Entrepreneurs In The Raw

Entrepreneur Martin Howey

Imagine you only have an 8% chance of being alive in 3 years. Think about it: an 8% chance — 3 short years from now.

What would you do? Would you crumple under the weight of knowing death might soon be at your doorstep? Or would you stand up and make a difference starting today?

Martin Howey is a man on a mission. You see — Martin has stage IV colon cancer. And yes — his survival rate statistically is not good. According to WebMD; the five-year survival rate for stage IV colon cancer is only 8%. Martin was diagnosed 2 years ago — so he is staring down the 8% survival rate in 3 years.

Even more alarming is the revelation doctors uncovered two weeks ago of Martin also having another form of cancer called Non-Hodgkin’s Follicular Lymphoma. Radiation treatments start next week.

But is Martin sulking in the back corner of his bedroom as his possible remaining years pass him by?

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by Eric T. Wagner

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Diary of a Mad Entrepreneur and His 6-Figure Kickstarter Launch

Imagine dreaming of an iconic product in your head for 3 years. On launch day — you press the button on your Kickstarter campaign and walk away.

Two hours later after your bike ride you check the status and bingo — thousands of dollars have already poured in on your way to a six-figure campaign.

Elated?

David Mayer, Founder and CEO of Clean Bottle sure was.

You see, Mayer is like the rest of us entrepreneurs. Lots of game changing ideas running around in his brain. And yes — it was 3 years ago when he first had the vision for a product called The Square.

But this story begins long before his vision of 3 years ago. Mayer first started out sitting behind a desk inside a cubicle. His dream of owning a business never far from his mind as an employee of Cisco.

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by Eric T. Wagner

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Match.com Hatches a Marriage, Baby and $9 Million Dollar Company

As seen on Forbes.

Picture this: Guy meets girl on Match.com using a picture of his yellow lab puppy; pursues her to no end; ends up walking down the aisle with this gal and together they produce a baby girl to fawn over. So what, right? We’ve heard this story before.

But wait — this story is different. Together, working side by side; these two launch a company on target to generate $9 million in revenue this year.

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by Eric T. Wagner

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Why Jeff Walker is the $400 Million Dollar Man -- And 7 Lessons You Can Learn From Him

Internet Entrepreneur Jeff Walker with Tony Robbins

As seen on Forbes.

We’ve all heard of the $6 million dollar man. But what about the $400 million dollar man? Meet Jeff Walker– Internet Entrepreneur Extraordinaire.

Yes — it’s a new day when a common man barely earning enough to scrape by and feed his family can leverage the Internet into an empire responsible for $400 million in sales over a 15 year period.

Yes — Jeff is a common man. Just like me. Just like you.

You see, he is the Founder and CEO of a company called Internet Alchemy, Inc located in a little town in Colorado. Never heard of it, right? Yes — I hadn’t either.

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by Eric T. Wagner

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3 Startup Secrets from a Serial Entrepreneur

As seen on Forbes.

Packed in like sardines.

Brandon Mills and 90% of the population.

All headed down the same track preached since birth: Go to school; get good grades, go to college; get a degree; go try to find a good job; live a decent life; retire with a gold watch in hand at age 65; pray you don’t drop dead at age 66.

Sound familiar?

Ah, but sometimes a miracle happens to change things. Call it fate. Call it the butterfly effect. Pretty much call it whatever you want.

Brandon Mills had such a life changing experience at the age of 20.

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by Eric T. Wagner

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How to Break Out of Job Jail and Start Your Own Business - Part II

Crazy Man and Entrepreneur David Mayer with Bill Walton

As seen in Forbes.

Welcome back!

This is the second part and conclusion of the story of crazy Dave Mayer of Clean Bottle and how he broke free from job jail.

(Oh yes, and how you can do the same. :-)

If you have not seen Part I, please go there now so you have a clue on what we’re talking about. Okay?

I will wait…. :-)

Are you back? Good. Now let’s continue with…

Key Step #3: Start your new business while you’re in jail.

By now, you better have a pretty good idea of what you want to do when you get out of job jail. But wait a minute. Why wait until you break out to start? Why not start now?

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by Eric T. Wagner

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How to Break Out of Job Jail and Start Your Own Business - Part I

Crazy Man and Entrepreneur David Mayer with Bill Walton

As seen in Forbes.

Can you imagine?

Sitting behind a desk, day after day, hating your job.

Is this you? Do you know the feeling?

I call it job jail.

If you’re currently stuck in job jail, don’t despair — there is hope. You can break free.

Oh but how you ask.

Well, I found someone who can help you. (Yes, this dude up here in the bottle.)

You see, after posting my last article on Forbes with my 7 Lessons From an Out-Of-Whack Entrepreneur, many of you reached out to me. (Oh, and if you’re one of them, please bear with me. I will respond personally to you soon. A little overwhelmed at the moment… :-)

But guess what I learned?

So many of you are in the same jail. Sick of it all. Having dreams of starting your own business. But not sure where to begin. Basically “stuck”.

So it got me thinking… Who do I know that has smashed their way out of job jail? A person who can share their story of escape?

Bingo. A guy named Dave Mayer flashed across my brain…

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by Eric T. Wagner

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7 Lessons From An Out-of-Whack Entrepreneur

Eric T. Wagner, Founder, Mighty Wise Media

As seen in Forbes.

32 years.

Been nose to the grindstone — chasing the dream.

What dream?

Well, the dream of an entrepreneur.

You see, I really started when I was 14 years old. Hauling a bunch of glassware down to the swapmeet, all purchased at a discount. Going to resell it and double my money.

Of course, at 14 years of age, your mom or dad is playing taxi driver. But there I was, standing behind a folding table, pitching my wares to anyone passing by. Could hardly believe I could do something like this. You know, playing little entrepreneur. What a thrill.

And now, 32 years later? It’s still a thrill and yes, I can hardly believe I get to live the dream of an entrepreneur. But, has it always been a dream?

No way. No how.

Back-breaking, earth-shaking, hard-core lessons along the way. So, in memory of…. well, 32 years of being an entrepreneur, I give you 7 stories with 7 lessons…

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by Eric T. Wagner

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“If I Don’t Do It Now, I’ll Regret It Forever”

Banking start-up coin from 2 venture conference wins.

With more cash on the way.

Who? Sheetal Dube. Who??

Yes, that’s what I said. So, bet you a nickel you don’t know how to pronounce her name? It’s okay, ‘cause you’re not alone. I didn’t have the slightest idea either, until I heard her pronounce it.

So imagine — what if you could hear a person’s name by a single click of an icon in their email signature? Or, on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, whatever. Pretty cool, huh?

Well, that’s Sheetal’s idea. And hey, she calls it AudioName.

Grab a quick read of my conversation with her and let’s see what we can both learn from this start-up entrepreneur…

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by Eric T. Wagner

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