The Number 1 Rule for Entrepreneurship

A few years ago, I interviewed at Google. The interview process was lengthy and had a very corporate feel. I interviewed with everyone on the team, typical corporate stuff. Then the divisions heads came in and asked the hard questions.

A fews year prior, I had tried my stint at Wantrepreneurship. A friend and I had written a business plan, drafted a product document, and started pitching a business. There’s a huge difference from pitching a business and running a business. I think one of us even called ourselves CEO. At the Google interview, someone asked me what my greatest lesson from running a business was. I stumbled a bit and gave a half hearted answer because I didn’t have a good answer. I hadn’t run a real business.

What I know now from running my own business for three years is: the most important lesson is to get up every day, push aside all the distractions, and move the goddamn business forward, every single day. Do something, make a call, send an email, make a connection, send a pitch, follow up with prospects that guarantees you’ll be in business in a day, a month, a year. How do you know what to do? Tim Ferriss’ approach is to do the three things you most don’t want to do, first thing in the AM before doing anything else. Those tend to be some of the most important tasks. Everything else is secondary. Do it whichever way you can. It doesn’t have to be pretty, it doesn’t have to happen at 9 AM, you don’t have to play any politics and the best part is you don’t have to ask anyone’s permission. Just get it done.

You’ll find someone to take care of the accounting, the website is good enough for now, you can blog when you’ve closed more deals this month, put aside the potential pretty sounding business partnership, stop tweaking the business model and pitch deck and get some customers! You want to impress investors, get someone to pay for what services or platform you provide. Lose track of this rule, and you will get swamped in the incidentals that you might confuse as essentials. Do it enough days in a row, and you’ll be risking the business.

As Mark Cuban says, “Sales solves all problems.” Get out and sell like your life (or business) depends on it. It does. If you take that attitude, you’ll find a way to drive in revenue. If you’re not careful, busy work and distractions  will suck up your life and destroy your business. If you don’t run a business, taking this approach will help drive your career forward as well.

When Opportunity Comes Calling

“Fortune favors the prepared mind” – Linus Pauling

I recently wrote an answer to the Quora question: What is the Most Effective Yet Efficient Way to Get Rich. See the original answer here. The response has blown up, and I’ve been flattered by the comments and votes it’s received (over 3K and counting!). My previous most upvoted answer on Quora was the story of how I got Dengue Fever in Thailand under the question: What’s the Stupidest Thing You’ve Done.

It’s inspired me to start writing again for my blog and given me a new sense of direction for the content.

Many people have been struck by the answer in the same way that I was when I first read the anecdote of the Italian billionaire. It can be that simple. I was talking with a friend from France about entrepreneurship here vs France and asked him what the difference was. He said that in France when you bring up the idea that you want to start a company, people tell you it’s a bad idea, that it’s too hard and that it won’t work, but here when you bring up the idea of starting a company, people tell you it’s a great idea, that you should go for it and suggest ways they can help or people you should talk to.

My former boss whom I mentioned in the Quora answer, started his own Biotech company. Know what he did before he raised $10M to start his own Biotech company? He was a pharmaceutical sales rep. Know what he did before that? He was a Baptist Minister. And before that? He was a limo driver.

What’s even better, he met the investor who gave him $10M, waiting in line to buy tickets to a concert.

I remember Bob telling me this story and being blown away. We live in a country with a $14 trillion economy. Trillion. That’s dizzying number. Want a piece of it? It’s out there for you. You don’t have to take it from anyone. It’s sitting out there waiting to be claimed. Your keys to the kingdom are waiting on an answer on Quora or with the guy you wouldn’t think twice of in the line next to you in the ticket line for a concert. There’s opportunity around you, all the time.