What I Learned at the Entrepreneurial Summit
I’ve
owned my own business since 1995 and I can say for sure that one of the
toughest things about being an entrepreneur is not getting enough regular
feedback from people who think like you. That’s why I jumped at the
chance to attend this year’s City Summit. Conceptualized by Entrepreneur, Ryan Long, the City Summit and its
charity event, City Gala in 2014 were created in order to assist startup,
non-profit organizations obtain seed funding so that they could launch into a
full-fledged business. The idea was to bring highly visible and
influential individuals to speak on behalf of the charitable organizations and
attract large donors and sponsors – and it certainly seems to be working.
In fact, the mantra of one of
my favorite speakers – Jeff Hoffman, the founder of Priceline among other
successful ventures -- was “entrepreneurship is the shovel you use to dig a
path to the future” he said, “my mission in life is to pass out as many shovels
as I can.” He then proceeded to tell stories like how he helped fund one young
Peruvian girl’s dream of building a coding school for underprivileged girls and
how he organized a ship of young entrepreneurs to sail around the world for 90
days and study and then solve everyday problems of third world
communities.
Keynote speaker, Ashton
Kutcher, was humble and sincere and full of good stories. A few of the
most memorable tips from him: Readers are Leaders; always be learning; be sure
and tell the mentors in your life what they mean to you; and, make sure to
schedule time for your family – it’s an investment that will definitely pay
off. Tai Lopez, who Forbes named one of the Top Ten Business
Influencers in the U.S., even had people shout out their website URL’s so we
can all view them together as he made game changing suggestions to improve
them. The panels were a special treat, since sometimes the speakers’
inspiration was each other! Like Tom Bilyeu, the co-founder of Quest
Nutrition and Impact Theory who said he was so moved by the story of the first
business failure and epic recovery of fellow panelist Jay Samit, a Vice
Chairman at Deloitte. Jay has a long and dynamic track record of adapting
and disrupting industries that are facing change. Because of that exchange,
ever since the summit I’ve been listening to Samit’s amazing new book, Disrupt
You, on Audible.
If you’re a thinker, a
dreamer and a doer with guts and grit (the secret sauce for
entrepreneurs that we heard again and again), make sure to book a seat for next
year’s City Summit and see if you don’t feel as I did – picture the famous
movie character, Rocky, up against the ropes in between bouts in the boxing
ring when his trainer slaps his face, wakes him up and says he can do it, he
can be the champ and make his dream come true!
Below are a few samples of
the insights that were shared on two afternoons at #citysummit:
- Seek the Counsel
of Successful People
- Listen to
good opinions – we are a reflection of who we hang out with.
- Small Businesses
are Job Creators!
- Mentor
Someone for One Year
- Ask yourself
what are THE 25 BOOKS THAT HAD THE MOST IMPACT ON YOUR LIFE?
- Does what
you’re doing give you more energy than it takes?
- Be Prepared
for Adversity; Don’t take it personally
- Remember why
you started this in the first place.
- Be kind to
your future self
- Make sure you
show people that they matter
- Tell people
what you do in under 15 words.
- Put videos on
the homepage of your Website – instead of pics of hands and the back of
heads!
- Surround yourself
with people smarter than you are
- You are an
entrepreneur – don’t forget to enjoy the ride!
- YOUR MINDSET is
the engine that DRIVES EVERYTHING
###
No comments:
Post a Comment