The Innovative Founder

In this episode, we are joined by Richard Rossi, the founder of The daVinci50 Mastermind® and Longevity Age. His passion evolved into inspiring high-achieving students to greatness through connections with genius. Richard’s business partner co-founded EnvisionEMI, which grew to become the world’s largest provider of live educational events to high-achieving students worldwide. Following that, he founded the National Leadership Academies, which had a similar mission but focused on high-achieving high school students interested in careers in medicine or science/technology. Today, we’ll learn about his entrepreneurial journey and how he achieved success, together with the problems he faced.


For more information on Richard, visit https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-rossi-d50/ or https://www.thenationalleadershipacademies.com/


Key Takeaways:

• [6:42] Richard’s interest in age reversal
• [13:18] We have to sell people what they want to buy, not what we want them to buy.
• [14:31] Richard’s background to how he got to start and put on his own Congress for future medical leaders.
• [17:06] The first direct mail succeeded by “sheer dumb luck” as business rookies
• [22:51] There are two traits Richard finds in super high achieving young people. First is that they all, for the most part, are voracious readers. And second is that they all have someone in their life who is rooting for them.
• [26:46] Sustaining a business with continuous and good cash flow even with little to no profit
• [27:23] Obtaining a bank loan because of a smile
• [31:49] Setting up the right mindset as a foundation for success
• [36:46] Richard’s turning point in the business
• [39:56] The advice Richard has for future generations.
• [47:16] Richards rants about how unequipped the students are nowadays.
  
  

In this episode, our guest is Thomas Smale. He is the CEO and founder of FE International, a mergers and acquisitions company focused on SaaS, e-commerce, and content. Thomas has advised over a thousand entrepreneurs about their businesses. Today, he will discuss his career journey and we'll dive into his stories from helping 1,200+ business owners successfully exit. 

For more information on Thomas, visit www.feinternational.com/ or www.linkedin.com/in/thomassmale/
Key Takeaways:

[14:31] Thomas talks about his mergers & acquisitions company, FE International; he shared a brief description, specialization, and recent acquisition or purchase of the company.
[18:16] Thomas shared with us how they get clients through referrals, podcast guesting, etc. He also talked about their criteria.
[21:56] There are two types of entrepreneurs: The first one aims to build a business to sell them, and the second one aims to build a business – not thinking about selling them.
[24:19] Thomas sometimes deals with the emotions of business owners when discussing their businesses. They try their best to give all the necessary information so the owner can come up with a decision.
[27:18] Thomas tells a hilarious story about one of his deals.
[31:12] Thomas has always been interested in business, so he took a business degree in college. During college, he came up with various business ideas. Thomas also talks about how FE International was born.
[38:49] Thomas talks about his business partner.
[42:52] Thomas is an extrovert online and an introvert offline. You can build a successful company, whether you are an introvert or an extrovert. You have to know when to become extroverted or vice versa.
[53:33] Thomas shared about the future of the business.

How do you deal with serious business problems? We all have our own ways of coping with stress. Sometimes, we either do well during stressful situations turning the tides around, or flop and fade from the business industry. In this episode, we are joined by Mark McShurley, the Co-owner of Roofsimple. Mark discusses the significance of building credibility inside your company and how he was able to save his business when the situation was not in his favor.

For more information on Mark, visit https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mcshurley/.
Key Takeaways:

• [07:18] Mark was a college dropout and his journey toward the sales industry
• [10:54] At the start of Mark’s entrepreneurship career, he had difficulties and experienced how hard having a business feels.
• [24:32] Mark believes that everything becomes simpler when you trust people, and when people speaks the truth.
• [26:29] If Mark wants to build a roofing company, it shouldn’t be like any other company. It could be done better and different.
• [32:20] Mark valued having one person per day and per job, and while reviews are critical, he did not place all of his concentration and attention on them.
• [26:10] Roofsimple covers everything linked to roofs, from roof repair to insurance claims on roofs; Roofsimple got it all.
• [45:58] The 3 core values of Roofsimple are family first, caring for your people, and always doing the right thing.
• [52:51] Mark’s Day in comparison to other business owners

There could be no definition of a successful life that does not include service to others. In this episode, we are joined by Richard Marker, the founder and co-principal of The Institute of Wise Philanthropy, a philanthropy education and advisory group. Richard is a recognized elder and thought leader in the philanthropy sector. He has written columns about philanthropy and a book named “Saying ‘Yes’ Wisely: Insights for the Thoughtful Philanthropist.” Not only that, but he is also a popular lecturer and has spoken all throughout the world. Today, let’s discover how you can become a philanthropist by doing the little things.

Key Takeaways:
[1:27] Richard is semi-retired and is nowadays only occupied with things that excite him, like philanthropy and volunteering.
[3:04] Richard’s story about his meetings in the Vatican
[12:26] Leadership matters
[16:01] Richard thinks that this generation has neglected proper education. Without an educated populace, there is no democracy, and he hopes to save it before it gets completely lost.
[16:53] Richard’s transformative events that got him interested in faith and religion
[22:25] According to Richard, philanthropy is a commitment to using whatever human or financial resources you have to make the world a better place
[27:43] One of the things Richard can do is help people figure out the ways of making decisions that are right for them with the impact that they want.
[32:00] With problems resistant to a solution, you must think broadly.
[36:42] The story about Richard’s visit to India and meeting with the Dalai Lama

Quote:
“Philanthropy is a commitment to using whatever human or financial resources you have to make the world a better place.”

Conclusion:
Philanthropy doesn’t always have to be helped through the power of money. Any person can help others in many ways, like educating them and helping make people make the right decisions. The most important thing is that the desire to help is present. 

In this episode, we are joined by Ryan Deiss, the Founder, and CEO of Digital Marketer. He is also a bestselling author, founder of multiple companies collectively employing hundreds around the globe, founder and host of the Traffic & Conversion Summit, and one of the most dynamic speakers on marketing in the United States today. Ryan introduced and popularized many digital selling strategies that modern companies now take for granted. 
For more information on Ryan, visit https://www.ryandeiss.com/. 
Key Takeaways:

• [0:50] Ryan went to a mastermind in Baltimore for his first investment. He was very scared because it was the only shot since he didn’t have a lot of money in the first place. It ended up being one of his top five best investments ever.
• [07:28] If you are just starting out in business and investing, you first need to figure out who you are talking to, who you are serving, and their specific problem.
• [13:06] Ryan tells the story of losing around a million dollars because he didn’t immediately realize that nobody wants what he is offering.
• [16:15] Digital Marketer was started because they needed to figure out how to teach marketing to all of their different portfolio companies
• [24:06] Ryan stays in touch with his customers even though he has staff that can easily handle them because he realized that, after 15 months of doing it the wrong way, it’s actually his job to do.
• [27:48] Ryan was one of those who didn’t immediately have a direction in life. But he decided to start a business because he desired to marry his then-girlfriend and pay for college dues.
• [39:08] A story about one of Ryan’s failed businesses because of an employee he brought in and his own abdication of responsibility
• [45:06] Ryan talks about the napkin story

Networking is no longer about business cards and power lunches. Things have changed for good. In this episode, we are joined by Brynne Tillman, the CEO of Social Sales Link and "the LinkedIn Whisperer". Brynne has taught entrepreneurs, sales teams, and business leaders for more than a decade how to use LinkedIn for social selling. Brynne is also the co-host of the Making Sales Social podcast and the author of The LinkedIn Sales Playbook, a Tactical Guide to Social Selling.

Key Takeaways:

[11:10] Brynne was diagnosed with dyslexia and her story of how she overcame it
[12:10] As a teacher of LinkedIn, sales, and social selling, Brynne has discovered that there are different levels of expertise and learning abilities for different people.
[17:12] The motivation that drives Brynne forward is when a customer tells her that they improved their financial situation as a direct result of anything they learned from her.
[19:01] Brynne trains sales teams such as TD Bank, Comerica Bank, and even small companies.
[26:10] LinkedIn is not a cold-calling platform. LinkedIn is not a connect and pitch platform. LinkedIn is not a volume platform, even though it's being used that way. LinkedIn is a networking platform.
[31:12] Brynne’s ultimate goal is to bring value, to create credit and create a reputation of credibility and trust, to build rapport, and acknowledge as a resource that sales will come when the time is right.
[32:28] 5 pillars of Social Selling on LinkedIn: LinkedIn profile, social listening, content curation, nurturing existing connections, client and networking referrals
[43:46] Brynne’s successful story of a client

Quotes:

• “You can overcome almost everything. But overcoming it doesn't mean you have to become the norm; it just means you have to figure out your way to get to your result.”
• “A really good salesperson is doing an injustice not presenting their solution if, in fact, that client would be better for having it.”
• “LinkedIn is a 24/7 conference tradeshow networking room that we have to treat the people on the other side of every single message the same way we would if we were on the other side of the table.”

Tales from growing an iconic publishing company to $150 million… business lessons from a baseball hall of famer…. Insights from the life of a GOOD human…

These are just a sample of the incredible stories shared by today's Innovative Founder, Brian Kurtz.

For more information on Brian, visit briankurtz.net or get his book “Overdeliver” by visiting overdeliverbook.com