This past weekend Rich was invited to present Bootstrap principles at the Book Publishing 2.0 event held in Calgary.  The conference went really well and left the attendees jazzed with excitement to begin chasing their own bootstrap businesses.

Upon returning home, Rich shared with our office a fun experience he had at the conference.  After finishing up one of the day’s events, the attendees and presenters of Book Publishing all retired to their hotel rooms for a good night’s rest, only to be torn from their sleep at 3:00am to the sound of a shrieking fire alarm.  All guests were evacuated from their rooms and asked to congregate in the lobby of the hotel, waiting for the firemen to check the building.  Check out the picture below of one of the guests of the hotel, also an attendee at the conference, entering the lobby:

We’re not sure if he was up that late reading the book and couldn’t miss a beat, or if he grabbed his ‘valuables’ in sheer panic, but either way he was in the lobby holding strong to his Bootstrap Business book!  We love to see die-hard Bootstrap fans and couldn’t resist posting this picture.  Enjoy!

Rich has a busy couple of days. We know that a number of you will be attending or watching these events, but here is the 1-2-3 punch this week.

1. Tomorrow night Wed Oct 21 at 9:30PM MST Rich will be highlighted on the TV program Latter Day Profiles. This will air on BYUTV channel 21. This was recorded when Rich presented at the BYU Idaho Entrepreneurs Conference.

2. On Friday Oct 23rd, Rich will be giving the keynote address at the CEO Conference in Chicago Ill. on Entrepreneurship.

3. Saturday and Sunday Rich will be presenting at Book Publishing 2.0 Conference in Calvary Canada. These are always fun and entertaining events. I love to watch Rich and Mark Effinger verbally spar.

If you are at any of these events make sure you introduce yourself to Rich and say hello. He loves to hear from you.

Get building that business. No more excuses.

It ain’t Hogwarts and it’s not in Scotland.

It’s to be found in a new way of thinking, in your intuition, out in the undulating hill country of Texas.  This forward thinking haven is known as The Wizard Academy®.

By its own description Wizard Academy “Is a nontraditional business school. The faculty of Wizard Academy studies what gifted people do when they’re feeling inspired so we can reverse engineer their unconscious methods. We teach you how to do consciously what a gifted person does unconsciously.”  Sound a bit like wizardry?

Magical things happen there.

The Wizard Academy’s approach is non-traditional and their track record impressive.  They are changing the way people see, feel, think, and approach business, education and problem solving.

That’s one of the reasons Rich and Ron were invited to teach there.  Bootstrap Business Bootcamps offer nontraditional, proven principles about how to bootstrap a successful business.  Techniques and concepts like The ZigZag Principle, The 5 Minute Whiteboard, Cow Pies, Climb High Sleep Low to mention a few. Principles that when applied really are magical in their impact on your business and your life!

The experience at the Wizard Academy was invigorating for Rich and Ron.  But it’s not about them.  It’s about you and other Muggles seeking a new way, a magical way, a nontraditional path to success.  So, let’s hear from some former Muggles. Hey, once you’ve experienced this place you believe in its magic – and yours!

Backpack Moments From our Zig-Zaggers :

We call that moment one of our bootcamp participants “connects” with a principle, a “Backpack Moment.” – the light goes on, the Ah-ha moment… So, don’t attack your summit without your backpack!

William:

“Zig-Zag Principle: Important to know that it’s ok to do “other things” in order to get cash flow & that nevertheless there should be rules/boundaries to ensure you don’t take the “other things” into the weeds.

Parallel Entrepreneurship – develop it!

Frank open confessions from Rich & Ron = same attitude from the students

Hiring and Firing tips were great!

The role of an executive assistance – loved it, real good insight!”

Ken:

“Whiteboard moment was a total “Oh Snap!”  It serves to pull the team together and helps ID any trouble spots and log jams.

One thing I think would improve the bootcamp is to have a team building exercise prior to the Million Dollar idea sharing exercise.  Give a chance to get to know each other before we start sharing our million dollar ideas.”

Sean:

“I thoroughly enjoyed the brainstorming of ideas with you and the rest of the class.  The atmosphere of trust and respect that you created made me comfortable to be open and share ideas.  The Wizard Academy is the perfect safe and creative environment to bring new ideas to life.

Thanks very much for your passion, openness, and commitment to teaching valuable business principles.”

Rich and Ron have been given the honor of receiving an invitation to present at the Wizard Academy in Austin, Texas!   The Wizard Academy was founded in 2000 as a nontraditional business school, and is an incubator for new techniques in education.  The faculty studies what gifted people do when they’re feeling inspired so they can reverse engineer their unconscious methods.  They recognize the value of intuition and teach how to do consciously what a gifted person does unconsciously.  The curriculum they teach is multi-layered, led by some of the most accomplished instructors in America, Canada, Britain and Australia – and now Bootstrap Business is part of this wonderful curriculum!

This special screening of the Bootstrap Business Boot Camp will be held next week, September 22 – 24 at the Wizard Academy campus.  This training will focus on extensive study surrounding the principles for small business success found in Bootstrap Business.  In a personal environment, registrant’s can test their business ideas, ask questions, and receive one-on-one feedback from the instructors.

To learn more about this special Wizard Academy Boot Camp or register for this 3-day event, please visit the Wizard Academy website.

Good luck to Rich and Ron!  And to everyone else – don’t miss out on this great event!

We interrupt your regularly scheduled broadcast…..

I’m taking a quick break today from blogging Bootstrapped! to share a fun video and article with you.  This past week, Rich and Ron did a presentation for the Brigham Young University Center for Entrepreneurship.  In the presentation, they talked about some key principles from Bootstrapped! and shared insights from their experience building CastleWave as a test case for the book.

One of the highlights of the presentation had to be Rich’s $100 bill demonstration.  After pulling out a crisp $100 bill and asking who wanted it (imagine a room of 200+ college students and you can probably picture the reaction!), Rich proceeded to crumple up the bill in his hands.  When it was firmly wadded, he again asked who wanted the bill – and of course everyone still did.  Then, Rich threw the bill on the ground and stomped on it repeatedly and even kicked it across the front of the room.  The demand for the $100 bill did not subside (obviously!) and this was Rich’s point; even though the bill was now worn and abused, it still had value, much like entrepreneurs.  In fact, Rich’s argument was that entrepreneurs are more valuable when they’re experienced, when they’ve been kicked in the mud and worn down.  At that point, Rich went on with the presentation and left the crumpled bill on the floor – one guy from the audience apparently couldn’t handle the money just sitting there, and kept darting to the front in an effort to pick it up (no, he didn’t get it).  A student commented after the presentation that, “That guy must be an accountant!”

Overall, the presentation and the question and answer period that followed were a hit! 

You can view the presentation at the BYU eBusiness Blog.  

The BYU newspaper also has an article about the presentation in today’s newspaper – you can read that article at BYU News Net.

Enjoy!  And have a great weekend!