Making decisions under uncertainty is what attracted Steven Cardinale to entrepreneurship. Being involved with startups, leading Fortune 500 teams at Eli Lily, Janus Funds, & IBM, earning an MBA from Wharton, and founding, operating and exiting his own SaaS company has given Steven a unique perspective to create successful ideas
Entrepreneurial Role Models:
When business started difficulties overcame:
“let’s talk about Sid which is the healthcare company that I started. I started that business and I am not healthcare guy. I didn’t study healthcare I studied Econ and business. I am a strategy and tech guy and I jumped into a industry that I knew absolutely nothing about which was a blessing in disguise but pretty damn scary when you step into a meeting and they are throwing their acronyms and they are talking about regulations and they are talking about the way things have been done in the past and you don’t know anything about what they are talking about. And you step out of the meeting and you go right I have a whole list of questions. What did they mean when they said ABC and D E F?”…[Listen for More]
Favourite Books:
- Principles: Life and Work Book by Ray Dalio
- The Innovator’s Solution: Creating and Sustaining Successful Growth Book by Clayton M. Christensen and Michael E. Raynor
Also mentioned:
- Losing My Virginity: How I Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way Book by Richard Branson
Favourite Quote:
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” Theodore Roosevelt
Recommended Online Resources:
Daily Stoic – Stoic Wisdom For Everyday Life
Best Advice to Other Entrepreneurs:
“a better question is more important than the right answer. Because the right answer to the wrong question. So constantly, constantly, constantly ask questions of yourself. Once you think I’ve got an idea, an entrepreneurial idea then the question you need to ask is look outside of yourself and go will my customers care? And then I have to look outside that and go if my customers do care, great, how do I get to them? It’s always asking better questions; it’s never having an answer… So, forcing yourself to have a better question… I do this when I get people who are interested in having me invest. I listen for them asking me better questions rather than telling me they’ve got the answer. So, ask a better question is the vital component of becoming a successful entrepreneur”…[Listen for More]
More About Steven Cardinale:
Neil’s Quote at the Beginning:
“If you can’t do anything about it then let it go. Don’t be a prisoner to things you can’t change.” Tony Gaskins
Other Quotes From the Chat with Steven Cardinale:
- “I made some mistakes on… I didn’t hire attorneys at the beginning to build in the right legal paperwork. For example, intellectual property paperwork. And that slowed me down as time was moving forward. I didn’t hire really good salespeople at the beginning and build a sales process. I hired what I would consider superstars but they were only superstars in their last position. So, one getting legal right. You don’t have to spend a lot of money but putting time and money into focusing on that certainly helps. And building your sales team with a sales process. I did not do those two things right off the bat and that did slow me down. That took a lot of time and energy as I was scaling ”
- “a better question is more important than the right answer. Because usually the right answer to the wrong question. So, I think being able to ask better questions.”
- “Business is an expression of your personality”
- “trying to find out how to win the day is vital”
- “when I am afraid of doing something and it becomes an obstacle, I absolutely positively tell myself I have to do it”
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