How has being an entrepreneur made you grow?

Are there things you wish you had known before you started your own company?

Of course there are.

I’m planning a talk on entrepreneurship from the inside out, and I want to address those things you wish you’d known. I need your input.

My focus is on how you can best use yourself as an entrepreneur, an “Owner’s Manual to Yourself”, if you will. Nothing about market segmentation or product portfolios or anything like that. It’s all about you.

It’s about personal growth through entrepreneurship. Because in order to be the best entrepreneur you can be, you have to be the best you you can be.

Sounds interesting? I thought so.

Here are some of the topics I’m considering:

1. Start from the heart and do what you love
2. Define clear, specific goals and you’re halfway there
3. Negative thoughts and emotions are friends: How to deal with fear, worry, regret, loneliness, etc.
4. Be a leader: Essential leadership skills
5. Be a boss: Be clear, and focus on the delivery, not the person.
6. Manage the process: Define the outcome, make a scoreboard, follow up.
7. Fall in love with reality: Hope is not a strategy; wishing things to be true don’t make them so.
8. Techniques for dealing with the workload
9. Common fears: Fear of rejection, success, failure, and uncertainty.

Which three would you most like to hear?

What would you love to hear about that’s not on the list?

If you are already an entrepreneur, what are the top 3 things you wish someone had told you before you started?

Entrepreneurs are a self-confident bunch, and we often don’t realize we could benefit from some outside help. How could I market this talk to get you to come? What are the key challenges I could address? What are the key phrases that would pique your interest? How would I best reach you?

I’m planning on the first talk being about 2 hours with some break-out exercises, so obviously only a few of the items above can be covered. What would you pay to attend such a talk?

Do you know of a good venue in Copenhagen I could use for the talk? I’d expect between 10 and 20 people for the first talk in January.

Thanks for your insights, I appreciate it. Respond in the comments or my email to lars at pinds dot com.