Stephen King graduated from the University of Denver with a dual degree in real estate and international business, going on to a career in real estate finance, brokerage, and mixed-use property development. Prior to launching imbrex, Stephen was Principal at King Interests, a full-service real estate firm based in Princeton, New Jersey. Stephen has launched several technology-related startups in the real estate space in his career and began participating in the blockchain community in 2013.
Entrepreneurial Role Models:
- Stephen’s Dad, Brother, Father-in-Law
- Phil Knight
When business started difficulties overcame:
“The first is communication. I was asked to leave more real estate offices that didn’t know what I was talking about when I was initially pitching Imbrex. It was extremely difficult to explain the concept. It was almost like explaining the Internet to somebody from the 1800s that had no idea what computers or digital infrastructure was all about… And then the second, because communication was so challenging it was hard to stay confident all the time. The feedback it wasn’t positive it was… sometimes it was negative, sometimes it was more dubious and people didn’t really comprehend the overall idea. So for me it was an iterative process,it was very difficult for I would say the first two years of building Imbrex and then I did catch a little bit of luck”…[Listen for More]
Favourite Books:
- The Undoing Project: A Friendship that Changed the World Book by Michael Lewis
- Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of NIKE Book by Phil Knight
Favourite Quote:
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts” Winston Churchill
Recommended Online Resources:
- Audible – Explore the world s largest selection of audiobook titles by best selling authors
- Goodreads is a “social cataloging” website that allows individuals to freely search its database of books, annotations, and reviews. Users can sign up and register books to generate library catalogs and reading lists. They can also create their own groups of book suggestions, surveys, polls, blogs, and discussions.
Best Advice to Other Entrepreneurs:
“Don’t wait and start today. So if you are an entrepreneur and you want to build something, you have an idea then stop today building somebody else’s dream and start building your own dream. And the only way to do that is to start to do something today and not put it off until tomorrow”…[Listen for More]
More About Stephen King:
Neil’s Quote at the Beginning:
“An entrepreneur is someone who has a vision for something and a want to create.” David Karp, founder, and CEO of Tumblr
Other Quotes From the Chat with Stephen King:
- “people need a structured plan or set of guidelines especially in a start-up ”
- “one thing I did was write a detailed White Paper… a business plan on what we are building and then obtain a lot of feedback”
- “you want to hire people that complements your weaknesses… if you can find people that complement those weaknesses and then also give them the recognition that they deserve I think that is a huge recipe for success”
- “if you knew then what you know now you wouldn’t appreciate what you know now”
- “When you see only problems you are not seeing clearly”
- “you want your business to run like a well-oiled machine”
- “if you keep getting up when you get knockdown, and we all get knocked down in our personal lives, in our business lives, if you keep getting up then something good or many good things will continue to happen. Now some people get knocked down more than others and that means that they have to stand back up more than others. But if you are committed to your vision and you have got motivation… and for some people money might be the motivation, I don’t suggest that money be the motivation, I suggest that the mission be your motivation. If it is then that will help you reach the successful milestones that you are trying to get to…”
- “human beings our irrational and they make irrational decisions sometimes even if they have the hard facts in front of them… It’s okay to go by your gut instincts but it is not necessary for your instincts to be right all the time. It’s really important to remember these points when it comes to business decisions”
- “nothing is for sure, nothing is guaranteed. And so you can succeed but everything can be taken from you in a moment”
- “for anybody just because you are at the top one day doesn’t mean you will be a top the next day and it also doesn’t mean once you are at the bottom that you are going to stay at the bottom, you can always work your way back up”
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