Venkates Swaminathan (Swami) is the founder and CEO of LifeLaunchr, the world’s first virtual college admissions coaching platform, and a member of the National Association for College Admission Counseling. Swami has been an executive in the education and technology industries for over 25 years. He has a M.S. from the University of Illinois, and a B.Tech from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi.
Entrepreneurial Role Models:
Sir Michael Jonathan Moritz KBE
When business started difficulties overcame:
“well the first difficulty is that my background is not in education so I have had to learn the education space intensively by just diving in the deep end and learning everything I can about understanding how the college admissions process works and understanding what it is children and parents want out of the system and understanding how colleges think about it. And I tell people sometimes that my background as an engineer has served me very well because it has brought an analytical depth to the work we do and a deep knowledge of how statistics work”…[Listen for More]
Favourite Books:
The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses Book by Eric RiesFavourite Quote:
” The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses – behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights” Muhammad Ali
Recommended Online Resources:
- Stripe – Online payment processing for internet businesses Stripe is a suite of payment APIs that powers commerce for online businesses of all sizes, including fraud prevention, and subscription management Use Stripe’s payment platform to accept and process payments online for easy to use commerce solutions
- Up My Influence – influencer agency believes every startup entrepreneur has a message that can positively impact the world We can increase your authority and influence. By clicking the following link you can listen to the Josh Elledge Podcast (the founder of Up My Influence) on The Entrepreneur Way.
Best Advice to Other Entrepreneurs:
“really think hard and spend time understanding what it is you really want to do and why you want to do this business. There will be lots… No matter what business you start and who the entrepreneur is there will always be times when it just feels difficult. And the thing that keeps you going is not that you want to make money, the thing that keeps you going in all those difficult times is knowing why you started the business. Did you start it because you want to make a difference in the world? Did you start it because you have a particular problem that you are really passionate about solving? So, understanding what problem you are passionate about solving I think that will keep you going through the difficult times… Know what that is and no it deep in your gut. And once you know it the solutions will show up.”…[Listen for More]
More About Venkates Swaminathan:
Neil’s Quote at the Beginning:
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” Mark Twain
Other Quotes From the Chat with Venkates Swaminathan:
- “the key to starting a business is to really be mindful of all the little things. To think about every penny you spend, every decision you make and to try to make it wisely and not try to get caught up in being extravagant or making big decisions without thinking them through”
- “we are cheap because that’s the way to build a great business. Spending every penny wisely makes a good business happen”
- “the most important thing you can do as an entrepreneur is always talk to your clients and talk to your potential clients constantly and understand what it is that is on their mind, what drives their decision-making process, how they see the problem you are trying to solve”
- “if I knew everything I know now that would have shortcut the learning curve but I also think to some extent it’s a part of the process”
- “one of the things that make someone a successful entrepreneur is the ability to remember that the past is the past, you learn what you can from it and go on but you don’t spend your time obsessing about it”
- “in business it is important to make decisions and it is sometimes much better to make a mistaken decision than to not make one at all. The key then is to be on top of the decisions you made and to measure your success or failure and change pass if you fail”
- “one of the biggest struggles for entrepreneurs is that if you make decisions because you are afraid of failing then you will put yourself in a very difficult spot. If you make decisions that you can quickly decide if they were a success or a failure and move on you will consistently make better decisions.”
- “The secret to success is really not to be afraid of failure but rather to say that’s just part of the process. Failure is just one result of an experiment. Having an experimental mind and saying I’m going to be constantly experimenting, some experiments will work and some won’t, we are going to try another experiment and learn from the things we’ve tried”
- “you should talk to your customers and try to fail fast”
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