Norm Laviolette is the co-founder and CEO of Improv Asylum, IA Innovation and Asylum Gaming and Esports (AGE). He has performed, directed or produced more than 10,000 improvisational comedy shows on three continents. He brings the experience of building companies from the ground up into multi-million dollar businesses. His new book, The Art of Making Sh!t Up: How to Work Together to Become an Unstoppable Powerhouse (Wiley, May 7, 2019), describes how the techniques of improv can transform teams into more powerful, creative and healthy organizations.
Entrepreneurial Role Models:
When business started difficulties overcame:
“the challenges when we first started were learning. Learning all of the things around the business. Ultimately it doesn’t take a lot to get your head around how to create a show, that’s easy enough but you had to learn all the things that come around a running a business – how to manage a payroll, how to do banking, all of those things. It was very challenging because I didn’t go to business school… I had to learn all of those things and be self-talk. So, what that means is you screw them up again and again and again until hopefully find a way to get it right. But those are my challenges which was actually learning the mechanics of running a business”…[Listen for More]
Favourite Books:
- Like A Virgin: Secrets They Won’t Teach You at Business School Book by Sir Richard Branson
- Finding My Virginity: The New Autobiography Book by Sir Richard Branson
- The Virgin Way: How to Listen, Learn, Laugh and Lead Book by Sir Richard Branson
- Losing My Virginity: The Autobiography Book by Sir Richard Branson
- Losing My Virginity: How I Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way Book by Sir Richard Branson
Favourite Quote:
“the coward’s quit and the weak died along the way, that leaves us”
Recommended Online Resources:
- Google LLC is an American multinational technology company that specializes in Internet-related services and products, which include online advertising technologies, search engine, cloud computing, software, and hardware.
- Quora is a question-and-answer website where questions are asked, answered, edited, and organized by its community of users in the form of opinions. Its publisher, Quora Inc., is based in Mountain View, California.
Best Advice to Other Entrepreneurs:
“stop giving a shit about what other people think about you. That’s my best advice. It’s irrelevant what they think about you. It’s nothing, it’s air, it’s ether. You need to stop that and you need to say this is what I believe and this is what I’m trying to do. You may succeed, you may fail. Either way though what others think about you is irrelevant to either of those outcomes ”…[Listen for More]
More About Norm Laviolette:
Neil’s Quote at the Beginning:
“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” T.S. Eliot, author
Other Quotes From the Chat with Norm Laviolette:
- “I made every mistake in the book”
- “I was always willing to get out there and experience things”
- “I am a tactile learner in the sense that if something interested me, I want to do it. I am a terrible spectator, I’m a terrible watcher”
- “I have always been willing to get out into the world, into the environment and try stuff and not worry about if I look stupid or of people will judge me, I don’t care about that”
- “I am all for speeding up the process”
- “if I followed the rules as they are laid out in society I wouldn’t be where I am today and I don’t mean by cheating or being unethical. You never want to do things that hurt other people physically, emotionally, financially – those aren’t shortcuts those are the wrong way to do things. For me though I have never been one to listen to people when they say I can’t do something. Oh, you have to do it this way. Do you? Do I have to do it that way? Is there a faster way? So, I’m always looking for those ways to accelerate it”
- “the faster you can get to not giving a damn what other people think about you the freer you will become and the more successful you will be”
- “the secret to success is… I don’t have the secret; I believe the secret has the secret”
- “don’t let others hold you back”
- “I am drawn to non-linear thinking… Non-linear thinking very much excites me”
- “I am always trying to let my mind go and see if I can find unexpected connections”
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