Acton Hero: Matt Stewart

From: http://www.actonhero.org/celebrating-heroes/stories-of-heroes/index.php?hero=matt-stewart

Matt Stewart started in the world of business after losing his job right when he was about to attend graduate school and become a lawyer. He started his first company and it was there where he learned what his values were; he learned about integrity and how to live life in a better way. Since then he has had experience with many different companies and industries.

One of the most important things I learned from him is that success comes when we focus on the mission of what we do. He says that those of his companies that failed were the ones from where he tried to make money off. He has realized that a successful entrepreneur needs to focus on his core business and not lose track of it.

Matt teaches that success needs to be measured on how well we teach our values to others around us. In business we need to get our employees to share our values and mission in order for the company to be successful. 

Acton Hero: Ken Zolot

From: http://www.actonhero.org/celebrating-heroes/stories-of-heroes/index.php?hero=ken-zolot

Ken Zolot tells how when he was young he felt like he didn’t really fit into the world of school and the traditional way of doing things. He was very curious, restless and refused to play by the rules. He has taken that curiosity to the world of business. Some of the things that I have learned from him is that I need to be brave enough to do things and try something new even if I feel unprepared and inexperienced. Some of the key character traits that Ken mentions that he learned from his family’s example are: accountability, responsibility, and punctuality. He says that many people can fix a technical problem, but few have the character to be responsible and accountable.

Whenever we work at a new venture it is very easy to fall in love with it, even if it’s not going anywhere. I need to ask ourselves ‘’who cares?’’ about what we do, who could be interested, and how what we do can fix people’s problems.

Acton Hero: Bud Brigham

From this video: http://www.actonhero.org/celebrating-heroes/stories-of-heroes/index.php?hero=ben-brigham 

Bud Brigham came from humble origins in a broken home growing up in Odessa Texas, but he knew from the very beginning that he wanted to be an entrepreneur. I learned from him that I need to start young and be the best I can be. A great lesson from him, that I want to apply to my life, is that he surrounded himself with bright people who shared his value system; I know that by doing that I can be positively influenced by those people and learn from them without even noticing it. I have heard before that we become the average of the five people we spend more time with so we’d better spend time with people who will help us be better. Bud Brigham mentions that he has received a lot of support from his wife and that his family has given purpose to his life.

An interesting detail about him is that he follows the objectivist philosophy. 

Starting the $100 project

This week I bought the supplies for my $100 project. I also helped my wife start her project with 500 pesos (around 35 dollars) to buy and sell women’s handbags.  For the $100 project I went to downtown Mexico City and bought high quality USB drives for very good prices in a very convenient location with a very reliable and recognized wholesale supplier. The real challenge was obtaining the mini stuffed bears; they were really difficult to find and suppliers are in a location that is very hard to reach and they are not very reliable. I am seriously considering changing the project a little bit using handmade hard dough figures instead or finding another design for the USBs. I felt firsthand the frustration of an entrepreneur when things don’t go according to plan in the most unexpected way and solutions need to be found. I’m not too worried about it though, I think I will be able to figure something out; the only thing I’m worried about is the project’s deadline and being able to obtain the goal of $100 in profits by that time.

My wife and I set a very bold goal. We want to move to New Zealand in a couple years when both of us graduate from college. We are starting to save up money for that and do the research in order to be prepared, get work visas and find jobs. Our plan is to live there for a couple years and then come back to Mexico and obtain a scholarship for my Master’s Degree in BYU- Provo. We also talked about starting a Mexican Food restaurant in New Zealand or a travel agency for people in New Zealand and Australia who want to visit Mexico and Latin America.

Acton Hero:  Desh Deshpande

He emigrated from India to the U.S and founded Cascade Communications and Sycamore Network.

Some of the great lessons I can learn from him are that I must learn from my mistakes. We attempt to do things and fail, it is normal and it’s not the end of the world. Making those mistakes helps us grow and expands our comfort zone. When we look at those failures from a greater perspective we realize that things are not as bad as they seem at the moment.

Another great lesson is that it doesn’t matter where people start but their motivation. Motivation is what matters to be successful in life. Many times we don’t realize how lucky we are to have all the resources, technology and comfort available to us until we lose it or see other realities with our own eyes. We must understand that everything is possible for us if we are motivated.

Acton Hero: Ken Zolot

He has founded robotic companies. As a child he had problems because of his excessive curiosity and desire to do things differently.

I learned that technical issues and people issues are interrelated. Human relations are very important for business to work properly. We are accountable to others as we are all connected and in order to lead effectively we must understand people’s motivations and help them.

When we create a new business or product it is important to ask ‘’who cares?’’. We tend to believe our product is the best thing in the world but we need to confront the brutal facts trying to understand what customers really want, what keeps them up at night?

Lessons from Business Plan

This week I created my first Business plan (for my $100 project) and it was a great experience as I was able to think about it in more depth, including the parts that I haven’t figured out yet. I realized that by doing this I am more creative and analytical as I try to come up with solutions for the problems and challenges.

Having this plan on paper helps me create goals more easily and feel more confident about my ability of going out and doing it.

 I am reading the following books: ‘’The E-Myth Revisited’’ by Michael E. Gerber and ‘’The Mormon Way of Doing Business ’’ by Jeff Benedict. I have learned about the importance of discipline. I realized that I have many ‘’personalities’’ inside of me fighting for control and setting opposite goals and plans; one day I will want to create a business, the next one I want to stay in bed and not worry about anything. I need to be disciplined and find a way to balance my personality and motivate myself.

Something else that I’m learning about is the importance of perseverance and consistency. I remembered a lot of the lessons I learned on my mission and now I see how they apply to other aspects of my life. I also realized that I need to pray more and read the scriptures more consistently.

Acton Hero: Paul Robshaw

The greatest lesson I learned from Paul Robshaw i show dreams are ‘’reality without boundaries’’. It is important to have dreams and work hard to achieve them.

Paul accepted early on that success requires hard work and that failure can come, that taught him to be true to his core values since they matter more than money or material success.

Paul learned from his father the importance of work as early as age 13. He performed every job available in the real estate business like cleaning, selling, developing and so forth.

I learn from him that there is no job that is unimportant, every effort matters and each experience teaches us something that will help us later and teach us an important lesson. One of the most important lessons is humility and perseverance. There will be tough challenges we will face in life and we must be ready for them and not give up.