot it, how you do it, whom you do it for. Those are just discoverable facts. I can search for them on Google. I can buy market research reports. I can hire someone to reverse engineer your product or go through your process. I can read books and articles about all of it.

But the key here is: Why do you do what you do? Or, Why should we care? I can't know the answers to those questions until you, as the founder want me to know them, because they exist first in your mind. And like most concepts that are unquantifiable, the answers to these basic questions are suually best understood and best shared with the world through a story.

Whitney Wolfe has a story. She knows it well. To hear her tell it is to get to know her and the history of her dating app, Bumble. It is to know what she is trying to do with her app, why we should all care about it, and how it has managed to succeed despite the fact that by the end of 2014, when Bumble was launched, if there was one thing the world didn't need any more of, it was dating apps. There was already Match.com, Plenty Of Fish, IkCupid, eHarmony, and Hinge, along with all the niches sites, such as Jdate, BlackPlanet, Christian Mingle, and way on the other end of the spectrum. SeekingArrangment and Ashley Madinson.

And then there was Tinder, the behemoth, which Whitney founded in 2012 and had recently left under some of the worst possible circumstances not just for a co-founder but for a woman and a human being. There was both a professinoal and a romantic split with one of her co-founders, there was a very public sexual harassment lawsuit, and there was an avalanche of despicably hurtful online vitriol aimed directly at her. By the time she left Tinder in early 2014, Whitney wasn't just done with the dating business, she was done, period.

The stories of Bumble & AirBnB are unique to themselves, but what is true across industries and across time is that all businesses are stories, and all stories are a process. They are a mechanism for thinking deeply about yourself, your product or service, your employees, your customers, your market and the world. They explain each to all the others in a way that facts and figures never can.

Ben Horowitz is right knowing your story and being able to clearly articulate to the world why you exist is one of your most important challenges as an entrepreneur. Not because it helps you sell more product, or build a cooler brand, or make your money through all those things are true.

Rather the basic story that answers the big "why" questions is the one that creates loyal customers, find the best investors, builds an employee culture that keeps them committed to the venture and keeps you committed and grinding away when things get really hard and you want to give (and you will). There are a millions reasons for any one of these groups to quit or to say no. Your job is to give them one of the few reasons to them the story, that gets them to keep listening and to say yes.

8) FUND THE BUSINESS, PART 2: OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY(OPM)

Some people have distinct, tangible advantages that make it easier for them to pull together enough OPM to get their businesses on solid footing and pointed in the right direction. Recognition of this fact, especially for the entrepreneurs who enjoyed some of those advntages going in, is why I always ask my podcast guests how much they attribute their success to both luck and hark work. 

Acknowledging privilege and recognizing advantage are essential to understanding the nature of success, both yours and others. That does not mean privilege should define or predertermine success, any more than lack of privilege should preclude it. While not everyone has the same privilege of circumstance, everyone has intangible advantages of one kind or another that they can leverage in pursuit of success. Personality is an advantage. Will is an advantage. Likability, unflappability, resilience, having a good memory, those are all advantages that anyone who possesses them can use much the way anyone who possesses privilege uses theirs.

But where does that really leave those of us who may not be lucky enough to have a parent who can write a $10,000 check compared with those whose parents casually carry around $10,000 in cash? It doesn't leave us in the same place, but it does put us in the same race on the same track. Although out access to money differs, the process for securing it is the same, no matter who we are, where we live, how we grew up, or what we're trying to build. In every case, a conversation takes place in which a founder has to describe what they're trying to do and then ask another person for some amount of money, in the form of investment, loan, gift, whatever, to help them get there.

Here's where those early fundraising stories from the priviledged and the less-than-privileged start to sound surprisingly alike. To a person, all of these entrepreneurs will tell you that fundraising is brutally hard at every level. It taxes your time, your energy, your ego, and sometimes your relationships. You will have hundreds of conversations. You will have to tell your story hundreds of times and answer ten times as many questions, a lot of them the same, some of them invredibly frustrating, especially form people who think are supposed to support you or whom you have always called a friend. You are going to need a thick skin, like the heat shield on a space shuttle trinyg to punch through the incredible resistance of the surrounding atmosphere and not break apart. This is true whether you are blue blooded or blue-collar, just as it is true that this process starts the same way for everyone, with a conversation, with the people you know.

First a parent, then an uncle, then a family friend, then a mentor, then maybe a kid you went to high school with who also started their own business, and on and on from there, until you've exhausted your total personal network and have, by then hopefully, raised all the money you need. I think about it like a series of concentric circles. You start with the circle of people who are closest to you, the people who names you don't have to dig to the bottom of your contacts to find, because they're right there in your text messages and the call log on your phone. Maybe you start with a best friend and as to borrow a few hundred dollars. Does your friend know someone, a relative, possibly whom you can call for a little more, maybe $500? Does that relative know of someone interested in helping out a startup like yours?

The lesson here is that despite the sometimes daunting advantages that privilege can cofer, this process for raising early money really is available to anyone. Everyone exists at the centre of their own set of concentric circles. The built-in advantages or privilege do not change their shape, they only reduce the number of outer circles one might need to explore to reach one's fundraising goals. And that, comes to OPM and entrepreneurship, whic which I mean, once someone has raised money, even if it was easy for them and there is more where that came from, they still have to do something with it. I can't point to a single example of an entrepreneur I've profiled who raised a bunch of friends and family money early on and then merely sat back, resting on their privilege, to watch their business grow organically with no effort.

9) ITERATE, ITERATE, ITERATE

Take a look around you right now. At the seat you're sitting on. The shirt you're wearing. The light bulbs illuminating the space you're in. The phone in your pocket. Maybe the earbuds in your ears. Even the cover of this book you're reading or listening to.

If these items have anything in common, it is that none of them looked like they do now when they were first conceived by the people who invented or designed them. And that' because a lot happens between conception and first production for nearly every idea that gets turned into a business. Shape changes. Materials change. Offerings change. Names change. Process changes. Construction methods change. Look and feel and tast change.

Typically there are two phases to the iterative process prior to launch. The first involves tinkering with your idea until it works and you, as its creator, are satisfied with what you have. The second entails exposing the working idea to the public and tweaking the product based o ntheir feedback until it catches on, either with a buyer, a major investor, a retail partner, or a critical mass of your customers.

As the creator of AllBirds, Time made clear was that it's important to spend enough time in this first phase to really get comfortable with your product and your story and really get to know the business you're trying to build. Tim, arguably, spent five productive years there. Whitney Wolfe, in contrast, took less than a year to get the version of Bumble out into the world and onto people's phones, in part because she already knew the busienss from her time at Tinder and she'd lived every moment of the Bumble story from the day she left Tinder for good. The exact amount of time you spend in the first phase of development isn't as important as making sure you don't get stuck there for too long. Every idea, no matter how great, has a shelf life. If you don't get it off that shelf and out into the world in time, no amount of feedback you get during the second phase of the iterative process can overcome a lack of insterest or mitigate first mover advantage if someone beats you to the punch.

Moving to phase two can be tough for people who don't handle criticism well, or who are dogged by that familiar yet unattainable form of perfectionsism that has trapped the next great American novel on the desks or hard drives of countless aspiring writers since forever. Like asking friends and family for money, exposing your idea and all your hard work to feedback can be very uncomfortable, which can make the first phase of internal development feel like a safe space out of which you would rather not poke your head until you're absolutely sure. Except "absolutely sure" doesn't exist.

I would love to tell you a story about an entrepreneur who suceeded in spite of the paralysis of their perfectionism, but I don't have one, because such people generally don't create companies. The creators and innovators who I meet, if they do struggle with criticism and perfectionism, also understand the importance of allowing their product to be judged by the marketplace, and the opportunity that users' feedback presents to make the product better as a result. They know that they need an abundance of feedback to dial in their product. They actively seek it out, in fact. Because while they know what they want to do, and they know why and how they want to do it, they also know that they have no idea if anyone will actually like what they're making. And that's always essential to keep in mind.

PART II THE TESTS

Most of the entrepreneurs I've interviewed have a healthy fear of failure. They konw it's possible at any moment. Even likely. When it happens, and believe me it will happen they certainly don't like it. It's not comfortable, and it's definetely not fun. But that never stops them.

Good entrepreneurs, succesful ones, have a way of not letting their fear of failure slow them down. They are defined instead by a seemingly inextinguishable belief in their idea, the idea that has pulled them out of their comfort zone and driven them across the unknown to explore new possiblities. 

They are convinced that, if they can just get there (where "there" is), if they can just get their idea off the ground, it will succeed. If. That's really what entrepreneurs fear at this stage. The uncertainty of whether they wil be able to cross that vast space between inspiration and execution, full of tests and traps, twists and turns. A gauntlet that every entrepreneur must pass through, with challenges that are generally the same for everyone, but that take different forms and present in a different order with each trip across the unknown territory of starting a business.

Indeed, every entrepreneurial journey is a new and different story. No two paths are the same. Everyone will proceed through many of the same pivotal points, but your path will inevitably be unique to you, to your idea, and to the time and place through which it passes.

Fortunately, it's never been easier to make this journey than it is right now. So many entrepreneurs have done what you are about to do. You have the chance to prepare for what's coming your way, if you are willing to learn from these unwitting helpers. They've made every mistake. They've falled into every trap. They've taken every wrong turn. And the good ones, the successful one, only made those mistakes, fell into those traps, took those wrong turns, once. 

Because they borrowed from the entrepreneurs who came before them as well. They heard the stories and learned the lessons. Now it's your turn.

10) GO IN THROUGH THE SIDE DOOR

Most new businesses aren't doing something completely novel or aren't doing it in a totally new way or new place, you should be thinking long and hard about how else you might enter your market besides knocking on the front door and asking for permission to come in. This is something that female and minority entrepreneurs have long had to contend with, whether it means breaking through glass ceilings or breaking down walls built by prejudice. All of which is to say, figuring out how to sneak in through the side door is not new ground you will have to break. A legion of resourceful geniuses have come before you. And what many of them have discovered is that the side door isn't just less heavily guarded, it's often bigger. Or as Peter Thiel put it in a 2014 lecture at the Standford Center for Professional Development titles "Competition is for losers" "Don't always go through the tiny little door that everyone's trying to rush through. Go around the corner and go through the vast gate that no one's taking"

For Manoj Bhargava, the founder of 5-hour Energy, his side door into the energy drink market did not take the shape of a small niche, but rather of a small product. In early 2003, a few years removed from his retirement from a plastics business he'd turned around and profitable, Manoj was attending a natural products trade show outside Los Angeles looking for inventions he might acquire or license in an efford to create a business that would generate an ongoing residual income stream for him in his post plastic years.

Walking the floor of the show, he stumbled upon a new sixteen ounce energy drink that produced long-lasting effects he'd never experienced with other energy drinks "Well this is amazing", he said to himself, exhausted from a long morning of meetings and now energized enough to continue walking the trade show floor. "I could sell this" He thought. The drink's creators disagreed. They were "science guys with PhDs" while he was "just a lowly business guy". They refused to sell their invention to him or even offer him a license on their formula. When they effectively told him to hit the road, Manoj decided to hit the lab instead and to create his own version of the energy drink that had fueled him up and blown him away.

"I looked at their label and said, I can do better than this. How hard can it be? I'll figure it out." Manoj said. With the help of scientists from a company he'd founded for the express purpose of finding inventions just like this one, he had a comparable energy drink formula in a matter of months. It would turn out to be the easiest part of the process.

The hard part would be getting his invention into stores "If I made another drink" Manoj said of his thinking at the time, "I've got to fight for space in the cooler against Red Bull and Monster Energy. I've also got to fight Coke, Pepsi, and Budweiser for space. So you're pretty much dead if you want to try that. He was dead because he would be fighting for a finite amount of space in brick and mortar stores, against the compeition not just in his own niche but in the entire beverage industry, which is dominated by some of the biggest companies in the world. If you own a 7-Eleven or you're the gneral manager of a grocery chain like Kroger or Tesco, are you really going to turn over a Diet Coke, Mountain Dew, or Snapple rack to a new energy drink that on one has every heard of? Especially when, in 2003, in energy drink sales had yet to really spike and there were already two major players, Red Bull and Monster energy, in the nascent market. Even if you were inclined to give a little guy like Manoj Bhargava a shot, once the regional sales reps and distributors from Coca-Cola and PepsiCo got wind of your decision, they would likely wield their Microsoftesque price discretion against you like a baseball bat, or just pull their products from your store altogether.

Those were the barriers to entry that Manoj was looking at. If he was going to get into this market, he'd have to find some other way. That's when it dawned on him. "If I'm tired why am I thirsty also?" By which he meant, why should we have to chug ten to sixteen ounces of a cloyingly sweet liquid in order to get an energy boost? "It would be like Tylenol selling sixteen-ounce bottles", Manoj explained by way of analogy. "I just want to do it quick. I don't want to drink this whole thing", he thought. This is how Manoj arrived at the idea of shrinking his product down from the standard sixteen-ounce drink to a two-ounce shot.

Quickly, everything changed. In less than six months, he'd hired a designer to make his distinctive label, and he'd found a bottler who could produce two ounce versions of his energy formula. "And at two ounces, it's really not a drink, it's a delivery system"

This was 5-hour Energy's side door. It wasn't a drink, so it wasn't an immediate threat to Red Bull or Monster Energy. At two ounces, it also didn't need to be refigerated or given a large, dedicated shelf, so retailers didn't have to worry about space. They understood that the perfect spot for it would be at the cash register, right next to the Slim Jims and pickled eggs!

"It just belonged there" Manoj said "You could tell it just looked that way that it should be there" Moreover because the ingredients that way, that it should be there." Moreover, because the ingredients that went into 5-hour Energy were actually less about energy and more about focus, "vitamins for the brain". He could position his product beyond the beverage verticals and outside the grocery or convenience store channels. In fact, the very first place he went with 5-hour Energy in 2004 was the largest vitamin store, GNC, which decided to put the product in a thousand of its stores.

GNC turned out to be a genius side door into the energy "drink" market for a couple reasons. The first is obvious, there was much less competition compared with grocery and convenience stores, but the second is more interesting. "It turns out GNC is always looking for new products, because once a product gets mass distribution, GNC is sort of out of it, if it's in Walmart, nobody's going to buy it at GNC" Essentially, GNC was an easier route to retail distribution than a place like 7-Eleven or Safeway, and thankfully the tolerance for a slow start was higher as well, because in the first week they sold only 200 bottles. "Which was horrible" Manoj admitted. But they waited it out, manufacturer and retailer together, "and at the end of six months it was selling 10,000 bottles a week" 

From there Manoj went to drugstores like Walgreens and Rite Aid, which snapped it up, now a 5-hour Energy is near the cash register in most stores basically everywhere.

This is the great irony of circumventing the barriers to entry that your competitions's apparent monopoly power constructs and then fighting you way in through the side door. If you're successful, you stand a very good chance of achieving market domination of your own. Of digging and widening your own moat and building the toll that bridge that crosses it. Of massive, unbelievable success. For many entrepreneurs, that is the goal.

11) IT'S ALL ABOUT LOCATION

12) GET ATTENTION, PART 1: BUILDING BUZZ If a tree falls in the forest and there's no one to hear it, does it make a sound? I think there is a business analog to that: If a company opens it's doors and no one hears about it, does it ever really exist? Or is it just one of the 170,000 new businesses that year that didn't make it to its first birthday and whose existence you can only infer from a table of numbers in a Bureaur of Labor Statistics Report?

The answer, I believe, is of course it existed! If you took that leap off the cliff while attempting to build your own airplane on the way down, you deserve to be known. But as the builder of that plane, it's also your job to be the creator of the buzz from that plane's engines.

It's your job to make sure that the sound of your doors opening reaches past your front steps and far enough out into the world for potential customers to hear it. It's your job to get attention for the product or the service you are bringing to the market.

It's usually not easy, and you are going to need help from all forms of media to make it happen, because like Jen Rubio said, nobody wants to hear you talk about yourself. But it's doable, particularly when you are able to build buzz among many possible customers while at the same time engineering work of mouth among your ideal customers.

Take one look around you at all the things you observed at the start of this chapter. The people who made these products were sending a version of their idea out into the world that they could stand behind and that could itself stand up to the criticism they were inviting. That is the real recipe for success in the iterative process, and one every creator needs to get right if they want to turn their idea not just into a product, but into a business that is poised for real, sustained growth.

13) GET ATTENTION PART 2: ENGINEERING WORD OF MOUTH

14) SURVIVE THE CRUCIBLE

15) FUND THE BUSINESS, PART 3: PROFESSIONAL MONEY

The first thing to understand is that raising venture capital is about making a promise. A promise that you have a product or a service that people will pay money for, that you have a plan to reach as many of those people as possible, and that in exchange for lots of moeny, you will bust your butt to reach them. The next thing to understand is that good investors know the promise you are making to them is just that, a promise. They know you can't make any guarantees. You can do everything right, but if the world shifts under your feet, there's nothing you can do about it. Venture capital is by its nature a gamble, it's right there in the name, and every gamble comes with the risk of heavy losses. Professional investors know and accept this fact, which is why the also do everything they can to mitigate the risk before writing very large checks.

One of the principal ways they do this, especially if they are unfamiliar with your industry, is to ask lots of questions:

How do you expect to scale this? Where is the growth going to come from? Who is the customer for this? Doesn't something like this already exist? How will you get costs down? Where will you manufacture? Where will you be based? What's your marketing strategy? Why does anyone need this? Why would anyone do this?

16) PROTECT WHAT YOU'VE BUILT

17) WHEN CATASTROPHE STRIKES

18) THE ART OF THE PIVOT

PART III THE DESTINATION In many ways, the scariest part of entrepreneurship is success. It's reaching your destination, your objective. Because that's when the work really starts. Why you've got to decide: What now? What next? Do you keep moving and do it again? Do you stick around? Do you build? What do you build? How big? With what? And why? Getting here was difficult enough. The anxiety that comes with the responsibility of continue success isn't making things any easier. Why continue to put yourself through all this?

These questions are difficult to answer. And the answers are often hard to get exactly right. Because in the beginning, all you're worried about is trying to survive. You're not aiming for perfection, you're just hoping to avoid pitfalls. You're not thinking about legacy, you're just focused on lasting one more day in your quest across the unknown.

Eventually, though, these questions will become paramount if you want to ubild a business that stands the test of time. Something more than just a vessel for the idea that drove you in the beginning. Something that reflects you mission and your values, that honors all the work you put in, and that treats the people who helped you get here well.

Figuring out your answers to these questions is also what will make you feel successful, no matter what your next move is: whether you stay and build and lead, whether you go, whether you move on and try to repeat your success in another area. If you're not doing it for reasons that are authentically yours, if you've lost sight of what inspired you from those very first days, then the long, arduous entrepreneurial journey you just endured might very well fill you with regret. Like promise unfulfilled.

Forget feeling successful. You can feel like a downright failure when you get to the right place for the wrong reasons, no matter how much money you have. That's because the path to true entrepreneurial success is not strictly about profit, it's also about finding and fulfilling a deeper purpose. That has been the destination all along. Knowing that, and recognizing when you've reached it, is when the rewards truly begin to accrue.

19) IT CAN'T BE ALL ABOUT THE MONEY

The Beatles told us that money can't buy you love. Rousseau taught us that money doesn't buy you happiness. The Bible warns us that the love of money is the root of all evil. And these casualities of the subprime mortgage crisis showed us that money can't be the primary motivating force behind our businesses. A company that is successful and resilient and that acts as a force for good in the world long after you're gone has a larger purpose, a mission at it's center. One that you as founder are responsible for indentifying and articulating from the very beginning, then guarding during times of plenty and leaning on during times of difficulty.

Founders who approach their business with a “mission first” focus tend to be better equipped to handle the lure of unrestrained and manic growth that has damaged or even sunk so many companies with early potential. But having a defined mission is even more valubale when money is scarce or growh is anemic, especially for younger companies, because it gives them a reason to keep on fighting. In contrast, if they are operating with a “money first” mind-set, money's absence makes it so much easier to abandon what they're doing and to pivot before they should, to give up on their original idea at the first sign of trouble, or just plain old quit.

More than just stoking the flames of a fighting spirit when things aren't going your way, the mission is what gives your business, and you, direction. It helps you identify opportunities. It helps you categorize and prioritize the field of choices in any situation, from those that advance the intersts of the business to those that subvert it or hold it back. This is perhaps the most important thing that a mission does for a young company, because with everything swirling around you, whether it's product development, funding, hiring, or marketing, it's very easy to lose your sense of direction both individually as a founder and collectively as the business. Once you lose your sense of direction, the chances of keeping hold of any sense of mission become slim. After all, if you don't know where you're going, it's hard to know why you're going there.

Andy Puddicombe, a former Buddhist monk from the southwest of England, had a mission to demystify meditation and make it accessible to as many people as possible.  The first step on the journey once he was back in the United Kingdom was to figure out the how and the why of this whole experience and then to find a plae where he could teach clients one on one. The goal he said was to give people just enough to be inspired or to get excited to try mediation, because a lot of people had heard and read about it, but it's only really in the experience of it that you can get them to make that leap in terms of actually getting the benefit. So he started to use a lot more storytelling in his practice. He took a lot of metaphors and analogies from the Tibetan tradition, but he changed them just enough to make them “more approachable and accessible.”

At his first teaching space, a clinic room in a London integrative health center fun by a doctor who had heard a lot of good things about “mindfulness”. Before too long, Andy was seeing six to ten people every day, all with very mainstream problems. They were struggling with depression, anxiety, insomnia, stress, mirgraines, many of the things that we all suffer with now in a life of just sheer overload. He'd see each person for an hour a week for ten weeks, gradually developing in the process a ten week long modular course from which everyone can benefit. Any by everyone I mean everyone, because everything you hear in the Headspace app is now is build built on the content and the language that was developed during that time. It was a really important trainign ground in terms of understanding what worked and what didn', what language connected and what didn't.

Before he got to the Headspace app, which by mid 2018, had more thatn 30 million users and a million paying subscribers, Andy first had to figure out how to move beyond the one on one clinic experience. Not to make more money, though he certainly could have used it, but to reach more people more quickly. ”I wanted to get meditation out. I wanted to get more people meditating. I just didn't know how to do it outside of the clinic” he said.

20) BUILD A CULTURE, NOT A CULT

At Reed Hastings first company Pure Software, the "culture first" approach he used at Netflix didn't come naturally. He did things another way which was "me first". Not that he was selfish, just the opposite was true. He did everything or at least he tried to do everything, himself. "I thought if I could just do more sales calls, more travel, write more code, do more interviews, that somehow it would work out better," he said. In his mind, if there was a problem to be solved or a bug in the code to be fixed, as the founder and CEO of the company, which was his brainchild, he was the obvious and best choice for doing what needed to get done. Eventually, wearing all those hats got to be too much. "I was coding all night, trying to be CEO in the day, and once in a while, I'd squeeze in a shower" he said. It wasn't working Hastings had to figure out a better way. This is when he made the mistake from which the culture deck would eventually be born. Now whenever they had a problem at Pure Software, instead of tring to fix it himself, he tried to implement a process that would prevent the problem from ever happening again. The real problem was that he was trying to dummy-proof the system, and then eventually only dummies wanted to work there. Then, of course the market shifted and the company was unable to adapt.

Pure Software was eventually acquired by its largest competitor, and Reed Hastings used the financial windfall from that sale to co-founder Netflix, where he made sure not to repeat his process-obsessed, founder-centric mistakes. He was fortunate. Many founders have not been so lucky. Any successful founder will tell you that the impulse to do everything yourself, to believe that only you know best and then to build processes that reflect that belief, is endemic to entrepreneurship and has the potential to be incredibly destructive. When the processes don't work and your conclusions continually prove wrong, your assumption is that if you just take on a little more and work a little harder, everything will be fine. But that approach can wear you down physically and mentally. Plus, as Reid Hoffman put it in his episode with Hastings, "more work is never the real answer. To succeed as you scale, you have to leverage every person in the organization. And to do that, you have to be very intentional about how you craft the culture." This may sound like common sense, because it is! But I've been surprised at how often entrepreneurs I've encountered make the mistake of trying to do everything themselves as the company begins to grow. What happens in the end is that everything about the business starts to be about the founder rather than the business.

This is one of the hardest traps for even the most well-intentioned entrepreneur to avoid, let alone spot. For the longest time in the beginning, it can feel like it's just you and your idea. The seed gets planted in your mind, you water it with inspiration until it germinates into an idea, you feed it with research until it pokes up through the soil and sees the light of day as a product, which is when it first finds the warmth of attention from an audience, and then if you're lucky, it starts to blossom into a full fledged business.

Getting to that point is an all-consuming process. It takes all your time, energy and focus. It's all you think about, and after a while the line between you and your idea can start to blur. It becomes difficult to know where you end and the company begins. It becomes impossible, especially in the leaner, trying times, to fathom that anyone could understand the business or its problems in the way that you can. So when someone on your team levels the charge that you're making everything about yourself, it almost doesn't compute. Everything you do, you do for the business. You've given everything have to it. If you could give more, you would. But when you and the business are indistinguishable, when you've allowed your identity to merge with the company's how does it not appear to be the case, from outside at least, that your singular focus on the business is also a singular focus on yourself?

It turns out there is a name for founders who fall into this trap. They're called "monarch CEO's" according to Professor Jeffery Sonnenfeld, who stuides CEOs at the Yale School of Management. "Their business is defined around them and their life is defined around the business", he told the Washington Post. The most notorious of these figures in recent years was Dov Charney, the controversial founder of the now-defunct clothing retailer American Apparel.

American Apparel was a juggernaut in the clothing business and in the culture during the first decade of the twenty-first century. Their advertisements were edgy and sexually provocative. Their retail stores were on the best streets in all the right cities. They manufactured their clothes out of a large, old factory building in downtown Los Angeles. Their clothes were everywhere and on everyone the entire decade. I still own a couple American Apparel T-shirts and hoodies that I wear in regular rotation.

American' Apparel's rise from a domestic clothing manufacturer and wholesaler into an international retail brand was as fast as its fall. They moved into their famous downtown LA factory in 2000. By 2005, they were one of the fastest growing companies in America. By 2011, the company had more than 250 stores with revenue well north of $500 million. And then, by 2014 amidst a tangle of sexual harassment lawsuits and bad financial deals, Dov was kicked off the board of the company he founded. By 2015, American Apparel was in Chapter 11 bankruptcy. By 2017, the company as Dov Charney knew it was gone, all ties to the founder severed, it's intellectual property sold at auction to a competitor, Gildan Activewear for less than $100 million, it's retail stores shuttered. It's a sad cautionary tale. Dov Charney was American Apparel. American Apparel was Dov Charney. And that was the whole problem. Everyone saw it. The New York Times said, "Charney himself had no other interests ouside his company. He viewed himself as indeispensable" The Financial Times said "It is almost as if Mr.Charney believes that the scandalous behaviour he has so often been accused if is inextricably tied up with the image of his often lauded but deeply unconventional fashion label" It's a sentiment Charney would not reject. He told the Financial Times reporter "I am a deep part of the brand".

The depth of their synchronicity is where the trouble for American Apparel started. At various points well into the history of the company. Charney was the CEO, the designer, the main photographer, the male fit model, a centerpiece of their advertising and their biggest liability. Not just legally either. As often happens when a founder loses themselves inside their business, he became a control freak. He had store managers calling him directly. He famously moved into a warehouse that was having some problems and had a shower installed so he could live there twenty four hours a day monitoring the work. Once when there was a traffic jam in the parking lot of American Apparel's LA headquarters, Charney went downstairs and personally directed traffic until it cleared.

These might be humble, romantic gestures of a leader willing to do whatever it takes if they weren't actually a reflection of a founder who had turned into a relentless micromanager as the company grew. "A lot of founders have difficulty making this transition" said Professor Sydney Finkelstein of the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth in the wake of Charney's ouster from the board. "When you're a smaller company, micromanagment is not necessarily a terrible thing. It's when you cross the line and have to grow, you've got to have management talent around you.

"If the cultural roots are strong, then new leadership is developed in that model, and will often continue the culture" - Reed Hastings If the roots are unstable however and the leadership is constantly changing, the culture will be, too. By consistently firing or driving away talented leaders, Charney managed to yank out by the roots whatever culture there was to speak of at American Apparell, and in filling the vacuum with himself, the culture of American Apparel became the Cult of Dov. As Dov imploded, so did American Apparell.

Tristan the owner of a skincare brand. If he hadn't been careful, Tristan could have very easily found himself on a self absorbed Dov Charney style trajectory. Instead, he found a problem to solve "for people who lookied like me", as he put it. He developed a set of solutions that could become a business that employed a lot of people, if he just cultivated the seed of the idea and tended to the soil with enough care to make sure the idea blossomed and flourished. Almost immediately, Tristan's goals changed. Instead of being singular and self-focuesed, they were multiple and communal. He recongnized that for a business to last 100 years, which was one of his new goals, it can't be about you, because "you don't scale". Only your idea, and your story, and your values do. As long as you know them and share them.

"Knowing your values gets you on the same page with your employees. They get you on the same page in this noisy world with your consumers, but more importantly they give you your purpose," Tristan said "Without knowing your values, you're going to make decisions that are inconsistent and you have to have consistency to inspire your sanity."

I would argue that you also need consistency to inspire your people. And there is nothing more consistent than a set of clear values written down on the page for everyone to see. Just ask Reed Hastings or better yet, ask his 7000 employees.

21) THINK SMALL TO GET BIG

22) MANAGE PARTNERSHIP TENSIONS

23) KNOW THYSELF

When I started podcasts my friends thought I'd lost my mind. they were right to be skeptical. We were still a few years away from the podcast boom that began to swallow traditional radio.

Podcasting let me be the most genuine version of my personal and professional self, and it unexpectedly put my career into ascendancy as a result. Embracing my storytelling sensibilities helped put my production ecompany on the same track. It guided me to, and through, every decision in every phase of our growth, whom to hire, who to profile on the show, what to say no to, and it also kep us from falling off the righ track.

When growth begins to accelerate, it's even more critical to know who you are as a founder and who you are as a company. That understanding helps point you in the right direction when you have opportunities to pursure lots of different things. It's a constant reminder of what business you're actually in, which is something that is surprisingly easy to forget or lose sight of once your business starts to expand, evolve, and change shape. Believe me, I've been there, and so have most of the founder I've interviewed.

Andy, one of the co-founders of Bonobos was dealing with problems in the workplace. "I was a confused person, I got depressed, and I kind of had to fake it at work that I was doing okay. It was super tough to navigate." He also struggled with direct conflict and confrontation. "I valued harmoney over the difficult conversations until the situation became really difficult", he said, "and then I'd take it on" Compbined with the normal stress and insecurity that come with running a succesful startup, one that wasn't even his idea to begin with, these personal issues started to steer Andy toward poor decisions, including fighting with his co-founder in front of the team, which exacerbated the company's identity crisis.

24) WHEN TO SELL AND WHEN TO STAY

Now entrepreneurs don't have to raise professional money if they don't want to. They don't have to accept it in the amounts or at the valuation that may be available to them. They don't have to realize the potential idling within their ideas as quickly as others may want either. They can take it slow. They can defer compensation. They can wait to make a lot of money and let the company grow at a more natural pace. It wouldn't be an unfamiliar place from which to operate for most entrepreneurs, since founders typically pay themselves about as much as they could make if they were employees, and much less on average than a CEO would make coming into the company. Fundamentally it comes down to what a founder thinks is best for the company and best for themselves. Neither choice is by definition better than the other. It all depends on what a founder's goals were when they started their company, and where theose goals have evolved in light of their success.

Except I don't think money and control are your only choices when you are wrangling with a growing and successful busines. I don't believe they are the only two major forces that motivate an entrepreneur's decision making either. I think there is a third. A consider that tends to play a lesser role during the fundraising part of growth, but is especially active once a founder has grown their business beyond what they ever imagined possible and the opportunity to sell presents itself. I'm talking about happiness. Contentment. Making a decision that feels right.

25) BE KIND

26) WHAT YOU DO WITH YOUR LUCK

Every successful entrepreneur I've met has a story about working eighteen hour days for months on end or eating ramen and cereal and rice to get by, but none of them has ever worked harder in their capacity as a founder than a dishwasher or a gardener or a construction worker or a waitress works every single day. Every founders stories has a strong strain of luck running through it. But I'm not talking about luck in this context as any sort of admonition against these founders being proud of all the hard work they put in. I mention it in order to, I hope, help aspring entrepreneurs understadn that the luck these founders experienced was not some desembodied magical force. It didn't happen in a vacuum. It didn't happen to them. Luck when it comes right down to it, is really just an opportunity waiting to be taken advatage of, and they took advantage of it.

Maybe you were lucky enough to have a good network, or a stable home, or a good education, or maybe you were lucky enough to be born with the kind of personality that makes you more resilient, more willing to accept rejection, more willing to do whatever it takes, without the massive ego that prevents so many from sticking with it during hard times. A personality like Daymond John's with the drive to work hard and the resilience to push forward through all the nos until he got to a yes.

Whatever the case, the question you will need to answer for you self as an aspring entrepreneur isn't whether you will have any luck, you will, you probably already do. It's what you are going to do with the luck that you have. Are you doing to take advantage of it? Are you going to do the work? Are you going to take the leap? Are you going to write that twenty-fifth investor email? What about the twenty-sixth? Are you going to pay all the friends in your network to buy your product so the stores think its super popular right away, like Sara Blakely did with the first five stores she got Spanx into? Are you going to physically move your product in those stores to a more optimal location like she did, too? Those are choices you will have when you realize how lucky you are and you spot the opportunities that come with that luck.

You and I, we are both lucky. I had the opportunity to write this book, you had the money to buy it (or the patience to wait for it at the library) and the time and inclination to read it. I've had the privilege of meeting and interviewing some of the world's most succesful innovators, entrepreneurs, and idealists in order to help them tell their stories, you somehow found you way here, where you can learn from the lessons their stories hold.

[justorklifestyle]

SBS Spotlight: Inner Calling LLC

Our business relies on small business: that is why we came up with the small business spotlight where we select one small business a month to feature on our website and all of our social media platforms.  We like to find small businesses that have been looking for unique ways to stay afloat, businesses powered by passion and not profits.  The businesses where the owners are truly invested in what they have and only want to see their dreams prosper.  We want to support the real small businesses of America.  To be featured as part of our Small Business Spotlight, please reach out to us either by calling or texting 862-803-0225, by emailing us at sales@justork.com, or by visiting us on our website at www.justork.com.  Our own unique way of giving back to the community we serve; the spotlight is a free post to our website blog and social media channels, with additional paid marketing features available as well for extra promotion.

Justork Lifestyle is back with the Small Business Spotlight.  This Saturday we are featuring a self-inspired self-starter. We have the owner of Inner Calling, LLC based out of NJ. Who she is:

"Amanda Nafash is an intuitive career coach who counsels people of all ages and helps them both interview for and discover their inner calling. She believes in finding opportunities to pursue what you love while also bringing out the best in yourself."

You can find my bio and mission statement at our website, www.innercallingllc.com

1.  Hometown / state / country origins:

My hometown is Ringwood, NJ. We have some of the best hiking spots in the world if you ask me ;)

2.  Where are you located now?

I am still local! But I am looking to spend a lot of this next year traveling and working from the road.

3.  Enneagram number:

I never did an enneagram test, but I do see myself changing over the years as I grow and learn to love certain aspects of myself, so even if I did a test last year, I would probably see different results today.

4.  Zodiac sign:

Leo Sun, Sagittarius Moon, Capricorn Rising

5. Wake up / start your day routine:

I start my day with a cup of coffee (despite trying to kick this caffeine addiction.)

6. First job ever:

My first job was babysitting; I got CPR certified at 12 and started watching my cousin and sister and all of their friends.

7. Your best quality / skill:

My best skill is my ability to talk to people- conversation is how I built my business, grew my network, and established a reputation as a professional and student. I thank my Italian family for that!

8.  Worst habit:

My worst habit is the high expectations I have for myself- though they have led me to achieve great things at young ages, they have also been the cause of a lot of stress and negative self- talk. This next phase of my life is dedicated to being more present and being proud of what I have already accomplished.

9.  Introvert or extrovert?

An extrovert who values alone time

10. Business motto - influential motto? Mine is fall down 7, get up 8:

Sooo many favorite mottos, but something I love to remind my clients is "work smarter, not harder"

11.  3 things you love about being self employed:

TIME FREEDOM!! , getting to choose whose opinions get to impact the final business decisions, infusing my own values into every part of my business so I can truly see my mission in every day's work.

12. Favorite holiday:

Small Business Saturday!

13. Favorite small business you admire:

It's very hard to pick one small business, as I tend to surround myself with small business owners and young entrepreneurs,

14.  Favorite Instagram to follow:

My sister runs a page called @_runningonplants_ where she talks about mental health, physical fitness, and posts pictures of all the delicious food she makes. She inspires me every day, and her posts always put a smile on my face!

15. Favorite vacation / place to unwind and let off steam:

I love the beach- everything melts away when I am swimming in the ocean or reading a book on the sand.

16.  Next place you wish to travel:

I am hoping to go to Colorado and Louisiana in the next coming year!

17.  2021 personal goals:

My personal goals for the rest of 2021 are to absolutely live it up for my 24th birthday, and expose myself to more art, both man made and in nature.

18.  2021 business goals:

My business goals for the rest of 2021 are to host a vending fair and provide an outlet for other small businesses to succeed, to expand my listening network on my podcast, and to incorporate more networking events into my business.

19.  Best business related purchase:

The best business related purchase I have made was my rebrand and website, which I had done by an up and coming entrepreneur! Her instagram is @everythingbybreckel I highly recommend her for all of your web design needs!

20.  Ideal client:

My ideal client is someone who is open minded. When someone is willing to talk about their loftiest dreams and trust that I will be not only supportive, but also an asset to them achieving  their goals, that's when the magic happens.

21.  Your biggest business related failure:

I've come to realize that success is subjective. My old mindset is crumbling and a new one is taking its place, which I feel is much healthier. When things don't go as planned, I consider it a really important life and business lesson, and I analyze what I learned and how I can adjust from it. Failure is currently being phased out of my vocabulary.

22. A mistake that taught you the most / that you learned from:

A mistake I learned from was assuming that I could tell anyone and everyone about my intentions and plans for my business. I've learned after a year of business that it is sometimes best to keep your plans in a more private circle until they are completed or a little more concrete. Unfortunately not everyone has your best interest in mind. I never was one who understood the "move in silence" mentality, but this year I have definitely seen the positive aspects of it firsthand.

23. How / why you chose to work for yourself:

I chose to work for myself as I was finishing grad school in the height of Covid lockdown. While there were delays with the state in getting applications approved for the LSW exam, I decided to start my own business. Once I started, I couldn't look back. I don't think I'll ever return to a cog-in-the-wheel position.

24. Your entrepreneurial summary / journey to how you got here:

My whole adolescent life I was doing a bunch of odd jobs, so I made connections everywhere I went, and I ended up being the connection for so many of my loved ones to network or get jobs in different places. I love to be a listening ear and a mentor to those around me. I was a social work student from my second semester at community college, and every semester I changed my idea on what I wanted to do in the field. Right before graduating with my Bachelor's degree I was required to do some career readiness through our Career Center on campus, and thus began my love of career coaching and college counseling. I talk a lot about this journey in the first episode of The Inner Calling Podcast.

25. Your biggest win:

My biggest win is hard to pinpoint. I think the greatest feeling was on my one year anniversary with Inner Calling when I reflected on how many of my goals I achieved, and remembering that when I started the business I told myself, "I'll do it for one year. Next year if it doesn't seem like it's working out, or if I don't love it, I'll pack up shop and chalk it up to experience." Now I hit the ground running with plans for year 2. It's going to grow so much more, and so am I. I can't imagine giving up on Inner Calling now.

26.  Advice for new business owners:

New business owners, take those opportunities for help people are offering you! Barter your products and services! Making connections is how you stay alive and successful. We are not in this alone. "It takes a village. . ."

27.  Favorite recipe:

My favorite recipe is for snicker-doodles, I learned how to make them in my high school foods class and they are my favorite thing to make in the winter. They make the whole house smell like butter and cinnamon.

28.  Mac or PC?

Mac

@innercallingllc on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter!

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/inner-calling-llc

website: www.innercallingllc.com

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Justork Lifestyle

Please click on the link at the bottom of the page and fill out our short form so that our lenders will reach out to you for available financing options.

Justork lifestyle is a business consultant and financial advisor. We help small businesses from start to finish; from the funding stage all the way to product launch. One of our consultants is with you, every step of the way, to answer all of your questions and drive your business to success. For more information, please visit our website or reach out to us via email at sales@justork.com. We offer a variety of services, including but not limited to:

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