Speaking Opportunities Help Your Personal Brand

What do you want to be known for?  The guy or gal that never shows up? The friendliest person who never sparks controversy?  Or, maybe the most energized and opinionated person in the room?

Me, I have opinions.  The only way anyone will care about them though is if I show up.  And the best way to show up is for a speaking opportunity.  That's why I try to accept as many as I possibly can.

Do you have a unique brand to yourself? Do some volunteering, and let people know, You'd love to speak.  It will help your brand grow!

Recently l, I spoke at Sartup Grind Austin.  I got extreme.  I know, maybe too far?  It's okay, I will hopefully be remembered as a result!  Don't just have an opinion, have a FUCKING EXTREME opinion.  If nothing else, it will spark discussion.

A few "extreme points" I made:

1.) Austin is great because we genuinely want to see each other succeed.  We can celebrate successes of our peers and it motivates us more!

2.) California sucks because it is the opposite of Austin.  People there engage in success theatre, and then make Each other feel bad to get motivated.

3.) Just do something!  Stop making plans and instead, launch something already!  Lean Startup trains this, and my message, now part of my new book http://leanstartings.com is that you can learn to launch: my book teaches you how to build a webpage and collect money in about an hour.  No More Excuses!

So, get out there, show up, volunteer, have a message, and speak when invited. I do!

See me next at Austin Game Conference on Sept. 21st!  Game Funding Panel!

Our Need for Validation & Startup Passion

When I started my first company in 2004, I was unsure.  Unsure of myself, my idea, and my ability to execute.  That self-doubt can be crippling; it makes you hesitate to go all in, to really believe.  And if you don't believe, nobody else will.  You. Have to have the passion to show it.

That is one reason that finding an investor seemed so important to me on my first company.  I thought I needed their validation, even more than their money.  

Validation from a VC is the worst place to get that though!  I didn't learn that until my second company.  It is far far better to get validation of your idea from preorders or even better, from paying customers.

I guess that is why I love The Lean Startup by Eric Reis so much.  It gives you permission to make an MVP and get going fast, get validation of all your assumptions from real customers!

However, The Lean Startup fails a bit too. It doesn't tell you what it will be like, that you will hit bumps, and that you must persist (more than just pivot) but persist-pivot!   It also fails to tell you how to actually build that MVP and get it going!  

That's part of Europe I wrote my book: Lean Startings.  Through storytelling, you learn what it means to persist, to fail, and to succeed.  You also learn how to build that website, how to take preorders or orders, and ultimately how to fulfill and satisfy customers!  

 Please get my book; I wrote it for you!

http://leanstartings.com 

http://leanstartings.com

UT Austin Campus-wide Cofounder Speed Date 9/29 6 PM @ McCombs School of Business

UT Austin Campus-wide Cofounder Speed Date 9/29 6 PM @ McCombs

Being run by Dr. Harlan Beverly, McCombs lecturer of Lean Startup Essentials (MAN 338) at UT Austin (open to students campus-wide)

Join a Student Startup

-or- Find a Cofounder

  RSVP Required

bit.ly/utcofounder

• Who:   Any UT Austin full-time student interested in joining a student startup or finding a cofounder

• Where:   McCombs School of Business, CBA 3.304

• When:    Thursday, Sept. 29 from 6 PM – 9 PM

• What:    Students will meet in a speed-date format for five minutes each.  Students with a skill looking to join a startup (part of the RSVP process) will circle through the students with ideas looking for cofounders. Each student will be given a stack of 20 business cards with their name, email and EITHER their startup idea or their skill. Matches will be made at the option of the student.  Learn more at http://bit.ly/utcofounder  

Give a sh## = the secret to success!

Forgive my crass title, but so many people these days cuss to do harm.  I cuss to make points!  (Just ask my students at UT Austin).

The point?  Give a Shit!  Really!  If you do, you will:

1.) get the job

2.) get more responsibility

3.) get a raise

4.) get a promotion

5.) achieve your dreams

As soon as you stop giving a sh##, bad things happen.

Persistence is one of the keys to entrepreneurial success, and that means simply keep on giving a shit. 

Be relentless.