Two questions that I ask every entrepreneur that I meet: 1. How did you first make money? // The best always start early. There is always some flair of entrepreneurialism. 2. How would you describe your sibling? // This says so much about how they view themselves. #Founder #funding #business #investing #vc #venturecapital #entrepreneur #startup
This 1st question is so important, not just for founders but for anyone you want to hire who has to have a drive to source, chase and execute deals.
1. I played tennis at a high level from 12 years old so would break strings in my rackets every week. My parents were paying for the strings which I didn’t think was fair. So I saved up and bought a very cheap stringing machine and ended up stringing rackets for folks in my tennis club and eventually those playing national level tennis. Subsequently, at around 18, I set up my own tennis camps and employed two of my former coaches along with some top juniors to run them. 2. Supportive, very smart, understanding and caring.
1. I’ve been an entrepreneur my entire life and first started selling items at 6 or 7 years old, door-to-door out of the Olympic sales club magazine, making one and two dollar commissions. That grew into selling other items, such as mistletoe from the oak tree at Christmas time, seasonal stationary, car washing, and grass mowing, all under the age of 10.. By the time I was 16 I had opened up over 100 souvenir stores in Orlando with souvenir items I bought wholesale and resold to the stores at double the price I paid. 2. They are both talented and loved.
What if sibling was the first customer 😅
Love these questions! They really cut to the heart of what shapes an entrepreneur's drive and perspective. I've found that how I first made money revealed my knack for solving problems creatively, something I still use today. Curious to know, what common traits have you noticed in the answers you get? Also, any tips for someone struggling to identify their entrepreneurial strengths? -Your support in following my page is greatly appreciated. 🙏
Good questions. Normally a camp is one way. Disadvantages are many -you need to be there, have to have some way of supporting oneself while being there. I sought out a local software/hardware developing company and convinced the owner to work with me in developing my appliance product. I pointed out that by his company developing my smart home product, they will garner experience and knowhow since I would be basically teaching them how to do the development (I did the Project management and electronics circuit designs and supervised the development). I garner $350K in work related product hardware/software development.
Those questions are great. It was cool how I did set up the JV with one of the largest entrepreneurship programs. They did send out an email and got me 14 clients where we did split revenue. It was a great beta-experience, as the concept was perceived as positive, where it also did lead to an upsell. Could have sold more, but this would put me in bad situation, as the pricing back then - and the deal - were just suitable for validating the concept + proof-of-concept. The sibling question will definitely say everything about me, as it shows how I value myself, family, and how we are supposed to behave in a family. The Dutch are horrible in family environments, where I had to learn from the South Africans and Portuguese what the alternatives were. Thanks for making me think about this.
Curious if you ever got an answer to the sibling question that surprised you?
I'm an only child and question 2 caught me by surprise. Curious to know what only children use to respond to question 2.?
Entrepreneur & Startup Helper
7moI love my sister more than anything. She is the person in life I am most proud of and my idol. She had the courage to choose love over any achievement and lives abundantly, truly in the moment, as the mother of three. She serves everyone with kindness, has the biggest heart, is strong, and cares deeply. She would give a random person her last piece of food, even if it meant she would starve. She has the kindest soul. She chose to live a life of love instead of pursuing ventures and always wanting more. She is everything I aspire to be one day. This is not at all how I view myself. She is my inspiration, not my status quo. She is my everything, my friend. "13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love." (1 Corinthians 13, The Way of Love) She is everything this verse describes. I am shamelessly hijacking this comment to worship her. I am nothing like her. To be reborn to serve and learn so that one day I can be like her, in the moment, serving with no other intention than sharing love, purely.