Motivating TED TALKS for entrepreneurs to watch!

10 Motivating TED Talks for Entrepreneurs to Watch

TED Talks are inspirational and motivational, but they’re also very popular.?As a result, many of the speakers have multiple talks that you can watch on YouTube. Which ones should you watch? Here are ten of my favourite TED talks that every entrepreneur needs to see:

1.?Bill Gross – Why some startups succeed, and most don’t

Startups are not new. In fact, they’ve been around for centuries. The difference between startups and established companies is that startups are a lot more risky and they have to be able to generate revenue quickly in order to survive.

Gross’s talk points out some of the reasons why most startups don’t succeed:

• They fail to get anywhere near their targeted customer base
• They fail at figuring out what exactly it is their customers want or need from them
• Their product sucks–it’s too expensive or doesn’t solve any problems for anyone (or both).

2.?Simon Sinek – How Great Leaders Inspire Action

Simon Sinek has a simple, but powerful message: great leaders inspire action. And how do they do this exactly?

• First, great leaders start by asking themselves the question,?“Why?”?They don’t just ask?“how”?or?“what,”?but why. With this in mind, they begin to build their vision for the future and work backwards from there.?This allows them to establish a clear direction for their team and organization—and once they have that figured out (and everyone is on board with it), then everyone can get down to business doing what needs done!

3.?Reid Hoffman – The Start-Up of You

This talk by Reid Hoffman, founder of LinkedIn and partner at venture capital firm Greylock, is all about how to be a successful entrepreneur.?Hoffman starts off with a bit of history on how the world has changed in the past century and how we’ve become more connected than ever before.?Technology has made us more connected than ever before, but it’s also created new challenges for us as individuals and entrepreneurs. We have to learn new skills so that we can keep up with the changing times.

The second part of this talk is about building a network of people who can help you with your work or business goals—you know, like an actual network (Hoffman’s first name is indeed “Reid”). He talks about how he uses his?network for advice on big decisions and finding opportunities for growth in his company or career path;?he even gives tips on how to get involved with other people’s projects if they’re looking for help from someone else who works remotely like him!

4.?Kathryn Schulz – On being wrong

Kathryn Schulz is not a motivational speaker. But her talk on being wrong was one of the most impactful TED Talks I’ve watched, and it’s applicable to every entrepreneur.

In this lecture, Kathryn explains that being wrong is not only a?natural part of learning—it’s also a necessary part of progress and success.?The more you’re able to accept your mistakes, the sooner you can move on from them and achieve new levels of success. She uses examples from various areas of life: politics, science, sports… even video games!

5.?Dan Gilbert – The Surprising Science of Happiness

Happiness is a choice. You have to decide to be happy, not only in your own life but also for others.

Dan Gilbert, professor of psychology at Harvard University, says that happiness is a skill that can be learned. He believes that we are all born with the potential to be happy but it’s up to us how we choose to use this potential.

This TED talk focuses on how our moods can change over time and why they do so (or don’t). In order to become happier people, we need to understand what makes us unhappy first.

Gilbert suggests three ways in which you can increase your happiness: by thinking about your past experiences as an average rather than individual events;?by having smaller goals rather than larger ones; and by appreciating more things around you every day instead of focusing on material gains only—like buying new clothes or shoes instead of eating dinner at home with family members who love one another unconditionally!

6.?Angela Lee Duckworth – Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance

Duckworth’s TED talk is a great introduction to the concept of grit and how it relates to success. To put it simply, grit is passion and perseverance. It’s what helps you push through obstacles when things get tough. When we say someone has “grit,” we’re saying they possess this characteristic in spades.

Grit is the key skill that can help us reach our goals, whether they be academic or professional in nature.?In fact, Duckworth believes that grit may be even more important than IQ when it comes to predicting success in life (and since we know how important it is for entrepreneurs to succeed!).

7.?Ron Gutman – The Hidden Power of Smiling

Ron Gutman, author of The Smiling Mind: Unlock the Power of Your Inner Smile, says that smiling is a powerful tool.?In fact, he believes it can actually change your life.

He talks about an experiment in which scientists gave people a pill that would make them feel happy for eight hours – and then told them they had to work on an assembly line all day. But half of those subjects were given an additional pill: they would smile while working, even though they didn’t feel like it. After their shifts were over, researchers asked each participant how happy they felt and found that those who’d smiled were happier than those who hadn’t.

The takeaway is clear:?Smiling affects our inner state as much as it affects others’ perceptions of us?(possibly more). Plus, it’s free!

8.?Rives – The 4 A’s of Comedy (and storytelling)

Ultimately, a story is a conversation. And it’s not just you talking at your audience;?it’s you and them having a conversation together.

This is why we find stories so compelling: we’re hardwired to listen for them and react to them. We’re wired to connect with other people through stories and understand their experiences by seeing life from their point of view—and maybe even making sense of our own lives by seeing ourselves reflected in theirs.

So, if you want to connect with your audience on an emotional level, start with the four A’s of comedy (and storytelling):?Authenticity, Attitude, Audience, and Action.

9.?Majora Carter – Greening the Ghetto

Majora Carter is one of the most inspiring TEDTalks speakers, and her talk on greening the ghetto should be required viewing for anyone who wants to start their own business.

In her talk, she details how she turned a neighbourhood in Harlem into a thriving green community by getting residents involved through local resources and working with those around them. She emphasizes the importance of using what’s available in your community instead of importing things that may not be appropriate or sustainable for that area. She also stresses how important it is to get people working together towards common goals – something that’s definitely relevant for entrepreneurs!

10.?Stephen Dubner, Steven Levitt, Seth Stephens-Davidowitz – What Freakonomics has taught us about modern life and economics

Freakonomics has taught us many things about how humans behave. It’s a great book to read if you want to learn more about economics and human behavior.

If you’re an entrepreneur, Freakonomics can be a great resource for learning about your business. You might not think that the book is relevant to entrepreneurship—but one of its authors,?Stephen Dubner, is a fellow New Yorker who started out as an award-winning journalist at the New York Times before becoming an entrepreneur himself (he co-founded Freakonomics). And it turns out that there are some powerful lessons in Freakonomics for entrepreneurs as well as for regular people who want to make better decisions in their personal lives or careers.

Watching these TED talks can provide motivation for entrepreneurs in different areas

Watching these TED talks can provide motivation for entrepreneurs in different areas. Some of them are about the business model, some are about innovation and creativity and others are about how to overcome fear.

You will learn from other people’s mistakes and successes which helps you become successful yourself.?You’ll also understand what is important to you as an entrepreneur and what isn’t important anymore.

We hope that you find these TED talks as inspiring and motivating as we do.