Jesse Itzler’s Post

People always say “the kids come first.” Not true. Mommy and daddy come first. If mommy and daddy aren’t right…the whole thing doesn't work. With work, kids, obligations, etc, its hard to get time alone. I've found the best way to do that is to plan it. Plan date nights, one-on-one trips, etc. This is a great time to get ahead of the new year.

The greatest gift anybody can give themselves is getting over the fear of being embarrassed. That's super liberating. And I discovered that at a young age. I don't know what triggered it, but I realized that, like, I'm okay being embarrassed.

Entrepreneurs ask yourself these questions 👇 “What makes my product unique?” “What makes my packaging stand out?” “How is my product different than the rest?” Do things the same way as everyone else… you’re going to get the same results as everyone else. Do things differently… at a minimum you’re guaranteed different results. SIDEBAR: When I tried out for an over 45 basketball team they sent a training program to get in shape. Everyone followed it. I doubled it. Came into camp 2X the fitness of most. Wasn’t even close to the best player, but found a way to standout. Made the team.

I don’t suggest people go into debt… but this is the story of how I took a calculated risk, and it worked out… I used to sell sports CDs to professional team like the Knicks, Bulls, and Wizards. I had a CD idea for the Yankees and got a meeting with the marketing director. After the meeting he said, “Hey, do you happen to know anybody that would want four front-row season tickets? They're becoming available tomorrow. Maybe you guys know somebody.” I said “Tell me about the tickets.” He said during the world series, they built out 16 seats onto the field on the 3rd-base line. Adidas took four, the mayor's office took four, one of their leading sponsors took four, and they had four left. I asked how much they were and he said $1,000 a seat, every game. That adds up to like $320,000 for the season tickets. It might've been a bit more. We had about 40 grand in our business account… We get in the car and my partner's like, “don't even think about it.” My partner goes to a meeting, and I instantly call the guy at the Yankees and I go, “we'll take them.” It was the best investment we ever made because you can go to any restaurant or show, but these were the best seats at the hottest event in town, and we owned them next to Adidas and the Mayor. We lit up New York with these tickets. I don't even think I went to that many games. We just gave them to everybody and had those seats for 10 years. We sent our customers and prospects there and it ended up closing us so many deals. We easily 10X’d the investment. I was 25ish and knew these tickets would NEVER be available again. Plus, I didn’t look at them as just tickets… these seats were some of the best “real estate” in NY. So…”WE’LL TAKE THEM”. My partner and I borrowed money from a friend to get the tickets. I don’t suggest people go into debt like this, but at this stage in my journey it was a very calculated bet. And the way we structured the loan we couldn’t lose… if we didn’t pay back the money to my friend (who was a HUGE Yankee fan) he would get the tickets transferred into his name for life. No lose for everyone. It was a great deal, a big bet…and boy did those tickets pay off!!!!!

I like to ask groups “What are the qualities you look for in a new hire” … I get the same answers every time: ✅Hard working ✅Team player ✅Grit ✅Positive attitude ✅Honest ✅etc These aren’t things you learn in school, they’re attitudes and choices everyone can make. You can be miles ahead of everyone else by ATTITUDE. Remember, skills and trades are learned in school, but attitudes are things we all control.

We all are working on the wrong RESUME! Let me explain 👇 If two candidates are being interviewed for the same job. “Person A” has more job experience but, isn't that well rounded whereas “Person B” is super interesting and has put themselves in unbelievable situations outside of work…who do you want to work with long term? You can show ambition, work ethic, a get-shit-done gritty mentality by climbing a mountain, writing a book, running a crazy race, travelling, etc and… 1. It helps you stand out. 2. It may completely translate to “teamwork” or “self starter” or “creativity” that the firm wants. 3. It's a story only you can tell and nobody can take it away from you. 4. It shows a lot about who you are 5. It's fun. When you do interesting things outside of work….YOU become more interesting. And that “life resume” may very well help you land more deals, create more opportunities, be more interesting on dates then you could ever imagine. Work experience is critical, don't get me wrong…but so are your life experiences. Life resume> traditional resume. #BuildYourLifeResume

Entrepreneurs… when you figure out a way to merge these 3 things you’ll be unstoppable: 1. What it is you love to do 2. What you’re good at 3. Providing a service or product that helps people I think it’s really hard to find this intersection in your 20s… even 30s… people who do are really LUCKY. Best thing to do is try A LOT of things… figure out what you like to do….get really good at…use it for 3 …and THEN monetize it.

If you want to do exceptional things….you have to put yourself in exceptional situations. It doesn't happen sitting on the sidelines watching other people do it.

YES… AND, I’m so excited for you! AND, I can’t wait to hear more about it AND, I am definitely in! Be a YES AND person. Keep the momentum going. The words you speak matter. How you show up matters.

This is one of my favorite quotes from Warren Buffett… “You don’t get rich fast…you get rich slow.” Success takes time in everything I can think of: business, friendships, training for a race, personal development, etc. Get to where you wanna go as fast as you can, but don’t cut corners. Be patient and be consistent. If you do things right, eventually you’ll pass almost everyone who has been cutting corners trying to cheat the process… I know because I’ve passed a lot of people by consistently showing up the right way. Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.