Not saying that I'm a Fanboy or anything of Jason and the things I learn on TWiST, but this episode was one of the best demonstration of salesmanship I've ever seen. After listening to this episode, I really understood just how much mental skill set a person needs in order to sell really well.  The new show segment "Jason's Shark Tank" is very exciting, the interview with Matt Mickiewicz (founder of SitePoint and 99designs) was inspirational, and the giveaways is just damn cool! This episode has changed my outlook on catching live podcasts. There's too much to lose out on.

Show Segments

I've enjoyed TWiST's segments in the past and I've been very jealous of the folks that call in, getting to ask a specific question about their start-up and get a real straight forward answer from two or more successful entrepreneurs. The latest show segment, "Jason's Shark Tank" would almost be considered a dream come true for start-ups.  Getting the opportunity to pitch your start-up not only to Jason and his guest, but it also exposes your pitch to the mammoth audience of his show.  You can't beat that! After you stumble through your 120 sec pitch (which Jason is more than gracious on) - he and his guest then constructively critiques your pitch.  WTF!? Where do you get an opportunity like that!?  Only on "This Week in Startups".  This blew my mind while I was listening.  Honest and constructive feedback.

And you'd think it would end there... no! If Jason or his guest believes in your start-up (as much as you do), they will invest - RIGHT ON THE SPOT! Matt had his checkbook ready and was already writing down numbers. So; to recap on the shark segment:

• You get 120 seconds to pitch your start-up to multiple successful entrepreneurs.
• They give you constructive feedback on how well your start-up idea is AND your presentation.
• If all goes well, you'll end up with someone investing into your business.
• If all goes great, you'll get additional investments from the thousands of people listening to the show!

TWiST has other segments to the show, such as the "Dead Pool". I find this segment very enlightening because Jason, his guests, and maybe the interns explain why a business failed.  Why do they share this with us? So; we don't fail!

Interview

I have been aware of SitePoint.com since I started web development, in fact my first technical book was that crappy 1st edition of "Build Your Own Database Driven Web Site Using PHP & MySQL."  At the time, I didn't know any better, so I thought it was the greatest book in the world.  I actually read it in its entirety.  Now that's something special because I hate to read.  Ha-ha; maybe I should really consider getting an Audible account. Anyway; I didn't know just how successful the site was; and I surely didn't know about Matt Mickiewicz. This guy is inspirational!  What other word can I use. He started out young (in high school!), he started building a web site to help him learn HTML. Even though he originally built the site for his own needs, because he also considered the community - he structured it to be a resource and not just personal notes. As he continued his efforts the site grew, he figured out how to get revenue from ad streams and he continues to be successful! Wow!

Giveaways

I can't say enough about how amazed I was with the salesmanship of Jason Calacanis. He helped out his phone guests with tips about their sales pitch and he's been offering deals, giveaways, and Mahalo shwag on the show left and right - as the opportunity presented itself. He really showed me how a sharp mind can create opportunities for that individual. So; with all that "opportunity" to get free things, it's convinced me to do my very best to catch his shows live. Even if I don't physically get an iPhone 3GS or a Mahalo kit, I do leave with more knowledge on how to successfully run my business. So; you can't lose!

There's a lot of other details that I'm missing, but this entry is getting way to long. His show is quite lengthy and a lot goes on during the show, but to those of us that are hungry for success - it's almost feels short!

What to Take Away From This Episode

First I'm going to rate this episode a nine out of ten (9/10).  I know what you're thinking, "If I talk so highly of it, why am I rating it only as a 9!?".  Call me what you want, but it doesn't get a 10/10 only because I wanted more! Two hours is NOT ENOUGH! I'm harsh, understood, but my rating system is also fictional - so there!

When the show was over, after all the excitement died down... here are five things I left with:

1. Be prepared for an "opportunity". Not just doing a sales pitch, but for anything related to your business. I'll have to say the dreaded word, but it means "planning."
2. In planning, think about your core vision of your start-up. Try and think of what outrageous question someone could ask you about it. The more you know about your industry, the need that you're trying to solve, the easier it will be to share that with other people.
3. Learn from the mistakes or pitfalls of others. The "Dead Pool" is no joke. We all fail at some point, but pick yourself back up and learn from it.
4. If you don't like to read, like me, get an audible account!
5. Learn to think quickly better assess a situation in order to squeeze an opportunity out of it!

Seriously; if you're an entrepreneur you have got to subscribe to "This Week in Startups".  Better yet, you need to catch the live shows (Fridays at 1:00PM PST on uStream.tv). The information shared within those two hours can change the course of your business to new heights!

I've been listening to Jason Calacanis' podcast titled "This Week in Startups" since episode eight or nine. In the micro-blogging-verse it's hashed #TWiST. At the time of writing this post they're up to 10 episodes and I'm in a mad dash to catch up. Like most other folks, trying out a new podcast, you'll listen to the latest episode and if it fancies you - you'll then start from the beginning and work your way up.

What's My Angle?

For some reason, I really like Jason's style of doing things. I don't know if its because he reminds me of myself or if I'm secretly envious of his successful status and how he runs things. Besides that the way he conducts the shows is exactly how I conduct my meetings (some times). To plainly put, he's all over the place.  Indeed his show has segments and bullet points, etc, but because of his passion for the content - whenever there is a moment to squeeze something in, he does.  And for that sole reason, I'm totally hooked to the show.

Because of the content: "start-ups", "venture capitalists", "angel investors", "CEOs", oh my - there are a lot of valuable information being spewed out of the mouths of the host and guests. It's almost like an adventure game, traveling through the wilderness, looking for gold nuggets and avoiding threats of immanent danger. To put it into perspective, listening to TWiST is  helping me see the possible dangers for my business, while making note the very useful and timely advise so freely given on the show.  It's invaluable what this show is doing for me.

So What Now Genius!?

So; with all that said, I'm going to do my part for the start-up community and compile the information shared on Jason's show and post them here.  Even though Jason's show is awesome, everything is in the podcast and not on the web site itself.  One of the challenges, and treats, is actually going through the shows and pulling out what was said and putting it together in a digestible format.

Why is This the Start of Something Big?

I thought I should explain the title of this post a bit. Posting TWiST's content here is NOT what I was referring to when I titled this "The Start of Something Big".  What that really means is, listening to TWiST has stirred up something inside of me that was smothered by my responsibilities of being a father of three little kids, a husband of five years, working a 7:30 to 4:00 job and boostrapping a web development company that I started in late 2001. Getting bombarded with useful business tips have turned on my creative switch and now my head is filled with ideas and concepts.  I have to jot them down in our business wiki just to free up some room in my head.  So; I'm killing a couple birds with a few stones... in the sense that doing this blog will get these business concepts out of my head onto a coherent medium, thus helping my business, your business, everyone... I'd like to know what you think.