Dr. Shirag Shemmassian is the Founder of Shemmassian Academic Consulting and a sought-after expert on medical school admissions, college admissions, and graduate school admissions. For nearly 20 years, he and his team have helped thousands of students get into medical school and top colleges using his systematic and proprietary approach.
Entrepreneurial Role Models:
- Robert Kiyosaki
- Napoleon Hill
- Dale Carnegie
- Ramit Sethi
- Ron Breaganstrife, Lighting, LA
When business started difficulties overcame:
“there are so many that come to mind. I would say some pretty big ones were not having a formal business education, not knowing really what to think about as far as how do you set up finances and taxes and what are your offerings and what paperwork do you need to file. Very sort of basic foundational things that I look back on now and sort of laugh off. Other things are just my own personal discomfort. When a lot of people tell me well, I don’t know where to start and I don’t have a great idea and I don’t know what to do. What’s the first that? I need to make sure I have a business plan and all this kind of stuff”…[Listen for More]
Favourite Books:
- How to Win Friends and Influence People Book by Dale Carnegie
Also mentioned:
- Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not! Mass Market Book by Robert T. Kiyosaki
Favourite Quote:
“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t–you’re right.” Henry Ford
Recommended Online Resources:
- YouTube, LLC is an American video-sharing website headquartered in San Bruno, California. Three former PayPal employees—Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim—created the service in February 2005. Google bought the site in November 2006 for US$1.65 billion; YouTube now operates as one of Google’s subsidiaries.
- Ramit Sethi
Best Advice to Other Entrepreneurs:
“get started. And that doesn’t mean you don’t have a business so start a business. But that also means okay business is making 100,000 dollars a year and you know that the next step to get it to 200,000 dollars or 250,000 dollars a year is doing X. Do it, just start. That’s going to be a huge thing… It’s really making sure to document why things are working for you and why things aren’t working for you. To constantly iterate. So a goal is not oh just do it, it will work out but study the patterns”…[Listen for More]
More About Shirag Shemmassian:
Shemmassian Academic Consulting
Neil’s Quote at the Beginning:
“I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it.” Maya Angelou, Letter to My Daughter
Other Quotes From the Chat with Shirag Shemmassian:
- “there are just so many things about having operating procedures in place and making the wrong hires, to the rate of scale, to how you write blog posts, to how you record videos, to how early you get a more sophisticated accountant in place. It goes on and on and on… Even if you try to figure it all out beforehand you are still going to make mistakes and learn along the way, it’s just a fact of life.”
- “The secrets to success: just doing things and showing up. I find that that is one of the most valuable things in business…”
- “Actually, do what you say you are going to do. Folks finding you reliable and trustworthy is one of the biggest things that’s hugely valuable for reputation. And you have to do that otherwise nothing you say matters”
- “the way you think influences what you do because the way you think influences what you believe you can do. So, if I believe I can’t do something I am not going to do it. I am going to be far less likely to do it, I am going to be far less likely to do it well, whatever. But if I believe I could do it I’m going to go for it and I am going to focus on how to make it happen”
- “a lot of people use the word if. If we were able to do this. If this, if that. I say when… I think that the way we use language is very, very important. Not only does it reflect our thoughts but it influences it. And I always want to make sure that our thoughts are aligned with our goals and what we want to achieve. Because if we believe we can do it we are going to do it. If we believe we can’t we are not going to”
- “a lot of successful people do very similar things and those similar things are very reproducible”
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