David Kidder: Becoming Successful and Discovering Who You Are | E69

Welcome to another episode of In Search of Excellence! My guest today is my good friend, David Kidder.David is a serial entrepreneur, active angel investor, advisor to Fortune 500 companies, sought-after speaker, and author of four books, including two New York Times bestsellers, “The Startup Playbook” and “The Intellectual Devotional."David has been a co-founder and CEO of three venture-backed startups, including Clickable, SmartRay, and Bionic, where he is currently a CEO.We are talking about his background and early years, college experience, his first company, how to be successful as an entrepreneur, how to overcome the fear of failure, and what the future holds for our kids in this constantly changing world. Tune in to learn more! 02:15 David Kidder’s background and early childhood05:22 What is Montgomery Ward?08:26 The advice to companies that get offers to be bought by private equity firms11:45 How to hire the right person for the job?15:26 As a young entrepreneur, how to figure out what is good?19:30 The story of David's uncle, Roger Franchi23:25 How important are mentors for success?26:02 How important is the college experience today? 30:24 How to advise kids on caring for their mental health?35:04 The advice to students on how to deal with mental stress and negative thoughts 43:28 The start of David’s first company at 19 46:55 What is a roll-up?49:40 Fear of failure and how to bounce back from failureAbout Randall Kaplan: Randall Kaplan is a serial entrepreneur, venture capitalist, executive coach, co-founder of Akamai Technologies, founder and CEO of JUMP Investors, and host of In Search of Excellence. Through his Extreme Preparation™ methodology, he helps founders, executives, business owners, and ambitious professionals improve strategy, communication, decision-making, and execution.Coaching and Staying Connected:1-on-1 Coaching | Instagram | YouTube | TikTok | LinkedIn | X