Sara Blakely, the founder of Spanx and a Time 100 influencing figure, joins Kevin Harrington, founder of As Seen on TV and Shark Tank veteran, to share their entrepreneurship journeys. They discuss the crucial role of passion in business success and the lessons learned from failures. Sara reveals the trials of launching Spanx, while Kevin talks about his evolving business model. Both emphasize the importance of boldness, calculated risks, and smart money management to transform your ideas into unstoppable ventures.
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question_answer ANECDOTE
Spanx Origin
Sarah Blakely's Spanx idea originated from her door-to-door fax machine sales experience.
Feeling mismatched, she wrote down her skills and envisioned inventing a product to empower people.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Finding a Manufacturer
Blakely found manufacturers through thomasregistry.com, but faced rejection.
She persisted, driving to North Carolina, and eventually a manufacturer, inspired by his daughters, agreed to help.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
DIY Patent
Write your own patent application if legal fees are too high.
Blakely bought a book, wrote the patent, and negotiated a discounted price with a lawyer for finalizing the claims.
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This book provides an overview of intellectual property law, including recent developments, types of patents, copyright protection, trademark registration, and trade secret protection. It serves as a handy reference for businesses, attorneys, inventors, and creators.
Rise and grind
Outperform, Outwork, and Outhustle Your Way to a More Successful and Rewarding Life
Daymond John
In this book, Daymond John explores how grit, persistence, and good old-fashioned hard work are the backbone of every successful business and individual. He shares his personal journey, from founding FUBU on a $40 budget to building a brand with over $6 billion in sales. John also delves into the hard-charging routines and winning secrets of individuals who have risen to the top of their fields, highlighting the need to out-think, out-hustle, and out-perform to achieve success.
PRESSURE ALLOWS YOU TO MAKE THINGS HAPPEN.
What makes one business succeed and another fail?
The most important element is the entrepreneur.
If you watch the show Shark Tank, you know that people get investments from sharks just by being a passionate salesperson.
It’s about going all in.
So how can we ensure that what we put our time and money into will be unstoppable? We have to learn from the people who are at the top of their game.
On today’s episode of The School of Greatness, I’ve combined great advice from past conversations with five Shark Tank masters: Barbara Corcoran, Matt Higgins, Daymond John, Sara Blakely, and Kevin Harrington.
Shark Tank is a critically acclaimed and Emmy Award-winning reality show on ABC. Now on its 10th season, Shark Tank continues to inspire a nation to dream bigger and has offered more than $100 million in deals to entrepreneurs.
These investors come from some of the top companies in the world. They started from nothing and made their dreams come true.
So get ready to learn how to get your business off the ground and make it a force to be reckoned with on Episode 773.
In This Episode You Will Learn:
The hardest part of getting Spanx off the ground (8:00)
How Kevin Harrington's business model has evolved since Shark Tank (15:00)
The big things people taught Daymond John about mastering his skills (25:00)
What to do when you go all in but fail (29:00)
What to do with the profit you make in your business (30:59)
The School of Greatness 
