One Man's Entrepreneurial Journey...Everyone Has One

I am going to tell you all that works for me. Entrepreneurship runs in my blood, and I feel like I've always had a pretty good eye for what works and what doesn't, so here is a list, in no particular order, of how I've felt, and what I've done as an entrepreneur

I have never worried about the bottom line. I have always focused on the top-line revenue.

I have never been on the defense. I have always been on the offense.

Speed has always been more valuable to me than profit. It was always about growing the base, growing the company, and moving quickly.

I never cared what my parents or teachers thought.

I always paid my dues. The amount of 23-25 year old entrepreneurs who are being introspective right now is laughable. I never worried about the short-term effects on my life because I just knew there was no other choice. With me there was only one gear. I just had to do it because my business is my life. It’s my blood. It’s my oxygen. I just wasn’t worried about work/life balance when I was 24.

I never cared what my friends thought. 

I never once envied anybody. I couldn't have cared less about any 27-year-old contemporary who worked on Wall St. and make $200k and drove some fucking fancy car. I really didn't give a fuck. Want to know something kind of sick? I actually preferred for them to think that they were beating me, because I knew how it was going to net out.

I always wanted to beat everybody. (Even dear friends)

I always thought of entrepreneurship as war. Kendrick Lamar speaks to my soul. I always wanted everybody I competed with to succeed… as long as I succeeded a little bit more than they did.

I always wanted legacy. I was always concerned with how I’d be looked at in the long term. I wanted entrepreneurs to read about me in schools one day. I was just always more concerned with the legacy of it, than the currency of it. And I know I use that phrase a lot. In fact I think I'm turning Legacy>Currency into a cliché for people that follow me. Sorry about that. Wait a minute. No I'm not.

I had a lot of patience. (Still do)

I felt zero entitlement. I think one of the things that most attracted me to entrepreneurship was that nobody was entitled to anything. Even with all of the success I'd had, I loved the idea of starting an agency four years ago with nobody in the agency world knowing who I am, nobody respecting me, and nobody thinking I'd be able to do it. I prefer to be underestimated. I love it. I prefer the climb. Starting over is attractive, not a negative.

I don't like stuff. Matter of fact, I hate stuff. I don't want planes. I don't want cars. I don't want watches. I don't do it for any of that stuff.