What Do We All Have In Common?What Do We All Have In Common?

THOUGHT INTO ACTION INSTITUTE September 2012

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THOUGHT INTO ACTION INSTITUTE

What Do We All Have In What Do We All Have In Common?Common?

“Start-ups are for people who want to run marathons, cage fight, and hunt alligators…despite being born with asthma.”

THOUGHT INTO ACTION INSTITUTE

To Be Successful, You’ll Need To To Be Successful, You’ll Need To

Be….Be….• Adaptable:

o changing conditions, ‘disruptions’

o markets evolving at ‘digital speed’

o “business plans generally last 15 minutes” (B.Gold)

o Mike Tyson: “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face”

THOUGHT INTO ACTION INSTITUTE

To Be Successful, You’ll Need To To Be Successful, You’ll Need To

Be….Be….• Coachable:

o Ego on the shelf;

o Eyes open, ears open, mind open

THOUGHT INTO ACTION INSTITUTE

To Be Successful, You’ll Need To To Be Successful, You’ll Need To

Have….Have….• Resilience and Courage

o You will get knocked off your horse….not ‘if’, but ‘when’.

o 4 out of 5 new businesses/enterprises fail

o Being an entrepreneur: not for the faint-of-heart

"How can you as an entrepreneur that’s had success, has a reputation, ever build the courage to go and do something again? Most entrepreneurs don’t remain entrepreneurs. It’s just too psychologically draining to have to constantly start over.”

-Sean Parker (Napster, Facebook, Plaxo, Causes and now Airtime)

THOUGHT INTO ACTION INSTITUTE

To Be Successful, You’ll Need To To Be Successful, You’ll Need To

Have….Have….• Resilience and Courage

• The definition of ‘courage’…..

• Remember:

o “A home run is often preceded by two strikes.” (Aristotle? Hmm, maybe not.)

o “The only way to get a hit, is to step into the batter’s box.”

THOUGHT INTO ACTION INSTITUTE

To Be Successful, You’ll Need To To Be Successful, You’ll Need To

Have….Have….• Passion and Belief:

o Passion: is fuel for action: will power you forward, even when tired, hungry, and facing challenges

o Belief: will sustain you and motivate those around you…even when the mission seems impossible

THOUGHT INTO ACTION INSTITUTE

The Entrepreneur’s Life (Teddy)The Entrepreneur’s Life (Teddy)

“Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.”

- Teddy Roosevelt

Fai

lure

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Suc

cess

Age

Maplecrest Snowblowing

OutdoorLighting Co.

Essex Limo

GreenhouseProductions

GreenfieldConsulting Group(1983 – Present)

Greenfield Online(1993 – Present)

StrategicFocus

(1990-2000)

Imagine That

Compass Marketing i-Gain

DigitalIdea

KnowledgeOn-Demand

ThoughtInto Action

THOUGHT INTO ACTION INSTITUTE

The Entrepreneur’s Life (Andy)The Entrepreneur’s Life (Andy)