Tom Rath – Find Your Strengths
“Forget about your shortcomings, focus on your strengths.”
1. Focus most of your energy on your own natural strengths and abilities, not on your weaknesses.
2. Invest time, effort, and development dollars in your areas of greatest strength, that’s where you will have the greatest return.
3. Quit trying to be well rounded. Focus on improving in the areas where you already show talent. Try devoting 80% of your time to improving your strengths, and 20% of your time to improving your weaknesses.
Tom Rath - Author/Gallup Consultant – StrengthsFinder 2.0
MLB Video #23 – (9:07) - Net Worth = N/A
Steve Jobs – Marketing is about Values
“Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”
1. Marketing is about values. We live in a very complicated and noisy world, so you have to be really clear about what you want people to remember about your brand.
2. You need to ask what you stand for as a company, where do you fit in this world.
3. Expressing the core values of your company allows consumers to better understand and connect with what your organization is all about.
Steve Jobs (R.I.P) - Former CEO, Apple Inc. – All About Steve Jobs | Biography
MLB Video #22 – (9:27) - Net Worth = $8.3 Billion
Kevin Hogan – Magic Words of Persuasion
“There are specific words you can use that have been shown to get people to say “yes” instead of “no.”
1. Because: The word because is a cause & effect word. Rooted in childhood, people are programmed to do whatever is said after the word because.
2. Imagine: Imagine is one of the few words you can use that has no resistance attached to it. Imagine yourself in a Mercury now.
3. Names: Find out and use a persons name. Using a persons name correctly at the beginning and at the end of a conversation will dramatically increase their respect for you. But, be careful not to overuse it!
Kevin Hogan - Speaker/Author/Coach – Kevinhogan.com
MLB Video #21 – (9:27) - Net Worth = N/A
David S. Rose – How to Pitch to VC’s
“The single most important thing a VC will be investing in is YOU.”
1. There are ten characteristics that venture capitalists look for in an entrepreneur. Integrity, passion, experience, knowledge, skills, leadership, commitment, vision, realism, and coachability.
2. Most angel investment pitches should be around 15 min. VC pitches should be around 30 min. The average attention span tends to drop off after about 18 minutes, so keep it brief.
3. The outline of your presentation should unfold as follows; company logo, business overview, management team, market, product, business model, strategic relationships, competition, barriers to entry, financial overview, use of proceeds, capital valuation, and conclusion.
David S. Rose - Serial Entrepreneur/Investor – Notes from the Pitch Coach
MLB Video #20 – (14:40) - Net Worth = N/A
Michael Gerber – The Entrepreneurial Myth
“Go to work ON your business, as opposed to IN your business.”
1. A business that is wholly dependent on the founder and their abilities is not a real business, it’s a job. This is the entrepreneurial myth, or e-myth.
2. Create a company that works without you, as opposed to one that only works with you. Replace yourself with a system.
3. Develop your business as a system where any ordinary person can produce extraordinary results. This is known as a turnkey, or franchise business system that can be replicated over and over again.
Michael Gerber - Author/Speaker/Entrepreneur – The E-Myth Revisited
MLB Video #19 – (6:08) - Net Worth = N/A
Robert Cialdini – The 6 Principles of Influence
“There are 6 universal principles of influence that get people to say yes.”
1. Reciprocity: The desire of all of us to give back to someone who has given to us. If an individual gives us something (i.e. a free sample) we feel obligated to give back by making a purchase or at least hearing them out.
2. Scarcity: Perceived scarcity will generate demand. For example, saying offers are available for a “limited time only” encourages sales.
3. Commitment and Consistency: People generally want to follow-through with what they say they will do, or what they commit to. Get people to commit, even if it is just verbally, and the likelihood that people will stick to their word increases.
Robert Cialdini - Author/Professor – Influence – The Psychology of Persuasion
MLB Video #18 – (5:42) - Net Worth = N/A
Nicholas Boothman – How to Make People Like You
“55% of face to face communication comes from what you see, 38% comes from the tone of voice, and only 7% comes from the words you use.”
1. We decide whether or not we like someone in the first 2 seconds of seeing them.
2. It is your attitude more than anything else at the beginning of an encounter that determines the results of that encounter. Whether you succeed or fail.
3. When you meet someone for the first time, look them in the eye, smile, and open your body language.
Nicholas Boothman - Author/Speaker – How to Make People Like You in 90 Seconds or Less
MLB Video #17 – (7:27) - Net Worth = N/A
Will Smith – Secrets of Success
“Attack your fears. Develop the attitude of attacking things you’re scared of.”
1. Talent you have naturally, skill is only developed by hours upon hours of working on your craft.
2. Being realistic is the most commonly traveled road to mediocrity.
3. You don’t try to build a wall. You don’t start there. You say I’m going to lay this brick as perfectly as a brick can be laid. You do that every single day, and soon you will have a wall.
Will Smith - Actor/Musician – The Pursuit of Happyness
MLB Video #16 – (9:57) - Net Worth = $188 Million
Tina Seelig – Teaching Entrepreneurship
“How much money could you earn with only 5 dollars and 2 hours?”
1. Any problem is an opportunity. The bigger the problem, the bigger the opportunity.
2. No problem, no solution, no company. Nobody will pay you to solve a non-problem.
3. Become extremely comfortable taking on challenges and looking at them through a lens of possibilities.
Tina Seelig - Executive Director, STVP – What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20
MLB Video #15 – (9:08) - Net Worth = N/A
Carly Fiorina – Dynamics of Change and Fear
“Courage is not the absence of fear, courage is acting in spite of fear.”
1. What distinguishes people who are successful in their life from those who are not is what they do with their fear.
2. Some people are held back by their fears, and some some people choose to move ahead in spite of fear.
3. The only way you can help people get over their fear is to give them a vision of something that’s worth striving for.
Carly Fiorina - Former CEO, HP – Tough Choices
MLB Video #14 – (3:38) - Net Worth = $80 Million
Jeff Jarvis – Elegant Organization
“In order to help people do what they want to do better, bring them Elegant Organization.”
1. Communities already exist. The question you should ask is – How can you help these people do what they want to do better?
2. A good company helps provide an organizing structure for our lives and our communities.
3. Elegant organization provides the means to bring out the knowledge of a crowd so that it can be shared more effectively.
Jeff Jarvis - Author/Speaker – Start With Why
MLB Video #13 – (2:49)
Simon Sinek – Start With Why
“People don’t buy what you do, they buy WHY you do it.”
1. Every single organization on the planet knows WHAT they do, some know HOW they do it, but very few know WHY they do what they do.
2. WHY = Your organizations purpose, cause, or belief. Why do you exist?.
3. The goal is not to do business with everybody that needs what you have; the goal is to do business with people who believe what you believe.
Simon Sinek – Author/Speaker – Start With Why
MLB Video #12 – (6:39)