I recently sat down with Bryan Eisenberg, New York Times bestselling author and host of the Rock Solid podcast, and he asked me something I was not prepared for.
"What is the common thread through all of it: tennis, technology, bicycles, entrepreneurship, coaching, investing?"
I had to sit with that. Because the honest answer is not a skill or an industry. It is a way of seeing the world. I have always believed that inside every big challenge lives a big opportunity. Most people see the challenge and stop. I have always walked toward it.
I left Germany with three tennis rackets and a toothbrush in 1994. I built the fastest growing children's bicycle brand in the US from scratch. I have hired, scaled, failed, learned, and started over. And now I spend my time helping other entrepreneurs do the same, faster and with fewer scars.
Here are some of the take-aways from the podcast with Bryan. --> Listen Here
5 Things I Learned the Hard Way
1. You are never fully ready. Go anyway. I packed three tennis rackets and a toothbrush and got on a plane. That was it. No plan, no safety net, no idea what was coming. And honestly? That is true of every big thing I have ever done. You will never feel ready enough. At some point you just have to trust yourself and go.
2. The hard problem you are staring at right now is probably your biggest opportunity. When I got into bikes in 2014 everyone thought I was crazy. But I just kept asking questions nobody else was asking. Like, why does a 30-pound kid have to ride a 25-pound bike? That is insane when you think about it. And nobody had thought about it. Your industry has something like that too. You just have to slow down enough to see it.
3. You cannot expect your team to live your values if you have never told them what they are. This one is on me. I literally told two of my managers to "think about our values" during a disagreement and one of them said "what are our values?" I wanted to disappear. But it was the best thing that could have happened because we fixed it that same day. If your people are making decisions you do not like, ask yourself what you have actually communicated. Probably less than you think.
4. Pick up the phone and actually talk to your customers. I used my personal cell number as our customer service line. People thought I was nuts. But I needed to hear the real stuff, not a summary, not a report. Just real people telling me what was working and what was not. You will learn more in ten of those calls than in a month of meetings. I promise you that.
5. The stuff that actually matters will never feel urgent. That is the problem. Your culture, your team, your health, your relationships. None of it is on fire today. So you push it off. And then one day you look up and realize everything around you is either thriving or falling apart based on how much attention you gave those things. Do not wait for the crisis. Make time for what matters now.
After ten years of building, scaling, and eventually stepping away from woom, I had my own reckoning. I took a year off, went to a meditation retreat, and got honest with myself about what I actually wanted. The answer surprised me.
I don't really want to build another business. I want to help others to become the best version of themselves.
That is what I do now. I coach entrepreneurs and business owners who are ready to stop running on fumes and start building something that actually reflects who they are and what they stand for. And I work as a certified divorce coach, because I have been through that journey too, and I know how much it costs a man when he has nobody in his corner.
If any of this resonated with you, reach out. I am not hard to find.
Rock Solid: Round Rock Business Leaders is a podcast for entrepreneurs across the Round Rock community. Every episode pulls back the curtain on what it actually takes to build something real. It is hosted by Bryan Eisenberg, produced by Bill Combes of No Time for Social, and recorded at Round Rock Studio by Brent Pierce. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.
I hope you enjoy this episode. Let me know what your biggest take-away. I read every email
— Mathias
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