Here are some of my top takeaways from the great interviews from Mixergy.com where Andrew Warner talks to entrepreneurs to learn how they built successful companies. The premium courses are definitely worth the monthly membership cost of $25 or you can listen to the latest interviews at the website or on iTunes or Stitcher for free.
-Make friends with everyone because you don’t know who they will become. -Jay Shapiro
-All things being equal, people want to do business with their friends. -John Romaniello
-Marketplaces frequently beat vertically integrated businesses because they scale much more quickly. -Gagan Biyani
-When you are direct and honest with your criticsm, your feedback is more valuable. -Sam Yagan
-It is easier for someone to hang up on you than to slam a door in your face. -Don Siclari
-The best way to learn is from people who have already done it. -Brad Smith
-When trying to reach someone, tell the receptionist that you just got disconnected. -Brad Smith
-Get in the same room as people who are significantly better than you at an area of business. -Brad Smith
-You should be able to provide value to your mentor so it is a mutally beneficial relationship. -Robert Greene
-Don’t try to optimize your landing page for everyone. -Jamie Quint
-When you’re trying to learn something really hard, you need to really care about what you will do once you learn it. -Neal Griffin
-Great businesses are bought, not sold. -Matthew Monahan
-Ideas are a dime a dozen, the magic is in the execution. -Matthew Monahan
-If you give employees autonomy it’s amazing how people will solve problems. -Ilya Pozin
-Remove money as a motivator by paying employees enough so that they can focus on other things. -Ilya Pozin
-If you can automate your marketing you can focus on creating great products. -Ilya Pozin
-The risk of a 50/50 partnership is that one person may contribute less to the business. -James Farmer
-Cancellation feedback is some of the best feedback you can get. -Erica Douglass
-The one thing that successful people have is persistence. -Erica Douglass
-An eBook is a great way to start a relationship that can lead to other services. -Kevin Gao
-You have to play the man not the cards. -Kevin Gao
-Look at what keywords are sending visitors to your site via Google Analytics. -Kevin Gao
-Use the email subject line: Strange Question? (It gets a 25% open rate). -Dane Maxwell
-Use Toutapp to measure your email open rates. -Dane Maxwell
Focus is key. All other tips don’t work as well when focus is not there. That is why most entrepreneurs drink more than 6 cups of coffee every day!