I’ve started too many companies

I moved to Spain with my parents when I was 11.

I have severe ADHD and dyslexia.

I didn’t finish high-school.

I opened a bar when I was 22 years old, and lost a ridiculous amount of money before it closed a year later.

I started a software company with a friend of mine. I got tired of the friend and soon got tired of the company.

I started doing freelance work in “online marketing” very generally. Did some work with some local fashion boutiques to get them online. I learned a lot, but I felt I was being dishonest with my clients and not delivering the results they needed.

I decided I ought to go back to work, that I still lack a lot of experience and discipline and might be able to get this by working with more seasoned startupeers.

I joined a start-up that dealt with online fashion sales. I was fired after one month. They said they couldn’t afford me, and that I’d oversold myself.

I joined another start-up and got fired.

I find myself losing faith in myself, not sure what I’m doing wrong. I’ve often times when reading your blog feel like your brutal honesty and ability to cut through the bullshit is something that would help me out. I feel that I am very strong at some things (thinking outside the box, risk taking, sales, schmoozing) but really bad at other things (planning, “sticking with it”, networking with people I don’t automatically like).

In my heart what I want to do and be is an entrepreneur. I enjoy the thrill of creating something from nothing. But I don’t really have an “idea” now. My family urges me to keep looking for a job, even if it is one I’m not too excited about.

I feel like I’m at a crossroads, and that if I compromise now I’ll lose something intangible.

I haven’t felt this lost and directionless in probably at least a decade, and I think I’m at the point where I could benefit from your advice.

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Is the sex worker industry a good idea to get fast money?

I have an idea for a yoga studio in LA, but I don’t have much cash. I was thinking of escorting on the side to pay my bills while doing this. I was wondering should I do this? I’ve always been open minded. Have you ever participated in the sex industry, or tempted to?

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I Need Cash to Start My Company

I’m about to found a business that gives users full control over their personal data. We just need some 200k to start.

We don’t have the funds to bridge the 4 months to the launch. If we don’t get the funding by the end of the year, we will have to work in our day jobs again. And watch as someone else puts something similar on
the market. Are we doing something wrong? How can we get funding?

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How to Test a Business Idea

I have a couple of questions regarding and online start-up idea…
If you have an idea for an online start-up, where should you go to see if others (influential people not just friends) think it is a viable (money making) option too?
Where would you begin to look for investors if this is your first idea you would like to bring to fruition?
How do you draw in investors in order to fund this idea while it is in infancy?
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Tips for Going Freelance

Are there steps that you recommend taking when beginning a freelance career in the middle of the recession that perhaps wouldn’t be done if the economy wasn’t such an unknown? I’d like to know if there are any specific precautionary steps that one should take, such as having 6 months of expenses covered, etc. etc.
Thank you for your help. It’s very scary to think about going freelance. I’m procrastinating, but I know I need to start pitching for work.
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Should I Go Freelance?

I’ve been with a social media marketing start-up for a little over a year now. Our founder has made a lot of bad choices. Partly because he doesn’t know social media and also because he put his faith into a poor sales team.
We are now at a make it or break it point. I feel like I know what it would take to make a successful social media marketing company, but it would be entirely different from our current company, which may not fall into the vision of the founder.
Also, I currently do all the social media fulfillment for our clients. Everything. I’ve invested a lot of my own money in reading business books, seeing Seth Godin speak, and spend most nights blogging and reading articles on Hacker News. Yet, as long as the CEO/owner is in charge, I lack faith in the direction of the company.
Is it worth rebuilding the company or better to just start my own? How do you know when you should leave a start-up as an employee?
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Startup Self-Doubt

I have a startup and sometimes I am struck with extreme panic and worry. Do you have this? What do you do about it?

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Business Idea: Help People be Creative

I´m an ex creative director. I worked in advertising for many years and then had to leave the agency life because I was unable to combine it with parenting.

Now that I go to playdates I´m quite horrified of the lack of creativity that I find in most homes. I strongly believe that creativity thinking should be a compulsory subject in any school, specially nowadays. We know that academic results won´t translate into success and our kids will have to invent their careers, and yet we put them in front of the tv or give them toys that are all but inspiring or challenging.

I want to start a business to teach creativity thinking in schools. I also would like to teach directly to families ( I would visit them, talk about their values etc, play with the kids for a while to understand their personalities and then give them a bunch of tools and info they could use to improve their creativity skills).

What do you think about it? Any advice, ideas…? I´ve never started a business so I´m quite clueless of where to start.

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Funding for Non-Tech Companies

I am trying to get a startup funded, but high tech seems a lot easier to get funding for. I am interested in the fashion industry and I think it is harder to get funding.

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Book List for Founders

I am a huge fan of your work, and I recently started to consider starting my own business. I was wondering if you have ever published a list of your favorite books for starting a company?

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