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Brian Lee

Entrepreneurs Don’t Wait – Take a Risk, Work Hard, and Don't Be Afraid

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In this episode

Brian Lee is a rock-star serial entrepreneur and incredibly successful venture capitalist. He is also a great philanthropist dedicated to leaving and impact and giving back to the community.

He is a co-founder and ex-CEO of LegalZoom, a co-founder and ex-CEO of ShoeDazzle, a co-founder and ex-CEO of the Art of Sport, co-founder and current CEO of Arena Club, and co-founder of the incredibly successful venture capital firm, BAM ventures.

Brian Lee is also an amazing person, dear friend, and a mentor and I am very grateful for having him on In Search of Excellence!

00:00 – Brian Lee's background

  • Who is Brian Lee?
  • Brian’s parents and their coming to America
  • How Brian’s dad built a successful business
  • Working in furniture factory and selling furniture on weekends
  • Got the idea for his own business - started selling stainless steel utensils
  • Became a very successful entrepreneur

06:59 – Can you learn to be an entrepreneur?

  • It can be learned, but most entrepreneurs are born with that DNA
  • Entrepreneurs don’t wait, they seize opportunities
  • If you have an idea and want to peruse it, go and do it
  • Entrepreneurship is mostly a young person’s game

09:09 – The advice to people who are afraid of failure

  • It’s ok to fail, failing is learning
  • You have to get back on the horse and keep going, many entrepreneurs failed several times
  • You have to be focused and work very hard
  • Nothing happens out of itself

14:25 – Brian’s education and the importance of attending a college

  • High school - wanted to be a rapper, tried it and it didn’t work
  • College - went to UCLA School of Law
  • The college experience is important! Meeting different people, understanding different perspectives and learning about life
  • Salesmanship is a key for everything you do in life, whatever you do, you are selling
  • Cold calling is one of the best skills to learn
  • Brian’s first job – cold calling and selling oil
  • Randall’s first job – cold calling for home-improvement company

21:09 – Are grades important when hiring someone for a job?

  • No one pays attention to the grades, but it’s important to finish what you started
  • What is important are commitment and drive
  • When you constantly changing jobs, this means you cannot commit
  • Important traits – dedication, loyalty, ability to see things through
  • What to do when you are unhappy on your job – stay or leave? A little bit of pain in life is inevitable, sometimes you have to suck it up!

21:09 – The grass is always greener

  • Stick it out and do well with what you are given

28:02 – LegalZoom

  • The late-night call with Robert Shapiro at 9:00pm
  • LegalZoom's goal was to bring trust to people, not steal information

Resources Mentioned:

LegalZoom: https://www.legalzoom.com/
The Honest Company: https://www.honest.com/

Want to Connect? Reach out to us online!

Website – https://insearchofexcellencepodcast.com
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/randallkaplan/
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/randall-kaplan-05858340/

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