Dave Taylor is a long-time entrepreneur, Dave has a popular YouTube channel, writes for the local newspaper, and mentors early stage startups when he’s not pursuing one of his hobbies.

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Guest Resources

Ask Dave Taylor – Subscribe to Dave’s YouTube channel.

Ask Dave Taylor Website – Check out Dave’s website for Technology and Business Q & A.

Dave’s Instagram – Follow Dave on Instagram.

Dave’s Facebook – Follow Dave on Facebook.

3 Value Bombs

1) The most important factor for an entrepreneur is optimism. You’ve got to be resilient and persistent but mostly, you’ve got to be optimistic to get to the other side and be the success that you want to be.

2) The Rising Tide metaphor is asking how you could help a fellow businessman to be successful and then hope and expect that they will do the same.

3) Your success in business is so much a factor of you being out there. Its hard but that skill is worth learning because who you know opens up many doors than what you know or what you have built.

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Show Notes

**Click the time stamp to jump directly to that point in the episode.

Today’s Audio MASTERCLASS: Giving Back to the Entrepreneurial Community

[1:13] – Dave shares something that he believes about becoming successful that most people disagree with.

[2:17] –  Dave talks about his First Startup (“The Internet Mall”).

• There really wasn’t much when online selling started and he was approached by a magazine to write an article about shopping online which was an extremely novel concept that time and that grew over a couple of years in iteration.
• He ended up in Mineapolis St. Paul and went to Mall of America to roam around. He was blown of how big it is and he began to think how to organize stores in a logical way to make it more efficient to go shopping because malls don’t do that and they want you to walk around. That became his inspiration.
• He thought about a concept of a shopping site. He was one of the first aggregators of online shopping stores which started as a text email that he sends every week. He learned how to program and he created a web page which became very successful.

[4:16] – Dave chats about how Incubators and Accelerators are beneficial to Entrepreneurs of all stages.

• He worked in a number of training programs for Incubators and Accelerators  and if you are in the right mindset and level of commitment, there can be powerful ways to bootstrap the growth of your company.
• But, instead of struggling with things that you are not good at, have a team that will teach you all the other things that you don’t know in the business. This wil give you the ability to recognize something you really dislike and then you can hire someone to do that.
• The idea of Incubators is that you go in with a little humility and say that you have a vision and dream and you want to go for it but you need some help to have that road to be as smooth as possible.

[5:52] – Dave talks about Rising Tide that raises all ships in the real world.

• Sometimes this is yes but sometimes it is no. Communities can grow by having as much members of the community promoting each other but with a direct competition, its hard. For example, restaurants that are adjacent to each other and promoting the same menu. But on the other hand, if it’s a coffee shop or a dessert place, they can go hand and hand.
• The Rising Tide metaphor is asking how you could help a fellow businessman to be successful and then hope and expect that they will do the same.

[7:10] – Dave gives a real world example.

• He is constantly looking for solutions and constantly suggesting to other people that they may have a bigger offering and that often produces a positive outcome where a good idea is produced.
• In terms of specifics, every start up that he has done and involved with has benefitted as part of their online communitiesand have other people in the community promote them.

[8:52] – A timeout to thank our sponsor.

• The Speaker Lab: Want to learn how to get booked and paid to speak? Go to EOFire.com/speaker to grab your spot for our LIVE training on May 28th, and learn how to get booked and paid to speak!

[11:17] – Dave talks about your network is your net worth and how it really matter About Who You Know.

• A funny metaphor of “Build a better mousetrap” is true because if you build the best mousetrap in the world  and nobody knows it, you will not catch any mice.
• Your success in business is so much a factor of you being out there. Going to networking events, education events, commerce events, conferences and expos is hard because a lot of entrepreneurs are firlmy introverted. What you can do is pretend that you are in a movie and pretend to be an extrovert. Its hard but that skill is worth learning because who you know opens up many doors than what you know or what you have built.

[12:44] – Dave talks about how he is Making Things Better.

• By being an educator and by working with entrepreneurs and being a mentor he was able to give back.
• He wil continue to try to make people understand by being around technology and learning how things work and to push that to make it easier and simpler for others
• To create a world where we all have access to all the wonders that technology can deliver to us.

[14:50] – Dave talks abouth ow can we be a great Mentor to others.

• Keep in mind to never tell someone what to do. Its really critical, particularly to entrepreneurial mentors. You are not their board of directors, you are there to help them not just to be successful but understand how to be successful.
• The No. 1 rule for any mentor is to ask them a lot of questions and remember that it is their business. As a mentor, your goal is to see a bigger picture than they can.

[17:10] – Dave gives his key take away.

• The rewards of helping your fellow entrepreneurs are greater than the cost of spending the time to do that. Taking time off to help others succeed or helping them understand how their product or service might fit in your ecosystem is a win win so don’t look at it as a time lost, look at it as time invested.

[18:03] – Call to action.

• Ask Dave Taylor – Subscribe to Dave’s YouTube channel.
• Ask Dave Taylor Website – Check out Dave’s website for Technology and Business Q & A.
• Dave’s Instagram – Follow Dave on Instagram.
• Dave’s Facebook – Follow Dave on Facebook.

[19:23] – Thank you to our Sponsor!

• The Speaker Lab: Want to learn how to get booked and paid to speak? Go to EOFire.com/speaker to grab your spot for our LIVE training on May 28th, and learn how to get booked and paid to speak!

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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