I like to make it super clear to lay the tech foundation. Create one page of content for every single keyword you want to rank for. If you are in a big niche, you will want to rank for thousands of keywords. And then get other websites to link back to you. Those are the three things that compile SEO. And any SEO company that is good will be creating content and getting links for you.

Don't be afraid to go first. Provide value first. Everything is a relationship there is no b to c or b to b. It's all human to human. If you can find a way so that you are providing value right out of the gate, your close rate, conversion rate, and the whole experience is going to be better throughout. The more that you invest upfront the more value you provide the more that you are going to extract out of that.

You can have a great idea you, can even have the funding for it. But you need to leave room in the execution of that model to have that variance, the human condition variance. You can pull all the data, you can interpret all the data, you can look at all the comps, you can see all this stuff. I will tell you that you have to go with your gut. You have to do gut checks all the time. And you have to leave a little room for something to happen. I don't mean, be negative; it will not work that way. It's more like something amazing could happen in that little space that you leave for magic to happen.

I would say before you jump in headfirst, ask yourself a question. Do you have the DNA of an entrepreneur? Yes or No? In most cases, the answer is no. To become a successful entrepreneur, it takes a tremendous amount of grit, resilience, and the ability to take the pain and get back up. It will be a very painful journey. You have to know that before you launch yourself. If you ask me right now, I can't prove it scientifically, but by experience, how many people that have what it takes. If you are one of those people, you are the five percent. You are one out of twenty.

If you have a business idea, do the smallest possible next step towards it right away. If you think that you want to start a new social network or something for dog lovers, call up five of your friends that love dogs and ask them what could be better about the social networks they use. If you have an idea for say I want to get into lawyer referrals. Maybe I should call up lawyers and ask them how you can help them out. You really don't need money or some big thing to start a business. It's usually just one step at a time. If you have an idea just, do something. Do something right now about it.

Pick your mentors they are very helpful. One thing that I was fascinated by when I moved to the US was that people are always available to help all you have to do is ask. Don't feel shy, don't feel that you are cool reaching out to a random person and they will ignore you. People talk and like to help, and pay it forward. One of the biggest things I learned from my mentors when I went back to them and said hey, thank you for helping me out. What can I do for you now that I sold my company? They told me three words that have stuck with me,  pay it forward.

I would recommend reading the book "Good To Great" by Jim Collins. I found that really helpful. I was lucky enough to have a Ph.D. advisor that had me read it in grad school which was great. I did not know I would be in a leadership position at the time so I think my thoughts were formed really pure before I had any sense of entitlement. So now that I am in it I can compare myself to my thoughts of myself back then. When there are pain points executives especially me endure the most of it. Take on the headwinds so that people working for you feel less of them.

Don't overthink it. I think we can get in our heads and, we can overthink things. I like to think of myself as a perfectionist and, I have learned in one of the books that I have read it's bad to be looked at as a perfectionist. That's because we are constantly chasing after something that's not real. Perfect is not real. We are driving are selves crazy. People who are looked at to be perfectionists have a higher rate of anxiety, depression, and eating disorders because we are driving ourselves nuts. There is never really a perfect time. People say I have to learn more before I get started. No just go for it you will learn along the way. The only way you are going to learn is by doing it. You can do it. You are a big deal.

Work from what you know. And that is going to give you your edge over everyone else. As Jack Trout says, "differentiate or die." You need to have your product be unique. What sets it apart? If you start with your knowledge, you're different. Everyone is unique, so build that into your product. What do you do that is unique? What is it that sets you apart? Do that for your product. Don't stop there; always put it in front of the customer for feedback. Get it in front of your customers, get feedback and see what they say. When you follow that rule you will have a product that is unique, differentiated, and that customers want.

Keep going. Never ever ever give up. Always keep that fire, keep that passion awake. And always remember what is the purpose. What are you doing here? What is your potential impact? Why you are doing this for real. Keep that passion alive and, it's going to be worth it in the end. Keep going.