Yesterday, I attended an entrepreneur event where Daymond John (FUBU, Shark Tank) spoke about his journey and explained five key areas to focus on.
Here's some of the notes I took while I was there.
His five "shark" points:
Find mentors and team members with common goals as yourself. - you need to be aware of your environment.
Entrepreneurs test themselves and want to be acknowledged for their test. - this makes sense because you're essentially solving a problem (test) and the market acknowledges you for the solution. Of course, you want acknowledgement of a job well done which comes from the value you added to the market.
What's in it for the person you're pitching? - he said that many people pitch ideas but don't consider what the person they're pitching actually wants. He hates when people assume he only wants more money.
Become the king in your area of the market.
Prior to Daymond speaking, there were five business owners answering questions and discussing the questions as a panel.
4 of the 5 recommended starting with a business plan, seeking venture capital or a bank loan, and places to go with ideas to take the next step. It was as if they were only telling the audience what they wanted to hear... yes, it did come out... "do what you love!!!"
In mix of their points of view, there was one entrepreneur who hit the nail on the head. He flat out said he disagreed with some of their points and said, "how about you solve a problem?"
And went on to explain how most new entrepreneurs have this idea stuck in their head that they need to raise money and do all these things before actually having revenue or profit. He recommended to start with your own funds and only seek outside money when it's to scale because you already have a proven acceleration model.
It was great. You could feel the tension in the air from the audience and the other people on the stage.
He owns a ~150 employee company. He talked a bit about hiring and company culture:
After the panel discussion was over, I went up to him and thanked him for shedding light on reality because that's what the audience really needs to hear. He laughed and said that he knew where the direction was going of the discussions so he had to make a point to tell it like it is.
In the end, this event was worth the $10 ticket.
Here's some of the notes I took while I was there.
His five "shark" points:
- Set a goal - if you don't set your own goals, then someone else will set them for you.
- Homework (analytics) - find a new angle, new market, and/or new delivery.
- Amor - love what you do.
- Remember, you are the brand - who are you? Be able to explain it in 2-5 words.
- Keep swimming - fail more than you succeed.
Find mentors and team members with common goals as yourself. - you need to be aware of your environment.
Entrepreneurs test themselves and want to be acknowledged for their test. - this makes sense because you're essentially solving a problem (test) and the market acknowledges you for the solution. Of course, you want acknowledgement of a job well done which comes from the value you added to the market.
What's in it for the person you're pitching? - he said that many people pitch ideas but don't consider what the person they're pitching actually wants. He hates when people assume he only wants more money.
Become the king in your area of the market.
Prior to Daymond speaking, there were five business owners answering questions and discussing the questions as a panel.
4 of the 5 recommended starting with a business plan, seeking venture capital or a bank loan, and places to go with ideas to take the next step. It was as if they were only telling the audience what they wanted to hear... yes, it did come out... "do what you love!!!"
In mix of their points of view, there was one entrepreneur who hit the nail on the head. He flat out said he disagreed with some of their points and said, "how about you solve a problem?"
And went on to explain how most new entrepreneurs have this idea stuck in their head that they need to raise money and do all these things before actually having revenue or profit. He recommended to start with your own funds and only seek outside money when it's to scale because you already have a proven acceleration model.
It was great. You could feel the tension in the air from the audience and the other people on the stage.
He owns a ~150 employee company. He talked a bit about hiring and company culture:
-in a new hire - look for core competency over the actual job description... ask yourself, can this person develop into the max capacity of the job role and beyond?
-the culture gets created by the people you hire... you can't really control the culture as the company grows to 175-200+ people. You just have to focus on your KPI's and accept the culture that gets created. There's a point where you can't control every single aspect as your company grows larger.
-the culture gets created by the people you hire... you can't really control the culture as the company grows to 175-200+ people. You just have to focus on your KPI's and accept the culture that gets created. There's a point where you can't control every single aspect as your company grows larger.
After the panel discussion was over, I went up to him and thanked him for shedding light on reality because that's what the audience really needs to hear. He laughed and said that he knew where the direction was going of the discussions so he had to make a point to tell it like it is.
In the end, this event was worth the $10 ticket.
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