Keys to the Vault and business school for entrepreneurs with Keith J. Cunningham

Yesterday (Sunday 28th of March 2010) I got the pleasure to meet one of the best business minds in the world! Keith J. Cunningham. You may know him as the “Rich Dad” from Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money-That the Poor and the Middle Class Do Not!. He gave an inspirational and eye-opening 5 hour talk on business school for entrepreneurs at the Bay Area PowerTeam group.

About Keith J. Cunningham

• Keith is one of the world’s foremost and most sought after business and wealth building experts.
• He teaches based on over 25 years of personal business success.  He has built, bought, and sold more businesses than most can imagine. He is the main business & wealth expert at Tony Robbins’ Wealth Mastery and Business Mastery Courses.
• Keith is THE go to guy for many of the industry’s top thought leaders  – Tony Robbins, Robert Kiyosaki, Dr. Dolf DeRoos, T. Harv Ecker, Brain Tracy, Jack Canfield, and many more.

If you want to know more about Keith, check out Keith’s full bio here.

Take home notes from the seminar

Notes:

• Leaders have followers and take them towards an uncertain future.
• A pencil is better than a sharp mind. ~ Always have a pad and pencil where every you go since there is something always to learn and take away.
• When the tide rises it lifts all the ships. All you have to have is a boat in the water. ~ I love this one since so many people wish they could be wealthy but yet do not have any ships (investments) in the water waiting for the tide to rise.
  
• You don’t do what you do know.
• Run the Business NOT the Operations. ~ This is the difference between owning a business which can run autonomously without you or a business which needs you around 24×7. You want the former.
  
• A good idea yesterday is not necessarily a good idea today.
• Learning doesnt happen until something happens.
• Most people are good at goal setting but fail at goal achievement. ~ Oh this one is really good! how many people have you heard say they know all about goal setting but yet fail to execute on their goals. This is the silent killer.
  
• Don’t let perfect get into the way of possible.
• To become a master teach what you learn. ~ Have you found your true calling?
  
• Business makes money, hobbies do not.
• Customer’s do not want a value proposition, then need success proposition.

What is Success?

1. FOWTW
Find Out What They Want

2. GAGI
Go And Get It

3. GITT
Give It To Them

4 Rules to getting VC consideration – from the Q&A:

Note – this is VC consideration not buying. VC’s get a ton of offers each day so how do you get distinguished from the rest? This is how:

• Management – It’s about Execution Intelligence. Having those that run know what they are doing i.e. a good track record.
• PUD (Pimp Up Demand) – Having a proof of concept. Something to show that you have demand for this product or service.
• Nice to Have – What are the barriers to entry for your competitors. How are you stopping competition eg. patent / IP etc. Think of a great restaurant you know… was it McDonald’s? – it does have a strong brand which protects itself.
• R/R (Rich & Reward) – If I sell you 1% of my company for $1m does this mean your company is worth $100m. The only way this can happen is if you have great management (point 1), PUD (point 2) and ways to stop competitors from replicating you (point 3).

Keys to the Vault – Keith’s new book

Having only just found out about Keith’s new book called “Keys to the Vault: Lessons From the Pros on Raising Money and Igniting Your Business” I havent had the pleasure reading it yet. But it is now on order from Amazon If this book is anything close to what I heard at Keith’s seminar then it’s a gold keeper – a true key to the vault of success.

Here’s a short description of the book from Amazon: If you have a great idea for a business but don’t know what to do next, this book was written for you. Keys to the Vault will help you finance your idea, ignite your business, and beat the odds. It covers everything you need to know, from how professional investors think to the nitty-gritty of developing a solid business plan and choosing the right legal and capital structure for your business. If you need the formula for finding the money and building a successful business, you will find it in Keys to the Vault.

Watch these videos – they will inspire you

Keith has a number of free videos available on his website. I highly recommend you spend some time watching them and you will definitely walk away with new knowledge.

Videos: http://www.keystothevault.com/video/index.html

Keith discusses the following topics there:
1. Hiring the Talent
2. Is vs Ought Part 1
3. Is vs Ought Part 2
4. Most Peoples Lives
5. Setting the Culture
6. Success
7. The 3 Big Dials

Keiron McCammon – special guest

I also had the pleasure meeting and speaking to Keiron McCammon. A successful entrepreneur, the man behind kaboodle.com and onehandedblogger.com. Kaboodle has grown to be the #1 social shopping site on the web, with over 15 million monthly visitors and is a top 150 Internet property in the US. It continues pioneer and dominate the social shopping arena. Keith is an amazing individual having battled great obstacles in his life and on his blog he shares these stories which will inspire you.

KaBoodle – shopping site
http://www.kaboodle.com/

Keiron’s Personal Blog inc. his upcoming Ironman World Championship. Click link below and help Keiron raise $10,000 for the Challenged Athletes Foundation!
http://www.onehandedblogger.com/

As always I love questions so please ask!

Ernest

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Tagged as: business school, entrepreneurs, FOWTW, GAGI, GITT, Keiron McCammon, Keith J. Cunningham, Keys to the Vault, rich dad, Rich Dad Poor Dad, wealth