Launch Youniversity

Turning Good Intentions into Reality in Your Career, Business and Life

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114: The Truth about Scaling Fast With Global Scaling Academy’s Chris Yeh

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Summary:

Your perspective often determines your view on successful businesses. To you, companies like Amazon, Uber, and Airbnb are monoliths that were guaranteed successful by sheer luck or the millions they secured in venture capital. You might think it’s impossible to grow your business, especially that way.

In today’s episode, Chris Yeh, cofounder of Global Scaling Academy and coauthor of Blitzscaling, introduces us to the concept of blitzscaling, a type of rapid growth pursuit, and what that could look like for your business. Today, you’ll discover the best time to start working with a startup and what’s required of leaders who want to rapidly grow their businesses as entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs.

Welcome to episode 114 of the Launch Youniversity Podcast.

Links + Resources:

Chris Yeh

Global Scaling Academy

Blitzscaling: The Lightning-Fast Path to Building Massively Valuable Companies (book)

Reid Hoffman

David Kelley

Blitzscaling

Four Takeaways:

1. Determine if blitzscaling is right for your company. Identify the areas where blitzscaling can be relevant in your new or existing business. Would your company be able to sustain itself during a season of rapid growth? If so, you may want to pursue blitzscaling as a way to grow your business.

2. Adapt your leadership style. The way you lead will be determined by the size of your company. A lot of entrepreneurs don’t realize a company requires leadership versatility as it changes and grows. Be willing to change as your business changes and listen to the pulse of your employees to see what they need to thrive.


3. Be an infinite learner. Learning will (and should) take place continuously. Embrace this. The skills and experiences that once brought you success during one phase may not necessarily prepare you for the next phase in your business’s growth.

 4. Develop a strong sense of self awareness. Know your strengths and weakness. What do you enjoy? What don’t you enjoy? Get to know yourself well — do the things that fuel you, and delegate the rest. 

Thank you for listening to the Launch Youniversity Podcast! If you have a question that you want to be answered on the podcast… ask us here!

113: The Journey of Launching a Book

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The Launch Youniversity Podcast
The Launch Youniversity Podcast
113: The Journey of Launching a Book
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Summary:

At Launch Youniversity, we love sharing the stories of people who are in various stages of a launch so you can learn firsthand the steps they’re using to propel their vision forward. Today, our very own mentors, Jeff Henderson and David Farmer, talk about Jeff’s latest project, a book he’s writing called, “For,” and what he’s found has made the undertaking not only manageable, but enjoyable. In today’s episode, Jeff shares what he’s learned during the process of writing his book, including the importance of defining small wins, knowing when to delegate, and the impact of setting a deadline.

Welcome to episode 113 of the Launch Youniversity Podcast.

Links + Resources:

Elevator Pitch

Carey Nieuwhof

On Writing: 10th Anniversary Edition: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King

069: When Passion and Heart Lead the Way: Dana Spinola of fab’rik

Bryan Miles

Five Takeaways:

1. Define small wins. When you break the task at hand down into small, manageable tasks, it’s easier for you to manage your expectations and stress levels. For Jeff, his small win is writing 500 words a day instead of viewing his success through the lens of his total word count for the entire book. Once you achieve your small win, celebrate!

2. Define the type of work you’re doing. Jeff shares how there are three types of work you’ll be doing in the launch process: creative work, logistics work, and people. For him, the creative part of process is actually writing the book. The logistics work is the administrative tasks, such as writing captions, getting photo approvals, etc. The people portion of the work is connecting with the people in your sphere to help you, whether it’s requesting they tweet about your upcoming project, or other helpful ways to support you.

3. Determine when you do your best work. When are you your most creative self? Whenever that time is, whether it’s early in the morning when most people are still sleeping or late at night, that’s when you should be doing your work. Also, take into account the ideal environment you need to be in to work creatively.


4. Does it drain or build your energy? Jeff shared a telltale sign of when he needs to delegate a task: If the tasks drains his energy or if he dreads it, that’s a task someone else might need to be pulled in to do so it leaves him room to do what he does best.

5. Start now. Some of you have some great ideas that are meant to be shared with the world. So start sharing them! Give yourself an artificial deadline to light a fire within you and get going.

Thank you for listening to the Launch Youniversity Podcast! If you have a question that you want to be answered on the podcast… ask us here!

110: 3 Common Components of Every Launch

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The Launch Youniversity Podcast
The Launch Youniversity Podcast
110: 3 Common Components of Every Launch
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Summary:

Launch Youniversity wants to challenge you to launch something new this year. What will that be? Will it be at work or at home? Will it be a new business or something within your current organization? Call it out, capture it, and be intentional about accomplishing it.

As you begin your new journey, keep in mind these elements of every launch.

Welcome to episode 110 of the Launch Youniversity Podcast.

Links + Resources:

Launch Loop eBook

Mindset by Carol Dweck

Three Takeaways:

  • There will be uncertainty

If there’s one thing that’s certain, it’s that there will be uncertainty. You don’t have to have everything figured out, but think about that one next step. Eventually the bigger picture will become clear.

  • Lead Yourself First

Leadership isn’t about leading someone who is subordinate to you or telling people what or how to do something. At the core of all good leadership is self leadership. Self leadership can dramatically influence your success. Listen to learn about the law of the lid and how that can impact your organization.

  • Lead Others Well

The most helpful leadership advice is to be incredibly clear about what you expect from your team. To be clear is to be kind. Also offer your team members unending support and challenge them to stretch themselves.

Thank you for listening to the Launch Youniversity Podcast! If you have a question that you want to be answered on the podcast… ask us here!

109: The Highs and Lows of Entrepreneurship with Kevin Peak of Strategic Treasurer and CaJa Popcorn

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The Launch Youniversity Podcast
The Launch Youniversity Podcast
109: The Highs and Lows of Entrepreneurship with Kevin Peak of Strategic Treasurer and CaJa Popcorn
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Summary:

All of us are trying to launch something, whether it’s inside a business or outside of one, a startup, or a side hustle. And with any launch, there is usually a gap of where you are and your ultimate destination (with a lot of stops, detours, and unexpectedness in between). Along the way, you’ll encounter points where you have to make critical decisions for your business or idea, and sometimes, you might feel a bit out of your element. This is why we do this podcast — we seek to link you with resources and shared experiences of others to help you where you are right now.

That’s why we were happy to sit down with Kevin Peak for today’s interview — Kevin has been where you are. For nearly six years, Kevin owned and operated CaJa Popcorn, a wholesale and retail popcorn company that specializes in artisanal flavors such as pimento cheese, spicy BBQ, and sea salt caramel. Then, he decided to return to his first love as a treasury consultant, selling his successful business and starting over from scratch. In today’s episode, you’ll hear the highs and lows of being solopreneur, when he knew it was time to sell the business, and the skills he’s acquired along the way.

Welcome to episode 109 of the Launch Youniversity Podcast.

Links + Resources:

CaJa Popcorn

Strategic Treasurer

ATDC: Technology Business Incubator

BizBuySell

Three Takeaways:

  • Spend time with people who are doing interesting things. You might want to launch something new, but you’re not quite sure what it will be. That’s OK! We encourage you to hang out with people who are doing cool, creative things (and not necessarily in the exact industry you’ll be launching in). Get some inspiration, perspective, and new relationships — all these things will guarantee a great launch later.
  • Brace yourself for challenges. Launches are almost always met with challenges. Be prepared for them and keep reminding yourself: the tension won’t last always.
  • Find others to help in your areas of weakness. There will come a time during your launch when you’ll be confused about what your next steps should be. Lean on your existing relationships (or make new ones) to help you navigate those areas where you lack adequate knowledge.

Thank you for listening to the Launch Youniversity Podcast! If you have a question that you want to be answered on the podcast… ask us here!

How to Overcome the Naysayers

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You want to quit your stable job because you have an idea and a dream. You want to turn that into a reality and sustain it. But friends, family, or peers think you are crazy and are questioning your decisions.

As every entrepreneur knows, you don’t know if your idea will be successful until you try. So how do you get past the questions, fears, and unknowns when you feel lead to start a business? [Read more…] about How to Overcome the Naysayers

106: How to Go From Good Intentions to Reality with Blake Canterbury of Purposity

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The Launch Youniversity Podcast
The Launch Youniversity Podcast
106: How to Go From Good Intentions to Reality with Blake Canterbury of Purposity
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Summary:

The path to launching is often riddled with failed attempts and disappointments, and sometimes those new to launching start to lose heart when they’re met with obstacles at every turn. But don’t get too discouraged just yet: Sometimes the obstacles you face are an indicator you’re on the right path.

When Blake Canterbury came up with the idea for Purposity, he didn’t set out to save the world. Two years ago, he started helping kids in Georgia’s Forsyth County schools with whatever needs a school’s homeless liaison saw among students, from providing new shoes to new clothes. Then, more schools got involved, which ultimately led to the creation of Purposity, an app that makes generosity easy to do by linking users to needs in their local communities. To date, the app has more than 25,000 users and 10,000 transactions of giving in communities across the country. In today’s episode, Blake shares his thought process behind taking what originally started as a personal intention to a national philanthropic reality.

Welcome to episode 106 of the Launch Youniversity Podcast.

Links + Resources:

The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph

Purposity

096: Scott Harrison of charity: water Finds Purpose, Success Through His Non-Profit

Three Takeaways:

  • Start your launch with a real problem. Look around you — what are the needs of your community? Whatever your answer to this question is, your product or idea should align with this need. When you address needs — and not just your desire to see an idea through — your idea is on the right path.
  • Some investors won’t invest in your idea until you’ve failed. There will be obstacles every step of the way of your launch — this is to be expected. But take heart: Your next failed step might be what you need to get an investor to buy into your idea. Investors want to see trial and error, growth, and projected outcomes.
  • Inspiration + education = action. Whether you want to inspire behavior change among your team or your potential customers, you need to first inspire and educate them through your well-communicated mission.

Thank you for listening to the Launch Youniversity Podcast! If you have a question that you want to be answered on the podcast… ask us here!