Yanik Silver - Maverick Startup: 11 X-Factors to Bootstrap From Zero to Six Figures and Beyond

Publisher: Entrepreneur Press

Cover Design: Andrew Welyczko

Production and Composition: Eliot House Productions

2012 by Entrepreneur Press

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Silver, Yanik.

Maverick startup: 11 X-factors to bootstrap from zero to six figures (and beyond)/by Yanik Silver.

p. cm.

ISBN: 978-1-6130-8172-3

1. New business enterprises. 2. Success in business. I. Title.

HD62.5.S5584 2012

658.1'1dc232011048751

X-FACTOR 1
THE BIG IDEA

X-FACTOR 2
YOUR VISION

X-FACTOR 3
HIGH MARGINS AND PREMIUM PRICES

X-FACTOR 4
GET IT OUT THE DOOR

X-FACTOR 5
TEST AND IMPROVE

X-FACTOR 6
LISTEN AND SHIFT

X-FACTOR 7
CREATE ZEALOTS, SUPER FANS, AND ADVOCATES

X-FACTOR 8
WHATS NEXT?

X-FACTOR 9
CONNECTING AND
TAPPING YOUR MASTERMIND

X-FACTOR 10
CREATE THE FUN

X-FACTOR 11
CREATE THE IMPACT

T o my mom, Aleksandra, youre missed more than you realize. Ive learned that one common thread among successful people has been someone who unconditionally supported them. That was my mom. And she wasnt afraid to kick back a few vodka shots either to give me a run for my money.

To my dad, Joe, you showed me what its like to be a maverick entrepreneur before I knew I wanted to be one. To my brother, Adam, I love seeing you take the plunge into entrepreneurship with your own startup. Go ParkingPanda.com!

A big thank you goes to my wife, Missy, who has been there before I made the leap to being out on my own. You were there with the loaned computer from your office to help get my first idea off the ground and even a spare spot in your living room. No doubt, I was not loved by the roommates in the townhouse! And another thank you for helping create my two favorite startups, Zack and Zoe.

Countless mentors, prodders, instigators, and rabble rousers have helped in many big and small ways they might not even realize: Frank McKinney; Tony Hsieh; Joe Polish; Ryan Deiss; Dan Sullivan; Jeff Mulligan, Jeff Johnson, and Jeff Walker (or just the Jeffs); Eben Pagan; Ed Dale; Dean Jackson; Andy Jenkins; Frank Kern; Trey Smith; Perry Belcher; Tim Ferriss; Ryan Lee; Bill Harrison; Rob Olic; Chris Zavadowski; Cameron Herold; Ari Weinzweig; Dan Kennedy; Ted Nicholas; Bill Glazer; Jim Edwards; Michael Holland; Brendon Burchard; Foster Hibbard; Earl Nightingale; Chip Conley; Sir Richard Branson; and the members of the Maverick1000 network.

Certainly my editor, Jere Calmes from Entrepreneur Press, deserves to be singled out for keeping me up late writing and making me get this book out. Thank you (I think). And to the members of our Maverick teamAndrew Way, Kim Jacobson, Aydika James, and Sophia Umanskithanks for coming along for the ride!

And certainly Id be remiss if I left out the individuals who actually make all of this worthwhile. My heart sings for the maverick entrepreneur who flips the bird to the status quo and decides to make an impact in a big way on their own. I owe you a drink for buying this book.

Quite simply, I believe the biggest reason we are, or want to become, entrepreneurs is the pursuit of one single ideal: FREEDOM!

I remember the only so-called real job I ever had was working at TCBY (The Countrys Best Yogurt). I was 16 at the time, and working after school until close. Basically, it sucked! After a few days, free yogurt wasnt that exciting. I absolutely hated breaking down the machines at the end of the night, scrubbing the stupid tanks, and cleaning out the yogurt dispensers. Agh!!

Plus, I had to show up at the right time and leave when someone else told me to. That was the only wake-up call I needed to tell me I never wanted to be an employee again. It totally sucked and I quit.

I guess I had to get that lesson firsthand and Im glad it didnt take me years to get it. You see, my family is one of those semi-typical immigrant success stories you hear about.

My parents arrived in the United States from Russia in 1976 with $256 in their pockets for them, my grandmother, and little Yanik. They both didnt speak much English, but they were willing to work. That immigrant mentality of starting from nothing and building was a driving force. My father went to work in a local hospital in their cardiology department to repair and maintain their equipment.

Very quickly, my dad started moonlighting and repairing medical equipment for some of the doctors private practices. It wasnt too long before the hospital administrators found out about this and offered him an ultimatum: Either he stops or he gets fired.

He chose to quit and started his own business from the kitchen table of our little apartment, and grew the company to a multiple seven-figure enterprise.

Its that same spirit that pushed me to create something out of nothing (like all entrepreneurs do). But thats not all there is to the story. When I started my online businesses I decided Id set my own criteria and make my business revolve around my lifestyle and not the other way around, not try to fit in what I enjoyed whenever I could, but actually create a business that was fun (or adding more fun to it), schedule and create time to do things on my own Ultimate Big Life List, and make sure I was creating a massive impact through the causes I support.

You might boil down the Maverick Startup philosophy to this:

Set your own rules

Make more money

Have more fun

Experience a rich life

And give more to make a difference

If that sounds like something you can roll with, then youre in the right place. For me, its about the intersection of three areas of my entrepreneurial life (see Figure P.1).

And the X-Factors well cover inside the pages of this book are not your typical B-school advice. I graduated from a top-25 business school but Id be hard-pressed to say I really applied my degree in any way to being an entrepreneur. Or if you came looking for some thoughts on why you should be a S Corp vs. an LLC or where to incorporateyoure barking up the wrong tree here! (There are a ton of other people that can help you there.) What youve got in front of you are some of the intangibles that will take your budding business from a little concept on a napkin to throwing off serious revenue in a way that supports and builds up whatever else is important to you.