Lessons Learned from the World’s Top Entrepreneurs
An old proverb says, “A single conversation with a wise person is worth a month’s study of books.”
If that’s the case, I’ve fulfilled all my required reading obligations for a while.
My name is Spiros Ertsos and I am Strategic Marketer from Greece.
Over the years I’ve had the pleasure to meet, collaborate and interview top entrepreneurs from all around the world.
Entrepreneurs like Grant Cardone, Gary Vee (Vaynerchuck), Robert Kiyosaki, Partick-Bet David, Russell Brunson, Neil Patel, Dennis Yu, and many others.
In this article, I will share the top key lessons I learned from each one of them.
Gary Vee
Founder of Vaynermedia, Best selling author, Investor.
Gary vee is one of those people that his vibe is felt the moment he steps in a room. I met him back in 2016 at a conference.
His energy, confidence, and positivity make it really hard not to listen to what he has to say.
Lesson: Focus on what you want to do
You cannot become successful by emulating the actions of your competition.
You may thrive but you will not bloom as a unique individual.
Learning from those who have already achieved success is great.
However, strive to chart your own path of success.
Pick what is right for you and then do it as often as you can.
Fail if you must and fail quickly.
After that, learn your lesson and move on swiftly.
Successful people are not the ones who fail fewer times but those who move between failures quicker than their competition.
Grant Cardone
Grant needs no introduction.
He is one of the most sought after Sales Experts in the world, Best Selling Author and Real Estate Investor.
His event 10X Growth Conference is one of the largest entrepreneurial events in the world.
I first met Grant in 2018 and after that, we meet 3 more times during 2019.
In June 2019 we had an awesome interview during his vacation in Mykonos, Greece.
Lesson: 10X Everything
One of Grant’s foundational lessons (and the topic of his best-selling book The 10X Rule) is, to achieve massive success, you must set massive goals.
He believes, as I do, that most people are playing small.
They’re holding back, hiding from their greatness, and allowing mediocrity to permeate every area of their lives.
Not because they aren’t capable of greater things.
But because they have mentally allowed themselves to settle for small goals.
And this is especially true of high-performers.
We’ve been told our whole lives to “Be grateful for what you have” and “Be more realistic.”
But great things were never achieved by realistic people.
If you want to leave your own dent in the universe and do great things, then 10X everything in your life.
When your 10X your thinking and goals, you will 10X the level of commitment and performance you are willing to bring to the table.
And even if you don’t hit your new target, you will achieve far greater levels of success than you would by playing small.
If you set the goal to earn $100,000, you might only earn $75,000.
But if you set the goal to earn $1,000,000 and level up your thinking to that million-dollar level, you stand to earn $750,000.
If you set the goal to quit your corporate job and start your own business in 12 months, you will only put forth the amount of effort you believe is required to make the shift in 12 months.
By 10X’ing that goal and deciding to quit your job in 2 months, you will be forced to get creative.
To think outside the box.
To put forth radical and uncommon levels of energy and effort to hit your new goal.
And if you fail?
You’ll still be handing in your two-weeks notice far sooner than you would with a smaller goal.
By leveling up your goals, you will level up the way you think about, plan for, and work towards those goals.
And when this happens you can only become more successful.
You can find the interview Spiros had with Grant Cardone here.
Robert Kiyosaki
Best known as the author of Rich Dad Poor Dad-the #1 personal finance book of all time — Robert Kiyosaki has challenged and changed the way tens of millions of people around the world think about money.
He is an entrepreneur, educator, and investor who believes the world needs more entrepreneurs who will create jobs
Met Robert in 2019 and man was I blown away by his unique personality and intelligence.
I attended one of his events in Eastern Europe and I can say that it was one of the best investments of my life.
Lesson: Be Financially Educated
Kiyosaki believes that if someone wanted to be financially successful, he must first equip himself with the necessary financial education.
One of his principles that can change your financial status is to understand what you are working on.
In his books, he categorized jobs and careers into four main categories:
- the employee
- the self-employed
- the businessman and
- the investor
And you need to understand which category you are in if you want to become rich.
According to Kiyosaki, most of the employed people work for earned income that is being taxed the most.
When it comes to hard work, the general masses only understand and will work hard for earned income, which is the first type of income according to Kiyosaki.
The second type of income is the portfolio income where the majority of it comes from capital gains.
For example, when you invest in the stock market and you profit from it, you earned the portfolio income.
And the third type of income is passive income.
What truly makes people rich is passive income.
Kiyosaki suggests his audience to learn and build passive income rather than working hard in a job to earn an income and then get to pay the most tax.
This is why he believes that financial education is important because if you are working hard for the wrong thing, you may end up putting in a lot of effort, but only to receive a small number of results.
Patrick — Bet David
From Immigrant To $70 Million Net Worth.
Patrick is a successful startup entrepreneur, CEO of PHP Agency, Inc., emerging author and Creator of Valuetainment on Youtube.
As a natural critical thinker, Patrick takes complex leadership, management, and entrepreneurial ideas and converts them into simple life lessons.
I met Patrick in one of his visits in Athens, Greece during the summer of 2018.
We had a long conversation about entrepreneurship, business, and politics.
I really respect this guy and what he managed to achieve.
Lesson: The Key To Success
Patrick tells me that in business, success is all about “solving for X” — learning to do the math.
You have to develop the skill of solving issues to move forward.
That’s how he got his foot in the door of the finance industry.
He humanized the grueling process of job applications and got his résumé to stand out.
In his industry, X is always about people.
It means understanding how to deal with different people.
Everything from running a company to the product itself involves people — clients and coworkers.
He knew early on that he wasn’t the smartest guy around.
He had to surround himself with highly skilled and knowledgeable people, forming a solid team that could help his business grow.
According to Patrick, the life insurance industry is a very boring industry.
He knows how challenging it is to sell their product.
In the US alone, the number of life insurance licensed agents has plunged from half a million in 1974 to about 200,000 today.
How does that happen in a current population of over 300 million?
Patrick thinks that agents have lost the ability to connect with their audience.
So with PHP Agency, he makes sure every agent fully understands the product.
Each one of them must learn to represent themselves and showcase their identity.
That’s how they will get people to listen.
Neil Patel
Neil Patel is one of the most successful, digital marketers.
Not only does he run his Neil Patel Digital, but he is also the co-founder of Crazy Egg and the brain behind the free keyword tool Ubersuggest.
If you are into marketing, chances are you’ve read one of his many articles or books, or heard him speak, or watched one of his videos.
I met Neil at a conference in Austin, Texas where he was a keynote speaker.
He is very smart and has a great sense of humor.
I have tremendous respect for his work and to what he has achieved at such a young age.
Lesson: Your Brand Is Everything
Neil Patel has created the most recognized personal brands on the internet.
I learned a lot about Branding by following Neil’s practices and advice.
Establishing an identity and a sense of authority for your brand is one of the first things you should work when starting a business.
If you can craft a unique core story for yourself, you’ll cement your brand in the hearts of your sales prospects.
And if you can build social proof for your products and project a sense of authority in your space with testimonials, press mentions, and customer reviews, you’ll face far fewer sales objections.
Identify what makes your brand special and why you stand out among the competition.
Maybe you’re crowdfunded, maybe you prioritize customer experience over everything else.
Whatever your angle is, make sure it’s front and center.
As much as you’d like to believe your product is entirely original, it’s not.
There are probably dozens of companies doing the same thing as you.
The best way to stand out is through your brand identity and unique value proposition — not your product.
Conclusion
My entrepreneurial journey has placed me in the position of accessing extremely successful entrepreneurs for the expressed purpose of learning what it is that brought them to this place. Their insight and experiences have shaped the way I approach my own business and provided me with valuable lessons along the way. I can safely tell you that your network is really your net worth. Being around top entrepreneurs is the fastest way to success.
