The Voluntary Life

This episode is a continuation of the discussion I had with Brett Veinotte about how entrepreneurship is not taught at school and why. It was recorded live for the  School Sucks Podcast at Porcfest. We talk about why it is that teachers are usually the last people who you would expect to learn entrepreneurship from and what you can do to learn it yourself. Sorry about the audio quality, it is a little choppy but still listenable.

This episode is part of a discussion that I had with Brett Veinotte from School Sucks Podcast at Porcfest. Brett and I talked about how entrepreneurship is totally alien to compulsory schooling. School prepares you for a life of working for someone else, whereas goals like working for yourself, growing a business and obtaining financial freedom are never discussed. We discuss things that you can do to overcome the conformity that school sets you up for, such as starting a business as young as possible (even whilst at school) and working to become financially independent of your parents as soon as possible.

This episode is an interview that Jake did on the Porc Therapy Podcast, recorded live at Porcfest 2012. In the interview, Jake talks about some of the things you can do to live more freely whatever society or economy you find yourself in, such as investing in friendships and living abroad.

This episode is an interview that Jake did on the Free Talk Live radio show. Jake talks about entrepreneurship as the best way to achieve more freedom in your life and to make the world a better place.

Matt and Molly have been unschooling their two children for a year. In this episode, they talk about their family's experiences during their first year of living as if school didn't exist.

An interview with George, who emigrated from Greece to resettle in the UK. George provides many suggestions that will be relevant for anyone considering emigration, even if you are not in the EU. If you do live in the EU, it is very much worth considering the opportunities of doing what George has done and relocating to a place that might better suit your needs.

This episode is a recording of a talk given by Chris Guillebeau about his new book The 100 Dollar Startup. The talk took place in Shoreditch, London on 25th May 2012 and Chris kindly gave permission for me to record it for this podcast. In the talk, Chris shares some of the stories of the many "solopreneurs" and small business owners that he interviewed for the book, all of whom are using creative self-employment to give themselves more freedom in life.

This episode discusses ideas from the book "The Sovereign Individual: Mastering the Transition to the Information Age"by James Dale Davidson and William Rees-Mogg. "In The Sovereign Individual, Davidson and Rees-Mogg explore the greatest economic and political transition in centuries -- the shift from an industrial to an information-based society. This transition, which they have termed "the fourth stage of human society," will liberate individuals as never before, irrevocably altering the power of government."

How will you finance your startup? This episode presents some thoughts on the issue of financing for entrepreneurs based on my own experience, including: Why bootstrapping your business with revenue finance is the best way to fund your own startup, if you can do it The benefit of having some personal savings and no major financial commitments, if you want to start a business The role that loans can play in funding your venture and how taking out loans for business is a far better use of debt than taking out loans for consumption items Why selling equity in your company (taking investment from VC or others) is ultimately a very expensive way to fund your venture Why Business Development Grants are never "free money" and have serious drawbacks The importance of looking long and hard at whether you really need the money to get going. You probably don't need nearly as much as you think

Every entrepreneur will ultimately exit from their business, in one way or another. Unless you plan to just wind it down, one day you'll probably want to sell your company. In this podcast, Jake talks about his experience of selling a business and answers some key questions about the process, including: Why sell your business?  How do you find a buyer?  When is the right time to sell?  How do you value your business?  What happens in the negotiation process?  How long does it take?  What happens after the sale?