“You take the blue pill—the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill—you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.” —Morpheus, in The Matrix As I grow older, I sometimes imagine how my entrepreneurial drive will change when […]
View Post Alice In Wonderland, Chick-fil-A, Morpheus, Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize, The Matrix, Truett Cathy, Wealth: Is It Worth It?
People with leverage have dominance over people with less leverage. —Robert T. Kiyosaki, author, Rich Dad, Poor Dad. When I started my media company, very few prospects wanted to buy advertisements. They saw the tremendous value in my media outlets, but always tried to leverage what they had instead of paying. For example, I approached […]
View Post College, Fila, Leverage, Mentor, Resources, Robert T. Kiyosaki, Selling
Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow. —Anthony J. D’Angelo, entrepreneur, education trailblazer. When I arrived at Morehouse College, I was focused on doing well in my classes so that I could get a high-paying job as a computer programmer. After catching the entrepreneurial bug during my sophomore […]
View Post College, David Kilpatrick, Dr. Thomas J. Stanley, Education, Grades, Millionaires, Morehouse College, NASA, PayPal, Pete Thiel, SAT, School, The Facebook Effect, The Millionaire Mind
Money won’t create success, the freedom to make it will. —Nelson Mandela, former president, South Africa Nothing is more irritating than hearing one of the many generalizations that permeate the business world and corrupt the minds of new entrepreneurs. You’ve heard them. You may even deal in these false aphorisms: “Follow your passion.” “Fake it […]
View Post Capital, Content Management System, Finances, Money, Nelson Mandela, Passion, Publishing, South Africa, Start-Up
I hate competition. —Marat Safin, tennis champion, Russian politician When entrepreneurs approach me to invest in their companies, I naturally want to know who their competitors are. It’s a basic question that any investor would ask. Some entrepreneurs answer the question thoroughly and confidently. They are not afraid to acknowledge what the competitive landscape looks […]
View Post Blockbuster, Harvard University, Marat Safin, N. Gregory Mankiw, Netflix
A good business attorney will provide vital assistance in almost every aspect of your business. —Cliff Ennico, author, The Small Business Survival Guide. If you’ve been in business long enough, sooner or later you will need sound legal advice from an attorney. Yes, you can use an Internet legal services firm, but you’ll eventually need […]
View Post Attorney, Brands, C corporation, Cease-and-Desist, Coca-Cola, Contracts, Copyrights, Intellectual Property, Lawyer, Legal Matters, Legal Services, Limited Liability Company, Limited Liability Partnership, Litigation, Patent. Trademark, S corporation
Exploration is really the essence of the human spirit. —Frank Borman, retired NASA astronaut. The other day while checking out new books at Barnes and Noble, I came across the story of how a young Howard Schultz, the current CEO of Starbucks, was inspired by a trip he took to Italy that would change his […]
View Post Creativity, Global Growth, Howard Schultz, International Business, Italy, Milan, Starbucks, Strategy, Travel
Ideas are easy. It’s the execution of ideas that really separates the sheep from the goats. —Sue Grafton, author I hate to rain on your parade, but your idea is not special. There are likely other entrepreneurs or companies with “your” idea, equally inspired to dominate the business world and to make millions. And when your […]
View Post Atlanta, Grand Canyon, Groupon, Harvard University, LinkedIn, Mark Zuckerberg, MSNBC.com, Noam Wasserman, Reid Hoffman, Silicon Valley, Sue Grafton
Here’s to the crazy ones. The rebels. The troublemakers. The ones who see things differently. While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do. —Apple, “Think Different” campaign, advertising copy. It’s no coincidence […]
View Post Apple, BackRub, Berkeley Blue, Black Box, Disruption, Google, Larry Page, Mavericks, Oaf Tobark, Psychology, Rebellion, Sergey Brin, Stanford University, Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak
It isn’t just what you know, and it isn’t just who you know. It’s actually who you know, who knows you, and what you do for a living. — Bob Burg, best-selling author, Endless Referrals If you go to hit-or-miss networking events to build your business, you probably aren’t making the best of your time. […]
View Post Bank of America, Bob Burg, Bob Littell, Endless Referrals, H&R Block, Habitat for Humanity, Nationwide, Net Weaving, Wells Fargo