Skip to main content

Week #10

It was great to take the time to reflect on the interview I was able to conduct. I feel like this interview was the best part of the semester so far. This is something I gained a lot of insight from. I feel like the person I picked to interview was great at relating his successes and failures in a very real way. One of the biggest things I am taking away from this is that appearances can be deceiving. From the outside looking in, the person I interviewed seemed like he had never had a problem in the world. He makes his success seem relatively easy. After our discussion, I realized that this was not so. He was someone who thought he wanted one business and that morphed over time to better fit his situation. He was able to succeed in something he did not even set out to do initially. This came from bumps along the way that would have caused many people to quit. One of the best things he taught me was that you cannot wait until you know everything to get started or you never will. I think that this is a powerful lesson for me. I tend to want to plan out the entire path and with these types of situations, that is not possible.

I also appreciated the talks and lesson materials from the week. I enjoyed the video from Taylor Richards. It was great that he had the humility to understand that you do not have to be some remarkable outlier. You just have to be willing to work hard and have good people around you to have success. I think that when he admitted that he was just a regular guy and that if he could be successful, you could too, it felt like I really could do that. He also was very good about recognizing the talent of other people around him and this was really important. We have learned in our prior lessons that it is important to surround yourself with good people and make sure to give them credit. I felt like he was a great example of someone who does this and uses the successes of others to propel his business forward.

The excitement is real when you start to dream about the possibilities you can have with a great work ethic and a great idea!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week #6

I feel like this week we really started digging into some of the strategies of being a good entrepreneur. I thought that there were some great action items that I could take from the readings to apply to my entrepreneurial ideas and really start heading in a good direction. One of the things that I liked about this week was the idea that you need to do your background work but then you also need to start somewhere. I also was impressed with the idea that you likely will need to make peace with the notion of raising funds for your business. I do not know why this was such an eye opener for me, but it really was. It always seems like people just bring these successes to life and I have never really thought about the fact that securing funds is just a part of it. When I think back on all of the success stories from other people, most had to secure funding before they could get their ideas off the ground. Another key component with this is the fact that you have to have skin in the game as...
Post a Comment
Read more

Week #5

Skill, Character or Luck? Those were some serious things to ponder about this week. I liked that there was a focus on the fact that it probably takes a little of each thing, but it mostly takes a lot of focused work and direction. One of the parts of the course that had the most impact on me this week was the short video clip by Randy Komisar. He talked about how becoming hyper focused on what we are passionate about and what is the ultimate mark we want to leave on life can be paralyzing. This was something that I have felt. When you try and narrow that focus down to one point, it can make you quit before you start. I like the advice to marry your opportunities with your passions, and look toward the horizon. This seems like much better advice. You really can only look back and make sense of your career path in the rear view and not the windshield. One of the other great points this week was from Dan Freidberg when he was talking about how entrepreneurs typically don't make mil...
Post a Comment
Read more

Week #11

This week was a great reminder about how we have to make sure we pay attention to the most important things. I think that in our quest to realize our dreams, our life can become a nightmare. This is something I have seen repeatedly. When I was 18, I had the opportunity to live in the Silicon Valley at the height of the .com boom. I lived in a very rich area with many extremely well educated and extremely wealthy people. I got a first-hand view of the fact that money cannot buy happiness. Luckily the family I worked for had a lot of experience with money and the pitfalls it can bring, so they were not facing the challenges that many others were facing. For someone who had grown up in farming communities in Idaho, I always thought that the answer to life's problems was money. I am ever thankful for the opportunity I had to learn otherwise so I could set my priorities.  There are times when we all have to face difficult decisions between work and family. I think that it can be a ch...
Post a Comment
Read more