Bob Schlegel and Myrna Schlegel are natives of a small farming community in Ontario, Canada. They launched their first family business, PeopleCare Heritage Centers, and grew it to 15 facilities in the U.S. and Canada. Later, Schlegel and a partner launched Pavestone Company, which became a leading supplier of concrete landscaping products. The Schlegels sold both businesses but are still involved in various enterprises and philanthropic endeavors.

Bob Schlegel has written a new book, Angels and Entrepreneurs: A Lifestyle Formula for Starting Your Own Business and Riding the Rollercoaster of Entrepreneurship to share what he has learned about what is really required to succeed as an entrepreneur and why good business sense is just one ingredient. We asked him to elaborate in this interview.

GD: You say there are five foundational pillars necessary to succeed as an entrepreneur. What are they?

Bob Schlegel: I like to refer to the required Energy and Enthusiasm attributes of most entrepreneurs as my PEP acronym:

Persistence – This is key for every entrepreneur. You’re going to get knocked down a lot and you have to keep getting up, make adjustments and try again and again!

Education – The more education the better — both from formal training and experiential work in your trade or profession.

Entrepreneurial Drive – You must have drive to provide products or service, call your own shots building an enterprise and create a foundation for your family and community.

Passion – When you love what you’re doing, you’ll enjoy it so much that you’ll never “work” another day in your life.

Partnerships with a Purpose – You’ll need to build strong and mutually rewarding relationships with all your stakeholders, family, suppliers and customers. It’s not a job, it’s your life.

These five pillars add up to an exciting purpose and give you the PEP to jump out of bed every morning.

GD: How important is it for business leaders to define their values and principles? Isn’t it just enough to know how to turn a profit?

Bob Schlegel: I think it’s very important to establish your company’s vision and mission in a written statement with your team. It sets the tone and spirit of your service to customers and way of working with each other. It’s also leads to more successful results.  

GD: We generally think of entrepreneurs as people who start with an idea and build a business. Are you still an entrepreneur if you buy a business instead of starting from scratch?

Bob Schlegel: Absolutely. The only difference is timing — the business stage you’re starting from. It’s obviously easier but usually more costly to buy than to embark on a startup. When you buy you’ll usually need to make a big upfront payment, but you can hit the ground running with customers, suppliers and operating systems that you can gradually improve on. Many startups are built on a shoestring budget and can take years to build. One of my startups took 14 years to get nicely profitable, but shortly after was doubling every 2 or 3 years.

GD: Is it smarter to ignore your competition (within reason) to focus on your own business? How familiar should a business owner be with their competitors?

Bob Schlegel: Yes, of course you’ll need to focus on your own business first, but you’ll need to know what the competition is doing so you can provide something better (quality, service or price) to attract your own customers. Your business marketing team will need to be very aware of how your products or service compare to what’s available in the marketplace. You’re going to want know everything you can about your competition. The internet has made that so much easier than in the old days.

Also, just because you’re in competition doesn’t mean you have to be enemies. It may seem like a strange concept, but your competition is a type of partner in the sense that they drive you to work harder, think smarter and stay on top of market shifts. I try to take my major competitor to lunch once a year. We face a lot of common issues and discussing them can benefit both our companies. And, you never know if your competitor might be the one who ends up buying your business when you’re ready to retire.

GD:The pandemic might be the ultimate example of what you can’t plan for but can’t avoid dealing with. What is your advice for weathering the inevitable ups and downs of starting and running a business? 

Bob Schlegel: Yes, that was a brutal shock and was hard to survive when a whole global economy ground to a halt. On top of the human health scare, it affected the most important thing in every business — cash flow — which killed a lot businesses, from big ones like Hertz to small family restaurants.

The only thing you can do is be honest with your stakeholders, banks, suppliers, etc. The government’s PPP was a lifeline for many business, but also reminded us all about the risks of too much leverage or bank debt.

The post Bob Schlegel Is Sharing 40 Years of Advice on Starting and Growing a Business appeared first on Grit Daily News.

And in our commitment to highlighting the achievements of all women in this industry, Grit Daily is proud to announce the 4X Latina VC Summit with be held from 2:30-3pm ET during Congressional Startup Day on August 11.

What is Congressional Startup Day?

Congressional Startup Day celebrates startups and community support for them. At the 2021 Congressional Startup Day, Grit Daily hosts at Industrious, Tampa, entrepreneurs, financial pros and startups to talk all things entrepreneurship.

With light bites and drinks included, attendance is free. The event is bracketed by a keynote by a member of the Florida House of Representatives, Jackie Toledo.

Jackie Toledo is an American politician who is a member of the Florida House of Representatives. Her District, the “big 6-0” or District 60, covers Town ‘n Country, South Tampa, and a stretch of the coast in Southern Hillsborough County to Ruskin. An entrepreneur in her own right, she is a Civil Engineer and runs her own consulting firm.

At Congressional Startup Day, you’ll have a chance to see Jackie Toledo speak on entrepreneurship, collaboration, team building and the importance of community.

What is the 4X Latina VC Summit?

The 4X Latina VC Summit is a high-profile talk during Congressional Startup Day on August 11. Running from 230 to 3pm ET, it features notable Latina investors who will share their success stories and tips. The event is online and in-person, taking place on August 11th during Congressional Startup Day.

The interview will be co-hosted by Forbes Columnist, Goldie Chan and emcee’d by Grit Daily Senior Columnist and long-time podcast host, Loralyn Mears PhD, and will be shared as a podcast series. Mears’ podcast for Grit Daily is available on Apple, Spotify, and Listen Notes.

The roundtable summit will feature four extremely accomplished women that have a lot to say when it comes to startups, investing, and following through with your brand.

Consuelo Valverde is a co-founder and managing partner of SV Latam Capital in San Fransisco. She’s well-known as an investor, serial entrepreneur, and electrical engineer with master’s degrees in computer science and science entrepreneurship.  Those credentials are hard to beat, and Valverde has put them to use. She opened her first company at the age of 21, which was a computer manufacturing company combined with an IT training center. Since then, she’s founded nearly ten tech companies, held an undersecretary position in the Government of the City of Cuernavaca, worked with students as a professor, and became the Vice President of several prestigious companies.

Miriam Rivera is the co-founder and managing director of Ulu Ventures, a venture fund based in Silicone Valley that is focused on IT startups. A first-generation and scholarship recipient turned her education into something invaluable – that is, after graduating she has a long list of achievements. Rivera has taught in the Stanford Technology Ventures Program in the School of Engineering on start-up board issues, doubled as a mentor for growing entrepreneurs. She is also on the Stanford Law School Venture Fund and serves on the Investment Committee of Acumen Fund America, which is an impact investment firm that serves the needs of low-income Americans.

Luciana Carvalho is the Vice President of People and Performance at Movile, which is Latin America’s largest tech investment firm. She is the engineer behind the firm’s “Movile Way,” which is a culture-building methodology that is now being taught to entrepreneurs in Harvard and Standford for over five years now. She is also the mastermind behind Movile’s Mobile Dream Internship program which trains and recruits young diverse talents for the company’s expanding tech investment programs.

Amanda Jacobson is the chief of staff for Oyster Financial, a neo-bank for SMBs that is co-headquartered in Mexico City and San Fransisco. On top of that accomplishment, Jacobson has managed a portfolio of nine fintech startups for Fiinlab, where she was focused on generating sustainable solutions for financial inclusion.

These guests have quite the resume between them and will be dishing with host Mears, who has her own list of triumphs. Host of Grit Daily’s podcast Loralyn Mears, Ph.D., is a content marketer, senior columnist, and founder of an edtech startup.

Mears will be joined by Goldie Chan, who is known as the “Oprah of LinkedIn” by Huffington Post and her video channel won LinkedIn Top Voice. Goldie founded Warm Robots, a social media strategy agency based in Los Angeles with global clients, like Adobe.

She writes for Forbes.com on “Personal Branding and Storytelling in the Digital Age” where her articles on personal branding are consistently page-one ranked and used in educational institutions and business development. She is a proud member of the Producer’s Guild of America, New Media Council, Stanford University graduate and has been featured as a fresh voice in The New York Times, CNN, Inc. Magazine, Fast Company and more.

Tune into this amazing podcast featuring incredible Latina women who have shattered glass ceilings and always moved forward, not just for themselves, but to create a path for others who need it. Tickets for the Latina VC Summit can be found here at Eventbrite and the show will air on August 11, 230pm EST.

For those looking to attend the broader Congressional Startup Day — through which you can still see the Latina VC talk — grab one of a limited number of tickets at this Eventbrite link for Congressional Startup Day, which runs from 1-5 pm at Industrious, Tampa.

If you’d like to be a guest or sponsor, or have any questions, email [email protected].

The post Grit Daily to Host Congressional Startup Day in Tampa, Florida appeared first on Grit Daily News.

At that time, entrepreneurs were typically only introduced to investors through back-door channels. Clandestine meetings then followed. So, bringing both parties out into the open, in the presence of their respective competitors, was both an innovative and ballsy move.

Fast forward to today and they are still successfully introducing investors and entrepreneurs. Their format holds up remarkably well in the current era of high-scrutiny and always-on. Each year, throughout the year, they attract countless investors, entrepreneurs – and even columnists like me – to a multitude of sessions nationwide. Their events are popular and sell out because they showcase what entrepreneurs want to learn and facilitate making connections.

The home of brotherly love

Last week, FundingPost hosted two Venture Capital (VC) Events. The first event was in Philadelphia. Two days later, the second was held in Washington, D.C. Each event attracted over 100 attendees. The session began just as the sunset in a brilliant flash of color over Phili.

One of the first things that you notice is the attention to detail and the quality of the VC Panel assembled. Introducing investors and entrepreneurs is only one aspect of what they offer. The format is a “Lion’s Den” where the experts impart critical advice to startups. Would-be entrepreneurs in the audience also benefit from the public coaching session.

Each panelist is a highly successful investor with his or her own (cheers to the lone lioness, Katherine O’Neill) portfolio and supportive programming. Collectively, their assets are impressive. But, most notable is their experience, wisdom, and guidance, which are all shared openly with the crowd. All the panelists were accessible and free with their recommendations encouraging introductions between investors and entrepreneurs.

Members of the Philadelphia VC Panel

1. David Sorin, Partner McCarter & English (MODERATOR)
2. Katherine O’Neill, Founder, JumpStart NJ Angel Network
3. Steve McGovern, Senior Associate Eos Venture Partners
4. Alex Katz, Founder WIN Venture Partners
5. Carter Caldwell, Program Director, Penn Medicine Co-Investment Fund
6. Harvey Homan, JumpStart NJ Angel Network
7. Marc Kramer, Founder, Private Investors Forum

Entrepreneurs were carefully selected and the pitching line-up was tightly curated. Those who were invited to be a part of the pitching line-up came prepared to dazzle the investors with a finely honed 1-min pitch. Sixty seconds flies by. That is not a lot of time to tell your story, who you are, what you sell (or propose to sell), how you’re different and what you’re asking for. Consequently, you have to be prepared for critical feedback. This aspect of FundingPost’s forum richly complements the main function of the group which is introducing investors and entrepreneurs.

Here, no startups were openly scolded or shredded for being ill-prepared. I witnessed this at another forum a few days ago.  In contrast, the FundingPost VC Panel in Philadelphia was professional and respectful. Yet they were also transparent and unapologetic for articulating what they wanted to see. Everyone understands that this kind of advice is difficult to get and enormously valuable. Hence, the format works as entrepreneurs want to learn what to do as much as they want to learn what not to do.

What entrepreneurs want to know

So what did we learn? Here are their Top 5 Pearls of Wisdom for Entrepreneurs.

1. Be prepared. Entrepreneurs have 1 minute and one minute only to say what they need to say. Use your time wisely. Plan, plan and rehearse. Then rehearse some more. Being ready and not going overtime demonstrates respect.
2. “Always be raising” is a statement that gets thrown around a lot. The VC Panel confirmed that pursuing money before you need it is one of the smartest things that an entrepreneur can do.
3. People matter. Given the readership here, it’s probably safe to say that most of us are afflicted with shiny, bright object syndrome and that we’re instantly attracted to cool new technology. Investors like slick tech, too but they invest in the owners. They’re savvy enough to do a critical assessment of the founding team to determine if the leadership can make it happen. Or not. Besides, investors want relationships with their entrepreneurs.
4. Chase smart money. By definition, every investor has money. But they may not have what you really need. Specifically, you need an investor who will be your trusted advisor, open doors for you and nudge your sales forward so that you can get your business off to a healthy start. Carter Caldwell said it best, “Surround yourself with good connectors.”
5. Show me your … Advisory Board. This was, perhaps, the surprise addition to the list. The VC Panel lamented the general lack of advisors. Startups need external input and members of an Advisory Board can make all the difference in keeping a newco on track. To my knowledge, only one company in the line-up, CYBRI, had representation from an advisor. Pavan Jagtiani was there, on-hand, poised and ready to guide as well as to assist.

Some other notable bits

A few other noteworthy nuggets were also captured. Apparently, Xtech is trending in the vernacular. Nowadays, it’s customary to frame your pitch within the category it represents. For decades, we’ve had BioTech. Not long after that, FinTech emerged. Today, we have HealthTech, AdTech, AgroTech, EdTech, FemTech, InvesTech, and the list goes on.

Entrepreneurs want to know what’s opening doors. Take note! Blockchain, AdTech, therapeutics, and programs for autism, agro, dating apps and EdTech are no longer getting the warm welcome that they once had. Investors are now routinely passing.

Not unsurprisingly, interest has been redirected to data privacy, A.I., cybersecurity, immuno-oncology, and other “hot” sectors. Additionally, investors’ patience is wearing thin when it comes to ridiculous financial forecasts. Here, the responses were terse but crystal clear. “No, you cannot leapfrog to 100,000 customers in 3 months via social media. And no, you will not be generating $50M in revenues by Year 3.” Offering a realistic forecast will gain you credibility and some much-needed ear-time so that the experts can weigh in on how to boost your sales through their connections, channels and past experiences.

I listened intently to 30 pitches that night. The vast majority were well done and only a couple struggled with the rigid timing. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be showcasing several of these entrepreneurs in columns dedicated to their individual efforts and technology. Stay tuned!

Until then, I strongly encourage you to have a look at upcoming events by FundingPost.

• Boston, MA Oct 22nd, VC-Entrepreneur forum. Register link pending soon, find it here.
• Los Angeles, CA Nov 6th Startup Day. Register here.

Thank-you to Stephen Silver, Director at Funding Post and  founder of Angel Round Capital Fund for providing the photos.

The post FundingPost hits $100M investment milestone by bringing parties into the open appeared first on Grit Daily News.

In honor of World Entrepreneurs’ Day, commemorated every year on August 21, we’ve rounded up words of wisdom from Shark Tank success stories to inspire, encourage and celebrate founders everywhere.

Ask For Help, Not Money

“Sometimes it’s money we think we need, but really it’s a strategy, a road map or a path that’s required to get there. Don’t be afraid to ask for help and advice from successful people.”
– Bryan Cantrell, Co-Founder of Radiate Outdoor Supply

Stay Calm & Founder On

“There are highs and lows all the time as an entrepreneur. Stay even-keeled, know things aren’t going to go exactly as planned, and keep moving forward.” –  Sean Bingham, Co-Founder of Adventure Hunt

Use Your Voice

“When you have a big voice, make sure that you give others a voice behind you, and that you’re not only growing yourself but helping others grow and giving your expertise to others.” – Mikaila Ulmer, Me & The Bees Lemonade

Find Your Tribe

“Put together a great team, both internally and with outside partners, that excels in each area of the business. I’m the creative guy, so when I started Buttercloth I found the best people I could to help with marketing, finance, and operations. We have an awesome team and that is what is driving our success.” – Danh Tran, Founder of Buttercloth

Just Do It

“You can have the greatest idea in the world, but it’s whether you activate on that idea or not, that’s what makes you special.” – Alyson Richards, Co-Founder of Ten Thirty One Productions & Tailgate Fest

Hard Work Pays Off

“Be relentless in your pursuit of success. You need to have grit and perseverance to succeed, not just a good idea, so make sure you surround yourself with people as hardworking as you are.” – Brandon Leibel, Co-Founder of Sand Cloud

Connect With Customers

“If I had to give a piece of advice to my fellow entrepreneurs, I would say focus on your customer base. Make it easy for past customers to interact with your brand, and for future customers to learn about why you are unique. Past customers can easily become brand ambassadors if they’re excited about your product and willing to share it with their friends.” – Nick Morton, Co-Founder of Tipsy Elves

Learn, Sell, Grind, Help

“Know your business and industry better than anyone else and realize that you have to always be learning, selling, grinding, and helping. These create the foundation of every good business.” – Mark Cuban, Shark Tank

The post World Entrepreneurs’ Day: Tips From Shark Tank Success Stories appeared first on Grit Daily News.

That was the biggest deal in the show’s history at the time.

The company, Ten Thirty One Productions, made its bread and butter from producing Haunted Hayride events in LA and NYC, as well as other largescale horror-themed experiences.

They successfully sold it last year to focus on their new passion: Tailgate Fest. The unique country music festival, entering its second year, combines the festival experience of Stage Coach with the social, energetic vibe of big game tailgates.

Imagine grilling burgers and playing beer pong with your friends, but instead of just listening to the likes of Brantley Gilbert, Brett Eldredge, Lee Brice, and Big Boi (see the full lineup) on your car stereo, they’re also playing live right there.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BrQssSYhmWF/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

This year, their dream has grown bigger. Tailgate Fest has moved to a larger, grassy venue close to LA. They’re even adding a 24-hour pool party that’s also stageside. The two-day event happens on August 17th and 18th.

Carbone and Richards took the time to talk with Grit Daily about their journeys as entrepreneurs and share some of their keys to success. The conclusion is that they are so badass, it’s almost scary.

Their Story

Grit Daily: If you could tell us where you see your careers as entrepreneurs really starting off and one significant moment along the way when you thought to yourselves, “This is actually happening. This is actually working.”

Melissa Carbone: I think the entrepreneurial spirit has kind of always been there for me. It’s weird, but even as a kid I started a rock band and booked all the shows and managed it — I’ve always had that in me. I think when it really started to actually look like entrepreneurialism was when Alyson and I were at iHeart at the same time, which was Clear Channel Entertainment at the time.

Even there — and we’re in a giant, corporate, massive machine where it’s kind of hard to be entrepreneurial — but even there, I was always kind of considered this renegade, kind of like a rebel without a cause, defying the rules and getting my hand slapped.  

We would create giant promotions that were like throwing concerts with major recording artists on the roofs of BMW dealerships and at big houses for Mini Cooper. We would take our clients and create these giant things for them that you don’t really do in radio per se. So we’ve always had that weird entrepreneurial x-factor thing stirring.

Alyson Richards: Really specifically for me, it was the first year of the Los Angeles Haunted Hayride. It was 2009. I was standing in the parking lot of the hayride. I was talking to my mom in the parking lot crying because we had maybe 500 people come through the LA Haunted Hayride at that point and we were halfway through the month. I was freaking out to my mom because all of our friends had invested in us, we have sponsors onboard, we had personally put in all of our savings that we have to this point to build this and no one is coming.

As I was talking to my mom, with tears streaming down my face, I looked out of the parking lot and there was just a huge line of cars waiting to come into the Hayride. It was like the last scene of “Field Of Dreams.” It was that moment where everything clicked.

From an entrepreneurial standpoint, we had always been in a really safe environment with a good corporate cushy job with iHeart. And then going out on our own like that and having everyone trust us with their investment was so scary, but then when it was a success it was the most unbelievable feeling ever.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BkX35wag8OX/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

GD: Are there certain qualities and skills that each of you has developed over the years as entrepreneurs that have been key for you — that you can pinpoint as key in allowing you to execute successfully?

MC: I have this like freight train thing that happens to me and it’s just like, you know, I’m going to go after harder than anyone else, faster than anyone else, and give it my whole entire blood, sweat, and tears. So I think that is kind of the core of being an entrepreneur. I think that’s one of those x-factors that probably a lot of entrepreneurs have. For me, the volume on that is turned up so high. I think that’s it for me.

I have an insane amount of passion and belief in the things that I do or I wouldn’t do them.

If you look at my history, I started a Halloween attraction called LA Haunted Hayride and now I just started a country music festival built around tailgating. Both of those things were my hobbies long before I even thought about making them a career. So I always fall into the things that I love and I’m like: I love to tailgating so much man, how do I make a living off tailgating?  

AR: I’m kind of like the balancer and the equalizer and the relationship. Melissa, you probably do say this in your book, I think you do — just because someone has an idea that doesn’t make you special.

You can have the greatest idea in the world, but it’s whether you activate on that idea or not, that’s what makes you special.

Speaking to Melissa’s strengths, that’s definitely the thing. She’ll come up with some crazy ass idea and people will be like, “That’s crazy. You should not do that and here are 10 reasons why.” And she’s like, it’s crazy and that’s why I’m going to do it. One of my strengths is that I am a pretty good balance.

I love building really strong relationships. I think that especially in this business of building events, it’s really important to be very truthful, to be really honest, and build a relationship of trust with whether it’s sponsors or whether it’s artists or managers. That’s definitely one of my strengths is that I always am going to be super transparent.

I’m going to tell you the good, the bad, and the ugly because that’s never steered me in the wrong direction and allows a lot of people to trust us with these crazy ideas because they know that we’re going to protect that relationship.  

https://www.instagram.com/p/BnWbII2Aq8C/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

GD: How did Tailgate Fest come to be?

MC: [Tailgating] is just a dream little world that these people build around their vehicles and nobody wants to stop to go into the arena and sit in an uncomfortable chair. You just had euphoria created around your vehicle outside. So I was like, what if you didn’t have to stop? Let’s bring the trucks stageside. I knew that if that existed I would pay anything to do that. And so, that’s all it took. I was off to the races because I knew that for me, I would do anything to have an event like that. And that’s where that passion-belief thing triggers and my freight train mentality starts, then you can’t stop me.  

So from that day, 10 months later we opened the gates on the very first Tailgate Fest. That’s how fast that freight train rolled.

GD: Are you all in on Tailgate Fest? What do you hope to achieve in the next five years?

MC: It’s all Tailgate all the time. The focus there is to make the Southern California kind of like the mother ship festival — the biggest and best festival in the world. And then, bring Tailgate to some other cities in Connecticut, Tennessee, maybe Oregon. The idea is to, hopefully, in the next five years build somewhere like six to eight other Tailgate Fests.  

If their story inspires you, Carbone’s book “Ready, Aim, Fire” recounts how she built her businesses in depth. Tickets for Tailgate Fest are now available.

Check out Grit Daily for more entrepreneurial news.

The post Tailgate Fest Creators, Former Mark Cuban Partners, Talk Entrepreneurship appeared first on Grit Daily News.

Going from a refugee camp to an entrepreneur, Patrick Bet-David is one person who knows what it looks like to climb to the top, despite some pretty rough odds.

Immigrating from Iran to Germany as a child and living in a refugee camp with his family, Bet-David used the resources around him to build his skills as a businessman.

Now, he uses his position to spread the word to other aspiring leaders in the industry with his YouTube channel, Valuetainment.

Grit Daily sat down with him to talk about his experience under a communist dictatorship, fatherless upbringings, and why not everyone likes his content.

Grit Daily: For the uninitiated, share on your early years as a refugee.

Patrick Bet-David: Well I was ten years old when I first got to Germany and lived at this refugee camp. I was there with folks from Yugoslavia, Albania, Poland, Czech. Everybody that was pretty much escaping some kind of a regime that was a dictatorship or communistic or whatever that was going on. And we were there.

It was my first experience without my father being around. I lived there for two years without a father figure. It was myself, my sister, and my mom. I got a chance to go outside and play and build relationships and that was the first time I ever did business. Super Nintendo was coming out and I went to a local swimming pool where people were drinking a lot of beer and I went to the owner and I asked him, “listen if I clean this place up would you be willing to pay me something for each bottle I bring in?” He said yes, he paid me 5 pfennig per beer bottle.

There was a girl at the refugee camp named Katarina who was beautiful, and her brother’s name was Jan Staff who ended up becoming my best friend. He wanted a Super Mario Brother’s video game, I wanted his sister. Well a month later I collected 5,000 beer bottles, the pool owner paid me 250 marks. I went to Kaufhof and bought myself a Super Nintendo and brought it back for Jan, He played with the Super Nintendo and I played with his sister. So that was my first experience as an entrepreneur.

Alright so that was the first one, but good experience, obviously we didn’t live in a luxury place. They would put food at the corner of the street. You’d go pick up the juice, the milk and whatever we got. It was a pretty nasty place, but there were friendships and relationships. Many of the people that I was at the refugee camp with, in 1989, I still speak to and that was 30 years ago.

GD: Your content has changed since you started out. What drives that?

PBD: Two things. One, I’ve changed. I’m continuously changing and so every time I’m getting to a different phase. Like when we first started posting the first content, I had probably 4-5 employees, and at the financial firm and the insurance company I ran, we probably had 400-500 agents. Today I have nearly 100 employees and nearly 9,900 insurance agents in 49 states. We used to do a million to two million a year.

We’ll do a close to a $100 million in 2019 and obviously, the business is a different side. My skill sets have changed, and I’m changing as a CEO. I went through an evolution of being an executive to a sales leader to learning what it is to be a CEO, what it is to really be a CEO with investors such as Oscar De La Hoya, Gabriel Brener, and the Atalaya Capital Management fund.

Since my role has changed and evolved, my growth had to change as well along with making new mistakes and so many other things that add to a change in content I create.

As you’re building your business, you’re slaying a lot of dragons as well. Sometimes you’re getting crushed throughout the process and getting knocked down but once in a while, you have to get up. Then, your perspective or “lens of life” as I like to call it changes; you start to view the business world in a completely different way which leads to a change in content from who were previously.

GD: Do you still think about your time in Iran? What are those memories?

PBD: All the time! As a matter of act, I’m sitting in my office right now with a 15 by 6-foot painting that I had a local painter create for me. He did some similar work with Mark Cuban that’s in the American Airlines Center.

This painting has nine figures in it, meaning nine individuals. In the painting, one of them is Einstein, Kennedy, Lincoln, Tupac, myself, Ayrton Senna (the Formula 1 driver), Martin Luther King Jr., Milton Friedman, the Shah of Iran, and there’s an empty seat which is meant for someone else. The setting is a vault and the discussion is based between these figures and two books.

I think about Iran every day. I think about going back to Iran every day. I listen to a song called “Delam Mikhad be Isfahan Bargardam.” The song says “my heart wants me to return to Isfahan.” It’s a song sang by a famous Persian singer called Moein. Isfahan is a city in Iran.

It is the only vacation that I went to with my parents when they were together, so I think about Iran all the time. Iran brings back memories of good and bad because my family was together, I would see my dad every night, I would see my mother, her friends. The bad was war, bombing all the time. I think one time we got bombed 167 times in a day. It was a pretty ugly situation but great memories still at the same time.

GD: How has your view of family changed over time?

PBD: Yes, and a lot because you know when you’re growing up everybody is a family.

And as you’re aging and you actually realize which ones matter the most and I actually put more of my concentration to fewer people rather than trying to do to everybody because I think if you try to please everybody and your family you’re going to be miserable. There’s nothing more miserable than trying to conform to everybody’s happiness and you lose your happiness and you lose your fulfillment then nobody wants to be around you.

But then the other side is when you have kids you learn the differences between the way you love your mom, between the love for a dad, between a love for a sibling, between a love for a friend, between a love for a puppy love, between a love for a wife, and then between a love for a kid.

And I am going to be taking my time before I have the experience of a love for a grand kid because my oldest is seven, he’s got to take his time. But it evolves, life is very strange it changes a lot and you appreciate all the mistakes, you start realizing that sometimes even in life, your friends become more family to you than your existing family so a lot to learn there constantly.

GD: With your viewership numbers, what does your audience say is resonating with them?

PBD: So it’s interesting with my audience because my audience, I have an audience that especially comes to me for content about entrepreneurship and business. That audience isn’t necessarily interested in all my interviews because my interviews range from athletes, from Magic Johnson to Phil Heath seven-time winner Mr. Olympia to Wayne Gretzky to James Worthy to coach Calipari and all these other guys. It ranges from those personality types all the way to business with Mark Cuban, with Chip Wilson who founded Lulu lemon to investors to a bunch of different people.

Then it goes to politics and it ranges with both sides from politicians to free thinkers to a bunch of different personalities and we’ll go into mob interviews and Pablo Escobar type of interviews such as the DEA agents, FBI agents, and financial experts and so because it’s so ranged I have people who love it and I have people who hate it but it has grown so we’re learning the fact that even though you have a channel with 1.2 million subscribers and billion minutes watched.

Not everybody likes all the shows and you have to realize you can’t make everybody happy if you have different segments, so we had to learn that over time.

GD: What gets your interviewees to open up?

PBD: That’s a good question. I would say the fact for me I get interviewed often on other podcasts and YouTube channels and recently there was one with London Real that I did in London with a guy named Brian Rose who just did a phenomenal job with his interviews, he got a lot of information out of me and I also did one with Tom Bilyeu he has a show called Impact Theory.

One of the things I respect about somebody who interviews me is research. If you do research that means you are interested in the product which is me.

So for me if I interview a guest I do so much research on that individual that when I sit down with you and when I’m doing the interview you are surprised by the information that I have and that gets you to step away saying this guy really takes my time seriously and you end up respecting the fact that I did my research so you end up being open about it because I am being fair with you as well and giving you the respect at covering all the other basis and I don’t just go one side.

I’m willing to listen to all the different sides to see why you are wired the way you are rather than trying to push my stuff down your throat. I try to find out why you are wired the way you are and that’s worked well with our audience.

In a new generation of entrepreneurs, many are like Bet-David: using their gritty past, background, and beliefs to keep a business going.

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