Valuetainment - Episode 200： Qualities of A Great Founder

00:00:00.000 30 seconds, one time for the underdog, ignition sequence start, let me see you put em up, reach

00:00:09.240 the sky, turn the stars up above, cause it's one time for the underdog, one time for the

00:00:16.240 underdog.

00:00:17.320 I'm Patrick B. DeVy, host of 810 Minutes.

00:00:18.940 Today I'm going to talk to you about 20 qualities of a great founder.

00:00:23.160 Let me get right into it.

00:00:24.380 Point number one, great quality of a founder.

00:00:27.600 Number one, they're very unreasonable.

00:00:30.920 They are very demanding.

00:00:32.700 Because they're so unreasonable and demanding, a couple things happens.

00:00:36.700 One, at the beginning stages of them starting their business, they lose a few people.

00:00:41.440 You know why?

00:00:41.920 Because no one yet knows if they're right.

00:00:43.740 So a person leaving them is like, listen, I don't think you're going to make it.

00:00:47.040 Why?

00:00:47.900 Dude, you're so unreasonable.

00:00:49.400 You're so demanding.

00:00:50.440 You haven't even done anything yet.

00:00:52.000 Why are you expecting so much from me?

00:00:53.500 What is wrong with you?

00:00:54.980 The company is a small company.

00:00:56.240 Why are you so demanding?

00:00:58.380 That person doesn't realize that the prophet already sees what they're going, that the

00:01:03.140 founder already sees where he's going.

00:01:05.400 This person doesn't see it.

00:01:06.780 But the great founders, they can't help themselves by being unreasonably demanding.

00:01:11.780 Point number two, others can coexist with a great founder.

00:01:14.560 Why coexist?

00:01:15.340 Because a founder realizes, listen, I can either be the celebrity guy and I run a small little

00:01:20.660 business of seven employees and I'm so powerful, or if I want to really build a big business

00:01:25.180 and scale it, I have to have other people that are smarter than me coexist around me who

00:01:30.000 are also going to give me directions and areas I know nothing about, nothing about, which

00:01:36.560 means great founders allow other people to coexist within them.

00:01:39.520 Point number three, a level of determination higher than the rest.

00:01:42.800 They're determined.

00:01:43.560 They're going to get it done.

00:01:44.260 It's kind of part of the unreasonably demanding.

00:01:47.240 They are so determined to get this thing done that they end up getting it done.

00:01:50.580 Point number four, nimble yet firm.

00:01:52.480 What do I mean by nimble yet firm?

00:01:53.980 Look, they're firm about their beliefs, but they're nimble about having somebody else

00:01:57.200 giving them direction on how to do it better.

00:01:59.220 Hey, what do you think about if we do this?

00:02:00.660 What do you think about if we do that?

00:02:01.580 What do you think about if we do this?

00:02:03.060 Oh, no problem.

00:02:03.580 Let me try this part.

00:02:04.360 They're nimble yet firm.

00:02:05.660 Point number five, they don't get swayed.

00:02:07.480 Let me explain to you what I mean by they don't get swayed easily about their vision.

00:02:11.320 They are positively stubborn.

00:02:13.020 There's a lot of negative stubborn people in the world that they're stubborn because

00:02:16.480 they just don't want to hear anything else.

00:02:18.700 These guys are positively stubborn and optimistic about the fact that this thing's going to become

00:02:22.880 a reality, which means you can't sway them.

00:02:25.460 Matter of fact, some people get upset when they try to sway them.

00:02:28.480 I remember when we first started a company, I got so many calls from relatives, friends,

00:02:33.700 people that today say, Pat, I always supported you, but they did whatever they could to try

00:02:38.500 to sway me.

00:02:39.020 Pat, I don't know if it's a good idea, man.

00:02:40.680 You already have a good position going on.

00:02:42.080 Pat, you're making $300,000, $400,000 a year.

00:02:44.040 Why would you change it?

00:02:45.300 You know, you're going through, you shouldn't be doing, everybody was trying to sway, but

00:02:48.820 I kind of saw, I know where we're going.

00:02:50.120 We're going to be pulling this thing off.

00:02:51.700 Even though it sounded crazy to a lot of people, positively stubborn.

00:02:55.560 It may sound like initially negatively stubborn, but they know they're being positively stubborn

00:02:59.880 because they bought into a vision that may not make sense to everybody else.

00:03:03.000 That's why they're a founder.

00:03:04.400 Point number six, willing to share equity and victories with others.

00:03:07.760 Why is that important?

00:03:08.740 The bigger the talent you want, the bigger the piece they're going to want and the bigger

00:03:12.380 the victory they're going to need to be a part of.

00:03:14.080 So if you want me to let go of my great job that I have and the amount of salary I have

00:03:18.680 and profit sharing and 401k, you want me to come and run with you, Mr. Founder?

00:03:22.520 I want a bigger piece of the victory later on.

00:03:24.680 No problem.

00:03:25.320 I understand.

00:03:25.760 Again, founders who say no to it are ones who don't have that big of a vision.

00:03:30.960 But founders that say yes to it and they realize who this person that's coming up and the talent

00:03:34.600 that they want, they realize, my vision is so big that I'd much rather own 70% of a billion

00:03:40.880 dollar company than 100% of a $100 million company.

00:03:45.200 The math is completely different.

00:03:46.760 I'd rather own 20% of a $10 billion company than own 100% of a $5 million company.

00:03:54.220 It's purely a mathematical formula.

00:03:56.360 Founders understand.

00:03:57.280 I want a lot of strong talent for us to build it as big as we want.

00:04:00.880 Point number seven, willing to start all over again from scratch.

00:04:03.560 What do I mean by willing to start all over again?

00:04:05.240 When they're not afraid of losing everything, people lead better.

00:04:08.660 Founders are okay.

00:04:09.760 Because founders realize, I have to figure out whether we can pull this off or not.

00:04:13.620 I'm willing to start off, you know, start from scratch again.

00:04:17.480 That level of, you know, determination of getting it and realizing I may have to start

00:04:22.800 all over again, gets respect from competitors, gets respect from talent, gets respect from

00:04:28.080 their employees, gets respect from their customers, gets respect from their vendors because they

00:04:32.320 say, wow, this guy's really willing to push the envelope and he's pretty determined.

00:04:35.860 He's certain what he's doing.

00:04:37.220 Something's different about this guy.

00:04:38.640 The only way a great founder is going to be able to build a big company is at some point,

00:04:42.620 they have to be willing to hit this breaking point where it's either sink or swim.

00:04:46.520 They are not afraid of getting to this point.

00:04:48.420 A lot of people are afraid.

00:04:49.320 They play way too safe.

00:04:50.360 These guys are not.

00:04:50.940 I'm willing to get to it.

00:04:51.560 It's okay.

00:04:52.160 Worst case, I'm going to die.

00:04:53.120 I'm okay with that, but I'm going to fight like hell to make sure we make it out of this,

00:04:57.300 you know, issue that we're facing right now.

00:04:59.020 Point number eight, comfortable having tough conversations with others.

00:05:01.700 They're not uncomfortable sitting down with a team member or a vendor or a partner or a competitor

00:05:05.920 or a lawyer or anybody and saying, listen, here's what we're going through.

00:05:09.340 This is the challenge we're facing.

00:05:10.480 I don't think I like what's taking place right now.

00:05:12.860 Tell me about what's going on with your department.

00:05:14.280 Why is it that we have this over here?

00:05:15.580 They don't have a problem having a tough conversations because they're believers of what's taking

00:05:19.140 place with the company.

00:05:20.300 They're going to have those conversations with others.

00:05:22.020 Point number nine, constantly selling.

00:05:24.040 You can't help these guys, but hear them sell 24-7.

00:05:28.460 If you told them stop selling, they don't even know what that means because they're going

00:05:32.260 to be selling 24-7 what they think their company is going to be doing or their vision

00:05:36.900 is going to be doing.

00:05:37.480 Point number 10, integrity.

00:05:39.260 Integrity is very critical.

00:05:40.640 Now, I know a lot of times people say, well, that person's a little bit, you know, it's

00:05:46.080 interesting how he is.

00:05:47.120 I don't know.

00:05:47.600 He kind of will go to the gray area or he'll go to this area, he'll go to that area.

00:05:51.840 Fine.

00:05:52.420 Other people want to say that, no problem.

00:05:54.640 People who stay with a founder for long enough of a time, they know that person may be crazy,

00:06:01.980 but there are certain things they're not going to cross.

00:06:03.720 If you cross the line there, how would you keep the best talent?

00:06:08.040 How would you keep the best smart people around you?

00:06:10.400 You're just not going to do it.

00:06:11.460 If you struggle with integrity, you're going to lose a lot of people.

00:06:15.160 That is a quality so necessary.

00:06:17.200 I think Warren Buffett said there's three things he likes, right?

00:06:20.200 Energy, integrity, and competency.

00:06:22.900 I think those were the three things he says.

00:06:24.420 Without integrity, forget the other two, right?

00:06:26.840 I want to say those are the three things that he had.

00:06:28.940 The point is, to build a big business, you need people around you to trust you just as

00:06:33.500 much as you trust them.

00:06:34.640 That requires integrity.

00:06:35.860 Great founders have that.

00:06:36.740 Number 11, good sounding board around them to show them their flaws and faults.

00:06:40.460 What do I mean by that?

00:06:42.000 Good founders have people that tell them, you're doing this wrong.

00:06:45.640 You may want to reconsider this.

00:06:47.520 And they're willing to listen to it.

00:06:49.180 Doesn't mean they take all the feedback all the time, but they're willing to listen to it

00:06:52.540 and say, that makes sense.

00:06:53.760 By the way, let me explain to you what I mean by this.

00:06:55.240 See, in the mind of a founder, somebody sits there and says, this makes sense.

00:06:59.220 Logically, let's do it.

00:07:00.420 This makes sense.

00:07:01.180 This makes sense.

00:07:01.860 No problem.

00:07:02.760 It's not even I'm taking anything personal.

00:07:04.740 The founder's going to take anything personal because the whole thing is, if what you're

00:07:08.500 suggesting in my brain clicks and it's going to help us get there faster, I don't care

00:07:12.960 who gets the credit for it.

00:07:14.060 Let's do it.

00:07:14.860 They're willing to do it because it logically makes sense for them to apply what the feedback

00:07:19.340 that's being given to them by their advisory board around them.

00:07:22.280 Number 12, restless.

00:07:23.840 Out of control energy.

00:07:25.820 It's almost as if they never go to sleep.

00:07:27.660 People are always wondering, how is this person at 15 different places at the same time?

00:07:31.880 I don't get it.

00:07:33.060 You were just here.

00:07:33.920 How are you here this afternoon?

00:07:36.160 They're restless.

00:07:36.860 They're going nonstop.

00:07:38.460 And that part about being a restless founder, a lot of people look at it and say, wait a

00:07:42.180 minute, I can't go at that pace.

00:07:43.960 Or, oh my gosh, he's always out there trying to grow what he's doing here.

00:07:47.160 I am so glad he's on my side.

00:07:48.680 Because if I'm going against that guy, I've got to put that kind of energy to go up against

00:07:52.540 that guy.

00:07:52.940 I don't know about that.

00:07:54.040 I'm okay doing what I'm doing to be on his team.

00:07:56.440 We're together going against the marketplace versus me facing a guy like that.

00:07:59.940 Point number 13, great recruiters.

00:08:01.780 They're constantly recruiting.

00:08:02.840 They're recruiting everybody.

00:08:03.720 And the reason why they're constantly recruiting everybody is because they can't help themselves

00:08:07.000 but sell their vision all the time.

00:08:08.960 Everywhere.

00:08:09.840 Dinner, movies, texts, email, videos, articles, blogs.

00:08:14.540 It doesn't matter.

00:08:15.580 They are constantly selling where they're going.

00:08:18.540 So they're constantly recruiting great talent because they keep telling the story over and

00:08:23.760 over and over and over again.

00:08:26.020 Which leads me to point number 14.

00:08:28.740 And that is, they're the Pied Piper.

00:08:30.520 Let me explain to you what I mean by this.

00:08:32.260 They're always converting people.

00:08:33.860 It's almost like they're in the baptism game.

00:08:35.740 Let me baptize this guy from a non-believer to a believer.

00:08:38.640 This guy doesn't believe in what we're doing right now.

00:08:40.460 Let me make him a believer.

00:08:41.680 This audience I'm speaking to, watching, none of them believe in what we're doing right now.

00:08:45.240 I'm going to make every single one of them a believer.

00:08:47.360 They're going around evangelizing their message to the world because they want to convert everybody.

00:08:52.160 They want to convert everybody to believe in that what they're talking about is the truth

00:08:56.820 and it's going to become a reality.

00:08:58.580 This sounds strange to you, but go find a founder

00:09:00.740 and spend a day with them and look what'll happen.

00:09:03.100 They do this 24-7.

00:09:05.080 They're in the converting business and they're constantly baptizing people into their vision

00:09:09.860 and what they're going next.

00:09:11.680 Next point.

00:09:12.400 They learn how to stretch the dollar.

00:09:14.200 A great founder learns how to stretch the dollar because at the beginning you don't have

00:09:17.200 a lot of money.

00:09:17.700 So you've got to figure out a way to make this $50,000 and make it seem like it's a quarter

00:09:21.060 million dollars.

00:09:21.620 You've got to take this $100,000 and turn it into a million dollars.

00:09:24.620 You've got to take this $1,000 and make it $15,000.

00:09:27.580 That's what they do.

00:09:28.200 They're very good at stretching the dollar and have it last longer.

00:09:32.600 Next, gut feeling, intuition.

00:09:34.900 This is not something you can teach.

00:09:36.380 This is not something I can read in a book and say, I've got a great gut feeling.

00:09:39.360 No, no.

00:09:39.820 It's a gut feeling.

00:09:40.880 I don't think this is a good idea.

00:09:42.380 I don't feel this person good hire.

00:09:43.700 I don't feel good about this person we're working.

00:09:45.640 I don't feel good about this person we want to do business with.

00:09:47.520 I don't know what it is.

00:09:48.240 I just don't feel good about it.

00:09:49.520 I have a certain intuition about this person.

00:09:51.140 I don't think this is a good idea.

00:09:52.560 You know how mothers have certain intuition about certain friends?

00:09:55.140 I have a bad feeling about this.

00:09:57.360 I don't sense anything.

00:09:58.540 That's how a founder has an intuition about somebody to go into business with or not to

00:10:02.800 go into business with.

00:10:03.660 Next point.

00:10:04.740 Point number 17.

00:10:05.780 They're great at painting a picture.

00:10:06.780 They're constantly painting a picture of what's possible if everybody comes together and

00:10:11.740 builds the business.

00:10:12.460 Point number 18, they're very moody, very moody, but they have perspective.

00:10:17.240 Let me explain to you what I mean by they're very moody, but they have perspective.

00:10:20.440 They could go from happy to pissed off in a second, and they still won't fire you.

00:10:25.280 You could be sitting in a meeting, and you may be thinking, it's over.

00:10:29.420 It's done today.

00:10:30.800 30 minutes later, they come talk to you as if nothing happened.

00:10:33.060 They're like, wait a minute.

00:10:34.100 You were just screaming?

00:10:35.900 What just, like, are you off?

00:10:38.060 You were upset.

00:10:38.880 Why are we laughing, telling a joke right now in the kitchen?

00:10:41.200 What just happened there, bro?

00:10:42.820 You are very, they're saying that to themselves.

00:10:45.740 Founders have great perspective.

00:10:47.040 You know why?

00:10:47.460 Because they realize they need people.

00:10:48.760 What do you think?

00:10:49.300 Founders are insane.

00:10:50.160 They're crazy thinking they don't need the help of people.

00:10:52.280 Of course they know they need the help of people, but they can't help themselves.

00:10:56.340 They can't help themselves of not being moody at times because they are so urgent about

00:11:00.920 this thing becoming a reality that they want it to become a reality today.

00:11:04.840 And to them, it's going to become a reality today.

00:11:07.380 And so because of that, everybody else is always trying to catch up to their speed.

00:11:10.660 That's where the moodiness comes from.

00:11:12.180 Okay?

00:11:12.260 Because when they don't get their ways, sometimes they get moody, but they have perspective.

00:11:16.380 So they may lose it, but they're going to go back and be fine five minutes later, sometimes

00:11:20.220 even less than that.

00:11:20.960 You'd be amazed how crazy it is when it happens.

00:11:22.600 Next, they have imagination.

00:11:23.800 They're always in the what-if world.

00:11:25.380 They're always in the, I mean, oh my gosh, can you imagine if this takes place?

00:11:27.920 What if we can pull this off?

00:11:28.840 So people gravitate towards somebody that's always living in what-if this thing could

00:11:33.300 take place?

00:11:33.940 So because, this is going to sound crazy, because they're always in the imagination phase of

00:11:39.620 the future, what is possible, they're also typically the people that have the most anxiety

00:11:43.600 and most panic because they're always living in the future.

00:11:46.200 This doesn't make a lot of sense, but they're always thinking about, 10 years from now, we're

00:11:49.560 going to be here.

00:11:50.060 Five years from now, we're going to be here.

00:11:51.600 Oh my gosh, that gives me so much anxiety.

00:11:53.580 And then boom, that turns into urgency, determination to want to get it done.

00:11:56.360 And all the other points come to you.

00:11:57.900 And last but not least, they have interesting conversations with themselves.

00:12:01.560 This is not self-talk.

00:12:02.720 I'm not talking about, you're amazing, you're awesome, this is so great.

00:12:05.860 No, no.

00:12:07.140 They're always talking to themselves.

00:12:09.220 You know why they're always talking to themselves?

00:12:11.580 Because at the beginning, there isn't anybody else.

00:12:14.060 They only talk to themselves.

00:12:15.980 They have to talk to themselves.

00:12:17.800 So the conversation they're having with themselves, themselves, becomes a board here.

00:12:22.820 What do you think about this?

00:12:23.620 Do you think we should do this?

00:12:24.380 Do you think we shouldn't do this?

00:12:25.200 What about if this happens?

00:12:26.020 What about if that happens?

00:12:27.400 So it's always, you don't see this moving, but this is moving all the time.

00:12:30.340 It's always conversation, conversation, conversation, conversation.

00:12:32.900 Sounds crazy.

00:12:33.900 Sounds insane.

00:12:34.960 But founders are always talking to themselves.

00:12:37.160 What if we go this route?

00:12:37.920 What if we go that?

00:12:38.460 Kind of like this guy.

00:12:39.140 What do you think about that guy?

00:12:40.180 So it's always talking.

00:12:41.500 So you look at somebody, you look at a founder and their eyes is going, ding, ding, ding, ding,

00:12:45.060 ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.

00:12:45.840 They're talking to themselves.

00:12:46.820 They're thinking.

00:12:47.340 They're calculating.

00:12:48.480 Everything is going here.

00:12:50.420 Everything is going here.

00:12:51.540 So founders, at this point, if you're listening to this, you're probably telling yourself,

00:12:56.700 this sounds more like a crazy guy than it sounds like a founder.

00:12:59.900 Yes, most founders are pretty crazy.

00:13:01.900 Most founders are pretty strange.

00:13:03.160 Because for somebody who's willing to put that kind of pressure and insanity into their

00:13:08.560 lives, you have to be a little bit off.

00:13:10.880 You have to be.

00:13:11.620 And by the way, please understand this.

00:13:14.460 A founder isn't necessarily the best, most important position in a company.

00:13:19.200 A founder is simply the person that gives the company an opportunity to survive.

00:13:23.320 A person could come in that's a great CEO, that could take the company to a whole different

00:13:27.060 level, that that founder by himself or herself could have never done it.

00:13:31.280 Could have never done it.

00:13:32.360 He needed that CEO.

00:13:33.760 She needed that CFO.

00:13:35.100 She needed that operations guy.

00:13:36.500 She needed that CMO.

00:13:37.360 Without that person, kiss it goodbye.

00:13:40.260 But a founder makes the company, the organization, the society, the city, the community, the country

00:13:45.040 make it through the difficult phases.

00:13:47.820 And for that, we give the founder the credit of being a founder.

00:13:51.660 Thanks everybody for listening.

00:13:53.080 And by the way, if you haven't already subscribed to Valuetainment on iTunes, please do so.

00:13:57.680 Give us a five star.

00:13:59.100 Write a review if you haven't already.

00:14:00.580 And if you have any questions for me that you may have, you can always find me on Snapchat,

00:14:04.660 Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube.

00:14:06.480 Just search my name, Patrick MidDavid.

00:14:08.540 And I actually do respond back when you snap me or send me a message on Instagram.

00:14:13.520 With that being said, have a great day today.

00:14:15.260 Take care everybody.

00:14:15.980 Bye-bye.

Valuetainment - October 31, 2018

Episode 200： Qualities of A Great Founder

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