Business Wisdom - Part 1:

1. The solution to a problem is solved with math, not emotion. There's an equation that will lead to your
answers. You just have to find it. The equation will lead to the shortest, most efficient solution and will
then prioritize the tasks neccessary to get the problem solved.

2. Obsess over the most critical goal or obstacle until I can't think about anything else. Write down a list
of everything you believe is critical to the success of your business and then focus on the one item that
will save you the most money or generate the most money. Work on the task until it's completed or
until some outside dependency requires you to wait, then work on something else and come back to the
first when the outside dependency is fulfilled.

3. The path is all math. Don't get emotionally attached to projects. It's math, not emotions. As Steve Jobs
said, 'Focus is saying no.' The more things you say yes to or try to do, the less productive you are.

4. Remember, entrepreneurship isn't about the size of your task list or how fast you can get through
your inbox; it's about the things you need to do, and doing them well. If you have a thousand things on
your list, how do you put a price tag on any of them? Only a few things are going to make you rich. Take
no pride when you've done a hundred things, but none of them improved your bottom line.

5. Don't try to do too much. Focus on your company's core competencies or the largest value creator on
the list.

6. Just say No--if the idea is good enough, it will come back. The key is to be intimately involved with
your business to the point where you understand its intricacies well enough to know what needs to
happen immediately and what can wait, and to be detached enough to view the situation objectively so
your decisions are not clouded by emotion.

7. As a CEO, you need to be the foremost expert in the multiple variables that drive your business.
Someone has to know the business so well that when you look at projects, you understand the impact
each will have. And that person is you; no one else will have the same instincts.

8. Never being satisfied. Whatever you do, there are always opportunities to improve.
9. While improving and optimizing your business/life, do it in steps that you can manage. Don't jump too
far that you have to fall back.

10. Look inward and see where your navel is taking you and saying 'Is my navel taking me in the
direction I want to go or do I have to do something to improve my position in life?'

11. Don't lose sight of the priciples by which you created the company, and don't let the details of
running it tear your focus from the big picture.

12. Obsessing over things is good when it comes to solving high-priority problems one by one. With each
step, make sure that your people are right behind you. And when the ideas they bring to you are out of
line? Just say No! Be just proud of what you do as what you don't do, and focus on first things first.

Business Wisdom - Part 2:

1. There are 5 main drivers that urge an individual toward becoming an entrepreneur:
Independence/Freedom, Growth/Self-Mastery, Wealth/Power, Recognition/Fame, and
Contribution/Service.

2. You have to trust your gut. Don't go with what sounds like the right answer or what you think other
people expect of you. Know your motivation, choose a business you would do without pay and build
something that wakes you up in the middle of the night, something that you're proud of and you can't
stop thinking about.

3. There are degrees of discomfort, and everyone has a different breaking point. But if you want to be an
entrepreneur, there is no choice. You always have to be willing to make that next call, go present that
next pitch, and work to close that next deal. If you know that you've got it in you to go out and sell, even
in the toughest of circumstances, then you've probably got the right personality, temperament, mindset,
and confidence to make it as a business owner.

4. Nothing will ever remove all the risk. No amount of preparation--personal, financial, or otherwise--will
completely lift the uncertainty that surrounds business ownership. The most important thing is that you
know what you're getting into. You have to know how far you can go before you break.
5. As Benjamin Franklin said, 'Most men die at 25; we just don't bury them until they're 70.' Don't be
someone who lives a life of Excuses instead of Action. Don't waste the majority of your precious time
doing something that you hate.

6. In addition to your tolerance for risk, you Must be willing to Sacrifice. You need to be able to stomach
a large amount of uncertainty in your daily life, and you need to be willing to pare down to a minimal
existence for as long as it takes to reach a point of sustainability in your company, which means at the
very least a year or more. You have to determine just how uncomfortable you can stand to be, forfeiting
not only luxury items or small indulgences, but also forgoing your physical comfort. You need to
consider this seriously because without a willingness to sacrifice, you are never going to achieve your
business goals.

7. Remember that each time you decide not to spend, each time you choose not to pursue a new line of
credit, you are investing in your future security and the security of your business. The point of
investment, after all, is to sacrifice with a bit of risk in the present in order to return dividends in the
future.

8. If you really love what you want to pursue, necessary sacrifices will be much easier to deal with, which
is why it is so important to have your driver and passion clearly identified before you start pursuing your
dream.

9. The business world is built on more than just dreams. It's built on hard numbers and profit margins.
And that's where the second level of sacrifice comes in. When you have external investors in your
company, you have a duty to make them a return.

Business Wisdom - Part 3:

1. Take a look at your estimated start-up cost, then divide that number in half. Could you make it work
on that amount? Divide it in half again. How about now? Those are the numbers you need to be
considering when you anticipate your standard of living. When then available resources are greatly
reduce so that you're in survival mode rather than surplus mode, it's amazing how quickly items that
seemed to be necessary suddenly become less so. Your essentials shift when your priorities do.

2. Repeat this same halving of capital with your estimated monthly budget needs. Could you make the
business survive--could you survive--on an amount half or even a quarter of what you initially projected!
If you find yourself facing that reality, what will you be willing to sacrifice in terms of your business plan
and your personal life in order to keep the company afloat? The answer to that question should be
'whatever it takes, up to everything I have.'

3. There is one more step of sacrifice that will be required, and that is your time. Once your company is
on firm footing, you'll have more flexibility and far more freedom, but that doesn't happen overnight. It
certainly doesn't happen within the first couple of months either, or even the first few years. Remember
that your goals lie further down the roads at the 5-year or 10-year mark. That means you need to be
willing to give up your free time now for the sake of having much more of it in the future. Without the
sacrifice of personal time, your business will not have sufficient muscle and drive behind it to launch
successfully and build momentum.

4. There is no secret by which you can bypass the hard work, sacrifice, headaches, and sweat, and sweat
equity required to establish and grow a business. If you are not willing to make sacrifices, you will not
succeed with your business--plain and simple.

5. Million-Dollar Mistakes:

1) Don't make wildly optimistic sales forecasts

2) Don't hire people who like your ideas All The Time

3) Don't focus too much on the competition

4) Don't waste time caring what others think and worrying too much about mistakes, even million-dollar
ones

5) Don't do your business where you do business. Do not fraternize with your employees and choose
your partners wisely. Sometimes people agree to things on paper that they don't understand in reality.

6) Don't allow sales employees to sell you.

7) Not firing fast enough.

8) Don't get caught up in your company (i.e. logo or mission statement). A company isn't just an entity;
it's a collection of people. Measure the collective passion of your team and the collective intelligence,
and you have a company that's either worth something or it's not. Get caught up in your team.

9) Don't underforecast cash needs

10) Don't try to do much all at once

11) Never write/say something you wouldn't want to come back to you

12) Don't date the wrong women (partners/ employees)

13) Don't invest in uncoachable entrepreneurs

Business Wisdom - Part 4:

1. Sell First, Ask Questions Later. If you have a product or service that is ready to go, and you have
customers already lining up to purchase it, don't delay until you have every detail spelled out. Go ahead
and sell! That's the whole point of everything else you're working on, anyway.

2. Obviously, it's best to have as many things in place as possible before you launch your business, but
never let a deal go simply because you don't have things in the order you want them. You can work that
out as you go if you need to. Your first sales are something you need to pounce on.

3. Final Message: Whether adversity is self-imposed, attracted, or swiftly delivered by the Universe,
know that you are being battle tested, and strengthened for a purpose greater than you can understand.
With each successive hardship comes the endurance to overcome even bigger storms. The Universe
knows what battles I'll have to fight next in my life, but I know that I'll be ready. On to the next one,
because no matter how successful you are, you have to take every last day and live it as if you had
nothing to lose and everything to gain.

4. Sell the Experiences, not Products or Services. Write down all the Experiences. Write down every
single great thing that your very best clients have ever said about you. Many different kinds of great
things, not just one great thing. It is the Experiences that are remembered, Not the Products or Services.
The Experiences are the basis for the Most Creative, Prosperous, Productive and Rewarding
Relationships that you've ever had.

Let's take a look at what you just wrote down and start allowing people to go through a process where
they don't just get one of those experiences, they get all 10 of them that you've listed. What they're
gonna buy into is the Experience--the experience of having a sense of total integrity. They will go
through a process that gives them total clarity and unleashes their creativity.

Now, if you have a process that you could put down on paper, and you could communicate it properly,
and it shows them how they go through each one of those experiences, how much do you think they will
pay for it? They will literally short-change and eliminte all of your competitors to save money so that
they can buy your Experiences, that's how much they would pay for it.
5. Why is Execution so difficult, while ideas are so routine? Event versus Process. Execution takes
Process: EFFORT, SACRIFICE, DISCIPLINE, and PERSISTENCE. Ideas are just events. The speed of the
Fastlane is Growing a Business Exponentially and Taking Advantage of Exploding Net Income and Asset
Value.

6. Skip the big idea and go for the BIG EXECUTION. You don't need an idea that has never been done
before. Old ideas suffice; just take it and DO IT BETTER! Execute like no one has!

7. Successful entrepreneurs take existing concepts and make them better. They take poorly met needs
and solve them better. Success resides in Execution!