I just watched these four segments of a brilliant talk by Danny O'Neill, founder of his own highly successful coffee roasting company in Kansas City. Had never heard of him before.
He needs a few minutes to warm up but all of what he has to say is so straightforward and sincere that it's a practical wisdom version of business savvy and pure decency. Very inspiring I think for people wanting to start their business in whatever market.
His success depended on a lot of tiny bits of dumb luck before success started to appear in small portions. Intriguingly, he was helped through the first very hard months initially by two car wrecks and then by an earthquake. You have to watch him tell that so I won't spoil the story.
His company's method of staff selection for instance sounds great. If a super talent comes over and performs outrageously well, they still first call the taxi driver that drove him from the airport and back and if the candidate was anything less than decent and friendly, they will never hire him.
He even has advice straight from the heart to people who've already "made it" and are ready to sell off their company and live the American dream. Don't sell, he says. He knows more than a dozen friends who've made it big and sold, but none of them are happy that they did. When your company is hugely successful, you must have been (and be!) passionate about it -- you do not sell such a thing and get happy.
He does take much more time to be with his family though.
Go watch this!
He needs a few minutes to warm up but all of what he has to say is so straightforward and sincere that it's a practical wisdom version of business savvy and pure decency. Very inspiring I think for people wanting to start their business in whatever market.
His success depended on a lot of tiny bits of dumb luck before success started to appear in small portions. Intriguingly, he was helped through the first very hard months initially by two car wrecks and then by an earthquake. You have to watch him tell that so I won't spoil the story.
His company's method of staff selection for instance sounds great. If a super talent comes over and performs outrageously well, they still first call the taxi driver that drove him from the airport and back and if the candidate was anything less than decent and friendly, they will never hire him.
He even has advice straight from the heart to people who've already "made it" and are ready to sell off their company and live the American dream. Don't sell, he says. He knows more than a dozen friends who've made it big and sold, but none of them are happy that they did. When your company is hugely successful, you must have been (and be!) passionate about it -- you do not sell such a thing and get happy.
He does take much more time to be with his family though.
Go watch this!