Identify Really Smart, Really Helpful People and Collaborate with Them (Reid Hoffman of LinkedIn)

Audio Transcription

Welcome back to the thrive time show have a small business coach question. Email is today and info at drivetime, show.Com and claim doctors. He will answer your business. Questions live on the air. Yes, the man, the myth, the legend, these zorro, the zohan them that did the guy he’s back sunroof him bad as it is ecstasy. We are next to z. Sir, can you give us just a little? You said you said this. What this is, what happens? Dr. Z typically drive his own vehicle. Here we record at the man cave he said clay. Could you could you give me a ride to reasor’s nice t-shirt? What we doing a resource I’ve never been to research, the doctors easy. Could you could you give me a ride to reasor’s I said shirts. We get the other research parking lot, we pull in there and he says I’ll be back in 5 minutes. Where did you go? Can you give me just a little I left, I left the state I was in the country. I didn’t need my passport, but I did leave the steaks exciting and time freedom and financial freedom. You know is that if I want to go somewhere i, just apparently you just go to the airport and you get what you give them money and they give you a ticket. The sky ticket thing. Did you go on the, love boat and you just you just want no to the boat with tom hanks. My mother-in-law is tom hanks on the love boat on the show notes. Those are some short shorts. My mother-in-law was on the love boat as a recurring actress, both exciting and come on board, expecting you she’s also in top gun. So that’s a real thing, so that’s a real pet real that she is so proud., her daughter. How good is that reid hoffman the founder of linkedin, the guy behind one of the founding members of paypal? What are they was here today? To give us advice, you might you might say we’re learning to read.

This is so full of these. These winnie tire, it’s going to take me like an hour and a half to break down the cryptic overall, just meanings of what you’re saying. It’s like decoding jay-z lyrics I’ve been in a lot of protein, not grasp what’s happening. Poppington entrepreneurs have to be irrationally bullish about what they’re doing, because there are so many ways that their business can die. So how do you know when you should stick to your vision and when you should change, the key is to use your network intelligently and then, if i, really smart, really helpful people who know their stuff and collaborate with them, I’m going to start with use either call hood’s take on this and take on this. So he’s talking about surrounding yourself with small business coach type people. How do you do that in your life doctors at how do you? How do you do it very important to do that? You know you’re you’re, the guys around you. If you here to think about it, is when people come to us and say I want to start a business. We say doing a job or you want a business. You know and I was going I’ve been in the same I know, I mean if you start a business and you have a job and then you work. Your we are trying to do is a teach you how you could if you wanted too, and it’s your choice, how you could have it to where you don’t have to go and every day you don’t have to check on it every single hour. You don’t have to answer your phone yourself. You don’t have to work at all the pain. What he’s not talking about is you not at all investing any time in your business. We talk about, is building a business so I’m in to make sure you’re getting this. You don’t have to go there every single day and I’m telling you it. You will shortcut a lot of things if you hire really smart people, because smart people understand they listen, they learn that can follow directions and they can also help you help yourself and it would help you make it better and so I have tried to surround myself with extremely smart people, loyal people and I’ve kept them on the team for a long time, and you know what it’s it’s really made my life people to. How can you own 567 businesses, whatever you want me I’ll, run so well, because that’s more people you have to have smart people inside the way you find them. Is you go look for him? You know yet.

They, don’t just happen. You know it’s got done shopping at tj maxx. You never know what they’re going to have to have a good deal that you just got a dick to that rack. You there’s the perfect shirt for a great price. I do know, there’s a little controversial book out there called the bible and when I said, I thought I might be able to silent out there. I want to make sure you get this idea from the bible proverbs 13:20 wise. It become wise break. A pic for a companion of fools suffers harm. Easy for me to say:walk with the wise and become wise for a companion of fools, suffers harm, so bothered. If someone’s listen to the show today and they go, they said themselves:i am surrounded by idiots, but it’s all I can afford. I mean I just started this business and I’ve got like I’ve, rounded up all the idiots like that movie armageddon, where they’re trying to blow up the asteroid going to drill, and then they’ve got some people with some drug problem. Some people with some alcohol problems to people what they need to blow up an asteroid make it this ragtag group of people and they’ve got to go blow up.

That asteroid feel like they’re, surrounded by idiots right now. What advice would you have to throw on a small business coach limited budget and they are surrounded by a large amount of lack of intelligence? I would tell them to move out of norman oklahoma yeah it ain’t. What is hot I am i, am i. Am agnostic to oklahoma, state or ou, because it isn’t. It just shows my my infant fairness, which is what I was an apologetic. Patriots fan so I’ll take that opportunity to say I’ll go patriots, go bill, belichick, patriots, patriots, rain pictures of live forever, tom brady back to you, because I know he’s big ou fan you know and if somebody has something I want or if I want something and I want to be like somebody I’m going to go search him out, and you know it’s just like a soap I seek marital Advice:i’m not going to go talk to somebody’s been married 6 times. If you have a lot of experience well, I mean he could put that experience. I think can I tell you the funny thing about that real fast and he was married three times back to you. Maybe he didn’t friends and then lose them. Okay back to you, but yeah I mean none of us know everything you know. I’m god bless me and I’m doing really well and then I met you and then I realized, i, didn’t know what 6s mint and then duplication and so I strongly believe in you know, and people can’t you know, there’s very few people i. Can somebody came to me and said they want to hire me as an employee. If they can’t afford me, I mean it like they can’t afford me, but they can afford to spend an hour for free with me. This way free is there freight know you got a hood. Cph.Com fill out a little form, get the warren buffett book and you get it for free and I’m, not saying anything. I’m eating special, it’s just I have created a certain lifestyle occur in and own my own business, and once you own your own business and you been successful, it’s at you know it’s. Your time is isek. You know it’s just a whole lot worth a whole lot. More. Shop I want to get your take on this. We come back from the break said I know. There’s somebody listening and I would like to share my story little bit about this, because I remember what it was like to be in my college. Dorm room and I got some really nice guys on my floor in college, but i. Remember going i, don’t have the money to hire a single advisor. However, talking to a guy named bruce and as he told me for $2,500, he helped me strategize on how to set up an llc for help me strategize on mallard and I can help you strategize on how to build a website. Limited budget on the planet earth play broadcast, get ready to enter the thrive time, show 3 2 1 boom.

We’re talking today about breaking down we’re breaking down the wisdom of reid hoffman and hoffman. Was the original founders of a company called paypal? Paypal was one of the first electronic payment companies out there he after he they sold the business. He went on to become the founder of linkedin. Now linkedin chuck. Could you cut a describing didn’t bring his new to the planet for a professional and he sold that thing to microsoft for billions of dollars? About what they’re doing, because there are so many ways that their business can die? So how do you know you should stick to your vision and when you should change the key is to use your network intelligently. The key is to use your network intelligently, identify really smart people and what mr. Trump identify really smart people and I wasn’t reading it. Wasn’t phone with you and I’ll be helpful people who know their stuff and small business coach collaborate with them. So you got to make sure that you are surrounding yourself with smart people, so I’m going to tear up the scenario and chip I like for you to kind of explain how to work through this it for the average listing out there I remember starting dj connection at my dorm room in reading these kind of quotes and getting really irritated i. Remember this every time I read some like that. I might get a disc right yeah. So this is what I did and I like to tell these. Take me to this wrong and I did get your take on this job. You can get advises strategies, business, coaching, i, remember going to quick trip I never said it was awesome, quick trip and I love, hobby lobby! So I got this. This book, hobby lobby it’s called more than a hobby and see i, got in my hand and there’s the proof but I cold-called over and over and over and over and over, to meet the founder at school and I spend a whole day with the guy and I n people ask what how do you do that I was just a rationally convicted with the idea that I’m going to meet the founder of hobby lobby tell if it’s like I’m not going to stop calling until I meet the person, then, when I finally get a chance on the phone and they finally say what do you want I’m going to say, I’m willing to spend $1,000 for an hour of this person’s time would say why I have specific questions. I want to ask out I just want to ask him questions. Cuz I’ve done that with the founder of quiktrip I’ve done that with hobby lobby I’ve done that with george foreman. What were some of the questions you had typed out specifically for meeting with the mr.

Kwik trip green I mean which, whichever I mean you, you were hobby lobby in the book here, so I will go ahead and pull it up here, for you, real, quick, so I thought this would be by 2607, okay and i. Remember where were you in starting your business with meeting the mr. Hobby lobby this was later on in my career? I already had some success with the dj business right. I. Remember, saying:i, remember that, reading that your company is now worth 1.4 billion dollars a year? How much do you pay yourself down? Does my question-and he says I’ve kept my salary for since this pretty time and because what I do is I I donate all of our profits to buy bibles for kids overseas and stuff. You want to take it to her. I’ll show you something and we walk down the hallway, there’s a hallway and it since I’m not getting it as long as a football field. I need her side. His picture for the pictures of orphanages and I thought it was all the stuff. Those are all the orphanages that we sponsor. So what I do is I just got my salary and it all gets donated. That’s why it’s asking me cuz, that’s what motivates me I can’t take it with you. Okay, next question:how do you draw the line? You’ve, a family-owned business. You work with your son. How do you do it? He said we have family day is family day of every week. We have family time. We get to go to the same time. We talked family can’t talk business there, but the rest of the week. It’s more business and I said so. You don’t ask questions. I wanted to know it so that took the idea of small business coach family time there. It is that’s when the clarks have family time now. Every single weekend is because he’s so good, so good so can i. Do it I’m blessed I have certain things were into it. I just decided that makes sense to me I’m, not saying camp lifestyles more, like you know what it’s always feels good in. The most selfish thing you can do is when you help support my cause, you’re passionate about what I had so many questions and I said.

I said him:how do you keep your employees engaged to hobby lobby? If you notice, if you ever ask where’s the wood glue, there’s like a swat team of people available to help you and he said. Oh, we pulled out the upc codes. It’s not digital! Would you like company doesn’t like analog? They are you kidding me. They are physically counting the items on the shelf all day, everyday cuz it takes longer which causes them to not go hide in the back. That’s old school right there and I said hey the 50% off every month, like friends, are pretty personal and tall sale in america knows the frames are going to be 50% off, sometimes 8015. It goes to 50 that goes to 80 feel like people catch on to that goes nope. It’s the same special cycle. Every month, we’ve done been up for 27 years the same every month. If you want to wait till the 3rd week to buy a frame, that’s cool, but the same cycle, same cycle and I’m going okay. How do you decide what product securing your shelves, because we try to sell them? Show me just like damn:how do you keep track uses back before smartphones? If I said, how do you deal with your cell phone because I don’t have one i, don’t have one? Why I get a hold of my direct reports? We have set regular reoccurring meetings and he changed my approach to you just say if you’re out there small business coach listening and you really want to get that mentorship, you need to just light up the phones of somebody that you admire until they cry not buy or die, don’t cry by in your, vision or or die, but I want to get your take out there and they say gosh i, just I want to pick the I want to I want to drown myself with great people I’m around a bunch of idiots. What’s the first step, how do you change your network?

First step you got to do is start saying no more often to more people, the more things. Okay, you got to get. If your normal is dysfunctional, you got to change your normal, so you’ve got to start saying no to things and then honestly, like we were talking to me to go. If you don’t have the money to hire good people right now, you got to get out to one of my workshops. You have to do it. I have not met a person. That’s come yet that z, o black on clay to you for just a minute. Our team is so freaking awesome right now, every single one of them played you ever freaked out when you’re, interacting with a client or conference attendee I know that we had the last works. I was kind of crazy, cuz i, not exactly ask the question:25 *, 30 *:where do you find this team like? Where do you find these people? I just didn’t see it at the drivers at the holiday party? Is that had a good energy on the damn right? Now, there’s a lot of really good I know when or if we you got some hot small business coach sauce, I mean if it’s a drive is the people that make drivers the people and the people are great, it is, and the thing is, if you are, if you’re struggling to believe that it’s possible that’s another benefit another reason to come out of conference. Cuz we’re actually a business doing business with saying that pokes mean I can’t find good people and everybody’s got a bad attitude.

Everything got this quit saying that you said something about recruiting is if you’re not sitting there waiting for them. You got a hunting got a hug. You got to go, find them right. You got to go, get it in your system. If you see somebody go put, do what you got to do to find those people. This is something you have an opportunity to get this. It’s very rare that you have an opportunity to meet with. Somebody was a multimillion-dollar business and they’re going to give you something for free for me sign. The book gave me 1 hours time. I literally met with the guy for the entire day. I would diseases with the guy was awesome, but I had to pay those guys. I mean thousands and thousands to meet those small business coach guys with hood cpas you’re, given an hour of your time to sit down with any of our listeners for an hour of power to go over their accounting and their financial planning needs and you’re going to give him a free copy of warren buffett’s book the snowball. So it’s incredible me:how did the people claim they go to my website? Hood cpa.Com take forever to put cbs.Com and there’s a love you 3 or 4, but in some information about yourself will contact you set up an hour of free time. You can bring you taxed when you’ve already prepared, I’ll help you review it with you know her or talk about your investments are talk about your financial plan.

The department of labor claim know. If you know this department of labor now has decided that I’m a fiduciary for people so I’m obligated to to look after their best interest. So they get your our power. Get your free book start reading. It says he found a startup, your metaphorically jumping off a cliff and assembling a plane on the way down. If you’re going to jump off a cliff, you might as well try to assemble a great airplane z does. How does it feel right using pretty harsh there from history happened quite that complicated, but it, but it can be. You know, and especially if you’ve never put together an airplane before and you just jumped off a cliff or you’re trying to put together an airplane did get free, intimidate. You better aim high, so you’re jumping up for a from a difficult just right. Now we don’t like this number, but our business, bible ie forbes, says that 80% of businesses fail also forbes says a new staff that came out of 90% of start spell. Businesses fail, no 10 startups fail in the only way that we can help. You reduce the probability of failure and get that probably down to the 0% probability. Is it we get to know you so go to thrive time, show.Com and schedule your one-on-one business coach consultation today stay 2