CYLS 119: CEO Talks - The ABC’s of Entrepreneurship with Eric Fondren and Todd Wahnish

2018-05-25

Episode Summary In this episode Todd, Kevin and Eric discuss the ups and downs of presales for Eric’s business, CEO experience truth’s about failing and re-starting up a business. Strategies to figuring out where your client is now and where they want to go. They also cover strategies to deciphering between good and unimportant advice. Kevin Y. Brown Kevin Y. Brown is a National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) Center For Public Trust (CPT) “Being A Difference” award recipient, international speaker, entrepre...

Episode Summary

In this episode Todd, Kevin and Eric discuss the ups and downs of presales for Eric’s business, CEO experience truth’s about failing and re-starting up a business. Strategies to figuring out where your client is now and where they want to go. They also cover strategies to deciphering between good and unimportant advice.

Kevin Y. Brown

Kevin Y. Brown is a National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) Center For Public Trust (CPT) “Being A Difference” award recipient, international speaker, entrepreneur, and author. The former MTV Networks host and NYC fashion marketer has created an international following as a speaker on personal excellence, effective communication, and leadership. Kevin has been featured by Black Enterprise magazine as a “Modern Man of Distinction” and highlighted in various publications for his self-help speaking work and helping students graduate college debt-free. Recognized for his commitment to empowering foster care youth and as a foster care system alumnus, he has also delivered the keynote address at the International Foster Care Organizations Conference in Sydney, Australia and Osaka, Japan. Kevin is currently the creator/host of Sirius XM’s “Create Your Life” series, a fellow in the New York Chapter of the Startup Leadership Program, and an active member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.

Eric Fondren

Eric Fondren is the CEO of Itell.io, a company that provides a digital advertising platform for ATM owners to digitally advertise to their customers.

Todd Wahnish

Todd Wahnish is the Founder of Clever Era. Clever Era helps bootstrapped Entrepreneurs build businesses...even if you have no idea, no capital, and no technical ability. He is also an award winning artist, animator, and product designer with a portfolio that includes Marvel Entertainment, Cartoon Network, and artist Jeff Koons.

Insights From the Episode

ABC = Always be conversing
Strategies to narrowing down your end user vs. customer
Secrets to avoid the top two reasons startups fail
The ups and downs of pre- sales for Eric’s business,
CEO experience truth’s about failing and re-starting up
Strategies to figuring out where your client is now and where they want to go.
strategies to deciphering between good and unimportant advice.
Strategies to presale your product before launch
Methods to deciphering between an opinion vs. sound advice

Quotes From the Show

“Start with a date to start, a day to complete and a go to Idea to plan to product” - Eric Fondren, Create Your Life Series, #119
“Your business always gets better if you expose it to the world around you” - Eric Fondren, Create Your Life Series, #119
“For anyone looking to start off or bootstrap their business, the conversation is the first thing you need to master because that’s how you invent word of mouth” - Todd Wahnish, Create Your Life Series, #119
“Whether its advice or not its still an opinion. Its whether or not its informed and contextual and relevant” - Eric Fondren, Create Your Life Series, #119
“What I learned very quickly was to trust and verify” - Todd Wahnish, Create Your Life Series, #119
“A lot of times there can be truth in the advice but its up to you to know who you are and what you don’t want to be” - Todd Wahnish, Create Your Life Series, #119
“If you are worried about someone stealing your idea, then you don’t have a strong enough idea…and your not doing enough competitive research” - Eric Fondren, Create Your Life Series, #119
“Ideas are not businesses, ideas are thoughts that don’t have any physical form” - Todd Wahnish, Create Your Life Series, #119
“The money valuates the building of the product” - Todd Wahnish, Create Your Life Series, #119
“The ups are never as good as they feel and the downs are never as bad as they feel” - Eric Fondren, Create Your Life Series, #119
“Stay strong, make moves, work hard, take breaks” - Todd Wahnish, Create Your Life Series, #119