5 Tools Startup Entrepreneurs Need to Succeed

Every occupation has a set of tools.

Plumbers have wrenches, pipes and overalls.

Accountants have spreadsheets, calculators and pencils.

Ditch diggers have shovels, wheelbarrows and nice tans.

But what about entrepreneurs? Is there a toolkit especially made to fit an entrepreneur?

Yes, I believe there is. Millions of people spread all across this earth head out each morning into the light of day with aspirations to wear the badge of an entrepreneur.

But do they carry the correct tools for the job? Or more to the point if you desire to be an entrepreneur — do you carry the correct tools?

Let’s find out as we uncover 5 tools of mandatory requirement for the occupation of an entrepreneur;

Continue reading… >

8 Pointers on Becoming the Steve Jobs of Your Business

Picture this: You running down the street chasing that twenty dollar bill you just dropped. Caught in the wind, it’s running hard and fast on the ground — avoiding every attempt you make to stomp it down.

Oh, and guess what? Don’t look now, but there are 99 other entrepreneurs just like you scurrying after your same picture of Andrew Jackson.

Yes — you’ve just seen a vision for what you’re doing as an entrepreneur. You and 99 of your closest friends. All doing, acting and saying the same things. Like 1,000 brown cows in the field — melding into one big brown noisy mess chasing the same straw of grass.

Look, there are a million tech entrepreneurs out there; but only one Steve Jobs. A hundred books have been written on time management, delegation and outsourcing; but only one Tim Ferriss with “The 4 Hour Workweek”. And speaking of cows; the importance of unique value propositions has been written about forever; but here comes Seth Godin with his “Purple Cow” and hits it out of the park.

Do you want to stay a brown cow or do you want to be purple and stand out? What about your business?

Continue reading… >

12 Tips on Raising Venture Capital for Your Startup

As seen on Forbes.

Burning a hole at the top of a long list of needs for a startup entrepreneur is good old Benjamin Franklins.

Yes — stacks of capital needed to fund dreams of a vast and bright future.

And what entrepreneur among you couldn’t use a few more dollars for your startup?

Yes — just what I thought.

Continue reading… >

Why "No" is the Most Powerful Word You Can Use in 2013

As seen on Forbes.

Sounds counterintuitive, right?

Saying “no” to actually leap forward and move ahead in life. Seems like you’d be taking a wrong turn to say “no” to good opportunities frequenting your doorstep.

But you’d be wrong. Saying this one little word can be the most liberating and success filled action you can ever take.

Let me explain:

Continue reading… >

57 Timeless Quotes for 2013

As seen on Forbes.

You and I are cut from the same stone.

Unique and wonderful. Crazy and tenacious.

Yes — they call us “entrepreneurs”.

So as we head into 2013 — I built this list for us.

Read… Ponder… Share…

Continue reading… >

3 Ways to Stop Fear From Stealing Your Dreams

As seen on Forbes.

Welling up in the pit of your stomach. You know the feeling. It’s the ugly monster called fear.

For entrepreneurs; fear is a way of life. But how do we deal with it? How do we keep it from stopping us dead in our tracks on the way to success?

Here are 3 ways we can beat back the monster of fear on our way to entrepreneurial greatness:

Continue reading… >

3 Ways to Repair Your Damaged Reputation

As seen on Forbes.

For many years of my entrepreneurial life; I locked myself up in a silo working away on my next new venture. All alone. Working like a dog and barely peeking out of my entrepreneurial cave to see what the rest of the world was up to.

Mistake.

You see, it’s not just about your grand idea and vision to build a company. And it most certainly is not about working 25 hours in a 24 hour day. The reality is our success as entrepreneurs is extremely dependent on this:

Our Relationships & Reputation.

My in depth conversations with many successful entrepreneurs have revealed how critical your reputation with real relationships are. Both Brandon Mills, Co-Founder of SocialVibe and BlockBeacon; and Jeff Walker, the multi-million dollar entrepreneur and Founder of Internet Alchemy, Inc; named this as one of the main reasons for their wildly successful companies.

But what does this mean and what can we do as entrepreneurs to improve our relationships and repair our reputations? Well, I found the perfect guy to ask.

Continue reading… >

8 Winning Strategies From The Top Entrepreneurs in America

As seen on Forbes.

Want solid wisdom from over 600 high-impact entrepreneurs? To be exact — 636 of the most successful entrepreneurs and game-changers in America?

Yes, me too.

Jumping at the chance to get a sneak peek at a special report created by two entrepreneurial behemoths in Ernst & Young and the Kauffman Foundation — I quickly found 8 nicely packaged bits of wisdom to share with you.

Continue reading… >

18 Entrepreneurs Share Their Top 20 Tips

As seen on Forbes.

So much noise in the world. So much chatter.

Most of it sounds like the adults speaking on Charlie Brown: “mwa mwa-mwa mwa mwa”

But sometimes between all the mumbo-jumbo comes ear piercing wisdom. Yes — pure unfiltered advice in search of a landing pad in the brain of startup entrepreneurs.

And so my question when having an audience of rock star entrepreneurs is always this:

“If I were a 20 year old just starting my first business; and you could give me only one piece of advice or wisdom; what would it be?”

Having landed smack dab in the middle of a ton of smart, well heeled entrepreneurs at a recent live event in Scottsdale, Arizona — I asked my question.

Low and behold, 18 entrepreneurs fired off 20 bits of wickedly good advice for all of us.

Let the wisdom begin…

Continue reading… >

3 Things I Learned Hanging Out With Entrepreneur Jeff Walker

As seen on Forbes.

Fresh back from a conference in Scottsdale Arizona — bursting with pearls of wisdom pouring from the veins. Dare I say wisdom that can help you tremendously as an entrepreneur if you will only heed the advice?

So many entrepreneurs; both aspiring and active; walk past solid gold on their way to a chunk of fake silver. Please don’t be one of them.

Soak in these 3 nuggets of wisdom I learned from Internet Entrepreneur Jeff Walker and do something about it, will you?

Continue reading… >