Avidbrain: 10 Inspirational Quotes that Shaped My Startup

The following are 10 inspirational quotes that not only shaped who I am but also shaped my startup. As an entrepreneur I couldn’t tell the difference between who I am and what my startup is all about. My apologies upfront if I miss-quoted the person who stated the original quotes or got the wrong author.

So as a challenge to all of you entrepreneurs, what are 10 inspirational quotes that shaped who you are and/or your startup? Please share. I am just one person on this great journey called life.

• “Be humble, be hungry and always be the hardest worker in the room” — Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson

I love this quote since it not only captures who we are, but also how we go about doing what we love. It ensures that no matter what, whether we fail or succeed, these are the characteristics that I will always have. They are a part of who I am, rather than being temporary traits. Always be humble no matter where you are in life. Always be hungry and lastly, work as hard as you can for what you believe in.

• “Follow your passion and the money will come” — Unknown

I love this quote, but for over 30 years I just couldn’t agree with it. I mean, as a former high school teacher, there’s not much money in education. Even years later when I became an adjunct professor, the money was adequate but definitely nothing major. So is this quote true? To me it is; however it just takes some of us longer to figure it out. For me, it took me 30+ years before I realized how to scale what I love, i.e., tutoring. I’ve started Avidbrain, a nationwide marketplace that connects tutors and students. I am finally able to get to the second part of the quote. Wish me luck as I continue figuring this stuff out.

• “Know your why” — Simon Sinek

We all have down times when we ask ourselves what we are doing. Should I keep going or stop and run to the nearest shelter? Should I hang it up and go back to doing what we were doing before? No matter how menial that life was, it was still a constant paycheck that helped pay the bills. For me, personally, starting and running my business has not been easy. Yes, there are some great days, but as most entrepreneurs know, not every day is a great day. Some days are down-right hard, if not impossible. So, make sure you know your why. Why did you start this journey? I truly believe in a higher calling. As a veteran tutor with over 30 years of experience, I truly believe what I am doing is a service that everyone can benefit from. I am working hard towards what’s known as the frictionless economy, where tutors get paid more and students pay less for great services.

• “There is a thin line between success and failure” — Elbert Hubbard

This one is personal. When I was a college kid, I was a tutor for this really successful stock investor’s kids. He always loved to tell me that there’s a very thin line between success and failure. Most people that are successful can attribute their success to a moment in time where if they would have made a single different decision, they wouldn’t be where they are today. I think that’s somewhat true. There are pivotal moments, but success can’t come from one single decision. More than likely it was a combination of many mini-decisions that all added up to that one critical point that Malcolm Gladwell calls the tipping point. So whenever I feel like giving up, I remember that I have to keep going because I could be on the edge of success. I could be so close to it and not even know it, and if I gave up, I would have to start all over again.

• “Look in the mirror, that’s your competition” — John Assaraf

This one is more of a personal quote. When we first start on our entrepreneur journey, we tend to come up with ideas as to why our business is better than our competitors. We justify and lie to ourselves that we have xyz better than our competitors, but comparing ourselves to our competitors can’t go on. At some point, the best way to realize who our number one competitor is, is to look in the mirror. When you get to the point where the scariest and most fierce competitor is yourself, you know you’re on your own path to greatness. So after only one year, the only person or company that I am truly afraid of is myself and my own company. Why? Because I see an insanely ambitious and motivated person that will stop at nothing to reach their dreams. This is a person that will never give up. You might beat others, but you can never beat someone who never gives up. They will continue chasing their dreams. It is internal. It is not for financial gain, but rather they have a higher calling that transcends what their competitors are doing. They are seen as mad or crazy. Once you reach that level of focus, I too would not want to compete since there’s no winning against someone like that. You either join them or get out of their way. So to all of the entrepreneurs, I dare you to not compete with anyone but yourself. Once you get to the level where you’re afraid of your reflection, you know you will get to where you’re going and nothing will stop you.

“If your dreams don’t scare you, they’re not big enough” — Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

As entrepreneurs, we have these big dreams of changing the world and doing something great. However, having one failure after another, we start questioning our own goals. We wonder if perhaps the naysayers were right, that our aspirations are too big and that we need to back down. However, I’ve learned over the years that every time I listen to the naysayers and curtail or back down on my dreams, is when I get in trouble. Funny how that seems counter-intuitive. Sometimes I have to shout to the world that I truly want to build the world’s largest tutoring firm. Perhaps it is too big of a dream, but then again it does scare me, so I know it is the right one to have.

• “When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe then you will be successful” — Eric Thomas

This one got me started on Avidbrain. I truly want to be successful in life, I think we all do. However, we need to know that it is a journey and we will face so many obstacles. I think the very idea of just wanting to breathe is at the top of the list of importance. When we’re out of air, all we want to do in the world is to breathe, we would claw our way and fight to do that one instinctive thing, to get air. We must want to succeed with that same fervency. Eric Thomas has great motivational videos on youtube, where he goes into detail about a mentor teaching his disciple the secret to success.

• “Life will knock you down. It ain’t about how hard you hit, but how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward” — Rocky Balboa from one of the later Rocky movies

This quote is from a movie from none other than everyone’s favorite underdog, Rocky. He was talking to his son about life. It rings so true. No matter how much we prepare our kids for the future, the reality is that life is hard. We can’t or shouldn’t color it with rose-colored glasses. We should sometimes teach them the value of how to get up and keep going. There are many times as an entrepreneur when I want to call it quits, but like the other nine quotes, this one will keep me inspired to know that all of us face struggles in life, but we just have to keep going.

• “Tell me something that’s true, that almost nobody agrees with you on.” — Peter Thiel

I love this one. This quote inspired me to start Avidbrain. A few years ago, I wanted to start a tutoring firm. Then a quick search shows me that there are practically millions of tutoring firms on the market. So why would any sane person start another one? Seriously, what can I truly offer that other firms have not figured out yet? So before starting Avidbrain, I asked myself one simple question: “What is the true value of a tutoring company?” I didn’t come up with the answer till a few days later, and to me, the true value is in its tutors. That’s it! The true value of any tutoring firm is their tutors. So with that as the answer I figured, why not pay your tutors more? Why not give them the resources they need to succeed? Why not get out of their way so they can do what they do best?

• “Being an entrepreneur is like eating glass and staring into the abyss of death” — Elon Musk

This one is a quote attributed to the great Elon Musk. It is actually not him that came up with it, as he quoted his friend in his interview. As many entrepreneurs know, this quote rings so true.

Once again, thanks so much for reading my posts.

Sincerely,

Keith Rezendes

CEO & Co-founder Avidbrain

Avidbrain.com