Lin O’Neill, founder and President of Futures Consulting, is a consultant with in-the-trenches experience. She uses her blended background (operations and H.R.) to guide the transformation of individuals, teams, and organizations who seek to become profitable, high performers who achieve or exceed their goals. Lin is also the Lead Faculty member for Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses, a program that helps entrepreneurs create jobs and economic opportunity by providing greater access to education, capital and business support services.

Lin and I unpack what it takes to become a successful entrepreneur in today's economy. There are two major things that stand out for her - willingness to change and resilience. All the incredibly successful entrepreneurs have these two prominent traits built in, and it has led to the development of some fantastic companies.

On this episode, you learn what the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program does for helps entrepreneurs, why entrepreneurs have such difficultly scaling their business, and when to raise equity for your company. Lin also encourages entrepreneurs to learn as much as possible while they still can, because these amazing entrepreneurial classes, resources, and the availability of funds are not going to last forever. Listen to this episode to find out why and learn more.

 

Show Notes

[2:50] What is the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business program about?

[4:20] Goldman Sachs looks for three qualities in their applicants.

[5:15] Many small businesses go out of business after 5 years. What makes an entrepreneur successful and how do they avoid those odds?

[6:30] Lin says that surprisingly, we can't confirm those stats. There are several different factors as to why businesses close their doors after 5 years; it could even mean they were acquired for a large sum of money.

[7:00] Which one trait that makes a successful entrepreneur? Willingness to change.

[8:35] What was the number one reason entrepreneurs don't scale their business? It was because of loyalty to their team.

[10:45] Entrepreneurs have a hard time firing their original team, but this can cost them greatly.

[11:10] Employees who are bored sometimes just don't have the courage to quit.

[12:55] Why do companies sell or emerge? A lot of times it's just that the founder is tired.

[14:15] With the Goldman Sachs program, they start and finish with their exit strategy.

[15:20] If you're going to build a successful business, you need to know how to delegate the tasks.

[16:20] How can entrepreneurs build trust in their employees?

[21:00] The Goldman Sachs small business program is growing an amazing network of people year by year.

[21:45] It's a great feeling when students quickly realize they're not alone in this.

[22:20] Believe it or not, a lot of CPAs don't give very good strategic advice. Over 50% of entrepreneurs going through the Goldman Sachs program tend to switch their financial advisors for this reason.

[22:45] Entrepreneurs have to share their metrics while participating in the program. What do those metrics look like?

[26:45] You don't want to put all your eggs in one basket. Diversify your assets.

[28:55] Does Goldman Sachs help their students with their pitch deck and teach them how to get funding?

[33:35] When would it not be appropriate to give away equity?

[37:00] Frost Bank is very community-oriented and they really watch out for their customers.

[40:00] A little bit of magic happens when you bring people together who have completely different backgrounds, careers, and expertise.

[42:15] Most truly successful entrepreneurs have at least two or three failures under their belt. What makes them successful is their resilience to succeed.

[48:50] What advice would Lin like to leave entrepreneurs with today? Never stop learning.

[50:55] So many colleges these days are offering fantastic entrepreneurship programs.

[52:00] Go get your education now. Go get your funding now. It will not last forever.

[52:35] Lin has 50 Google Alerts set up to help her spot important trends in different industries.

[53:50] Dallas is just a treasure trove for entrepreneurship right now.

[55:20] The world is changing so fast. You cannot quit learning.

 

Follow:

Tech Titans

Frost Bank

SBA Emerging Leaders

Greater Dallas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce – Scale Up

Babson College

Boston University

Kaufman Organization

Jerry White

Simon Mak

Texas Woman's University

The Dallas Entrepreneur Center

The Grove

The Genius Den

Baxter Box

 

Connect with Lin:

Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses

Futures Consulting

Call Lin at 214-557-6555

 

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