Matt had a full day at the office. It was as if the workload had caught up with him after a few days being mentally checked out of work and checked into the Third Shift Entrepreneur group. He had lost track of time and had spent the better part of the afternoon in his office with the door closed cranking through financial statements and client work. When he looked up, he realized it was 6:20 p.m. He put his things together, including some work to bring home, and dashed out of the office in order to make it to the 7:00 p.m. event Renault invited him to. While he didn't know a lot, or anything for that matter, about what to expect, he knew he couldn't be late. He had made a point to wear a nicer blazer and pants when he might have otherwise opted for something more casual since he was going to be in the office all day. With Renault, he thought, better to be overdressed than to be underdressed.
Matt jumped in a cab and gave the address. Matt recognized the neighborhood – a swanky part of the Near North Side of the city where people lived in tall, four-story row homes on tree-lined streets even though they were only blocks away from piercing skyscrapers. “Here we are,” offered the cab driver. Matt wasn't sure he had ever been in one of these homes and suddenly felt intimidated by the wealth that lived on the street. After last night's foray into a bustling coffee shop with a graduate-student crowd, this setting seemed all the more daunting.
The house he was going to had a broad and dramatic poured-concrete staircase that led up to an oversized oak door with a brass knocker the size of his fist. Gas-fired lamps flickered on either side of the door, and inside Matt could hear a pleasant bustling of people talking and what sounded like music.
Matt stood in front of this door, paused, and for a second thought about just walking away, unsure that he even belonged here. This was his second night in a row visiting places across the city he had never before seen, at the direction of a group he barely knew. As he stood there contemplating whether to stay or go, a server in a black bow tie answered the door.
“Good evening,” she offered, opening the door with one hand while holding a tray of champagne with the other. “Please come in.”
Matt stepped into the house, picked up a glass of champagne, and made his way into a large main livingroom with high ceilings, votive candles burning throughout, a staged fireplace, and oversized, comfortable furniture. There were what looked like 20 to 30 people milling about, all seemingly wealthy. Antique maps were staged throughout the space either in large cases or framed and sitting on tripods. Servers moved trays of hors d'oeuvres throughout the cocktail reception. Matt cased the place for any sign of Renault and finally spotted him in the corner of the kitchen chatting with someone he then recognized as Chad. He walked over to make his presence known.
“Gentlemen, what a stunning home. Thank you for inviting me.” Matt extended a handshake to Chad and Renault.
“We are glad you are here. It was Renault's idea.” Chad smiled as he gave credit for the idea to his mentor.
“Well, thanks, Renault. I appreciate it. I'm honored to be here, even though I don't quite know what exactly this is.”
“Oh, you'll find out shortly. Chad, why don't you go and do what you need to do, which is talk to your customers.” Renault released Chad to go and shake hands and mingle with the folks gathered. As Chad made his way to shake hands and greet guests Matt saw him light up and radiate a charm which he did with ease, though Matt had remembered him as fairly reserved and even stiff at the morning meeting.
“This,” Renault began, turning to scan the reception and the guests gathered, “is an antique map show, salon style. These individuals fashion themselves history buffs or art historians or cartographers, or just fancy people who want to be in the company of fancy people. Chad has organized this as a way to showcase maps, teach people about the art of cartography, and sell some pieces.”
“Is this Chad's home?” Matt asked, continuing to look around and absorb the splendor and architectural details.
“No, this actually belongs to the senior partner of Chad's law firm. He's that gentleman over there in his mid-70s.” Renault pointed out a dapper man in a cable knit sweater sipping champagne and entertaining two other guests his age.
“Before I share more about Chad and tonight's event I want to ask: What did you learn from Yisel?” Renault asked.
“A lot, actually. Definitely one of the big lessons watching her was how you can get paid to learn, which is what she is doing by working part time at Viva. I also learned how there are creative ways to start a business without spending a lot of money by borrowing other people's infrastructure, in her case the coffee roasting equipment. I mean, she's essentially already started her business, but it doesn't seem like she has had to take any real risks. I just assumed starting a business had to be some huge leap of faith, but actually she showed me at least one example of how it's possible to de-risk the whole process.”
“Good,” Renault responded resolutely, satisfied with his newest student's ability to take direction and capture the appropriate lessons, “and you're about to see another example of how that is possible. But what about Yisel – what did you learn from observing her?”
Matt thought for a moment about the question, “Well…she's definitely passionate about coffee, and her coffee is really good. There's an intangible energy that she brings that is contagious. She's also willing to put her ego aside and do the work. And it is, from watching her, a lot of work.”
“Correct,” Renault offered. “It is a lot of work to effectively work two jobs and give up your mornings and nights. At its core, however, that is the choice you can make if you want to pursue something that gives you fulfillment and de-risk the process of starting. To be clear, she could have done it very differently – and most people do. She could have taken out a loan, or borrowed money from friends, and opened up a coffee roasting facility of her own and just dove in that way. In my view that's expensive, risky, and unnecessary, but that is absolutely how most people would assume it would need to be done, which is why we don't have more people starting businesses in this country. It seems overly intimidating.”
“I can see that,” Matt replied. More guests had arrived as Matt and Renault were talking, sipping champagne, and walking around to observe and study closely what Matt saw was a series of old maps on easels around the livingroom and surrounding rooms for display.
“So, what we have here, Matt, follows those rules as well. Chad has had this real passion for antique artifacts, specifically maps. He spent years thinking about quitting his job in order to open up a map shop.” Renault paused. “I want you to think about that statement for a second – quitting his job in order to start a business. Isn't that how everyone dreams about it happening? That one day, like a fantasy, we quit our jobs and then are free to pursue what matters to us?” Renault shook his head as he looked Matt in the eyes. “I want you to reject that idea that starting a business is some linear pursuit where you stop one thing and start another. If you have a passion for doing something or creating something, then start doing it today. Don't blame your current job. Smart entrepreneurs, and this is a hustle hack, pursue multiple projects at once. They keep the current thing going while curating the next thing. What they find out, in running these little tests about their passion project, is which ones have legs. The business needs to be discovered, in a sense, and it can only be discovered by getting out there and starting in small ways. If you don't do it that way, then you concoct some idea in your head about the business you want to start, and how great it is going to be, and you know exactly how you think it should work, but all of those assumptions limit you and most of them are wrong. There might be a business that could work, but it's not likely the one you've exactly envisioned in your head. Your customers need to help tell you how the business should work – according to their needs, not your grand vision. Think about Yisel – she couldn't have known that someone would let her roast her beans for free had she not stepped out in smaller ways.”
Renault was clearly passionate and emphatic about these points.
“So, back to Chad. He was stuck in this paradigm of unhappy, wanting to be an entrepreneur selling antique maps and the like, but he couldn't figure out how to get off the starting block. So, we talked about what would it look like to start immediately. At first he was confused by this. He pushed back, saying he couldn't afford to quit his job and open up a cartography shop immediately.” Renault offered a subtle but coy smile as he prepared to deliver the punch line. “I told him opening a map shop has nothing to do with his passion for talking about and selling antique maps to people. If that's really what you are passionate about, I told him, then go this week and sit down with someone who might be interested in buying a map and sell it to them. And then after you sell one map sell a second one. And then a third one. And then eventually you will need a store, but you can do a lot before you take on all of that overhead and personal financial risk.”
“So, he took the advice?” Matt asked.
“Sure did. He's still a lawyer, but here we are at the home of the chairman of his firm, who is hosting a sort of salon gathering for him to sell maps.”
“How did that happen?” Matt asked, genuinely curious about how this all comes about. “Why would his current boss want to help him start a business?”
“Well, I was having a lot of conversations with Chad. He was scared to say something. He thought work was work and personal was personal and he should keep the two separate from each other. I challenged him to just mention his passion for maps to his boss and see what the reaction was. Well, his boss in fact thought it was very interesting. He didn't know much about it, but he had one friend, a neighbor down this street in fact, whom he knew to be himself a collector of antique maps. They got to talking more about this interest of Chad's, and in the course of the conversation Chad actually mentioned that he likes to sell maps on the side. His boss, the chairman, far from thinking that was threatening, thought it was fascinating and something that the firm could leverage. It was his idea to host this wine and cheese reception with key clients, or prospects, who are interested in maps to teach to them, build relationships, and in turn sell to them if appropriate.”
Matt looked surprised, as if a whole set of assumptions about how certain topics, especially a side business, would be off the table for discussion with your current employer.
“When you have been in a corporate job as you are now, Matt, you can view the world in very linear terms,” Renault explained. “There is actually a psychological blind spot that most of us carry in which we essentially view most decisions as having just two outcomes: good or bad, win or lose, success or failure. For people thinking about starting a business, the danger is that we think the business will either be wildly successful or a terrible failure. That's binary thinking – that we will either win or lose and that there are really only two outcomes possible. But it's flawed thinking and it's not the way the world works. The reality is there are probably 10 if not 100 outcomes that are possible when you start a business, most of which are good, and almost none of which are what you expect. The more you practice starting things, the more accustomed you get to seeing how things unfold in interesting and unexpected ways. You actually come to expect it. People will see you as brave and courageous for stepping out and doing things, but in your mind, you just have practiced this before and know that there will likely be something good, just unknown, on the other side.”
Matt nodded, hearing these themes and reflecting how he had seen some of the principles at work with Yisel the night before. The serving staff began inviting people to congregate in the livingroom for a presentation that was about to begin.
“Looks like we are about to get started,” Renault said. “But I want to call out one thing before we do, and this is related to sales, which is something every entrepreneur has to do. It is this: he who teaches, sells. It's hard to just sell maps, or anything for that matter. Nobody likes being sold to. People do, however, appreciate learning about something they are interested in. And people also want to be in community with other people who care about or think about the same things. So, I always say, if you want to sell something, become a convener and an educator of the community that cares about (and might ultimately buy) what you are selling. What Chad has done here is convened people, invitation only, who are currently interested in maps or in theory could become interested. They are here because they enjoy learning, maybe talking about antique maps, but most importantly because this is where they can be among those whom they view as their peers. I just want you to observe how people interact with each other – they like being a part of this little community or gathering here. It fulfills some part of their self-identity that is important to them. Don't underestimate the extent to which all of your customers – including when you are selling to a business – are making buying decisions in part based on how they feel and the emotional need that you might fulfill for them personally.”
From the corner of the room Matt heard a spoon clanking on a glass of champagne, “Excuse me – if we can have your attention!” People began to gather in the main room, sitting on couches and chairs assembled around the fireplace.
Chad's boss, the chairman, took center stage, “Welcome everybody, we are just delighted to welcome you to our home. I can't think of a better evening than to spend time learning about the richness and history of mapmaking, connecting with new and old friends alike…and maybe just an excuse to enjoy some fine champagne on a weeknight.” The refined crowd allowed a chuckle.
“I'm particularly excited that Chad, a colleague of mine, is able to be here to share his passion for this ancient art form. He shared with me a few months ago his interest in cartography and since then I have become very interested in maps myself. I had not, frankly, given antique maps or antique anything much consideration before, but talking with Chad has sparked my curiosity and I hope may spark yours as well.”
Chad's boss spoke for a few more minutes and then turned it over to Chad, who then began to walk around the room, positioning himself at different maps, explaining some of the intricacies and elements of the maps that make them special, their historical relevance, and history of ownership. His presentation was followed by questions from the crowd, and then more mingling.
Matt observed people coming up to Chad, continuing to pepper him with questions. “How much is that one piece? I love it.”
“Would you ever consider doing a similar event at our home? I think our friends would find this very interesting.”
“Have you heard of this art dealer downtown? He hosts monthly auctions. I don't believe he has added old maps to his repertoire, but I think he would be very interested in doing so. I can connect you if you'd like.”
Renault, who had also been chatting with some of the guests, made his way back to Matt. “Pretty cool, huh? Chad is like a celebrity here.”
“Yeah. He knows his stuff and these people seem pretty hooked.” Matt observed.
“And to think that just a few months ago he was thinking he had to quit his job and open a store. Literally, that's what he was doing – looking for storefronts – when I first met him. Today, instead of a bunch of debt, he is making money, refining this salon pop-up concept, building a prestigious reputation, and has several more events booked over the coming few months. Will he open a retail shop at some point? Maybe, but that's not the goal. The goal is a thriving business. And by building the community first and curating the demand, the business will naturally follow in some form. Teach, then add value to the people you engage, and then sell. Every person here is getting value, including the host, those who buy, and those who don't buy. Everyone. Including you.” Renault smiled and slapped Matt on the shoulder.
Matt observed the room and saw the level of engagement and enthusiasm. He wondered if his boss's attitude would change if at some point Chad left the firm, but for some reason he didn't think so, as long as Chad would continue to host these types of events that created value back to the firm.
As the reception slowly began to dwindle, Matt went over to thank Chad for allowing him to be a part of this evening's experience.
“Chad, I just want to say thanks for allowing me to drop in on tonight's event. A very impressive evening all around. You've got me really intrigued by maps, actually. And more than that, I saw a lot in the whole approach tonight. There are lessons in all of this for me.
“Thank you, Matt, for coming,” Chad returned, and then still holding his hand in a handshake, he added, “And you're right; there are lessons in this for you. You are much closer to starting your own business than you think. Just follow the strategies of the Third Shift Entrepreneurs. This stuff really works. It really does. I've been holding onto this passion of mine for years and didn't see a path forward that didn't, frankly, terrify me. I was paralyzed, but I met Renault, hooked into the group, and he just said some really obvious things that got me started. Don't get me wrong – I still have moments of fear like coming in tonight and wondering whether people will show up, whether I'll really know what I am talking about, or whether I'll embarrass myself somehow. But those are just reputational questions in my head that I can resolve. I'm clear on my passion and also clear on my path that doesn't feel outlandish or risky.”
“It's evident.” Matt replied.
Matt began to thank Chad again, but Chad interrupted him, “Oh, Matt, one more thing before you're allowed to leave. You have homework…” Chad smiled and pulled out some notes from his pocket. “I need to give you your homework.”
“Okay,” Matt agreed, “I'm ready for it.”
“Become an expert at something and go public with it. I'm not sure what that will be – maybe it's something in your day job or maybe it's some private passion of yours. Whatever you think you might want to start a business around – go public with some form of expertise. If you wanted to open a bakery, I would say make some Facebook live video about how to bake cookies. If you want to start your own accounting firm, then speak at an industry conference. Get out of your head and go public with your ideas in some way. I spend hours studying maps and thinking about them, but it was all in my head. Renault pushed me to go public with it, which in my case was talking to my boss, which led to events like this.”
Chad paused while Matt was listening and taking in his advice. Chad, with a warm smile, motioned to start writing.
“Ah, right. The notebook.” Matt pulled out his notebook and wrote down the instructions from Chad. Become an expert at something and go public.
Chad continued. “There is a misconception about what constitutes expertise and authority. At one point I was thinking I needed to get an advanced degree in order to be considered an expert at antique maps since there are people who are far more expert than I am. But it's not true. Expertise is awarded to the person who holds the conversation. If I'm the one who is out here talking about maps, showing maps, selling maps, then I'm looked at as the expert. The key is you have to be out there sharing it with other people. That's the part people miss – otherwise you're just in your basement or in your head accruing all of this knowledge that people don't know how to access from you. It's not just that most people fail by starting businesses. Most people never get out of being stuck in neutral, and part of what can keep you in neutral is thinking that you need another degree, another certificate, more studying, or whatever. If you can solve the problem today – whether it's making great coffee, helping a small business with their accounting software, or selling antique maps – then you are qualified. Nothing short of solving the problem for someone can give you the expertise or the authority otherwise. So, go public with your expertise – whatever that is – so that the people who need you can find you.”
Matt finished scribbling some notes, and along with having captured his homework from Chad, turned again to thank him. “This has been really great. I appreciate you taking this time to talk with me, especially knowing you could be talking to a lot of other people right now.”
Matt thanked him again and made his way out of the home and toward the street, which, now being 9:00 p.m., was quiet. He looked around to hail a cab, but not seeing one, thought about public transportation. Break a pattern, he told himself, and knew that he could take the bus and be home in about 30 minutes.
On the bus, Matt was tempted to just scroll news feeds, but he heard the advice of the Third Shift group again: take advantage of every minute of your day. These people were getting to him, Matt laughed to himself. He went to his podcast lists and found Sparky, clicked on a random episode called “Pity Party,” and started listening about halfway through.
“And you're sitting there wondering to yourself, how the hell did she get that job? Or how come he has so many followers on his podcast? Or how did she become this successful entrepreneur? Or how did that person get elected?” Sparky was already animated in his high school wrestling coach stylistic demeanor. “And you might be sitting there thinking to yourself, but I'm smarter and more talented than half these people. And you know what? You're right!! You probably are! But they did something that you probably haven't – they went for it. They ran for office, they started the podcast, they started the company, they wrote the book. Whatever – they did the thing. It's not a talent competition broadly speaking. It's only a talent competition between the people who have put their hat in the ring, and that turns out to not be a lot of people, actually. Most people are working hard but hoping someone notices and picks them. Doesn't work that way – you have to pick yourself.
“But that's actually the good news – that you can pick yourself. You don't like the way it's done? Great – do it differently! You don't like my podcast? Great – start a new one that's better! I can't start listening until you start making one. Most people will be content to just complain about the options.”
Sparky became uncharacteristically calm for a moment, “But you can do it differently. You can leave the cheap seats with all of your observations about how untalented he or she is or feeling all incredulous that so-and-so was so successful, and you can walk on down and get on the field. Just get up outta that seat and walk on down to the field. It's open to you if you want it.”