04 TPE My Three-Sheet Story-converted

The transcription is about the author's experience as a "toilet paper entrepreneur" compared to the media darling entrepreneurs (MDEs) like the founders of Facebook and Google. The author emphasizes that success can be achieved following any path and shares their own journey of starting and growing multiple businesses. They highlight the importance of strong beliefs, focus, and effort. The author also mentions their accomplishments and offers to help others succeed as well. Overall, the message is that anyone can achieve success by following the path of a toilet paper entrepreneur. My Three Sheets Story Facebook, Google, and YouTube all rocketed to incredible success faster than you can say the words, Holy Sheet. They're worth hundreds of millions, or billions, or hundreds of billions. The surprising thing is that the founders were all 20-somethings when they launched and made their gazillions. Holy Sheet! Their success is amazing, and for that they get the lion's share of media attention. They are heralded as the best of the best and the foundation of the new economy. My experience was different, way different. And the main difference between my story and those of the media darling entrepreneurs, MDEs, is how we launched and built our businesses. But we'll get to all that later. The success of the toilet paper entrepreneurs are rarely discussed, let alone heralded, in the media. It is these everyday entrepreneurs who are slowly but surely marching along, creating amazing companies, and achieving remarkable results. Google is not real in that it is not a typical experience. However, its success is achievable for your own business if you truly believe in it. More on that later. But Google should not be seen as the path to success, simply as one path. There are many other paths traveled by the likes of the well-known and the unknown. These are the paths of the TPE. Some of them are the well-known, such as Bill Hewlett and David Packard, who started their company for $538 and a garage workshop, ultimately yielding today's $100 billion conglomerate. Some of them are somewhat lesser-known entrepreneurs, like Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK, who took a summer dream and turned it into a junk business, now approaching $200 million in revenue. David Packard, Bill Hewlett, and Brian Scudamore are all toilet paper entrepreneurs. So am I, and, I expect, so are you. I'm here to tell you their stories and the stories of others, as well as the lessons learned. I'm here to tell you the real deal of successful entrepreneurship. It is bloated with failures, drenched with progress, marred with mistakes, and peppered with major achievements. So who am I to talk about this stuff? I am a toilet paper entrepreneur. My journey was a fight in the trenches, but I learned how to get out and make it big. Often funny, sometimes a struggle, my entrepreneurial adventure has been far from glamorous. I even moved my wife and infant into a retirement village to save money. Nothing glamorous there, believe me. Unless you like shuffleboard and funky-smelling old people. And I have found myself stranded on the toilet bowl once or twice. I've worked 48 hours straight because I had to, sleeping in clients' conference rooms to save on hotel bills. And as I write this, I'm sitting at a used desk I scavenged to save bucks, even though I have more than enough dough to swing a trip to Office Depot. The odds are that your path will be more like mine than Mark Zuckerberg's of Facebook. But I want you to know that success can be achieved following any path. You don't need to have a full role to walk out winning. You can do it with just three sheets of TP. And no matter which path you choose, you have to do it with strong beliefs, absolute focus, and loads of effort. Here's a quick look at my three-sheet story versus the MDE's. Media darling entrepreneur, age six, starts a lawn mowing business by recruiting teenagers in the neighborhood, buys parents a house. Mike's, my, three-sheet path, age six, still in diapers. MDE, age 12, sits on the board of a major toy company. Me, age 12, rushed to a major hospital for eating a toy. MDE, age 18, is recruited by top Ivy League schools but rejects them to launch a VC funded company. Me, age 18, picks a college based upon the favorable guy-to-girl ratio, a rise, and is instantly rejected by the girls. MDE, age 19, masters the management of a multi-million dollar company. Me, age 19, masters the inverted keg tap. MDE, age 21, goes public. Me, at age 21, goes home. MDE, age 24, retires. Me, at age 24, drinks too many beers and starts own company because any idiot can do it. MDE, age 24, in one day, comes out of retirement. Celebrations ensue. Me, age 24, in one day, launches a new company, finds out that any idiot can't do it. Panic ensues. MDE, age 27, has another super success because everyone expects it. Me, age 27, company succeeds because there is no alternative. MDE, age 30, is no longer in the news because the next 18-year-old phenom is all over the headlines. Me, age 30, finds his passion, launches another company, grows fast and strong. MDE, age 33, seeks psychiatric help to find himself. Me, at age 33, found himself. He's living his passion. Business and life are great. MDE, age 36, writes a book on life's story, doesn't sell, goes to work for a TPE. Me, age 36, inspired a new breed of business leaders, the TPEs. TPEs go on to hire failed MDEs. So what are my successes? I have the list of obligatory accomplishments, but more importantly, I've discovered my passion and am living it. I love launching startup businesses, making them great, and doing it fast. I love the underdog, the unsung hero, the people who are committed to their goals but maybe aren't given a fair chance. I love helping people even out the odds, showing them how to exploit their natural strengths so they can go out and kick ass. My life's vocation is all about working hand-in-hand with first-time entrepreneurs to grow their concepts into industry leaders. I love doing this. As a result, I am extremely happy, making a great living, and feel constantly energized. I've achieved health, wealth, and happiness all at once. To me, this is my greatest success. What will yours be? My list of obligatory accomplishments. In case you don't want to Google my ass, here are my resume highlights. I started my first business, a computer integration company, at 24. I sold the company on December 31st, 2002, through a private transaction. It lives on today as a thriving company. On January 1st, 2003, I started a new company. Yes, the very next day. That company came into national prominence in three short years and was subsequently acquired by a large public firm in 2006. I started my third company, Obsidian Launch, in the summer of 2005. The name was different back then and so was the preliminary concept. It changed because I took time to look introspectively, discover what I really love to do, and slowly build a concept around my interests and life goals. My earlier companies, while very successful, were built on concepts that were desirable to the market but didn't exploit my talents and my passion to their fullest. My latest company has all that covered, so I'm good. I have followed the path of the toilet paper entrepreneur. Early on, unintentionally and unaware, but over time, deliberately, it was stronger focus. Throughout, I have valued my beliefs discovered and exploited my strengths, and most importantly, never stopped pushing ahead even during the toughest times. The results? In addition to selling two companies for lots of cash, I now partner in the launch of a new company approximately every four weeks. I'm a reoccurring guest on The Big Idea with Donnie Deutsch and other television programs. I've received many entrepreneur awards including the SBA's Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. I've been interviewed in many national media outlets. I've presented at some of the country's most prestigious universities, and I barely had a B average at Virginia Tech. Go figure! I am the author of this book and intend to write many more, and most importantly, I continue to quickly grow revenue and profits for all my companies. My goal is not to be a braggart here, but simply to point out that if I can do this, so can you. Also, make sure you don't mix up getting media exposure with being a media darling. Exposure in the media is a great thing. I strongly suggest you seek it out, as I do. Being an MDE is something different than mere exposure. It is more about the overnight successes who actually do achieve success overnight. MDE's should be an exalted group, no question, but they should not be perceived as an exclusive group. You can and will achieve success too if you want. Your overnight success may just take time to build. Ultimately, you can achieve any goals you desire, and you can do it all by following the path of the toilet paper entrepreneur. Clearly, I have not followed the path of the MDE, but most entrepreneurs don't. You too will most likely launch your business with three sheets, a wing, and a prayer. My job is to help you get rid of the wing and prayer part. Your job is to succeed on your three sheets. Let's get started, shall we?