An open letter to meeting planners and others interested in scheduling Brian Schwartz to come speak
Dear Meeting Planner,
I am the author of the award winning book 50 Interviews: Entrepreneurs Thriving in Uncertain Times which includes interviews with over 50 prominent entrepreneurs.
I immensely appreciate the opportunity to speak to your group about my book, typically I speak for about 30-40 minutes and then invite an entrepreneur (or member of your community) or two on stage for some Q&A. This has worked extremely well in the past to engage the audience and results in every engagement being slightly different. Jake Jabs himself recently stated “…out of the hundreds of speeches on entrepreneurship I have participated in, Brian’s format was the best at getting the message across.”
My talk is built upon 4 distinctions with specific vignettes and examples provided by those I interviewed, many of whom are highly respected in the entrepreneurial community including; Kim Jordan of New Belgium, Bob Parsons of Go Daddy, Michael Gerber, Allen Fishman, and Jake Jabs. The insights I share are not entirely of my own making – it’s actually the collective wisdom of the 50+ entrepreneurs featured in my book. They provide a level of significant credibility to the points I make, including:
The four key distinctions all successful entrepreneurs share:
1. Discover a consuming passion. The more you share, the stronger it becomes. Similar to an addiction, you can’t turn it off and when you really get into it, it doesn’t feel like work.
2. Pursue an impersonal goal. When you discover a purpose greater than yourself, you will be willing to do it despite the money. It’s more about the impact on other people than on you.
3. Learn to embrace risk. Successful entrepreneurs see risk as dashing into the future with hope and the possibility to move closer towards their impersonal goal. Many shared that once they mentally can accept the worst possible outcome, they feel empowered to take action.
4. Emulate to learn, innovate to earn. Emulating is a great way to get onto the field, but all great accomplishment in the world has stemmed from someone doing something different. Eventually, you need to blaze your own trail and innovate to find success.
You can see a short highlight video on my speaking page.
Some notable past events worth mention that I spoke at recently include:
• DaVinci Institute (Over 200 attendance) – highlight video here.
• TiE-Rockies (Over 100 in attendance) – highlight video here.
• University of Northern Colorado (Over 130 in attendance) – entire replay of the event can be viewed here.
• Larimer County Workforce Symposium (video will be posted shortly).
The unique approach I take when I speak is in engaging a successful entrepreneur from the area to participate and not only demonstrate the interview process directly, but involve the audience as well through a lively Q&A session.
The event we did at UNC drew a crowd of over 130, brought a new level of awareness to the entrepreneur club and the school of business. It was a huge success and I’ve been encouraged to expand it to as many universities as possible.
I appreciate your consideration and I hope to connect with you soon.
PS: If you would like me to mail you a copy of my book, I’d be happy to do so, just complete the form below and I will send it off right away.
PPS: In most cases, I can arrange to have an entrepreneur join me at the event, however I prefer that the organizations and companies to whom I’m addressing recommend an outstanding member of their own community.
All the best,
Brian Schwartz
Authorpreneur
970-215-1078 (cell)
50interviews@gmail.com
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