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In The $100 Startup I wrote about two young art school graduates from Columbus, Ohio who had built a successful design business. Their business initially began by chance, when a map they’d made for themselves turned into a hugely popular online product, with orders coming in from all over the world. Very quickly, Jen Adrion…
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Happy 2014 to all! If you haven’t set goals or a theme for the year yet, it’s not too late. Habits do not create themselves. If you get off track in a habit you’ve committed to, you have to make adjustments to ensure you course correct. Over here I’m getting back to my writing routine,…
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Hi, everyone—the 2013 Annual Review continues! All posts will be open for comments from readers. In this post: a few thoughts on the world of work. *** On general struggles. As mentioned in the first post on looking back, I had a few general disappointments that overshadowed much of the year. I know I’m my…
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For the first time in nearly two years (!) we’re releasing a new Unconventional Guide. It comes out next week.
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If you only do things where you know the answer in advance, your company goes away." -Jeff Bezos. I don't run an operation the size of Amazon.com, and you probably don't either. But all of us have responsibilities. We have commitments, goals, hopes, and dreams.
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You've been here before. The weeks and months have gone by, and now you find yourself at the point where something big is due. The deadline you've been ignoring is now staring you in the face.
Sup, the deadline says. Did you forget about me?
You didn't forget, of course. But you didn't entirely take it seriously either. It was hiding out in the background, and now the background has planted itself directly in front of your desk.
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“Business opportunities are like buses. There’s always another one coming.” -Richard Branson The outside world is an interstate of business opportunity buses passing you by, waiting to be boarded or ignored. Some buses, though, are going too fast. Those buses left the station a long time ago, and there’s no hope in trying to flag…
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Amy wrote in and said she was struggling with writing her book. “I know I have something good to share with people!” she said. “But I’m having a hard time just getting started.” I’ve written about working through process a few times before—see how to make decisions, starting a business, and how to finish, for…
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If you want to get something done, don’t give yourself enough time to finish. Keep it short and tight. Give yourself a fixed deadline. WDS is the ultimate fixed deadline for our team, because there’s no way in the world it can be pushed back. Thousands of people book plane tickets and hotel rooms for…
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You may be familiar with the story of Hernán Cortés and his arrival in Veracruz. In order to prevent his crew from turning back from battle out of fear, he ordered them to burn their ships. That way, there was no return—the only way out was through. No going back! There are a least a…
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Sometimes it’s hard to know if it’s all worth it. You’re out in the woodshed, slaving away on this thing you love, night and day. But does anyone else care?Will anyone else care? At times, you may be tempted to pack it in. You’d like to return to normal, to the way things were before…
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Once upon a time I lived in the small country of Togo in West Africa. I was based on a hospital ship docked in Lomé, the capital, and the team I worked with had a project three hours’ north in a village. One of our team members needed to be there during the week, but…
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I was going down to SF to see Ramit Sethi, an expert on negotiation and psychology. Ramit and I have known each other for a while, and he asked me to film a segment in his studio for an upcoming course.
I should explain now that Ramit and I, along with Jonathan Fields, have the habit of calling everyone dude, regardless of their age or gender. I texted Ramit: Dude, flight delay up here. What should I do? He wrote back: Dude, hold on. I’m busy counting stacks of money! Just kidding—Ramit didn’t actually say that. He was busy filming someone else, but I heard from his assistant and we quickly looked at the schedule together. Read More
This morning we reopened Adventure Capital for general admission! It's been nearly six weeks since our initial beta launch, and we're now ready to welcome a wider group of members.
-->Check out the site over here, or read more below. Adventure Capital is an intensive, 12-month series of modules. Each month you'll receive a new module focusing on specific strategies and tactics you can apply in your business. I want to help a special group of people over the past year with this project. It's definitely not for everyone, so check it out and see if it's for you. Read More
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Four weeks ago, we launched Adventure Capital to a small group of beta members.
We're now gearing up to launch it more widely... next week! Wednesday, May 29 is the day when our initial group will be available to refer new members, and a few special partners will be writing about it as well. But first! In the spirit of adventure, we're giving away two full scholarships to the entire year-long program. Win a Full Scholarship (Short Version) It's very basic. Adventure Capital is all about helping new business owners increase income by taking deliberate action over the course of a year. To enter, simply comment in this post about what kind of business you'd like to start, improve, or grow. We'll choose two winners on Sunday night at 6pm PST. -->Enter the contest here Read More