Mike Belsito is the Co-Founder of Product Collective, a community for product people, and Organizer of INDUSTRY: The Product Conference, where product managers and others building, launching, and scaling world-class products gather.
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Resources
Your Big Idea: Successful Entrepreneurs have One Big Idea. Follow JLD’s FREE training & you’ll discover Your Big Idea in less than an hour!
Audible – Get a FREE Audiobook & 30 day trial if you’re not currently a member!
SellHack – Mike’s small business resource.
Content Inc – Mike’s Top Business Book.
Startup Seed Funding For the Rest of Us – Mike’s book.
Product Collective – Mike’s website.
Connect with Mike via email, Twitter, and on Slack.
How To Finally Win – Learn how to create your dream life one step at a time!
The Freedom Journal – Set & Accomplish your #1 goal in 100 days!
3 Value Bombs
1) At the beginning, be willing to do the things that don’t scale to show your clients you care.
2) Surround yourself with influencers.
3) Don’t hesitate to give help to people who need it.
Sponsors
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Host Gator: With Host Gator, having a website is easy AND affordable. Take your website from dream to reality: visit hostgator.com/fire for 60% off today!
Show Notes
(click the time stamp to jump directly to that point in the episode.)
[01:00] – Mike has 2 kids who are both under 5
[01:07] – His wife, Hannah, works for Cleveland Convention
[01:22] – Mike is usually busy helping people out
[01:49] – He co-hosts 2 podcasts, Build, Launch, Scale and This New Economy
[01:55] – His book is Startup Seed Funding For the Rest of Us
[04:04] – Mike’s area of expertise is in bringing ideas to life
[04:45] – One BIG and Unique Value Bomb: Rather than thinking of what will scale immediately, slow it down and be as personal as possible
[06:40] – When Mike invited Jason Fried to be a speaker at his event this year, he didn’t just send him a random email—he filmed a video of himself, put it on YouTube, and included the URL in the email
[07:54] – Do things that don’t scale at the beginning
[08:56] – Worst Entrepreneurial Moment: Mike’s first startup, EFuneral, failed. But apart from that, the worst of the worst happened after Efuneral’s fail-sale. Mike was recruited by a technology company as director of product strategy. When he took the role and went in, it didn’t feel right
[11:59] – it made Mike realize that being a product person takes a special kind of discipline
[12:37] – Just because you’ve done one thing at one stage does not mean you can apply those skills to all other roles and stages
[13:41] – Entrepreneurial AH-HA Moment: Mike’s ah-ha moment stemmed from his failure. The best way he learned was through other people. Cleveland had product people but there was nothing that pulled all these people together. Mike thought, why not make a product conference to have all these people in one place?
[18:15] – You have the power to turn your life around
[18:43] – Even if you find yourself at a low point, think of situations where you can surround yourself with influencers
[19:27] – What is the one thing you are most FIRED up about today? “I’m absolutely fired up about INDUSTRY Conference
[21:18] – The Lightning Round
- What was holding you back from becoming an entrepreneur? – “It was absolutely confidence”
- What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? – “Don’t underestimate your gut”
- What’s a personal habit that contributes to your success? – “I create weekly to-do lists”
- Share an internet resource, like Evernote, with Fire Nation – SellHack
- If you could recommend one book to our listeners, what would it be and why? – Content Inc – “The whole book is about building your audience through content”
[23:19] – No matter what your business is, go out of your way and help people without expecting anything in return
[24:14] – Connect with Mike via email, and Twitter
[24:53] – If anybody in Fire Nation would like to come to INDUSTRY Conference, use promo code FIRE to get $50 OFF!
Killer Resources!
1) The Common Path to Uncommon Success: JLD’s 1st traditionally published book! Over 3000 interviews with the world’s most successful Entrepreneurs compiled into a 17-step roadmap to financial freedom and fulfillment!
2) Free Podcast Course: Learn from JLD how to create and launch your podcast!
3) Podcasters’ Paradise: The #1 podcasting community in the world!
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