Ideas in the Wild: Daniel Cleland is Helping Entrepreneurs Thrive by Revealing the Primal Laws of Entrepreneurial Survival
One month after Daniel Cleland scaled his startup, Soltara, to seven figures, solidifying its rank in the top three ayahuasca healing centers in the world, COVID-19 obliterated the company’s revenues. He had 60 days to find hundreds of thousands of dollars in survival funds or face extinction.
Racing against time, he hacked his way through the proverbial (and sometimes literal) jungle one perilous step at a time. He walked the tightrope of zero revenues. He connected to other high-profile entrepreneurs. He applied unorthodox tactics to prevent employee AWOLs. And, he staved off agonizing betrayals.
In 12 Laws of the Jungle, Daniel describes how the unprecedented global lockdowns tested him to the limit and reveals the 12 primal laws of entrepreneurial survival that kept him alive and thriving in an unforgiving market. Through his stories and insights, he shows how following these laws can help other entrepreneurs do the same. I recently caught up with Daniel to learn more about why he wrote the book and the ideas he shares with readers.
Why did you write this book?
Just as everything was starting to roll with my business, COVID-19 hit. The world turned upside down. My world turned upside down. The weeks that followed were like waking up in a business nightmare.
Like the rest of the world, COVID complicated my identity and life path. As time passed and I focused on solving all the business problems brought on by COVID, however, I began to notice something. The entrepreneurial methods I was using to get out of the abyss of death were proving to be my strongest allies.
That’s when I realized that COVID wasn’t just a nightmare. It was the life-and-death arena to put my entrepreneurial methodology to the ultimate test, sharpen it, and turn it into a lethal weapon for my fellow trailblazers — entrepreneurs who were determined to thrive in the face of seemingly impossible obstacles.
In the end, this book became more than I could’ve imagined — a machete for all entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs, solopreneurs, and rebels looking to enter the jungle of business (or life) and win their holy grail. The laws I share in it teach not only how we built Soltara to pre-COVID success, but also how we navigated the worst crisis in our lifetime to actually come out stronger and better on the other side.
I promise that if you use these 12 laws like a glorious machete, they will help you achieve your dream life, and you’ll emerge stronger from all challenges. After all, our dreams don’t manifest by accident. They reserve themselves for those who are daring enough to troop into the jungle, endure the ruthless elements, and keep taking enormous action.
You can bet there are lethal forces in there waiting for you who are hungry to infect your mind with doubt and bring you to your knees. You can also bet this book was written to defeat them.
What’s an idea you share that really excites you?
On March 16, 2020, the Costa Rican government closed its borders. It was a nightmare I had to deal with, swiftly. Over the next couple of days, I weighed the evidence and emailed all Soltara investors, clients, and employees: “COVID-19 has spoken. We have no choice but to temporarily suspend operations through April, tentatively reopening May 3.”
We canceled six sold-out retreats and stopped accepting new bookings. With zero sales coming in, Soltara’s only chance of avoiding bankruptcy was to lay off 12 international contractors and reduce hours for all remaining employees. Heartbroken, we supplied free room and board to employees who were stranded with nowhere else to go.
Would it get worse? Of course! Canceling the retreats left 200 customers without a retreat and without their $2,500 retreat deposit. Problem was, COVID left many of them jobless and needing their deposit back.
Instead of reacting, I responded. Responding and reacting are different styles of deciding. Both are triggered by an event (stimuli). It’s what happens between the event and reply that makes all the difference.
Responding is based on strategy. The best leaders temper their reply so the stimuli serves their desired future. They take space, calculate the pros and cons, and then move forward. Reacting is based on emotionality. In this case, the emotion makes the decision, not you.
Here is the key to responding: Slow. The. Battle. Down. As much as possible, you should keep cool and look at the battlefield dispassionately. As the old adage goes, “Cool heads prevail.”
How will following your advice improve your readers’ lives?
The laws I describe in the book are written for the lethal entrepreneur: anybody who has the guts to confront fear, conquer it by any means, and achieve what I like to call their “F*ck Yes! Life”.
The laws are for those willing to make sacrifices in the name of building their legendary company, income stream, or life adventure. They are for those who are done wasting precious hours, and are ready to go all in on becoming their ultimate self.
If you follow the advice in the book, that’s exactly what you will be able to achieve. You will learn how to bring creative projects to life, improve your personal practice, or win bigger in your self-employment.
On any given day, you can use the applicable law(s) to beat your adversary, win your objective, or get yourself out of a bind. They are useful in any business, any creative challenge, and any environment. And I promise that, when the next “big one” lands, it’s going to pay to have this machete by your side.
