What’s the most important thing in business? Your offer? Happy customers? Cashflow? Or is it leadership? Innovation? Talent? When I asked Richard Branson that question over dinner at his retreat in Verbier, his answer was simple… “It’s the brand” Ok. Great. Got it. Makes sense. “But wait, it can’t be that easy right?” “There must be something else?” “No, it’s
I grew up an introvert. Hunched over behind a computer in the late 90s, writing lines of code, hoping I never had to talk to anybody. If you would have told me that one-day people would pay me $10,000+ to give a keynote presentation to an audience of hundreds… I would have laughed my ass off and called you an
I love speaking at live events and conferences. But at what cost? For about 4 years I was regularly invited to talk on stage and found myself getting more and more frustrated when I wasn’t getting enough results to justify it. I’d spend time away from home, away from my family and away from the business work that needed to
“Why are you here? … What are you doing here?” Those are the 2 questions Brian asked me. … Brian. Brian was one of the guards in the Saint John Regional Correctional Facility where I was doing an eleven-month sentence for the severity of my crimes. I was 16… And Brian was the guard who got me out of the
When I was 8 years old I was diagnosed with ADHD, and for most of my childhood I felt broken. Taking Ritalin everyday to help me “be normal” left me with a super low self-esteem and many bouts with depression, that almost ended in me taking my life in a drug crazed high speed chase. Three things saved my life…
Do you consider yourself to be an expert in your field? So many founders that I meet aren’t shy to make that claim. And like them, perhaps you’ve also paid your dues, put in the time, and built something awesome. But unless the market actually PERCEIVES you as an authority on that topic, all that hard-earned domain expertise isn’t providing
By now I’m sure you’ve heard that storytelling plays a HUGE part in your marketing. And with good reason. Done right, storytelling has the power to attract investors, create raving fans, crystallize your team and puts extra zeros on your bottom line. Key word: Done right.
In last weeks video I shared a story of a friend who had a hard time raising his round of funding… that prompted a bunch of replies and questions on my framework. Exclusive Training: Download an in-depth training webinar that goes over my complete step-by-step fundraising process. So this week I shot a quick video on the 5 strategies to help you raise
Role-playing is such a funny idea when you think of it in the context of business – who would of thought “acting out” a situation would make sense in your startup? Quick story… I was talking to a friend about an important meeting he has coming up and suggested to him that he role play with a co-worker; practice what
Did you know that the highest paid profession in America is professional speaking? Speakers can earn between $5,000 and $10,000 for a 20 minute keynote presentation. It’s the reason why great entrepreneurs know how to get up and share their message. They indirectly get “paid” by moving employees, partners and communities to engage with their business in a way that
