The Startup Sessions with Michael Knouse

This week I sit down with a successful startup founder and professional IRONMAN athlete to discuss the lessons from his 25-year track record in entrepreneurship. Matt Given gives us real-talk on the “healthy” side of obsession, finding patience to make a startup a successful and inevitably, how to reach true domination of your market!  Matt brings a fantastic reminder to all the grinding entrepreneurs out there: success is rarely delivered overnight!

-Matt Given

Matt Given is CEO of Intelivideo, the world’s best Video On Demand and Subscription Video On Demand sales and distribution platform. Given has a 25-year track record in entrepreneurship as an operator, founder and investor in technology companies. He has started, grown and exited three technology companies to date, and recently closed a $5.6M funding round for his latest venture, Intelivideo. Given is also an endurance sports junkie, having competed in the IRONMAN World Championships in Kona, Hawaii.

He regularly speaks to startups, seasoned industry veterans and university students sharing his experiences and tips for success. Given also shares his startup and leadership experience through his weekly column on Inc.com.

“Get out there with what you’ve got… conduct experiments in the market and prove there are people out there that will buy ‘this’.”

– Matt Given

A mission-driven business starts by leading from your soul. Priscilla Stephan helps us realize the power behind Leading From Your Soul and connecting your business to YOU – your values, your priorities, your ‘soul blueprint’. Once you allow your true nature to shine through your business, you’ll experience the results you’ve been craving with greater ease and flow.

“This is your business, so if it’s not working for you, are you willing to look at why that’s so?”

– Priscilla Stephan

Priscilla is an intuitive business strategist who helps leaders that have hit an upper limit in their businesses to step into their next level of leadership and create more impact and revenue with grace, joy and ease.  Priscilla believes that the most important quality to have is to embrace all of who you are, and to embody that in your mission ‘unapologetically’.

Priscilla understands that the path to growing a successful, mission-driven business starts from within.

“What if we use joy as a filter to make our decisions?”

– Priscilla Stephan

MeiMei Fox brings her passion for purpose-driven entrepreneurs to the forefront as she joins me on this week’s podcast.  MeiMei unveils the direct impact you can have by connecting your purpose with your business and how this can immediately set you apart from others.

MeiMei’s vibrant spirit and robust insight of purpose, and philanthropy-driven entrepreneurs remind us to start by asking “What can I do for you?” instead of our go-to sales pitch.

“What is human nature all about? That is my passion. That is my purpose on this planet.”

MeiMei Fox is the published author, co-author, ghostwriter, and freelance editor of 100’s of non-fiction of health, wellness, spirituality and psychology books, articles, blogs and more, including Bend, Not Break with Ping Fu and Fortitude with Sarah Brokaw. Her articles have also been published routinely in the Huffington Post, Self magazine, and MindBodyGreen.

MeiMei is a graduate with honors and distinction from Stanford University with an MA and BA in psychology.  She’s also earned an MA in counseling psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute. She’s been a life coach since 2009, assisting clients in developing careers that have meaning and impact.

“Fear less, love more. That is my mantra.”

About 101(ish) times per month someone asks me… “What do you think of my business idea? (explains the idea)…what do you think and any advice?”

And I totally understand the question. But my advice is always the same 100% of the time:

Immerse yourself in an environment that refuses to let you fail! I know. Not so simple. It’s taken me many, many years to figure this out. A big part of that was I didn’t understand all the things required to start and grow a self-funded business.

The challenge for purpose-driven entrepreneurs is that we tend to be a bit of an outlier, even within the entrepreneurial community. Because it’s not just about money for us, it’s about meaning, purpose, expression and potential. It’s about building more than a business. It’s about building a legacy and a life.

This, in fact, is why I created The Council of Visionary Business Builders. To create the container, bring together the people and share the collective wisdom that leads not only to accelerated discovery and growth, but a better, more connected and supported life along the way. If you already have all the above dialed in, that’s fantastic. Just keep doing what you’re doing. If not, and you’d love to spend the rest of 2017 with a curated group of purposeful business builders, learning, growing and helping each other rise, I invite you to learn more about The Council, and see if it’s a fit.

Happy entrepreneur-ing!

Michael

Vanessa Van Edwards provides her science-backed blueprint for hacking human behavior.  She explains no matter how ‘good’ you are, if you don’t know how to pitch your room, bond with clients, or if you lack negotiation and interview skills, you will always miss the most fundamental part of the sale.

Vanessa, puzzle hunter and large scale real-life experience investigator, brought her theory into the lab. Returning for a second appearance on the show, she brings you her human hacks for improving your social game plan and the importance of being an authentic storyteller.

“People skills are the lubrication of life.”

– Vanessa Van Edwards

Vanessa Van Edwards is the founder of Science of People, Corporate Consultant, and  Author of Captivate: The Science of Succeeding with People.  She’s also a Professional Speaker. Vanessa is a leading authority on human behavior and people skills. She provides science-backed formulas for getting along with anyone & making a killer first impression.

Vanessa is a sought after human behavior investigator that studies the hidden forces that drive our behavior patterns. She uses hacks to solve “people” by delivering metrics for understanding how to become socially attractive and how to leverage the science behind what makes people popular.

“When someone asks you what you do, say it like you are delighted.” 

– Vanessa Van Edwards

Photo credit: Amy Rollo

Being an entrepreneur can sometimes feel like an overwhelming task. There’s constant challenges, distractions and obstacles to overcome. Visionary entrepreneur, Jill Knouse, has built her business on a foundation of love, joy and purpose. It’s her persistent commitment to leading from the heart that has allowed Jill to create a thriving business that’s aligned with her deepest calling.

 “You’ll never feel ready. You just have to take the leap.” – Jill Knouse

In addition to teaching yoga classes, Jill leads her Elevate Yoga Training Programs and multiple retreats a year around the world. She is also the creator of workshop experiences like The Art of Acceptance: Yoga as a Tool for Radical Acceptance + Cultivating Happiness through Mindfulness and Gratitude.

Jill says, “It’s incredible that I get to combine so many things that light me up including community, service, collaboration, creative movement, cultivating SELF-LOVE, and bringing it all together with other interests like music, food, art, photography, writing and more…and that I get to call it work.”

“I’m always asking myself, what lights me up the most?” – Jill Knouse

Kristin Fritz has a message for you: You are here to live a creative, joyous life guided by love and purpose.

Kristin believes that each of us has a contribution to make. A unique way of showing up in the world in a meaningful way. Yet the demands of work, life and family can pull us away from our purpose. Learning to navigate these distractions along with our own conditioning is the perfect training ground for you to practice mindfulness. To wake up and discover how to receive every moment as an invitation to transform your relationship with yourself, your life and your calling.

Kristin Fritz is a certified meditation teacher, mindfulness coach and love activist. She specializes in helping people embrace their everyday experience as a practice for personal and global transformation.

With an emphasis on ease and practicality, Kristin delivers tools and insights for a lifestyle of less stress and more purpose. She believes that every moment is an invitation to see yourself with greater clarity and compassion. Her calling is to be a change agent for individuals who want better for themselves and the world, starting right here and right now.

Some things in life cannot be fixed. And if something in your life has blown up, the last thing you want is someone trying to cheer you up or tell you that everything is going to be okay.

Today’s discussion is about dealing with the raw pain and emotion of things not working out as planned. It’s about telling the truth and not trying to sugar coat everything. Because life doesn’t always happen in a straight line and we need a way to get and give support when bad things happen.

 “For most things in life, we don’t need solutions, we need to be heard.” – Megan Devine

Teacher, speaker, and psychotherapist, Megan Devine, has been stirring up our culture’s ideas around grief and loss since 2009. Megan is known for her practical, no-nonsense approach to grief, and for her ability to guide people inside some of the most devastating experiences of life and love. She’s an outspoken advocate of emotional intelligence, and the skills needed to love each other better – no matter what life brings.

“Pain is everywhere and we need to get better at dealing with it without diminishing it.”

– Megan Devine

Have you ever committed to more than you can handle? Too many business builders wreck their chances of success by spreading their energy too thin and attempting to accomplish too much at once.

Understanding this challenge has allowed Dorie Clark to simplify her goal setting and optimize her impact. She discusses how our ability to master the right kind of big goals – the ones that can change your life – will allow you to make progress on the projects that matter most.

“Doing more is tempting. What actually makes us successful is the act of making choices, prioritizing and executing.” – Dorie Clark

Dorie Clark is an Adjunct Professor of Business Administration at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and the author of Reinventing You and Stand Out, which was named the #1 Leadership Book of 2015 by Inc. magazine, one of the Top 10 Business Books of the Year by Forbes, and was a Washington Post bestseller. A former presidential campaign spokeswoman, the New York Times described her as an “expert at self-reinvention and helping others make changes in their lives.”

“When you know what your goal is, it enables you to know what to say “yes” to and what to say “no” to.” – Dorie Clark

Running a successful business doesn’t happen by sitting on the sidelines. It’s about getting in the game.

Ciara Pressler shares her winning strategies for turning vision into action and giving you the guidance, support, and connections you need to move forward. Even those of us who are bravely following our dreams need consistent support. We need advice, encouragement, and community. And we need the strategies + mindset that allow us to get out onto the field and play to win.

 “Don’t get so caught up in the process that you’re not doing the action.”

– Ciara Pressler

Ciara Pressler is dedicated to discovering the best practices that lead to authentic success and empowering other entrepreneurs, executives and creative professionals to create a Game Plan for their strategic growth.

Ciara is the founder of Pregame, editor of Pregame Magazine, author of Game Plan: Achieve Your Goals in Life, Career, and Business and Exit Stage Right: The Career Change Handbook for Performers, and a guest speaker at conferences, universities, and creative businesses. Her firm Pressler Collaborative partners with businesses and special projects to maximize their marketing.

“Create space to be vulnerable and tell the truth.”

– Ciara Pressler