The Blog For Entrepreneurs

Hi David

I know you have just left the Airforce and right now you are a little apprehensive about what you are doing in life. It is 1988 and you have watched the boom, the bust and you are looking for excitement. The good news is, you and I are still seeking adventure, nuture it it will serve you well.

I know you don’t take advice well, you see it as criticism, but I hope you can listen to yourself, even if I am 21 years older than you.

Patience is the key

You want to be an entrepreneur, badly. You read the business pages and dream of being a successful man. Your problem is you want it too much, and too fast. This impatience, although an asset when you gain control of it later in your life, is now your enemy. What you need to do is sit yourself down and goal plan. I know you don’t know what that is but by now a book called ‘Unlimited Power’ will have been written by a guy called Anthony Robbins – you have never heard of him, but just trust me, he will come to be an important part of your life.

If you can learn to goal plan correctly you will begin to focus your energy on building long term businesses rather than looking for a quick buck, you learn this later, maybe you want to start on this path now. I know it is something you don’t want to hear but you will learn that getting rich slowly is a smarter move than trying to get rich quick.

Material Things are fleeting

That brings me to material things. You will be pleased to know that the coming years will have you driving many a fast car… and yes you do get a Lotus, but Dave (by the way… get over yourself not liking being called ‘Dave’) as much as these cars will give you pleasure they will not give you respect, power, revenge or success like you believe they will now. All these things will do is distract you from your main objective of being successful. I know you won’t take my advice, you are still in your pig-headed stage, but take the money and invest it…. trust me, you won’t regret it.

Treat your co-workers better

I cringe when I think of how you will treat your first employees. David, you were in the military, it rubbed off on you and it made you a man. You are very disciplined, focused, strong and mentaly tough however, and it pains me to say this, you are an asshole. Take the positive things you learned from your service and becoming a leader. Treat your employees with respect, involve them in the business and share the spoils. Even at your tender age you are a great judge of character so you pick great people, but you will have a tough time if you try and compete with the very people who you have entrusted with your business. Work with them, they are the best asset you have or ever will have.

Do more research

Bless you for being so trusting. I know, I know, you think you are a roughty toughty young business guru and no one will get anything over you. It is that attitude along with your impatience that will lead you to lose a LOT of money. I am not going to tell you how much as you will freak out, suffice to say it is more than you can imagine at this moment in your life.

I am not asking you to mistrust everyone, I am just asking you to be more patient and do your research. Ask for business plans, research the businesses, especially the people, thoroughly, if there is even a slight worry on your part DO NOT INVEST your time or your money.

Get balance

Quick thing on your personal life. Call Dad, tell him you love him, you will wait another 15 years to do this if you continue on your current path. He is a really cool guy. Our brother Jeff, by the way, becomes one of your heroes. Too much to explain right now, but spend some time with him, you will see. I know you never had a great relationship with our sister, this was also a mistake.. she is awesome.. call her. Mum is amazing, I know you love her deeply, try to let her know that a bit more often.

The things above may seem a bit weird to you. You have been independent since you were seventeen and you think of yourself as a focused machine. You are, but you are going to go through some very hard times before you realise that you need to have balance in your life and your family and friends are a huge part of that. Fundementally you are a nice guy, but you put too much emphasis on ‘getting ahead’… this will cost you dearly if you don’t nip it in the bud now.

Getting started is not the end game

When you get your businesses started you should know that it is only the beggining. Try not to relax, concentrate on nuturing it. If you have goal planned correctly you will know what to do, just don’t see this beggining as the fact that you have ‘made it’. If you take care and plan you will grow it into something to be proud of.

Choose your mentors wisely

As much as you don’t like advice, you do listen to people, often times the wrong people. You will be presented with several opportunities before you are even 25 years old and you will dismiss these because someone tells you they won’t work. It takes you a long time to realise that you are the only one that can come to that conclusion. Most people you meet do not want you to succeed, seek out and find those who share your goals and dreams, these are the people whose counsel you should heed.

Know when to move on

One of your strengths is your persistance but it is also a weakness that you have not recognised yet. You hang around bad projects too long trying to ‘fix’ them. Have more confidence in yourself and know when to move on.

Be passionate

When you put your mind to something you love doing you are awesome, but you think this can be applied to anything – even stuff you hate doing. Dave, please listen to me on this, you come up with this phrase when you start mentoring others (yes you!) “You cannot succeed at something you hate and you cannot fail doing something you love”. This will become the fundemental core principal you live your life by, I hope you take this on board now, it will save you a lot of aggro.

I could go on, but the above are some of things that will help you lead the life that you have dreamed about.

At the risk of ripping apart the space time continuum, (sorry you become a sci-fi fan) take these things on board:

On April 2nd 2004 DO NOT GO OUT IN LONDON WITH YOUR FRIENDS, GO OUT IN HENLEY- If you take nothing else from this letter do this… it will change your life into something you never imagined possible. You will know what I mean when on that night you meet the woman who is to become you wife.

Oh.. one last thing. Take that £6000 you have saved and DO NOT spend it on a car. Invest it in a little company called M-I-C-R-O-S-O-F-T then… and this is VERY important, cash in your share in about 1997 and go to America. Seek out two guys called Larry Page and Sergey Brin, offer them everything you have made in Microsoft to start their new business. They are inventing a thing called a ‘search engine’ with the silly name of ‘Google’ – I won’t explain now it is a little complicated for the late 80′s but PLEASE do this.

Well… I am sure you will continue doing what you have done, regardless of my input, but I hope just some of the advice has been taken in. I suspect, however, that you still believe that you know it all and are going to go your own way. I admire you for this, but I wish I could take you through your life like the ‘Ghost of Christmases Yet To Come’ and show you that life is about learning, not necessarily earning.

Good luck my friend, it is a roller coaster life, but boy is it fun.

Regards
You in 21 Years.