To succeed in life, you need two things: ignorance and confidence. —Mark Twain, author, humorist. Pete Kight has a success story that is simply amazing. The company he founded, CheckFree, was acquired in 2007 by Fiserve for approximately $4.4 billion in cash. In many ways, his story sounds like other millionaire success stories that include […]
View Post Bill Gates, CheckFree, College, Courage, Fiserve, Forbes, Forbes 400, George Soros, Jeff Bezos, Kevin Plank, Ohio, Pete Kight, Sara Blakely, Software, Spanx, Under Armour, Warren Buffet
I have always been afraid of banks. —Andrew Jackson, seventh president, United States of America. One of the worst things you can do as an entrepreneur is to open a business bank account at a bank where you have a personal bank account. Likewise, it is not a good idea to open a business credit […]
View Post American Express, Andrew Jackson, Banking, Business Credit, CapitalOne, Corporate Law, Credit, Credit Card, Credit Report, Debt Collection, Debt-to-Income Ratio, Discover, Finance, Loans, Overdraft Fees, Personal Finance, Right of Offset, Social Security Number, Tax Identification Number, Veil Piercing
A winning effort begins with preparation. —Joe Gibbs, former NFL coach, race team owner At a recent entrepreneurship conference where there was a panel with angel investors, an audience member asked the following questions, “Do you take cold calls? And if you do, what should I, as a business owner seeking capital, say?” One of […]
View Post Capital Growth, Daymond John, Forge Intellectual Capital, Joe Gibbs, Timothy Reese, Valerie Gaydos
Two heads are better than one. —John Heywood, English playwright. One of my favorite events in the Summer Olympic Games is the 4×100 meter relay. In this event, a team runs 400 meters total, once around a regulation athletics track, with four teammates running 100 meters each. Currently, Jamaica holds the world record time of […]
View Post Bill Gates, Eduardo Saverin, Fear, Google, Greed, Jamaica, Larry Page, Mark Zuckerberg, Michael Johnson, Olympic Games, Olympics, OmniPublisher, Paul Allen, Pride, Sergey Brin, Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, Track & Field, Usain Bolt, World Record, Yohan Blake
Everybody can tell you how to do it, they never did it. —Jay-Z, recording artist, entrepreneur. Since I started my business, I have been fortunate to have excellent mentors who have helped me to grow as an entrepreneur. In fact, not only have they been great advisers, but they have also brought me valuable clients. […]
View Post Advisory Board, Angel Investor, Board, Fear, Initial Public Offering, Mentors, Mentorship, Venture Capitalist
Systems are the essential building blocks of every successful business. —Ron Carroll, entrepreneur, business coach As a computer science major in college matriculating with some of the brightest students from around the world, I quickly learned that my computer programming skills were not the most economical. I could get the job done, but not in […]
View Post Henry Ford
The man who has no problems is out of the game. —Elbert Hubbard, writer, philosopher. When checking my e-mail one morning, I noticed an urgent subject: “Web Site Down. Call Immediately.” This wasn’t a good sign. I knew then that it was going to be a long day—and it was. Until that moment, I had […]
View Post Customer Service, OmniPublisher, Software, Strategy, Technology
Beauty awakens the soul to act. —Dante Alighieri, Italian poet. Excited to hit the pavement and to sell advertisements for my new magazine, I visited a local mom-and-pop store near my alma mater, Morehouse College. After my sales pitch, I waited to hear if the business owner would place an ad in my next issue. […]
View Post Black in America, Black in America: The New Promised Land, Cadillac, Chelsey Rodgers, CNN, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Ford, Investors, Los Angeles Lakers, Miss USA, Morehouse College, Silicon Valley