Welcome to the show notes! I usually like to open with a snarky comment, but let’s face it, not even I can be on all the time. Let’s keep this one serious.
Jeremy is somewhere in the Mediterranean, soaking up the sun and speaking Greek while James, Rob, and Kevin work away in the podcast mine. Fittingly, rather than being a meandering discussion about a single topic, this episode is made up of lots of advice nuggets for entrepreneurs and those that want to start their own business.
Kevin and James have been up to their old tricks again: working together closely on a new business project. They both seem to enjoy it. Of course, it’s super top secret, though, and they still won’t just tell us what it is. Well, that didn’t last very long.
Rob has been writing a script for a university’s capital campaign. It’s hard to make a joke about capital campaigns. Rob has also decided that he’s too good for show prep.
James kicks things off by suggesting that you should “do something you love, or don’t do it at all.” Great. I guess I don’t have to pay my mortgage anymore! He continues, “becoming an entrepreneur just because you want to work for yourself is a bad idea.” He claims he’s not suggesting that you should love everything about your business, but you should love most of it.
Kevin’s first piece of advice is to find a partner; not everyone is designed to be a solopreneur. If you don’t think you’re cut out to start up things on your own, maybe you should find someone to take the journey with you. Rob suggests that this is a good fit for Kevin’s AIB nickname, The Fixer, which makes him sound like a direct to dvd movie starring Steven Seagal. Trust me, Kevin is no Steven Seagal. I doubt that Mr. Seagal has Kevin’s crippling social anxiety. However, if you are like Kevin, getting a partner can also help you avoid being the face of the company, so there’s that.
Rob’s turn with the proverbial advice pick uncovers a vein about being the expert when approaching clients. If someone is hiring you to produce a product, or even to give them advice, it’s ok for them do disagree with your vision. If they do, however, it may be a good idea to suggest that they examine why they’ve paid for your expertise. You probably won’t find fulfillment being someone else’s yes man, even if they are paying you for it.
Rob tells a story. I think I’m just going to omit the phrase: Rob tells a story in the future. If I ever write anything about Rob, assume he’s telling a story about it. This particular story is about his kids deciding to sell slime to their elderly neighbors and tricking the neighboring kids into thinking that they should sell their crayon scribbles as art.
The hosts also opine about the need to create routine, especially in regards to exercise. At least they aren’t wrong about that.
Both Rob and Kevin suggest that you should find a hobby outside of business. Kevin talks about his woodworking hobby. He seems to do that a lot. He also likes to mention his “workshop.” It’s a garage man. It’s a garage. Just stop it! Apparently, the “workshop” is a great place to transition from work to being at home and “present with his family.”
Rob’s hobbies are fly fishing and Magic: The Gathering. He says that he enjoys both for different reasons: fishing is an escape to free his brain from thinking, which I’m not sure is as big a deal as he thinks it is, and MTG is a way for him to strategize outside of business. He must be doing pretty well over at the Alderman Group, because those are both really expensive hobbies. $320 for a playset of Force of Will? No thank you!
The hosts discuss the spiritual nature of getting in touch with the classic elements. It all sounds a little too new-agey for me. I mean, I like classical Greek philosophy as much as the next person, but you’re tricking fish into biting a hook so that you can pull them into a world made of suffocation or you’re cutting down and a living thing to build a skeleton to hold books made of other trees that were cut down, chopped up, and smashed together.
James has a much more concrete suggestion of a social media podcast. They do science with social media concepts, testing which ideas work and which ideas don’t. Apparently they have degrees in social media science, which sounds exactly like the major I’d expect of a professional football player.
Our Recommendations
- Kevin: TIP – Have a non-business hobby
- Rob: TIP – Have a non-business hobby
- James: PODCAST – Social Media Lab
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