David Kidder: Obsess Over Solving Problems, Not Making Money | E70

Welcome to the second part of In Search of Excellence, featuring an exceptional man and a good friend of mine, 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 discussing if an entrepreneur is born or made, what is the right motivation to start a business, how to learn from hardships, what is the concept of TOAD, and the concept of Becoming. Tune in to hear more! 00:35 Are you born as an entrepreneur or you can become one?- Born entrepreneurs are very rare- Mostly conditioned at home- Creativeness and problem-solving 09:52 The motivation for starting a business- Those who earn $100 million are rare- You can't be a billionaire without being lucky- Compounding is the secret to long-term wealth 16:51 Extreme preparation and its importance for the success- Extreme preparation benefits greatly- For public speaking, David prepares like hell- Do not love people just to get something from them 23:20 Transition from an entrepreneur to an angle investor- 70% of all of our returns come from 7% of all capital deployed- There are two investment signals- You have to put yourself in a network 27:47 Dealing with difficult people and hardships- You have to have the ability to say no to people- Best books about entrepreneurship- Success is a bad educator- Growth lives in discomfort 33:34 Three most important things to look for in an entrepreneur- Why them? What is their secret? What is their proprietary gift?- Timing, their understanding of the forces within the next 3-5 years- The ability to solve a problem and create an unfair advantage 35:24 Three worst things that an entrepreneur can do- Overconfidence- Ambition, not obsession, as a drive- Urgency bias 37:14 What motivates David to be self-aware and constantly grow?- The Becoming Journey- The second stage is Love Loving point- Mike Tyson – an incredible human being- Toad principle 44:28 What is a toad and how it changes people’s lives?- It's a natural psychedelic that exists in both biological and organic form- The conscious physical reality that we live in is a part of the larger nature of our creation- These are not toys, they're not recreational, they're profoundly powerful- You’d probably want to experience them later in your life, in your 40s and 50s 48:12 Fill in the blank to excellence- When I started my career I wish I had known    - The biggest lesson I've learned in my life is- My number one professional goal is- My biggest regret in life isAbout 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