Bill Bice has always been an entrepreneur. At age 18 he founded ProLaw Software, which became tremendously successful and sold to Thomson Reuters. Now having built or invested in over 25 companies, Bill is passionate about enabling smaller businesses to more effectively compete with their larger competitors through good marketing.
Entrepreneurial Role Models:
Anti Role models
When business started difficulties overcame:
“when I started what I consider my first real company at 18 the benefit of doing that is I had no idea what I didn’t know, I also didn’t have a mortgage or kids and so it’s easy to take the risk at that point, and I was 18 and I really did think that I knew it all. I had to learn so many hard lessons because I wasn’t willing to look for help and get mentorship. And now I try really hard to take the opposite approach because whatever it is you want to do there is somebody out there who has already done it, has already had the experience and you can reach out to them, you can talk to them, you can learn from them, you can put yourself in their place and it’s amazing how much faster you can get there if you don’t take the boneheaded approach that I did ”…[Listen for More]
Favourite Books:
- Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business Book by Gino Wickman
- Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don’t Know Book by Malcolm Gladwell
Favourite Quote:
“We’re here to put a dent in the universe. Otherwise why else even be here?” Steve Jobs
Recommended Online Resources:
GrowthHackers – Premier Growth Community. High quality trending articles on growth hacking, marketing channels, user acquisition, engagement, product launch and more
Best Advice to Other Entrepreneurs:
“really appreciate how lucky you are that you get to do what you do. It’s so hard being an entrepreneur and I think it’s really easy to get wrapped up in all of the challenges that come with that. It’s one of the reasons that I’m a big fan of having a peer support network because it’s really tough to go through that you don’t have others doing the same thing particularly if you are the CEO of the company because nobody really appreciates the challenges you have”…[Listen for More]
More About Bill Bice:
Neil’s Quote at the Beginning:
“It’s easy to come up with new ideas; the hard part is letting go of what worked for you two years ago, but will soon be out of date.” Roger von Oech
Other Quotes From the Chat with Bill Bice:
- “I absolutely should have spent much more time learning from others and in getting mentors. It’s taken me so long to get to the point of being open to that”
- “we all benefit from that in our own businesses getting outside perspective to come in”
- “timing and luck is so important. I think we spend way too much time focusing on okay here’s a group of people who are really successful let’s find that we can between them and I just think there is a core fallacy in that. Look has such a tremendous amount to play in what happens to us. So, it’s the hard work over time that makes look play in your favour. So, you have to make timing and look work for you and hard work and persistence and grit is the only way to do that”
- “I am a huge proponent of peer forums… Peer forums are a really powerful way to get exactly this, you get other people that are running businesses like you and you learn as much from them and their experiences in their business as you do from talking about what you are doing and getting their advice”
- “I love listening to and learning from podcasts. There is just something about learning directly from other people’s experience that is so valuable”
- “if we can accomplish nothing else but to leave a little bit of a mark on the world and change perspective on one thing, I think that would be in amazing accomplishment”
- “iterating and following the data is how you make marketing work”
- “if you make that long-term commitment and stick with it the return you will get on that and the change that you will have in your business a year from now will just be incredible”
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