I wrote a piece about why you should stop calling yourself an entrepreneur, with Mark Joyner, god father of the internet. The audio was pretty bad and I decided to get it transcribed for you guys as I believe this was a very great conversation.
Ian Fernando: Wad up guys Ian Fernando here and I got a special treat guest for you guys Mark Joyner with me to discus about a couple of things and one topic where am talking about is basically the term entrepreneur, entrepreneurship and what it actually means. I've been really emotionally attached to that word just because I've known how I've struggled through out the past decades to where am right now and a lot of people in the past millennial have being using that term as their free to word to make themselves feel better or think they are in entrepreneurship. So I want to introduce you to Mark were are just going to basically talk and discuss about this topic I've actually known Mark probably when I first, first started with the Joel Comm and the Russell Brunson, Tim Ferris back in the day and I've actually seen his work and I've got to actually meet him past couple of week or this month and got to know him much more better and his agreed to have this conversation with me so. Mark can you just give everybody introduction about who you are, how long you've been in this industry.
Mark Joyner: Well am Mark Joyner right now am the founder and CEO of something call Simpleology and where a lot of folks in your situation before many many years ago is one of the early, early internet entrepreneurs so way back to the early nineties how many years that is when I was doing pre internet marketing on bulletin boards just something the internet allowed for us to become one of the first ones guys to do that so a lot of the early companies back in the day the first ebook company we were the first company to publish ebooks some people say one of my book is the first ebook I think that's probably a stretchy claim because they are a lot file is you know could be considered ebook. We were the first people to use that word though, we started the first ad tracking company, started second pay per click search engine, I've written over a dozen books number one best sellers in 25 different languages primarily about online entrepreneurship and that kind of thing so
Ian Fernando: I mean that's good because our topic is about entrepreneurship
Mark Joyner: Yeah
Ian Fernando: And basically struck me mostly is that one of my old friend is, that I've actually worked with Vonage back in the day basically celebrated his twelve year anniversary and he recently also posted probably just last week talking about it's hard being an entrepreneur so I left a comment on his Facebook wall saying but you've just celebrated your twelve years? And he responded back "that's my side hustle" and it just drop on me like men everybody just throwing this word around entrepreneur or entrepreneurship and I want everybody to understand what it actually means right. For me I think the term is to be earned, because when I was an affiliate I didn't say I want to be an entrepreneur. I said you know what I want to be a good marketer and he created this ebook I want to be a good affiliate
Mark Joyner: Yeah
Ian Fernando: Giving me that self topic or that self knowing prior to being an entrepreneur and somebody told me hey we want to interviewer for an entrepreneur marketing. Am I an entrepreneur, I mean am I there yet?
Mark Joyner: Now you love that word.
Ian Fernando: Yes, so yeah I still don't call myself an entrepreneur you know because we have our ups and downs. I mean what are your thoughts on that word specifically?
Mark Joyner: That's really interesting question, you know language is evolutionary.
Ian Fernando: Right
Mark Joyner: If you look at the animalogical roots of the word entrepreneur it was actually it meant manager right if you go back to the French you know to the Latin word which is not what we think of entrepreneurs
Ian Fernando: Yeah
Mark Joyner: And I think the first use of it in English was an entrepreneur a guy who's in charge of a symphony Orchestra they call him an entrepreneur and it started to evolve more and more now you know people tend to think of an entrepreneur as a business right, I've heard some people say no you're not technically an entrepreneur unless you're a guy who starts and sells off businesses, that's one of the interesting definition I've heard. To me the word has always kind of slightly different cogitation like I think that flexibility is one of the key things that makes an entrepreneur an entrepreneur is more of a mindset, entrepreneurial mindset. Somebody who's able to solve a problem, is able to create something out of nothing
Ian Fernando: Yeah
Mark Joyner: Somebody who creates value right, so that to me is what entrepreneurship is all about, you see an opportunity, you see a problem to solve and you see a lack of resources or alleged apparent perception of a lack of resources that other people have and you go you know what am not going to be stuck in that same kind of one dimensional thinking that you're stuck in am going to see something different here and am going to create something out of thin air
Ian Fernando: Yeah
Mark Joyner: That's what I think the spirit of it is
Ian Fernando: I mean that's good too, I mean I think like entrepreneurship yeah creating something out of nothing but you actually need to have that hustle, people think that if you go to school to build an app or become a developer they make their own first website they assume that you know what am going to sale something but still have this site up and try to make some sort of revenue and they know that they are scared of failing right
Mark Joyner: Yeah
Ian Fernando: I think entrepreneurship is more like you know what I know it's going to take me this much work plus probably even fail at it but how many times before I fail before I reach my one success? A lot of people don't understand that there's failure with entrepreneurship so it scares the of that's what makes people scared.
Mark Joyner: Yeah well you have to be able to handle that failure like you don't want to plan for that but you need to be able to understand it you know they are part of that mentality, part of that mindset is knowing what to do when failure happens and it's interesting right. So you see failure and it's no language binds people's minds in really fascinating ways you say failure some people will automatically think well that's it how is it going to handle failure, he will go well his going to have to nurture himself to have to figure out what to do next. Well if you figure out looking around you said well some of the things I've done what part did I actually fail?
Ian Fernando: Exactly, exactly you know how I look at this sort of thing like for example like let's say I spend a hundred dollars on a campaign and I lost money I don't think of it as losing money I think of it oh! I just bought all the data
Mark Joyner: Yeah
Ian Fernando: Am going to analyse the campaign to make it better.
Mark Joyner: That's right men
Ian Fernando: Creating a negative to a positive type thinking
Mark Joyner: That's it that's one great way to re frame all this equation another way is to say well you know well if am not actually dead yet you know people think I'm out money you know so if you still alive you still have an opportunity to you know to turn something around right
Ian Fernando: Yeah
Mark Joyner: Now that's when we are dealing with a very binary all these race and the race is over and that's it, ok so you've lost that race but in entrepreneurship is not that case.
Ian Fernando: Yeah, it's not a race like you're had a job right
Mark Joyner: Yeah
Ian Fernando: I remember I had a job I remember saying I remember trying to be like to be number one and at that glass ceiling probably the only youngest twenty two year old at that time almost getting director position and these guys in their fifties will not let me have it I was like you know what am going to do something on my own I got to figure this out. And I basically took the math in my bank and I got about four to six month of bank and maybe let me try working 20 hours a week and you put 60 hours a week and then that grind hustle begin I know that I have this limited revenue that push me to where am at now. I think entrepreneurship where it pulls something out of you to do what you want you're like almost like studying for the test the next day you never studied in the past three months that energy to finish.
Mark Joyner: I love that men you know another way to look at this and that's not allowing people to define your limitations and terms for you. Well most people in that situation they go and talk to their parents out of respect they go listen buddy you got four months you want to you know go live in the basement so go get a job.
Ian Fernando: Yeah
Mark Joyner: And that's actually a sound advice it is there's nothing wrong with that advice but entrepreneurs have it down and say no am not going to do that am going to try something else and you going to be mad at me and am probably going to you know brace a lot of things.
Ian Fernando: Yeah
Mark Joyner: Yeah people who are going to think am going to fail but am going to defile that.
Ian Fernando: Yeah
Mark Joyner: And I think you know it takes a special kind of mentality.
Ian Fernando: Yeah it does. Now last question for the video to be almost over. Do you think the current entrepreneur is the title I've earned and actually give?
Mark Joyner: Well you can call yourself whatever you want, I can say am the King of Siam right but you know I would say you know I like where you're coming from you said it needs to be earned
Ian Fernando: It does I think it needs to be somebody to call you somebody more highly respectable, highly more respectable than you to say hey we want to feature you because of your entrepreneurship role we don't have to feature you because you're a philanthropist you can call yourself a philanthropist if you do not donate.
Mark Joyner: That's right yeah it's true
Ian Fernando: So it's same thing I think
Mark Joyner: Yeah that sort of thing I think you make a very good point and I think it's a very good way to at it. Another side of it is this Arnold Schwarzenegger this was a story related about him by a guy who interviewed him right when he was just breaking into acting. Like he has done very very well in body building
Ian Fernando: Yeah
Mark Joyner: And then he decided am going to be an actor and the signal that he gave this guy was this he said
Ian Fernando: Get rid of the accent
Mark Joyner: Yeah right, well funny that's well that is very applicable comment, a lot of of people said he will never make it because of his accent and then he became a highest paid actor in the word. So what he told this reporter was you know the reporter was very skeptical of him, he said you have the accent, you know you're a body builder, your don't have any experience at this he said am going to be the highest paid actor in Hollywood through the same method that I use to become an eight time Olympia right or Mr Olympia. He says the trick is that you create a picture of who it is that you want to be and then you start to live your life into that picture. So you know the guys who will call themselves an entrepreneur if they are doing it from that perspective it's ok
Ian Fernando: Yeah
Mark Joyner: But if they are trying to take credit for some thing that they haven't done yet maybe that's their cool so there's two ways to that.
Ian Fernando: Yeah, very good. Well guys I want to thank Mark for joining me am going to probably turn this video into like a post as well. So thanks for joining and ask yourself are you really an entrepreneur or you still working at that job. Thanks guys peace.
