Thread: Billionaire and First eBay Employee, Jeff Skoll

There are very few billionaire/millionaire stories that make me truely jealous but this is one of them. I cant imagin how much fun he is having being able to positivly impact the lives of so many in such a creative, innovative, entreprenuerial way. The best part about it is the whole idea of sustainable and profitable businesses driving the change vs. handouts. In my opinion handouts seem to do the opposite of what they are supposed to do.

This is what I think would be the best part of being a billionaire. Being able to start businesses or help other start businesses that help the world with a blank check. I mean lets face it if you bootstrapped your wealth image what kind of companies you could build with that kind of cash. I know I have a few ideas.

Rickson coming through with another one.

MJ should delete the News Mod and just have Rickson in charge of these. These are great.

Also, thanks for posting this article, I don't know when you posted it but I was going through old Fastlane posts and found it. It's brilliant.

How can I tell if I am failing at my entrepreneurial venture or start-up? | Recruiting & Job Search, New York City Start-up blog by Marc Cenedella

Originally Posted by The-J

MJ should delete the News Mod and just have Rickson in charge of these. These are great.

Also, thanks for posting this article, I don't know when you posted it but I was going through old Fastlane posts and found it. It's brilliant.

How can I tell if I am failing at my entrepreneurial venture or start-up? | Recruiting & Job Search, New York City Start-up blog by Marc Cenedella

That article above speaks very loudly to me.

You ever watch American Idol and see the contestants who say they want to be famous? I think they are destined to lose to the ones who say they don't only want to sing they have GOT to sing, no matter if they win or not.

The winner this year just LOVED to sing, love to play guitar. If there never was American Idol and never made a single penny singing he STILL would be doing it his entire life because that is who he is wired at his core. He can't avoid it even if he wanted to.

I think it is the same as when you see people say they REALLY want a passive income, or they want a car or they want a big boat, or they want to be rich. To me most of them are destined to lose out(to fail to be successful and probably fail to even get a business started compared to someone who NEEDS to show everyone else they can be successful at starting and running a business, someone who NEEDS to have a business and is sickened by the thought of working for someone else.

I really relate when the author says

Being an internet entrepreneur requires a certain antic disposition, a degree of self-immolation, and a dorkish obsessiveness with seeing the digital bits line up in a row. Not just an enjoyment, not just a desire, but a gut-level craving, an existential need, to see the machine come to life. That burn that flares so intensely in the dark of the night that it awakes you: to stare at the ceiling, to wonder expansively, to turn every part of the creation over and over and over in your head as the clock flicks the minutes into the small hours.

Anyone else slip away from family get to gethers to check your company email? Or bring a book to a party so you can read on the way home? Or have a business book stashed in your bathroom so even if you have company you can get in a couple minutes of reading?

Yes it is obsessive and those who are like that are wired that way IMO. It is in there blood.

And while it’s never easy to tell which businesses and which people will win big this time around, it’s pretty easy to tell who is going to fail.
It’s the polite, patient, purposeful people.
Being an internet entrepreneur requires a certain antic disposition, a degree of self-immolation.

Great, i think this is the same in any business not just internet.

1. Is the site live yet?

Yes: you’re likely failing, but at least you’ve got a chance of getting some feedback from real, live users, which may, if you’re smart and perceptive, decrease your chance of failure a little bit.

Listen up newbies, the most important information you will ever get, most learn this the hard way.

This is why so many smart people fail, you know that guy you speak to and you think man if he failed what makes me think i can?
Because he is a wantrepreneur and talks. I used to do this and many people do..;.. there is no excuse for tomorrow, oh tomorrow we are (fill in blank), next week we are getting (__________) its all b.s, lock yourself in the room and dont leave. People do something that is essentially getting them no where, leave after 8 hours and feel good about themselves, WRONG. You leave satisfied when you make a sale. If that mean you need to build a facebook platform first, then dont leave happy until that happens which could mean months of being measurable but you wont care because you know what needs to be done.

Dont be satisfied until you make a sale or you will fail (TM) .... i just came up with that now, brilliance.

pp, that guy is a beast (that's short for PatrickP)... do you read Altucher Confidential ? Check it out