The Introvert Entrepreneur

Ep72: The Authentic Entrepreneur: A Conversation with Brad Feld

One area I’ve not explored very much is raising venture capital. So I’m attempting to remedy that through my conversation with Brad Feld, co-founder of Foundry Group. Our conversation has a few twists and turns, and we talk about his experience with depression, why authenticity is so important for entrepreneurs, and how meditation can help introverts manage their energy. Of course, we also talk a bit about what it takes to successfully raise money from investors.

Brad has been an early stage investor and entrepreneur since 1987. Prior to co-founding Foundry Group, he co-founded Mobius Venture Capital and, prior to that, founded Intensity Ventures. Brad is also a co-founder of Techstars.

He is active on the board of several nonprofits, and is a nationally recognized speaker on the topics of venture capital investing and entrepreneurship. Brad writes the widely read blogs Feld Thoughts, Startup Revolution, and Ask the VC.

Ep71: The Key to Entrepreneurial Freedom? Catch and Release (Blogcast)

For those on the deeply personal journey of entrepreneurship, we can begin to identify too closely with our work. How do we keep healthy boundaries? In this first "Blogcast" of 2015, I share my personal experience with separation of self and business, as well as a suggestion on how to develop positive distance from your work.

This podcast is an audio version of my first blog post of 2015. Thanks to my virtual assistant's excellent suggestion, I'm going to record each blog post (I'm calling these episodes my "blogcast"), enabling you to listen at your leisure. I hope you enjoy this new addition to the podcast line-up!

Here's the link to the original blog post (opens in new window): http://theintrovertentrepreneur.com/2015/01/09/the-key-to-entrepreneurial-freedom-catch-and-release/

Ep70: Insight Selling and What Sales Winners Do Differently - A Conversation with John E. Doerr

What's your favorite part of being an introvert entrepreneur? My guess is, it's doing what you do best, making a difference and having freedom to create the life you want. I also think it's safe to guess that it's NOT sales! Implementing a sustainable sales process is often – not always, but often – the most stressful part of being an introvert entrepreneur. Most introverts I work with and speak to don’t consider sales a natural strength. What they often don’t realize that many of their natural strengths are actually integral to an effective sales process. That’s what we’re going to explore with author and sales consultant John E. Doerr in this podcast conversation.

We look at what behaviors and beliefs make the difference between winning or losing someone's business; how the Insight Selling model is ideal for introverts; and how technology and social media have changed the sales process.

Co-President of RAIN Group, John E. Doerr  is co-author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller Rainmaking Conversations: Influence, Persuade, and Sell in Any Situation (Wiley, 2011), Insight Selling: Surprising Research on What Sales Winners Do Differently (Wiley, 2014), and Professional Services Marketing, second edition (Wiley, 2013). In 2011, John was named the Top Sales Thought Leader by Top Sales Awards.

Ep69: One Introvert’s Happiness of Pursuit & World Domination – A Conversation with Chris Guillebeau

“In addition to passion, you must develop a skill that provides a solution to a problem.” ~Chris Guillebeau

We heard Pamela Slim in episode 68 tell us that "Hating your job is not a business plan. Feeling a passion is not a business plan either.” My conversation with introvert entrepreneur Chris Guillebeau, author of “The $100 Start-Up" and "The Happiness of Pursuit," and founder of the World Domination Summit, builds on that idea. It’s one of the biggest ways that people romanticize entrepreneurship: they believe that identifying and following a passion is the way to happiness and riches. But that’s only part of the story. There has to be an intersection of your passion and skills with the market’s needs in order to build a business.

You’re about to hear Chris’s perspective on what it takes to find that magical balance, along with some insights as to how he takes care of his introvert energy while facilitating and leading one of the year’s largest events for people who want to change the world.

PS: In case you missed my post-World Domination Summit post, here it is.

Ep68: A Conversation with Pamela Slim, author of Escape from Cubicle Nation

When I started down the entrepreneurial path, one of the first books I turned to was Pamela Slim’s “Escape from Cubicle Nation.” I wasn’t necessarily escaping from a cubicle; rather, the book captured the spirit of adventure I was feeling and provided a roadmap for action in those early days.

While Pamela is a self-proclaimed extrovert, she has insights and wisdom that will give even the most introverted among us food for thought. Pamela is an award-winning author, business coach and speaker. In 2005, she started the Escape from Cubicle Nation blog, which is now one of the top career and business blogs on the web.

Pamela's first book, “Escape from Cubicle Nation: From Corporate Prisoner to Thriving Entrepreneur” was released in Spring, 2009 and won Best Small Business/Entrepreneur Book of 2009 by 800 CEO Read. Her new book, “Body of Work,” gives a fresh perspective on the skills required in the new world of work for people in all work modes, from corporate to non-profit to small business.

In our wide-ranging conversation, we discuss what we introverts need to know about our essential selves and social selves; how a niche leads to sustainability; how to ask for support; and what we can do if we suffer from success dysmorphia.

Websites:  http://pamelaslim.com/ and http://www.escapefromcubiclenation.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pamslim 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pamslim

Amazon.com Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Pamela-Slim/e/B001N27YW6/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1