Rishon Blumberg and Michael Solomon are co-authors of GAME CHANGER and co-founders of 10x Management, a talent agency for tech professionals that has rocketed to the forefront of the tech industry, carving out its place as a trusted and exclusive resource for companies seeking the best and most coveted freelance tech experts.
Rishon is, first and foremost, an entrepreneur. It’s what he studied — graduating from the Wharton School of Business with a degree in entrepreneurial management in 1994. It’s what he’s lived and it’s what he loves. For more than 25 years, he’s harnessed that spirit to create and lead successful organizations based in tech, entertainment, and the nonprofit sphere— finding new solutions to long-standing and emerging challenges. Rishon has presented at TEDx, been published in the Harvard Business Review, and was featured on the cover of the Wharton Alumni of New York Magazine.
Michael Solomon is the co-author of GAME CHANGER and the cofounder of 10x Management, the world’s first tech talent agency. 10x matches top contract technology experts, designers, and brand innovators with companies ranging from startups to the Fortune 500. Customers include American Express, HSBC, Google, Verizon, Yelp, and more. He is a recognized expert on the freelance economy and its growing impact on business and has appeared on numerous media outlets and at conferences, including CNBC, BBC, Bloomberg TV, NYU, and SXSW.
Solomon also leads, with his longtime business partner Rishon Blumberg, the first-of-its-kind compensation negotiation service catering to senior tech talent, called 10x Ascend. Ascend’s mission is to help senior tech talent obtain the best compensation packages possible. The two also oversee the respected talent management and entertainment consulting company Brick Wall Management, whose clients include multiplatinum and Grammy award-winning recording artists, songwriters, top record producers, and filmmakers. Michael also co-founded Musicians On Call, a nonprofit that brings live music to over 700,000 people in health care facilities across the U.S. and remains an active member of its Board of Directors.
Entrepreneurial Role Models:
Bruce Springsteen’s co-managers Jon Landau and Barbara Carr
When business started difficulties overcame:
“at the beginning we didn’t know what to do so we tried to do everything and we weren’t data driven yet I don’t think those words necessarily existed. So, I would go to work in the morning and I will try to be the publicist for the band and reach out to every newspaper and try and book their shows and be their booking agent. We were trying do everything under the sun and that wasn’t very effective”…[Listen for More]
Favourite Books:
- Erik Larson Books Michael Lewis Books
- The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine Book by Michael Lewis
- The Devil In The White City Book by Erik Larson
- In The Garden of Beasts: Love and terror in Hitler’s Berlin Book by Erik Larson
- Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
- The Anatomy of Peace: Resolving the Heart of Conflict by The Arbinger Institute
Favourite Quote:
- “I never lose. I either win or learn.” Nelson Mandela
- “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. The “Golden Rule” of Leviticus 19:18 was quoted by Jesus of Nazareth (Matthew 7:12; see also Luke 6:31) and described by him as the second great commandment.
Recommended Online Resources:
- Lifehacker – Life hacks, tips and tricks
- 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.
Best Advice to Other Entrepreneurs:
“definitely grit and fortitude. Make sure that you stay the course, don’t give up. Sometimes you learn new things and that changes your trajectory but if you truly believe in something and you believe in yourself and you believe that you can be the solution for changing that something or creating that something then you have got to have grit to stay with it and stick with it. Fake it until you make it. That’s the number one piece of advice I would give”…[Listen for More]
More About Rishon Blumberg and Michael Solomon:
Neil’s Quote at the Beginning:
“The size of your success is measured by the strength of your desire; the size of your dream; and how you handle disappointment along the way.” Robert Kiyosaki
Other Quotes From the Chat with Rishon Blumberg and Michael Solomon:
- “grit and fortitude and persevering through difficult times. There is no doubt that is the underpinning of successful entrepreneurs. There are other things like that cross-section of opportunity and preparedness which we call luck. Being able to take advantage of opportunities when they arise because you are prepared for them is also crucial. There are times you may come with a brilliant idea for a business, work very hard at it but your time isn’t right, maybe you are too early to market, maybe you are too late to market. So, I think that the grit and fortitude mixed with being prepared to take advantage of opportunities, the look of the moment that you are in to me those are all the makings of success. The bottom line for an entrepreneur is if you are not prepared to stick through and worked hard through the good times and the bad. And in the beginning there are a lot of unknowns, there are things you don’t necessarily have the answers to, there are times when you don’t know the right path because you are creating that path. So I think that’s where grit and fortitude really come into play”
- “I couldn’t know what I know now if I didn’t go through those experiences”
- “if it’s not effective don’t do it”
- “figure out how to measure. Measure everything you are doing. If you are not measuring you don’t know if you’re succeeding”
- “when you see people as an object you basically have a heart of war. And when you see someone as a person you have a heart of peace”
- “failure isn’t failing, failure is learning. And the reality is that 100 percent true as long as you view it that way and you look for those lessons”
- “if you know someone actually well enough… but I think if you start with the golden rule then that might lead to the Platinum rule”
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