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Thirty plus years of experience in technology, sales and finance in companies of all sizes and phases. John pairs more than twenty years as a successful entrepreneur with seventeen years as an adjunct professor at one of the top ranked business schools in America where he teaches entrepreneurship, private equity, and venture capital.
A life-long musician, willing to lay down a bass groove at the drop of a beat.
Ok, so that’s John’s official bio as found on his website. Here’s where I take some editorial liberty. John is an incredible human. He is not only wicket smart he is a truly kind and decent human. In this episode we discuss leadership, the qualities every good entrepreneur must possess and more. This was far and away one of my favorite episodes.
In business school the capstone of most programs is an “entrepreneurial project.” In the case of SMU for me it was an example of saving the best for last. John’s class is one of the last ones in which everything else builds toward. John serves not only as a professor but a mentor. If you have ever wanted to start a business or if you are running an organization, this episode is worth a listen.
Thanks for listening.
Please consider signing up for the “Vitruvian Letter” at jasonwrightnow.com In this newsletter I outline all the ways I’m trying to “improve always in all ways.” Whether it’s books I’m reading, music I’m listening to, podcast I’ve discovered, you name it it’s here.
John’s recommended reading:
“Shoe Dog” (Phil Knight
In this instantand tenacious New York Times bestseller, Nike founder and board chairman Phil Knight “offers a rare and revealing look at the notoriously media-shy man behind the swoosh” (Booklist, starred review), illuminating his company’s early days as an intrepid start-up and its evolution into one of the world’s most iconic, game-changing, and profitable brands.
“Will It Fly?:” How to Test Your Next Business Idea So You Don’t Waste Your Money (Pat Flynn)
Stop rushing into businesses born from half-baked ideas, misguided theories, and other forms of self-delusion. A lack of proper validation kills more businesses than anything else. As Joel Barker says, ‘Speed is only useful if you re running in the right direction.’ Will It Fly? will help you make sure you are clear for takeoff.
It answers questions like:
- Does your business idea have merit?
- Will it succeed in the market you re trying to serve, or will it just be a waste of time and resources?
- Is it a good idea for YOU?
In other words, will it fly?
Chock-full of practical suggestions you can apply to your business idea today, Will It Fly? combines action-based exercises, small-scale ‘litmus tests’, and real-world case studies with anecdotes from the author s personal experience of making money online, hosting successful podcasts, testing niche sites, and launching several online businesses.
Will It Fly? will challenge you to think critically, act deliberately, and dare greatly. You can think of the book as your business flight manual, something you can refer to for honest and straight-forward advice as you begin to test your idea and build a business that takes off and soars.
In five parts, Will It Fly? will guide you through the validation of your next business idea:
- Part one, Mission Design, helps you make sure your target idea aligns with and supports your goals.
- Part two, Development Lab, walks you through uncovering important details about your idea that you haven’t even thought about.
- Part three, Flight Planning, is all about assessing current market conditions.
- Part four, Flight Simulator, focuses on the actual validating and testing of an idea with a small segment of a target market.
- Finally, Part five, All Systems Go, is for final analysis to help you make sure your idea is one you are ready to move forward with.