Escape from Cubicle Nation

In the trenches startup story: VC turned entrepreneur

Any entrepreneur who has sat opposite a venture capitalist in a pitch meeting has probably entertained the fantasy of switching roles, and seeing the VC squirm.  Nataly Kogan, CEO of the online community Workitmom, has done just that by choice, and given up her fast-track VC career in New York City for the daily highs and lows of bootstrap entrepreneurship.  Hear on today's radio show why she made the shift and what she has learned in the first few months of her internet startup.

You can read about Nataly's personal perspective of the transition on her blog, and also read some of her articles as a contributing writer to The Huffington Post.

Show details:

Date:  Friday, August 3 (Today!)
Time:  11am-12pm Pacific Standard Time
Topic:  In the trenches startup story:  VC turned entrepreneur
To listen:  Click here

If you miss the live show, you can always listen later, through the link above.  To download as an Mp3, you will have to click on the title of the show, which will bring up the "download as Mp3" option.

How to build a strong and creative brand

Marilyn Scott-Waters has been an artist all her life, but found that her corporate role as Art Director at Nike was pinching her soul. So she ventured into the world of freelance, and as part of her business built a gigantic following with her whimsical paper toy site thetoymaker.com. On today's radio show, hear her perspective on building a strong and creative brand, integrating the best of her training as corporate artist with the hard won knowledge of an in-the-trenches entrepreneur.

Show details:

Date:  Friday, July 27 (Today!)
Time:  11am-12pm Pacific Standard Time
Topic:  How to build a strong and creative brand
To listen:  Click here

If you miss the live show, you can always listen later, through the link above.  To download as an Mp3, you will have to click on the title of the show, which will bring up the "download as Mp3" option.

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And a note of apology to Feedblitz subscribers to this blog, who often express annoyance that my notices are sometimes short for radio shows. (Feedblitz sends summaries of blog posts via email, and they are usually delivered the day after they are posted) I can only plead busy, pregnant woman these days, and I am racing as fast as I can to get everything done before the baby comes.  Between scheduling guests, preparing for interviews, creating a product, writing a book and blog posts, I am stretched pretty thin.

I appreciate your interest and dedication.  Please note that the show airs every Friday at the same time (11am Pacific) so you can always go to the link I reference above under "show details" to see what is playing live.  Thanks for your patience with me!

Should formal education and entrepreneurship mix?

There is a lot of debate in entrepreneurial circles about whether the best way to learn about starting a business is by just doing it, or by going to school and getting a degree.

My guest on today's radio show, Peter Burns, has a very interesting perspective on this topic, as he has both been a serial entrepreneur, starting his first successful business at 19 (and over a hundred others in the proceeding 30 years) as well as founding the first-of-its-kind Institute of Entrepreneurship right here in Phoenix, Arizona.  With entrepreneurial guru Michael Gerber of "E-Myth" fame as a key and active advisory board member, there are a lot of cool and "anti-academic" things happening at the college including  Club Entrepreneur.

Learn about Peter's own path to entrepreneurship, and his view on the role formal education can and should play in an entrepreneur's journey.  The show starts in minutes (!), and details are here:

Date:  Friday, July 6
Time:  11am-12pm Pacific Standard Time
Topic:  Should formal education and entrepreneurship mix?
To listen:  Click here

If you miss the live show, you can always listen later, through the link above.  To download as an Mp3, you will have to click on the title of the show, which will bring up the "download as Mp3" option.

Update 7/6 at 12:07pm PST:  there was a strange technical glitch today on the VoiceAmerica site, so you may not be able to view the description of the show and the download link until it is fixed. I'll let you know when it is working.  Update 7/9 at 10:00am:  It is working now!  I really enjoyed the interview and think you will too, so please download and let me know what you think.

From cube farm to the open road: you CAN turn a passion into a business

When Dan Wulfman and his wife Sheri Ballard met on a bus in rural Spain during respective career escapes in 1989, little did they know that their love of travel would eventually lead them to ditch their corporate lives behind and build a business helping families have fun and easy adventures on the road. Married a year after they met, they say:

"After working for big companies like IBM, McCann-Erickson, Deere & Co., Playtex, Mattel Toys and the American Red Cross, we eventually decided that two weeks' vacation just wasn't enough. We had an enormous yard sale, bought a nifty little travel trailer to go behind our SUV, and set off to explore our two countries together."

Their extended road trip took them from the Arctic Circle to Guatemala.  They came home and decided to ditch corporate life altogether, founding their travel company Tracks & Trails.

I first learned about their company through an article in Fortune Small Business, and of course was intrigued about how they worked up the courage to bail from their corporate jobs and start their own company.  So I asked if they would like to be interviewed on my radio show, and Dan agreed.

I often get questions like: 

• If I build a business around a great passion or hobby, will it lose its appeal?
• How can I know if my passion in something is strong enough to sustain a business?
• If I care too much about something, will that hinder my business judgment?

I look forward to talking with Dan about his perspective on these things, since after 13 years in business, he should have an opinion or two on the subject!

Join our conversation live tomorrow, Friday June 29. 

And remember ... you can call in with questions!  Just call 866-472-5790 during the hour of the live show. Last show we had two callers, and it really added some spice and realism to the interview.  I do my best to think of questions that you would want answers to, but there is nothing like you asking them yourselves!

Show details:

Date:  Friday, June 29
Time:  11am-12pm Pacific Standard Time
Topic:  From cube to the open road:  You CAN turn a passion into a business
To listen:  Click here

If you miss the live show, you can always listen later, through the link above.  To download as an Mp3, you will have to click on the title of the show, which will bring up the "download as Mp3" option.

Small business, big life: inspiring advice from Louis Barajas

As a very appropriate follow up to my global education rant yesterday, I will be having a conversation today with Louis Barajas, financial expert, entrepreneur and author of a few books, the most recent being Small Business Big Life:  Five Steps to Creating a Great Life with Your Own Small Business.

Louis' roots are in East LA, where he grew up as the son of Mexican immigrants, helping with his father's business at the tender age of 7, and managing his books by the age of 13.  After following a successful education and career path, getting an MBA and a designation as Certified Financial Planner, he started working for a prestigious consulting firm.  But a series of personal events and insights intervened that led him to abandon the halls of Corporate America and go back to the heart of East LA where he opened his own fledgling financial planning business with the goal of "Economic Revolution for the Working Class."  From a humbling start of earning $12,000 his first year, his persistance and skill built his company into a well-established and flourishing firm.

My favorite description of Louis comes from Lisa Munoz of the Orange County Register:

"What do you get if you cross financial-advice author Suze Orman with Dr. Phil and Mexican Revolutionary Emiliano Zapata?  Louis Barajas."

His book offers insights into his own process of growth as an entrepreneur, including his belief that everything must start with a foundation of what he calls Truth, Responsibility, Awareness and Courage.

I look forward to Louis' take on how to build a thriving business that supports your strongly-held personal values, aspirations and goals while not working yourself to death.  Please join us!

Show details:

Date:  Friday, June 22
Time:  11am-12pm Pacific Standard Time
Topic:  Small business big life
To listen:  Click here

If you miss the live show, you can always listen later, through the link above.  To download as an Mp3, you will have to click on the title of the show, which will bring up the "download as Mp3" option.

Words of wisdom from an insightful teenager: Ben Casnocha from "My Startup Life"

Thanks to my buddy Ramit, (with an earlier nudge from Kare) I was formally introduced to the teen entrepreneur sensation from San Francisco  Ben Casnocha, author of the recently published book My Startup Life:  What a (very) young CEO learned on his journey through Silicon Valley.  (Perhaps my favorite comment from a reader of  Ramit's review of the book was "I love and hate people like Ben.  At the same time they inspire me, and also force me to evaluate my current state of failure in life."  Haven't we all felt that?)

He was a total delight to talk to (I prerecorded this interview), and I was impressed not only with his feat of starting a business and writing a book all before attending college but also with his incredible writing talent.

We talked about his journey building a company at age 14 (all starting from a middle school project) as well as explored themes from his book such as:

• The importance of (but not obsession about) passion at work
• How to develop a bias toward action, not just talk
• Personal branding
• The power of entrepreneurship as a way of life, not just another incarnation of a job

Hearing him describe his love of reading and writing made me thankful for how my parents raised me:  with book in my hand since I was old enough to hold one. 

Read to your kids!  Great things will happen, like Ben Casnocha.

Show details:

Date:  Friday, June 1
Time:  11am-12pm Pacific Standard Time
Topic:  Wise words from a teen entrepreneur sensation
To listen:  Click here

If you miss the live show, you can always listen later, through the link above.  To download as an Mp3, you will have to click on the title of the show, which will bring up the "download as Mp3" option.

Zen and the art of Honda maintenance

I have been wanting to have a "public" conversation about  Pat Cadam's business for close to a decade.  And now I finally get to on my radio show today.

Pat runs a shop called Pat's Garage in San Francisco.  He services Hondas, Acuras, Subarus and Hybrids.  Any semblance of a traditional garage stops there. 

His business is offbeat, vibrant, welcoming and delivers excellent technical and customer service.  His mechanics are dreamers, poets, artists and writers, in addition to being experts in their technical field.  And Pat is one of the most talented managers I have ever met, and I have met thousands of them in every business you can imagine.

I first met Pat as a customer, as I had to service my 10-year old second-hand Honda.  As soon as I walked in, I knew something was different.  I didn't feel my instinctive reaction which was "I will wrestle you to the ground if you leer, demean my lack of car knowledge or try to trick me into getting service I don't need."    Pat and his staff were welcoming, open and non-threatening. 

And the best part?  Really, really great coffee.  Not the watered down Folgers crap that you find at most shops, but jet fuel grade, organic and flavorful coffee. Served in real mugs.

The more I got to know Pat, the more I was fascinated by his story of creating a totally unique and valuable business in a crowded niche.  He once told me "My business is not really about cars, it is about people.  When I focus on my customers and their needs and concerns, my business thrives."

Pat started his career as a school teacher and quickly learned that a traditional academic environment was not for him.  So he carefully researched a business to open, based on his interests and skills.  He seems to have picked the right one, as he always seems to be enjoying himself, and his customers follow him loyally as if he were the Pied Piper.

His wisdom at running a business applies to every industry I can think of.  So I do hope you will join us today for the show!

Show details:

Date:  Friday, May 25
Time:  11am-12pm Pacific Standard Time
Topic:  Zen and the art of Honda maintenance
To listen:  Click here

If you miss the live show, you can always listen later, through the link above.  To download as an Mp3, you will have to click on the title of the show, which will bring up the "download as Mp3" option.

Do you have a book inside, dying to get out?

Those of you who have hung around this blog for awhile know that I have been in the process of working on a book for quite some time.  I have since discovered that for me, to loosely paraphrase Hilary Clinton, "it takes a village to write a book." 

I suspect that I am not alone in my quest to understand both a good process to conceptualize, outline and write a book as well as sell and market it. So I invited my very wise and experienced friend Sophfronia Scott to be a guest on my radio show to talk about how to get a book from inside your head to the hands of eager readers.

Sophfronia is a former journalist who worked for Time and People Magazines, is the author of the award-winning novel All I Need to Get By and the owner of a multi-faceted coaching business for writers called The Book Sistah.  She has a great short flash presentation called "Your Story Movie" that illustrates her philosophy that we all have a story within us.

In our conversation, we discuss:

• The advantages of writing a book for business owners
• Critical things you must attend to before you start writing, including creating a good writing environment, structuring your time and defining the values you want to express through your book
• A specific, efficient process you can use to write a non-fiction book
• The importance of building platform before you even begin to write your book
• Creative ways to market and sell your book

Show details:

Date:  Friday, May 18
Time:  11am-12pm Pacific Standard Time
Topic:  Do you have a book inside, dying to get out?
To listen:  Click here

If you miss the live show, you can always listen later, through the link above.  To download as an Mp3, you will have to click on the title of the show, which will bring up the "download as Mp3" option.

Take the struggle out of building a great business

You will run into some people in your life that make you proud to represent your profession.  Andrea Lee is one of those people for me -- she is an insightful, smart, productive, collaborative and incredibly fun coaching maverick that has helped shape a much-needed new direction for the profession.  And to top it off, she is Canadian, which we all know makes her just a cut cooler than the rest of us.

I get to talk with her today on my radio show, on the topic of taking the struggle out of building a great business. 

Andrea has written two books, Multiple Streams of Coaching Income and Money, Meaning and Beyond.  The first lays out a very clear and compelling process to grow your coaching or consulting business, using more than a dozen ways to package your coaching in addition to, or even in place of, 1-on-1 sessions.

The second book has all kinds of refreshing ways to look at growing and managing your business so that you not only feel great about your results but don't work yourself to death achieving them.

Andrea has built her own very successful business based on the principles she writes about, and has coached numerous business owners to go from struggling to bring in clients to six and seven figure incomes. 

One of the things I like best about her is that she holds all the great qualities of a coach; helping you look at the deep questions of personal growth, contribution and meaning in life, and couples these skills with an unabashed enthusiasm for straight-forward and effective tools that help you build a thriving business.  I hope you can join our conversation!

Show details:

Date:  Friday, May 11 (Today!)
Time:  11am-12pm Pacific Standard Time
Topic:  Take the struggle out of building a great business
To listen:  Click here

If you miss the live show, you can always listen later, through the link above.  To download as an Mp3, you will have to click on the title of the show, which will bring up the "download as Mp3" option.

Enjoy your weekend everyone and Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!

How commercializing graffiti got Mary out of her cube

Actually, Mary McPhail was a Vice President and may have had her own office, not a cube.  But her story of how she went from employee to entrepreneur and owner of the fun and creative business Wonderful Graffiti piqued my interest, and led me to ask her to be a guest on today's radio show.

As Mary tells the story, she was curious to see how to run a quote around the top of her wall, a style common for Arts & Crafts homes like her own.  But her lack of math skills made the measuring task really complicated.  So the idea for her Wonderful Graffiti business was born, and she decided to pursue it full-time.

I will talk to Mary about how she made the journey from employee to entrepreneur, what she learned along the way and how she created a thriving business out of a random creative idea.

Show details:

Date:  Friday, May 4
Time:  11am-12pm Pacific Standard Time
Topic:  How commercializing graffiti got Mary out of her cube
To listen:  Click here

If you miss the live show, you can always listen later, through the link above.  To download as an Mp3, you will have to click on the title of the show, which will bring up the "download as Mp3" option.

Enjoy your weekend!

You CAN do good and do well

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I know that there are a lot of good-hearted people out there who want to use their lives to make positive change in the world, but who also have the entrepreneurial bug and need to take care of their families.  Contrary to popularly-held beliefs which say that you must forgo any material comfort in order to save the world, you can create a good life as a social entrepreneur.

For today's radio show, I am interviewing the dynamic Amalia Souza, director of CASA (Center for Social-Environmental Support) in Brazil, and serial globe-trotting social entrepreneur.  Amalia has done so many things in her 20+ years since college, from working in over 50 countries, to helping install computer networks in Africa, to facilitating delicate meetings between Amazonian tribes and non-governmental organizations to working with North American foundations to increase the level of funding from the U.S. to international locations.

She also happens to be a good friend and my former college roommate.  So I am very delighted to talk to her about the key things she has learned about how to affect positive change while still having a free, interesting and comfortable life.

Show details:

Date:  Friday, April 27
Time:  11am-12pm Pacific Standard Time
Topic:  You CAN do good and do well:  lessons from a social entrepreneur
To listen:  Click here

If you miss the live show, you can always listen later, through the link above.  To download as an Mp3, you will have to click on the title of the show, which will bring up the "download as Mp3" option.

Hot topic for cube dwellers ... how to prepare financially to start your own biz

This week on the radio show, I am interviewing Lynnette Khalfani, a former Wall St. Journal reporter for CNBC, on the topic of preparing financially for the move from employee to entrepreneur.  She has written a number of successful books including Zero Debt, The Money Coach's Guide to Your First Million, and her new one, Zero Debt for College Grads (for those of you in your 20s, 30s or 40s, who are still paying off student loans).  She also recently appeared on Oprah, so decided that the next logical step was to appear on my radio show.  (Hah!  A girl can dream.  Honestly, she is a very nice and down to earth person, and I feel very lucky that she agreed to appear on the show.)

I know that this is a HOT topic for a lot of cube dwellers who really worry about how to self-fund benefits, plan for cash flow,  decide how much personal debt is appropriate to bring into self-employment, and a whole host of other concerns.

I am writing the interview questions right now (yes, I script the shows the day before ... keeps things fresh, and frankly, I am worthless without a real deadline).  I would LOVE to get some of your specific questions and concerns for Lynnette so that we can address them on the show tomorrow.  Leave the questions here in the comments, or send me an email to pcs (at) ganas (dot) com.  Please put "Questions for Lynnette" as the subject line.

Date:  Friday, April 20
Time:  11am-12pm Pacific Standard Time
Topic:  The corporate employee's guide to preparing for entrepreneurship
To listen:  Click here

If you miss the live show, you can always listen later, through the link above.  To download as an Mp3, you will have to click on the title of the show, which will bring up the "download as Mp3" option.

Guy Kawasaki talks to me today about changing the world and avoiding market research

I really enjoyed my conversation with Guy Kawasaki this week, as we pre-recorded today's radio show on the topic of "Changing the world by empowering entrepreneurs."  It airs today, details below.

We talk about contributing meaning to the world through your ideas, how to express your idea succinctly, a primer on venture capital and the importance of getting going FAST.  He had some really interesting ideas about the value of market research ...namely, don't bother, which was kind of oddly comforting for someone like me who likes to take and idea and run with it by gut feel rather than by reams of confirming data.  Some of the rest of you may disagree wholeheartedly, so tune in, and let me know your thoughts after the show!

Date:  Friday, April 13
Time:  11am-12pm Pacific Standard Time
Topic:  Changing the world by empowering entrepreneurs
To listen:  Click here

If you miss the live show, you can always listen later, through the link above.  To download as an Mp3, you will have to click on the title of the show, which will bring up the "download as Mp3" option.

Enjoy your weekend!
 

The brave new generation of entrepreneurs

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Join me and my guest Ramit Sethi of iwillteachyoutoberich.com on Friday's episode of Escape from Cubicle Nation Radio to talk about all that we can learn from the next generation of entrepreneurs.

I love Ramit - he is smart, funny, hard-working, and a no-BS kind of guy.  He started his entrepreneurial adventures while still in college at Stanford, is working on his second book, and just co-founded the biggest consumer wiki company in the world, PB Wiki.  And although it is probably rude to ask so I didn't, he is probably not more than 25 or 26.  I know, kind of revolting in a "I get jealous of overachievers" kind of way.

My own small-mindedness aside, I plan on having lots of fun with Ramit and gaining some valuable insight into the mind and heart of our next generation of entrepreneurs.  Please join us!

Show details:

Date:  Friday, April 6
Time:  11am-12pm Pacific Standard Time
Topic:  The brave new generation of entrepreneurs
To listen:  Click here

If you miss the live show, you can always listen later, through the link above.  To download as an Mp3, you will have to click on the title of the show, which will bring up the "download as Mp3" option.

I'm heading out of town to the cooler and less smoggy climate of Flagstaff, Arizona.  I'm looking forward to it and hope you have some good plans for the weekend as well!  Enjoy your Passover or Easter, or any other event you choose to celebrate.

Identify your true passions so you start a business you love

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Join me today in a conversation with one of my favorite people on the planet, Dr. Srikumar Rao, professor at Columbia and London business schools and author of Are You Ready to Succeed?  Unconventional strategies to achieving personal mastery in business and life.

Dr. Rao teaches a very popular course on creativity to M.B.A. students that gives them all kinds of tools for discovering what work they are meant to do, and how they can live more happy and fulfilling lives.  Needless to say, Dr. Rao is no ordinary MBA professor, nor are his ideas always embraced or accepted in the stuffy halls of business!

This show is for those of you who have written emails saying "I would love to work for myself, but I have no idea what work I want to do!"

Show details:

Date:  Friday, March 30 (Today!)
Time:  11am-12pm Pacific Standard Time
Topic:  Identify your true passions so you start a business you love
To listen:  Click here

If you miss the live show, you can always listen later, through the link above.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Interview with "Renaissance Entrepreneur" Steven A. Darden 3/23

 
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I am very excited about this week's radio show, as I get to interview my good friend and very interesting entrepreneur Steven A. Darden.  Steve has created a business that reflects his diverse talents and interests, and allows him to have the kind of life that makes him happy and fulfilled.

Steve will discuss his journey as an employee leader in many tribal, educational and non-profit organizations, and the "tipping point" that made him quit and start his own business.  His  business includes a component of motivational public speaking, counseling and behavioral change training; award-winning Native American bead and feather work; real estate investing and management and traditional healing.  This work has taken him all over the country to some of the top cultural and educational institutions like the Smithsonian Museum and Johns Hopkins University, as well as to the heart of many Native American reservations where he has brought hope, healing and leadership to thousands of youth and adults.

For those of you who are creative with lots of interests and struggle when you have to choose "one focus" for your business, this is the show for you!  Steve models how you can have a balanced life while serving a profound personal purpose and utilizing multiple talents.  He always has very insightful things to say, so don't miss it!

Show details:

Date:  Friday, March 23
Time:  11am-12pm Pacific Standard Time
Topic:  Profile of a purpose-filled business
To listen:  Click here

Thanks in advance for tuning in!  And if you miss the show and want to listen later, you can access it via the "Click here" link above.

Escape from Cubicle Nation Radio 3/16: Rich Sloan of Startup Nation

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This week's radio show is with guest Rich Sloan, co-founder of Startup Nation.

We are going to talk about how to avoid the overwhelm of 1,001 details in your head when you think about starting your own business.  Rich will share some of his own interesting and inspiring entrepreneurial background, and give tips on what works for organizing your business planning process.

He is one of my favorite people - very enthusiastic, authentic and extremely knowledgeable.  If you have a question, don't be shy!  Call in!  1-866-472-5790. 

Show details:

Date:  Friday, March 16
Time:  11am-12pm Pacific Standard Time
Topic:  Where to begin?  Key launching points for starting a new business
To listen:  Click here

Thanks in advance for tuning in!  And if you miss the show and want to listen later, you can access it via the "Click here" link above.  I believe shows are posted either the same day or the day immediately following the live broadcast. 

Please join me and Bob Sutton on the radio tomorrow, 3/9 at 11am PST

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After a long planning cycle, I am very excited to announce the launch of my new internet radio show, debuting tomorrow with my favorite University Professor Bob Sutton, author of the very celebrated book The No Asshole Rule:  Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't. 

You can join in on the conversation by calling into the show at 1-866-472-5790. 

Show details:

Date:  Friday, March 9
Time:  11am Pacific Standard Time
Topic:  How has corporate life gotten so unbearable?
To listen:  Click here

If I am lucky enough to count you as a listener for the whole 13-week series, an easy way to access the show is to click on the "Download Desktop Icon" in the upper right-hand corner of the page referenced above under "to listen".  This will give you direct access to the show each week, and the ability to download shows.

Thanks to everyone for your support and encouragement along the way -- I hope to reach you tomorrow!