School for Startups Minutes

Already this week, we have addressed the fact that entrepreneurship is not about creativity or risk. Most entrepreneurs copy their ideas from somebody else; they just do it a little bit better. They prove their idea for less than $5,000, and most of them bootstrap after that and own most of the business with very few outside investors. There's another myth about entrepreneurship I'd like to bust....

This week, we are going to talk about how people get rich in America. I've already pointed out that millionaires are mostly first-generation entrepreneurs and business owners. So, the question is, what is entrepreneurship? I've already pointed out that it is not necessarily about creativity. You can be creative, but most entrepreneurs are not. I'll bust another myth about entrepreneurship right af...

Last week we celebrated the 1,000th episode of this series, and we talked about how to get rich in America, and I showed that 87% of millionaires are first generation millionaires. They did it themselves and became entrepreneurs, and so this week I want to define what entrepreneurship really is, because what you think it is is probably wrong, and I'll show that right after this. I think almost eve...

This week we are celebrating our 1,000th episode of the series, and we have jumped back to the very beginning of our curriculum to answer the most basic question of all: How do you get rich in the first place? So far, we have eliminated inheritance, lotteries, celebrity careers, and every other unlikely path. Only one option remains. I'll tell you what it is right after this. 87% of millionaires a...

This week we are celebrating episode 1000 of the series, and we have jumped back to the very beginning of our curriculum and are answering the most basic question there is: How do you get rich in the first place? This week we will tell you how. One of the ways is not very exciting, but it works. No one writes movies about it, but it works. No one brags about it, but it works. I'll tell you what it...

This week we are celebrating the 1,000th episode of this series, and we are jumping back to the very beginning of our curriculum to answer one of the most basic questions there is: How do you get rich in the first place? I want to be rich. What do I need to do? So far, we've told you what not to do. Don't count on an inheritance, and don't hope to win the lottery. That's not going to help you. Rig...

This week we are celebrating the 1,000th episode of this series and starting over with our curriculum. We are bouncing back to the very beginning and answering the most important question there is: How do you get rich? We will show you how people have done it, and it will answer the question of what you should do as well. I'll continue the series right after this. One way to get rich is to win the...

This is episode number 1000. Believe it or not, we've been doing this for over three years, and because we're at episode 1000, we thought it would be a great time to go back to the beginning and talk about some of those things again, because you probably missed them. So, this week we're going to talk about one of the beginning questions that we ask when we're talking about entrepreneurship and bus...

This is the last of our Memorial Day celebrations, and I hope you keep all of the great people who served our country in mind. This is episode number 999. Next Monday will be episode 1,000, and today I want to wrap up the final piece of the great things that are building America and making America so great. I'll share that with you right after this. Memorial Day is about remembering that stability...

This is Memorial Day weekend. We want to honor those who served overseas and here in our country, the people who were in the services, and also the teachers, the farmers, the workers, and all of the people who have contributed to our great country. This is episode number 998, and we're talking about the great things that made America this week. I want to focus on something today that is very dear...

It is Memorial Day week, and this is episode number 997. We're almost at 1,000. This week, we are talking about the things that have quietly made America great, and we've enjoyed talking about the hard workers of America, the people who go to work at four in the morning and make it so that our breakfast is ready at seven. All of the great people who contribute very quietly. I'll give you another e...

This is Memorial Day weekend, so I want to spend the entire week focusing on America and its greatness, and I really want to focus on the quiet things that made America so great. I've already talked about how the hard workers, the people who worked in the factories, and the teachers are so critical to America's success, and that, of course, is you, but there are other things I want to focus on as...

This is Memorial Day weekend, so I thought I would focus on some things that have made America great, some things that have quietly made all the difference so that our country is amazing. We are so lucky to live here, and we don't say that enough. I'll be right back with my first example, right after this. America had its share of amazing, extraordinary people, but in reality, you, the ordinary pe...

This week, we've been having fun talking about the things that adults just pretend to understand. We've had some good examples, like wine, thermostats, and taxes, but I want to end with one more thing that sort of encompasses the entire phenomenon. I will do that right after this. Adults pretend to know what they're doing. One of the strangest moments in adulthood is realizing that most people are...

I will be honest with you: there are a lot of things that I just don't understand, and I very sadly anticipate that I will never understand them. My brain just doesn't seem to be wired to understand them, or even worse, they're not designed to be understood in the first place. Can you convince me that a $1,000 bottle of wine is really better than a $12 bottle? I'm not going to buy it. There are lo...

You know, people like to pretend that they're smart and they understand all of the things in the world, but so many of us are lying. We don't get it. We don't understand why a $400 bottle of wine is better than a $12 bottle of Two Buck Chuck. It just doesn't make any sense to me. I can't taste the difference, and I have no idea how our tax system works. And literally, I'm not teasing; I'm not maki...

This week, we are talking about the things that adults really just don't understand. We pretend that we do; we make out that we do with our friends and family, but we have no idea what we're talking about. I already mentioned this week that wine—a good bottle of wine, is one of the things that we all pretend to understand, but most of us couldn't tell the difference between a $10 bottle and a $1,0...

Let's be honest, adults: there are a lot of things that we just pretend to understand. We don't really know what we're talking about, but maybe we've taken a weekend class, or we've gone to a seminar, or we've read a little bit about it, and we pretend to be experts. There are even people who are licensed experts who sometimes don't understand what we're talking about and what we're really getting...

When the world feels unstable, people stop experimenting. In stable times, customers choose innovation, speed, and excitement, but uncertainty changes priorities. Reliability becomes much more important. People choose businesses they trust and stay with vendors who communicate clearly and predictably. That is why steady companies often outperform aggressive ones during uncertain times. So how do y...

The situation with Iran and the Strait of Hormuz introduces uncertainty into all aspects of business. Deals slow down. Companies postpone hiring. Customers delay purchases. We see it all around us. At first, you'll see it in timing. Decisions that used to take days now take weeks. That slowdown affects everything, and we need to talk about how to get past it. I'll give you some suggestions right a...

This week, we are talking about the situation in Iran and the Strait of Hormuz. One of the things that we have to acknowledge is that it makes us very, very psychologically afraid. The stock market is going crazy. Commodities are spiking. Headlines create this emotional momentum. And here's the danger: we start making long-term decisions based on our short-term fear, and that never ends well. I'll...

This week, we are talking about how the conflict in the Strait of Hormuz and the blocking of oil tankers could affect your businesses here in the United States. We're not going to get political at all. We're just talking about business impact. Today, I want to talk about how supply chains will be affected by oil prices and political uncertainty. The Strait of Hormuz situation will not break our su...

This week, I want to do something a little bit different with these segments. Instead of teaching you things that you can do to make yourself better or happier, I want to talk about what's going on in the world, but I'm not going to get political at all. I promise. I'm not going to bash anybody. I'm not doing any of that. What I am doing is helping you figure out how to survive and maybe improve y...

About a decade ago, I was considering investing in a new company. They were in the medical and dental space, and they claimed that they already had 25,000 doctors and dentists signed up. Well, it sounded great. Everything I had seen was incredibly impressive, so I was really close to investing. And my final question was, can I go and visit some of the dentists that have signed up and talk to them?...

This week, we are talking about spotting BS in business and learning to protect yourself from it as well. We've talked about a lot of examples this week, but today, I want to talk about giving away information. You know, in early conversations before the sale is closed, it feels natural to share details. It's a way of showing your plans, your numbers, your ideas, and it can help build the connecti...