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Many years ago when Erik worked for his last employer, he was given a project out of Boise, Idaho which was in real trouble. By the time he was assigned to the project, the customer was furious. Erik decided he was going to save this project. Everyone involved, the client and everyone at the agency said he'd have to fire the team in Boise and hire one in Norfolk, VA where the company was. So Erik went out and met the Boise team and it turns out, there was nothing wrong with them besides the fact that they were located pretty far out. The team was pretty good from a technical perspective. So Erik decided he was going to save them and not fire them. For the next 6 months of the project, there were constant problems, most of which were personality conflicts. He realized as more time went on was that so much damage had been done between the client and the development team that it was just a lost cause. Both sides were unwilling to work with each other further. Eventually, the client fired the entire company from the project, him included. Since Erik had put so much time into the project, he had accepted ownership of the project and its outcome. When it went down in flames, so did his career at that company and he was branded as someone who cannot deliver. He realized that he should have fired the Boise team from the project - not the company. He should have realized that the project could not be saved. When you are put into a new situation, you have the opportunity to remold the reality of that situation, but only if you act quickly. — Erik J. Olson is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. The Founder & CEO of Array Digital, he is also the host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups. — Kevin Daisey is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. He started his first company when he was just 23, and is the Founder & CMO of Array Digital. Kevin is also the co-host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the co-organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups. — For more information on the show, and to check out past episodes, go to journeyto100million.com!
Erik and Kevin decided to hire another salesperson in addition to Kevin who is a business developer. Instead of simply putting an ad in a newspaper (which you should really stop doing) or online somewhere, we wanted to first get the message out ourselves. So Erik got in front of the camera and laid out exactly what he wanted out of a prospect. That message was put out on all of the company's social media channels. That same day, multiple resumes came through that were super highly qualified and have been following our company for a while. This was great because it was people who we've been following and who have been following us, have a genuine interest in our company, and took action. That is the power of social media. You can put any message out into the world and craft your message for your audience and it'll register with them much more than going the typical route. Build an audience and see how you can use it. — Erik J. Olson is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. The Founder & CEO of Array Digital, he is also the host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups. — Kevin Daisey is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. He started his first company when he was just 23, and is the Founder & CMO of Array Digital. Kevin is also the co-host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the co-organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups. — For more information on the show, and to check out past episodes, go to journeyto100million.com!
Homework: Release some open-source software!Erik built the Redux Form library to help manage form states in Redux. He decided to open-source Redux Form, and it exploded and became very, very popular. People kept coming up to Erik with additional use cases, and the form library itself kept growing to the point where the bundle size got out of hand and saying yes to all the requests for features created a monster.So Erik came up with his second form library "final-form." This time he created a plugin architecture to reduce the maintenance and make the library more capable of handling unconsidered use cases. Erik talks about the key things that need to happen for a library to take off. First, it has to documented well, and the motivation has to get explained clearly. Second, someone who has a following needs to love it and share it with people. Third, you've got to be there on the ground, ready to make quick fixes as people give them to you.Transcript"Erik Rasmussen Chats With Kent About Maintaining Open-Source Libraries" TranscriptResourcesFinal FormRedux FormHow to Write an Open Source JavaScript LibraryHow to Contribute to an Open Source Project on GitHubOSCON 2014: How Instagram.com Works; Pete HuntErik RasmussenTwitterGithubKeybaseKent C. DoddsWebsiteTwitterGithubYoutubeTesting JavaScript
So Erik scrambled and started his Eagle Scout project at a nearby park. He and a crew of volunteers worked for a weekend and started a project, but he dropped the ball and didn't go back to finish it until about a month later. So much time had passed that the park ranger finished the project because Erik dropped the ball. Oh no...if he didn't finish the project he couldn't get his Eagle Scout badge or his license! So Erik asked if there was any other work he could do. The park ranger gave him a second chance at another project. Erik and his crew accepted the challenge, finished the project, and then Erik got his Eagle Scout and his driver's license. Erik learned a ton from the experience. 1. You have to hold other accountable for what they say they are going to do. Erik's dad held him accountable, as did the park ranger. 2. You have to hold yourself accountable. If you say you're going to do something, you have to follow through. 3. If you fail to follow through then make sure to follow up and make it right. — Erik J. Olson is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. The Founder & CEO of Array Digital, he is also the host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups. — Kevin Daisey is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. He started his first company when he was just 23, and is the Founder & CMO of Array Digital. Kevin is also the co-host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the co-organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups. — For more information on the show, and to check out past episodes, go to journeyto100million.com!
Many years ago when Erik and his wife owned a bakery, they were pretty unsure of how to go about advertising. They tried different things: coupons, running ads in the paper, he even applied for co-op dollars to offset advertising. Facebook advertising was really successful because it was highly targeted and he was able to target brides with wedding cakes, just for one example. He thought one time that they could run a print article in a local newspaper because it would cover an entire area. In this area, there's a regional newspaper and one specifically for each city in the region. For Chesapeake, it's called The Clipper and it's an insert in the regional paper. So Erik ran ads in The Clipper which was focused on the geographical area where the bakery was. And it was pretty successful so he thought if he could advertise to the whole region, that would really improve their business. So one Sunday, the most popular day for the newspaper, he ran an ad that went to the entire region: 1.7 million people. He prepped the staff saying they were going to get slammed. So, the ad ran and...nobody called. And it wasn't cheap: about $300. And nothing came out of it, not a single phone call, email, or new customer. Fast forward when he was in business for himself, Erik decided to run print ads in the same newspapers but in the business section which is called Inside Business. He ran print ads for a year at a cost of $10,000 and once again, it resulted in no calls or new customers. Lesson learned? Won't be doing that again... — Erik J. Olson is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. The Founder & CEO of Array Digital, he is also the host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups. — Kevin Daisey is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. He started his first company when he was just 23, and is the Founder & CMO of Array Digital. Kevin is also the co-host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the co-organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups. — For more information on the show, and to check out past episodes, go to journeyto100million.com!
Erik Bergman started his career as a professional poker player while still a teenager. At the same time, he founded his first companies. At age 24 he started in 2012 Catena Media, a company that only three and a half years later would be listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange with a US$200-million valuation. He left Catena Media a few years ago and today is just starting up his latest project, Great.com, a company where the name alone cost $900,000. But this time around, he wants to do everything differently, which means giving away 100% of the profits to charity. “We invested so much emotions and so much pride and ego into not failing, something that should have failed long time ago.” Erik Bergman Worst investment ever Cash losses were never as bad as this In thinking about his worst investment, Erik said he had lost a lot of money in a variety of ways. He did a lot of damage with a raid into crypto almost. He has done quite a few “shitty” start-up investments. But he realized that his worst investment cost a lot more than money, and that was when he lost his health, harmed his friends, and lost relationships. First mistake was thinking ‘it’s gonna be easy’ In 2012-2013, he was busy starting several different companies at the same time, including that of a venture capital firm. One company was working with payday loans. His team were running a marketing company that had a lot of payday-loan clients. So they decided that if they could do the marketing, they could do it all. Of course it turned out to be much harder than they had ever anticipated it would be, and that was the first mistake they made: thinking it will be easy and then jumping into a business area with almost no understanding and with far too little research. ‘It’s never easy’ So they started building the company and hiring people to run it. However, very early they realized that it was so much harder than they had predicted. Nevertheless, they soldiered on, and Erik hired one of his closest friends and a few others to help run the company and a couple of others. But this company just never found any traction. They had many technical issues and many struggles. Erik’s old friend was in charge of the technical side, which kept facing major challenges due to the size and complexity of the big system they built. By the time the system was up and running, they ran into troubles with the bank, which didn’t want to co-operate because they were competing with them. Thus, they couldn’t finance the operations and they needed to find other ways to fund it. Whenever they managed to solve one snag, they would be hit by the next one. It took a year before the venture became somewhat sustainable. Legal environment changes, adding huge workload Having already lost a lot in time and having spent a lot of money, there was then a change in the legal requirements that forced Erik and his team to change all of their back-ups, all the systems behind their sites and they had big problems getting access to more data. So they had to change the entire back-end of everything. Erik’s friend and business partner was already overworked and he and two others were in charge of running this. Right in the middle of the regulatory changes, those two people resigned. One, his girlfriend, got pregnant, and other other, just wanted to leave Malta and move back home. Friend left holding the bag So Erik’s friend had to do this three-person job alone. He had to rebuild everything and worked day and night for weeks. Erik was unable to help because of his lack of tech expertise. The friend put one system together but it had been put together quickly. Because his friend lacked the time and energy perhaps to do it properly, the system crashed within around two weeks from being made operational. Exhausted business partner collapses after system fails So Erik and his friend had struggling for so long and just when they could see the light at the end of the tunnel, the legal requirements changed, his friend the entire system alone, and then it failed. Erik’s friend had a complete breakdown out of physical and mental exhaustion. Erik, being busy with other projects, was unaware of the shape his friend was in or the pressure he was under and his friend, who had not slept for weeks, didn’t come back to work. Erik admits being too distracted looking at the numbers instead of being there for his oldest friend, who would take three years to fully recover. ‘Small side business financially’ takes huge toll This was a small side business financially compared to the bigger companies he and his team put together. But they had invested so much emotion, pride and ego into it not failing – something that should have failed long time ago. They just kept focusing on it, and it cost them a lot more than money. They never got it up and running, and had to sell the remainder of the database and other things at significant losses. It also took Erik a long time to recover from such strong emotions as well, because he felt that his friend would not have cared so much about the project if Erik had not pushed himself and his friend so much. Not a big money loss, but big losses in every other way This was one of the darkest chapters of Erik’s business career and life so far, during which he admits being “way-to-narrow minded to deal with it”. So the financial loss was insignificant, he says. But he has never since done something that could put someone else’s health at risk, and especially not the well-being of one of his closest friends. “So a lot of his physical health and his emotional health was at stake because of my stupid ego, pride, and greed … I still feel a lot guilt and shame over this and really found a good way of dealing with it.” Erik Bergman Some lessons Kill your darlings Erik hastens to add that he’s talking about the company, not your friends, when talking about what to do when reaching a crossroad decision of whether to forge on, or walk away from a start-up company or an investment. When things go wrong, step away and think: “Would I really think this was a good idea now as totally new investment?” Relationships are so much more important than the money Think about the other people involved and put yourself in their shoes, especially if you are pushing people into something. Ask yourself: “How is this experience through their eyes?” Be better at assessing what’s going on and what kinds of things are happening to all people involved. “I don’t regret the loss in terms of money, but I really regret how I dealt with my friend.” Andrew’s takeaways Never forget that real people and emotions are involved It is fun to talk about the numbers, growth, opportunities and the “agile, lean” exciting things when investing in a start-up, but people’s livelihoods, futures, families, health and state of mind are all effecting by the decisions we make, or refuse to make. Stay vigilant about overconfidence The solution is being open, and it is difficult. When you’re in in the middle of a situation, it is not easy to go into your company and say: “You guys want to give up? Should we stop?” But it must be done, even if you individually have to step back and, without necessarily sharing it with the others, look at what you’re doing. There is empathy needed and that is something Erik also has taken away from this story. Zero-based thinking tool Ask yourself at crunch times: “Knowing what I know about this situation (whether it’s an investment, a start-up, or even a relationship), would I enter it now if I wasn’t in it already?” And if the answer is no, some serious thinking and researching needs to be done immediately. Actionable advice Just try If anyone listening to (or reading this) has a business idea, whatever it might be, start it. If it doesn’t work out, it’s much easier to quit once you’ve started than it is to quit before you started. No. 1 goal for next the 12 months Job opportunity Erik has the domain name, Great.com, for which he is building its lifelong company intention, and that is for 100% of its profits to go to charity. His number one goal for that enterprise is to find someone to help build the project with his team, someone who can be CEO, CTO or whatever title they want, who really resonates with the ideas that he and his team have. He needs someone who is technical, emotionally intelligent and has long-term strategic vision. Anyone interested can listen to his podcast, Becoming Great. Parting words “I’m happy to be here. I really love the approach of tackling the worst parts of investing and the worst parts of being an entrepreneur.” You can also check out Andrew’s books How to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock Market My Worst Investment Ever 9 Valuation Mistakes and How to Avoid Them Transform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 Points Connect with Erik Bergman LinkedIn Twitter Instagram Website Podcast YouTube Blog Connect with Andrew Stotz astotz.com LinkedIn Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube 
This Week All Your Friends had plans So Erik put together a clip show of some of his favorite conversations ,jokes, and guest such as P. Rob, Myka, and Mikey C Check This episode out if you want to keep listening to tell your friends and for long time listeners we will see you all next week
So Erik’s gone and left the NAF, and Adam has gone and found a new co-host! Find out who this is, and what they have to say about psoas release, pain avoiders, and endurance copers! Come join us for a new year and new sounding NAF Physio Podcast! Music by Kevin MacLeod - incompetech.com: Intro - Also sprach Zarathustra Close - Vivacity
So Erik and myself met for a game golf today with Wido and decided afterwards we just could not pass up the opportunity to TALK shop! During this impromptu episode we discussed Fixed Operation as a whole including profitability impact, marketing, and the future of service in the automotive dealership environment. Wido has over 20 years of experience in Fixed Operations and is seasoned veteran who brings a lot of insights and practical advice to the conversation. Here is how you can reach Wido: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/wido-van-muyden-6b89aa9 Mobile: 775.513.353 Also, don’t forget to reach out to Erik and Herb on LinkedIn (for the time being) with your questions. Erik: linkedin.com/in/erik-r-nelson-899aa57b Herb: linkedin.com/in/herb-r-anderson-mba-503546b Thank you for tuning in and as usual we will TALK later… P.S. Apologies for the background noise, we did this deal live right after a game of golf!
Historically Thinking: Conversations about historical knowledge and how we achieve it
Civilizations's greatest monster–the terrible specter that haunts comfortable and prosperous societies–has always been the barbarian. That's the creature that arrives and destroys all that comfort and prosperity, that leaves ruins behind; that forces people to question whether all that comfort and prosperity was worth it, and whether they should have been barbarians themselves. Today I discuss the concept of the barbarian in Greek and Roman societies with Erik Jensen, author of (helpfully enough) Barbarians in the Greek and Roman World. To define barbarians as "those not like us" is to also define "what we are." So Erik and I spend a lot of time talking about what it meant to be Greek, and what it meant to be Roman. We also discuss how the impoverished and backward Greeks could view the dazzlingly rich and talented Persians as barbarians; what the Romans ever did for us; why barbarians are just so damn attractive; and why the worst barbarians are always seen as those born within civilization. For Further Investigation Political ambitions create a barbarian: Ariel Helfer, Socrates and Alcibiades, Plato's Drama of Political Ambition The Original Grumpy (and shrewd) Old Man: Tacitus, Annals and Histories Friends, Romans or Countryman? What came afterward: Richard Fletcher on The Barbarian Conversion: From Paganism to Christianity Poetic meditation on our need for the barbarian: C.P. Cavafy, "Waiting for the Barbarians" Is "Non-state actor" just another term for barbarian?
Erik Luhrs After a decade in the NYC corporate world, literally working his way up from a temp in the mailroom to a Director with over 120 employees reporting to him, Erik Luhrs decided to leave the 9-5 (more like 7-7) grind. But he didn't go far, because he turned right around and became a management consultant to F500 companies and NGOs. And though the travel and new people were exciting he did not feel fulfilled and decided to leave management consulting behind after a few years. After trying his hand at several businesses, Erik eventually became a Business Coach. And in order to help his clients the best he could, he decided to study with the world's premier experts in Sales & Marketing. Erik initially studied his mentors at the "conscious" level, which means he learned what they taught him about how they did what they did from what they knew about themselves. But Erik also understood that humans function 99% subconsciously, and he knew that his mentors had a number of thinks they did subconsciously, that they were not aware of, that helped them to succeed - and he wanted to learn that as well. So Erik studied his mentors at the subconscious level as well! By combining what he learned from his mentors at the conscious and subconscious levels, Erik created... The GURUS Selling System (GURUS - Genuine Self, Unique Sales Persona, Rapport Building, Unique Buying Position, Sales Ally) With The GURUS Selling System, Erik worked with salespeople and sales teams around the world, helping them get in touch with their genuine selves so they could create and close sales more rapidly then they had ever done before. The "secret" of GURUS Selling was the salesperson first gained better control of their own subconscious processes and this, in turn, allowed them to better communicate with the subconscious processes of their clients. Then Erik chronicled these learning in the book, BE DO SALE. Ted Prodromou is America’s leading LinkedIn coach and the #1 best selling author of The Ultimate Guide to Linked In For Business. To get a free copy of his book simply register at www.tedprodromou.com. On the podcast, Ted brings together some of the top LinkedIn minds in the country to share with you how they grow their businesses using LinkedIn and how you can, too. Powered by Seth Greene: a 6 Time Best Selling Author, Nationally Recognized Direct Response Marketing Expert, and the only back to back to back GKIC Dan Kennedy Marketer of the Year Nominee. Get a FREE Copy of Seth’s new book Podcast Marketing Magic, and access to a Live Podcast Marketing Training Webinar at http://www.UltimateMarketingMagician.com
So Erik selected th 1991 football-action, extraction movie, The Last Match. The quarterback of a football team's daughter gets imprisoned somewhere in South America so he collects all of his macho football player friends to go and save her. It's not as cool as it sounds, trust us.