My guest on the show today started his career as a lawyer, where he spent 4 years before becoming an entrepreneur. This transition happened over 40 years ago.
He’s what I would call a serial entrepreneur, having started 11 companies of varying degrees success. This conversation takes a couple of fascinating turns as Ken discusses $100+ million dollar exits and business ideas that have continued to pay him every year for 10+ years.
In addition to his own ventures, he’s been investing in companies for the past 18 years.
Through all of this, he began to notice a thread that ran through successful entrepreneurs — an entrepreneurial mindset — so he put pen to paper and wrote a new book called The Dream Toolbox: Building an Entrepreneurial Mind and Financial Abundance.
In this conversation, Ken Aldrich and Jonny discuss:
- Friction points: why you must find them if you are going to succeed in business
- Business partners: good ones are worth seeking out, but they must complement your strengths and weaknesses
- There is a solution to every problem you will encounter in your life and business
Now let’s hack…
Kenneth Aldrich
Highlights from the episode
- [4:55]: The biggest contributor to Kenneth’s success so far has been his unwavering belief that no matter what obstacles were ahead of him, there was always a solution to them. Rather than look at obstacles as insurmountable barriers, he’s always approached them as problems that can be solved.
- [16:30]: Ken describes “friction points,” meaningful problems in life that a new company or project could solve. This isn’t always obvious. Some new products and technologies, like mp3 players in the early 2000s, solve problems people didn’t even know that they had. Ken sees entrepreneurship as looking at those friction points, and finding better solutions.
- [23:27]: Ken considers business partners to be very valuable, and worth seeking out. Having a second point of view can be incredibly helpful in providing perspectives you might not otherwise think of. Because they’re positioned as your equal within the company, they can also tell you if you’re wrong — something a regular employee might not feel that it’s appropriate to do.
Resources and links from the episode
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