1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,380 Kevin Mako: Hello, product innovators. Today we learned from the founder of 75 consumer products on how to build a great team early on to grow your product business. 2 00:00:10,860 --> 00:00:19,780 Narrator: You're listening to the Product Startup Podcast, the show that helps bring your product idea to life by chatting with successful inventors, 3 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:28,460 Narrator: product developers, and hardware industry professionals. Our goal here is to get to the bottom of what makes a product successful, from initial 4 00:00:28,460 --> 00:00:37,500 Narrator: idea to getting your product on store shelves. We're taking you step by. step to build a functional product and scale your product business. 5 00:00:37,760 --> 00:00:44,320 Narrator: Hosted by Kevin Mako, one of North America's leading experts on hardware development for small product businesses. 6 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:47,440 Narrator: Now, on to the show. Welcome back, everyone. 7 00:00:47,640 --> 00:00:55,820 Kevin Mako: Today, I'm very excited to introduce EA Csolkovits to the show. EA has founded in multiple product businesses, which in total brought 75 new products to market 8 00:00:55,820 --> 00:01:01,520 Kevin Mako: and health and wellness space. He has been in the business of building hardware teams for 40 years and is the founder of Giver's 9 00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:06,340 Kevin Mako: University and as a fellow plane pilot just like myself. Today, EA is going to share some valuable 10 00:01:06,340 --> 00:01:10,040 Kevin Mako: knowledge for inventors, product, startups, and small manufacturers on the importance of building 11 00:01:10,040 --> 00:01:18,040 Kevin Mako: great product business teams early on and how specifically to choose great product team members for building and scaling your hardware business. Now on the episode. 12 00:01:18,780 --> 00:01:26,000 Kevin Mako: EA, welcome to the show. Thank you so much for having me. I tell you, it's a pleasure to be here and hopefully give your listeners some great nuggets today. 13 00:01:26,160 --> 00:01:32,500 Kevin Mako: Well, building a team is a big part of any hardware, especially as they start to scale and accelerate as they finish development and they start getting 14 00:01:32,500 --> 00:01:41,580 Kevin Mako: it to the market and even arguably before that. So very excited to talk about that. First and foremost, you're a fellow pilot. I noticed you went a lot further in the process. 15 00:01:42,060 --> 00:01:44,240 Kevin Mako: You did multi-engine commercial the whole bit. 16 00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:50,580 EA Csolkovits: Yes, I did. I was very fortunate. And actually, what's weird about the story is that I became a pilot because of a contest. 17 00:01:50,760 --> 00:01:58,120 EA Csolkovits: My business mentor came to me and said, I want to compete with you. And he said, whoever makes the other more money in one year, 18 00:01:58,300 --> 00:02:07,740 EA Csolkovits: The loser has to buy the winner anything they want. So the first year, I lost so bad, and I cashed out a house for my partner in Florida. 19 00:02:08,040 --> 00:02:08,900 EA Csolkovits: Paid cash for the house. 20 00:02:09,700 --> 00:02:14,120 EA Csolkovits: And I thought, man, I got to catch on. This is going to hurt really bad every year if this is the deal. 21 00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:19,280 EA Csolkovits: And then the next year, he bought me an Aero Star 601P, which you may be familiar with of being a pilot. 22 00:02:19,960 --> 00:02:26,760 EA Csolkovits: And then the next year he bought me a limousine. And the next year he bought me a Navajo chieftain, which I used to refer to as my station wagon airplane. 23 00:02:26,760 --> 00:02:31,400 EA Csolkovits: So I became a commercial pilot as a direct result of that contest my business mentor came to me with. 24 00:02:31,540 --> 00:02:39,260 Kevin Mako: I did not know that backstory. I appreciate you sharing that. That is absolutely crazy. Yes. I've done the private pilot thing just as a side hobby. 25 00:02:39,360 --> 00:02:46,240 Kevin Mako: And I must say, it's a lot of work and it's tough to do while simultaneously running a business. Now, you've brought 75 products to market. Can you 26 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:54,000 EA Csolkovits: give us a bit of a backstory on how that all started? Yes. Almost all of those products are wellness products that, you know, we would manufacture for other firms. 27 00:02:54,180 --> 00:03:02,740 EA Csolkovits: We were doing something back then that actually there wasn't even a name for it. Now it is. And we owned manufacturing equipment ourselves in the past 28 00:03:02,740 --> 00:03:08,140 EA Csolkovits: where we manufactured wellness products like nutritional shakes and different, you know, foods and 29 00:03:08,900 --> 00:03:12,340 EA Csolkovits: diet products and that kind of thing. And we actually manufactured these four other companies. 30 00:03:13,640 --> 00:03:18,800 EA Csolkovits: And, you know, we handle this equipment sitting all the time. And, you know, and equipment when it's not running is dead equipment. 31 00:03:18,980 --> 00:03:26,360 EA Csolkovits: You know, it's like the empty airplane on the tarmac. You know, you own this equipment. It's sitting there. It's dead unless it's running. And one day it just dawned to me, 32 00:03:26,540 --> 00:03:34,380 EA Csolkovits: because we were making this huge product that had all of these ingredients in it. And our customer said, all the products, all the ingredients will be there. 33 00:03:34,720 --> 00:03:38,140 EA Csolkovits: So we said, okay, okay. We set them up on the line already. 34 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:46,900 EA Csolkovits: Ingredient, a couple of them don't show. Well, without all the ingredients, we can't make it. So meanwhile, we're sitting there dead, full-time employees, equipment's not moving. 35 00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:54,720 EA Csolkovits: Our couple of ingredients, they promise to be there, are not there, so we're dead in the water. I said, this is never going to happen again. So we actually came up with something. 36 00:03:54,720 --> 00:04:03,120 EA Csolkovits: We're going back to the late 70s, early 80s now. We came up with something, and we went to a couple of the people who made products just like us. 37 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:06,660 EA Csolkovits: And we said, is your equipment running all the time? 38 00:04:07,910 --> 00:04:16,760 EA Csolkovits: And they said, well, no. And I said, how about if we lease your equipment on the off time, on the time when you're not using it, 39 00:04:17,540 --> 00:04:22,880 EA Csolkovits: and we will lease your employees, will lease the equipment, 40 00:04:22,880 --> 00:04:32,080 EA Csolkovits: we will send all of the ingredients and all the product packaging there and a couple of people from our firm to watch over it and we will pay you a certain 41 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:38,940 EA Csolkovits: fee for the leasing of all your equipment employees and everything else and you'll do this run later on that actually came up 42 00:04:38,940 --> 00:04:43,080 EA Csolkovits: there was a name that came around what we were doing called toll manufacturing basically you know 43 00:04:43,080 --> 00:04:47,320 EA Csolkovits: you pay a toll for all this right but back then there was no such thing it was just like they 44 00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:50,720 EA Csolkovits: were they were like a little astonished we even called them because we normally would be 45 00:04:50,720 --> 00:04:54,580 EA Csolkovits: competitors. And I said, and I told my partner, I said, this is great because we don't have to own 46 00:04:54,580 --> 00:05:00,060 EA Csolkovits: the equipment. So, you know, we only have to do our runs and we got, we have maximum flexibility 47 00:05:00,700 --> 00:05:08,880 EA Csolkovits: because now if we get jammed or if a marketplace changes, we don't have to sit there and justify what are we doing with a million dollar piece of equipment. 48 00:05:09,140 --> 00:05:14,560 EA Csolkovits: We're only using everyone else's equipment that they're going to be doing that. So we have a high amount of flexibility, 49 00:05:15,440 --> 00:05:21,680 EA Csolkovits: product by product, project by project, and not being, you know, having to buy all this equipment up front going forward. 50 00:05:22,620 --> 00:05:30,580 EA Csolkovits: So that's actually how we did it. And we, you know, co-formulated and reformulated over 75 products, you know, in my career 51 00:05:30,580 --> 00:05:39,420 Kevin Mako: with that and working with all the different aspects, you know. And I'd say it was quite an astonishing time period. I'm very blessed to have had that happen. 52 00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:46,820 Kevin Mako: Well, you know, that's amazing because that really is the start of how most new products are manufactured today. Back then, the idea was, well, you've got to 53 00:05:46,820 --> 00:05:53,860 Kevin Mako: build a plant and produce your invention or your gadget or your formula or whatever it might be. Nowadays, I look at most of our clients at Mako Design. 54 00:05:54,120 --> 00:06:01,780 Kevin Mako: Pretty much all of the work we do for a first product goes to contract manufacturing. Very few of our clients actually set up their own, at least full stack facility. 55 00:06:01,920 --> 00:06:08,400 Kevin Mako: Sometimes they'll set up their own assembly house or distribution house or whatever else that might help them with a small piece of the overall puzzle. 56 00:06:08,820 --> 00:06:15,440 Kevin Mako: But the vast majority of at least their first few production rounds is done via, like you said, a toll manufacturer, as we call it contract manufacturing. 57 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:21,900 Kevin Mako: Just simply outsourcing your production, right, somebody else. But you were one of the pioneers of that. model back in the day. 58 00:06:22,080 --> 00:06:29,900 Kevin Mako: It seems so logical and normal now, but really that was something in the evolution of new product development. And arguably, that's one of the things that really helped 59 00:06:29,900 --> 00:06:38,040 Kevin Mako: earlier stage companies get into the game because it's far too capital intensive for almost any hardware inventor, especially to build a factory. 60 00:06:38,580 --> 00:06:46,000 Kevin Mako: But it is possible to work with a factory. And I love hearing your example because any kind of innovation in manufacturing that makes your 61 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:52,820 Kevin Mako: product work or get to market or get you off the ground is a phenomenal story. And I love that intuition and innovation. 62 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:57,520 Kevin Mako: Now, of course, one of the things that you and I talked about before the show, there was a big catalyst 63 00:06:57,520 --> 00:07:06,380 Kevin Mako: to a lot of these business decisions and ideas and execution of those was having an amazing team behind your innovations and your business. 64 00:07:06,960 --> 00:07:15,920 EA Csolkovits: Can you explain what you look at in terms of the three different categories of teams? And then let's get into best practices for actually building these teams as you scale a 65 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:21,360 EA Csolkovits: hardware business. For sure. I'd like that if I can just go back just a little bit in history. sort of set the stage. 66 00:07:21,580 --> 00:07:30,440 EA Csolkovits: When I was 16 years old, I was a janitor, and I was able to meet an amazing lady. And you want to talk about bringing a product to market. They became masters. 67 00:07:31,260 --> 00:07:35,140 EA Csolkovits: I'll say the name, and I won't mean anything to your listeners, until I referenced the movie. 68 00:07:35,700 --> 00:07:40,160 EA Csolkovits: There was a movie out a few years back called The Founder with Michael Keaton playing Ray Krock. 69 00:07:41,860 --> 00:07:50,400 EA Csolkovits: And for your listeners that have seen it, he's always talking to a lady outside his office, June this, June that, June, Martino. I clean that lady's house every single way. 70 00:07:50,420 --> 00:07:57,220 EA Csolkovits: Wednesday, June Martino, who, interestingly enough, became the first woman in her trade stock on the Florida New York Stock Exchange. 71 00:07:57,800 --> 00:08:04,900 EA Csolkovits: And when I met her, she had the third most controlling stock in McDonald's. So you talk about a massive bringing a consumer product to the marketplace, you know, 72 00:08:05,060 --> 00:08:13,940 EA Csolkovits: and duplication of effort and scaling McDonald's obviously is a story. And she told me one day the whole McDonald's story. I lived in that area anyway. 73 00:08:14,460 --> 00:08:20,260 EA Csolkovits: I'm originally from Chicago and lived in the Oak Brook area. And she told me how Ray Kroc really became her mentor. 74 00:08:20,420 --> 00:08:26,220 EA Csolkovits: So the first thing I want to mention about any and all teams, the team leader needs to have a mentor. 75 00:08:26,420 --> 00:08:32,260 EA Csolkovits: If they don't, in my world, we call them naive, because you're about ready to lead your team 76 00:08:32,260 --> 00:08:36,740 EA Csolkovits: into many mistakes that you're about ready to make that someone else has already made. Why not? 77 00:08:37,260 --> 00:08:45,520 EA Csolkovits: And the key with the mentor, first I want to mention Kevin is, your mentor should be someone who's done it, not as I call an educated idiot. 78 00:08:45,980 --> 00:08:54,140 EA Csolkovits: You know, the educated idiots are the ones who have all the book knowledge and they can spew it back at you. But if you simply ask them, can you show me what you've done? 79 00:08:55,300 --> 00:09:01,460 EA Csolkovits: You get nothing back, right? So find a mentor who's done it, who has accomplished it. And usually, 80 00:09:01,600 --> 00:09:08,960 EA Csolkovits: by the way, they're much easier to talk to and want to help you because they know what it's like to do it as opposed to someone who's an educated idiot. 81 00:09:09,120 --> 00:09:16,380 EA Csolkovits: So first and foremost, get a mentor. With the mentor, we live in this amazing world that I know you see all the time as products 82 00:09:16,380 --> 00:09:20,040 EA Csolkovits: coming and going faster than ever before in history. 83 00:09:21,560 --> 00:09:25,880 EA Csolkovits: Businesses open and closing faster than ever before in history. 84 00:09:26,840 --> 00:09:27,840 EA Csolkovits: So what do we have left? 85 00:09:28,760 --> 00:09:37,320 EA Csolkovits: Our relationships or the ability to discern who we want to have around us. And that's really the heart of what we teach at Givers University. 86 00:09:37,380 --> 00:09:45,560 EA Csolkovits: We teach relationship discernment. It's like I was doing an interview with the gentleman a few weeks, a few months back. And he said, oh, man, this is great. I read this book. 87 00:09:45,560 --> 00:09:51,740 EA Csolkovits: and his book says I should have five really good people around me. I said, you're absolutely right, you should. Question for you. Which five? 88 00:09:53,370 --> 00:09:57,790 EA Csolkovits: And he stared back at me with these little orphan and the eyes, you know, and I said, do you see my point? 89 00:09:58,310 --> 00:10:06,690 EA Csolkovits: Everyone's saying these things and he's brought innocuous swaths of information, but no one has broken it down to the granular level and said, how do I choose my team? 90 00:10:06,850 --> 00:10:13,070 EA Csolkovits: What do I look for? What are the details at a very granular level? What should I watch? 91 00:10:13,070 --> 00:10:20,170 EA Csolkovits: So we teach people in team forming, and I will share with you any one of your business owners that are listening, 92 00:10:21,220 --> 00:10:27,160 EA Csolkovits: the single most important thing they can do is develop a great team around them. 93 00:10:27,820 --> 00:10:34,200 EA Csolkovits: Because otherwise, they're going to be unwilling collateral damage when they bring those people in. 94 00:10:34,360 --> 00:10:41,460 EA Csolkovits: And all of a sudden, because they say, well, they're so good at this and I need to bring them in. Next thing you know, you're stomping out fires, not of your making. 95 00:10:41,920 --> 00:10:50,980 EA Csolkovits: And your productivity goes out the window because you're putting it. out these fires. So how do you do that? How do you build that team? What do you look for? We teach people. 96 00:10:51,100 --> 00:10:54,530 EA Csolkovits: Don't listen to what they say because anyone can learn the right thing. 97 00:10:55,210 --> 00:11:01,570 EA Csolkovits: Watch what they do and here's the things you should be watching them do. In other words, 98 00:11:01,870 --> 00:11:10,880 EA Csolkovits: we have actually one checklist that we call the 25 dues Kevin, which actually is the 25 things you should see these people do. 99 00:11:11,280 --> 00:11:20,780 EA Csolkovits: Not what they say. Because our talking, our talk, talk talks and our walk talks but our walk will always talk louder than our talk talks so and by 100 00:11:20,780 --> 00:11:26,660 EA Csolkovits: the way I practiced that for I said it right now anyway so the uh so yeah so yeah so what we want to 101 00:11:26,660 --> 00:11:33,900 EA Csolkovits: teach people is real simple watch become observant and watch their deeds of what they do and this 102 00:11:33,900 --> 00:11:43,560 EA Csolkovits: will help you and we actually give them a 25 checklist these are the 25 things and when you see them doing these 25 you may want to pull them in and make them a part of your team 103 00:11:43,560 --> 00:11:49,740 EA Csolkovits: in your inner circle. By contrast, if you see them doing these 25, or part of them, or 13 of the 25, 104 00:11:50,460 --> 00:11:56,060 EA Csolkovits: you may want to begin respectfully distancing, not nasty or route, but respectfully distancing yourself 105 00:11:56,060 --> 00:12:01,140 EA Csolkovits: because when they come in, they're going to bring with them all the collateral damage you're not 106 00:12:01,140 --> 00:12:05,680 EA Csolkovits: going to want to. And when you're starting up your business, you do not have time to be stomping 107 00:12:05,680 --> 00:12:13,540 EA Csolkovits: out fires and being collateral damage or having your stress level going up because you're going to have enough stress as it is anyway. Why do you want to associate and 108 00:12:13,560 --> 00:12:19,180 EA Csolkovits: have people around you. And all these business owners I've talked to, they say, no one ever taught me that. No one ever taught me. 109 00:12:19,840 --> 00:12:25,000 EA Csolkovits: How do I select the people? So we have three different categories of what we call Junotos. 110 00:12:25,920 --> 00:12:34,960 EA Csolkovits: The Juntoe word, by the way, is interesting. It's actually a Spanish word from the 1600s. Wasn't used too much. And then it was picked up in the 1700s by a man by the name of 111 00:12:34,960 --> 00:12:41,340 EA Csolkovits: Benjamin Franklin. And in the early 1700s, actually 1727, Benjamin Franklin started a group 112 00:12:41,340 --> 00:12:46,080 EA Csolkovits: that he called, it was 12 friends, and he called it the Mutual Improvement Club. 113 00:12:46,860 --> 00:12:55,560 EA Csolkovits: Later on, he called it the Juntoe, and later on he called it the Leather Apron Club. These 12 got together, and they got together, which a Junto does, they get together 114 00:12:55,560 --> 00:12:57,420 EA Csolkovits: for a mutual purpose. 115 00:12:59,280 --> 00:13:07,440 EA Csolkovits: Not like so many of the communities today that I call Taker Communities. The Taker Communities, by contrast, would be the ones, and even little teams and little groups, say, 116 00:13:07,540 --> 00:13:15,660 EA Csolkovits: join our community, join our community. And two hours later, they're selling you something. right that's not that's not a community that's a customer buying 117 00:13:15,660 --> 00:13:22,480 EA Csolkovits: list that's a customer list right that's the old uh you know the old west where they circled the covered wagons but with taker 118 00:13:22,480 --> 00:13:28,520 EA Csolkovits: community they start shooting inward backwards you know so wrong way so it with the giver community 119 00:13:28,520 --> 00:13:37,420 EA Csolkovits: that inner of course we have the what's called the greater juntoe which is the larger you know worldwide these are people that can befall backgrounds etc etc then the inner 120 00:13:37,420 --> 00:13:44,920 EA Csolkovits: june toe is that two to 12 group, if you will, the Ben Franklin group. What's interesting about Ben Franklin's group 121 00:13:44,920 --> 00:13:49,400 EA Csolkovits: because of what they talked about, and it's a more intimate group and more intimate team. He was 122 00:13:49,400 --> 00:13:54,200 EA Csolkovits: very selective on who he wanted to have a part of that group, and they talked about everything. 123 00:13:55,400 --> 00:14:04,920 EA Csolkovits: And you know what's interesting is that our very declaration of independence could arguably be traced back to the conversations that happened at the Ben Franklin Junto. 124 00:14:04,980 --> 00:14:08,180 EA Csolkovits: So no one can tell me a group of 12 people cannot be powerful. 125 00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:15,600 EA Csolkovits: Then subsequently, then we have what we also call the, that's what we call the givers insider junto. 126 00:14:15,820 --> 00:14:24,200 EA Csolkovits: Two to 12 people, your inside team. Then we have the givers millionaire junto. This is two to 12 people. I was a part of that with my business 127 00:14:24,200 --> 00:14:32,340 EA Csolkovits: mentor. And also interestingly enough, another good example that would be in 1915, Henry Ford started a Junto. 128 00:14:33,100 --> 00:14:42,440 EA Csolkovits: And it consisted of him, Thomas Edison, obviously an inventor, Harvey Firestone, Firestone Tires, and John Burroughs, who 129 00:14:42,440 --> 00:14:50,260 EA Csolkovits: was a writer, a poem. Interestingly enough, when I talk about being diverse, John Burroughs was also a federal bank examiner. 130 00:14:50,900 --> 00:14:53,140 EA Csolkovits: So I have to guess he must have been to Money Man. 131 00:14:54,200 --> 00:15:02,540 EA Csolkovits: Federal bank examiner. Don't do this, don't do that. Anyway, so literally, Henry Ford called this group the four vagabonds. 132 00:15:03,730 --> 00:15:06,410 EA Csolkovits: And they would actually even travel together. 133 00:15:07,070 --> 00:15:11,860 EA Csolkovits: Now, it has been said that this group, Thomas Edison, 134 00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:18,120 EA Csolkovits: Firestone Burroughs, and Harvey Firestone, and Henry Ford, I mean, 135 00:15:18,560 --> 00:15:27,310 EA Csolkovits: all four of them, the impact they had on each one of their businesses was astounding. And here's the difference. 136 00:15:27,590 --> 00:15:32,210 EA Csolkovits: A taker community is formed for the purpose of making money. money off from each other. 137 00:15:33,440 --> 00:15:34,480 EA Csolkovits: For this, I am not for. 138 00:15:35,690 --> 00:15:44,670 EA Csolkovits: A giver community are those that have a fiduciary responsibility to give more to the team than they're getting back. And he say, wait, how in the world can 139 00:15:44,670 --> 00:15:53,190 EA Csolkovits: that happen? I mean, how do you even do that, right? And my business mentor taught me. He said, the importance of that, he said, and those people are fewer and farther in between. 140 00:15:53,880 --> 00:15:59,200 EA Csolkovits: But once you have them and you have discerned in those relationships, 141 00:15:59,920 --> 00:16:06,380 EA Csolkovits: the rewards you will see, because of the extra time you took in finding that right 142 00:16:06,380 --> 00:16:12,370 EA Csolkovits: team catapulted you way past the time you thought 143 00:16:12,370 --> 00:16:22,260 EA Csolkovits: you lost while you were looking for them as opposed to finding a team that didn't work and that basically sucked and you ended up stomping out fires more businesses i 144 00:16:22,260 --> 00:16:32,160 EA Csolkovits: have seen in my life and i can share with you i mean you know helped literally co -formulate and reformulate 75 products over 40 years. 145 00:16:32,680 --> 00:16:35,400 EA Csolkovits: I know what it takes to bring products into 20 different countries. 146 00:16:36,530 --> 00:16:42,580 EA Csolkovits: And what it takes to manufacture those products from the point of an idea all the way through 147 00:16:42,580 --> 00:16:50,100 EA Csolkovits: the entire design and development process to the point of the first manufacturer run in the world of nutrition. We do what's called a hand run first. 148 00:16:50,500 --> 00:16:57,500 EA Csolkovits: You know, and you make sure finding out, you know, when we made food bars one time that the equipment got hot and melted the fat and it turned 149 00:16:57,500 --> 00:17:05,820 EA Csolkovits: and turn the food bars into the worst tasting salty bars you'd ever imagine in your life because all the fat that was hiding the taste melted. 150 00:17:06,020 --> 00:17:11,460 EA Csolkovits: We didn't know until we went into manufacturing, right? So all of those mistakes all the way through, 151 00:17:11,940 --> 00:17:19,710 EA Csolkovits: but all those things were helped a lot because of number one, I had a mentor. He's okay. We go on, right? 152 00:17:20,110 --> 00:17:27,770 EA Csolkovits: That costs us a half a million, all right? We go on. You know, we don't cry over spilt milk. You go buy another gallon. So he said, and then he said, the next. 153 00:17:27,790 --> 00:17:37,530 EA Csolkovits: thing is we always had the right team around us and the time i didn't have the right team kevin and there was a few times in my life it cost me millions and millions 154 00:17:37,530 --> 00:17:45,270 EA Csolkovits: of dollars you know one time i was paying a guy a million dollars a year and bought him a brand new silver spur rolls royce to 155 00:17:45,270 --> 00:17:53,820 Kevin Mako: later on have him betray me and do everything to try to destroy the company because i had not listened to my own 156 00:17:53,820 --> 00:17:59,480 Kevin Mako: teaching because he was very talented at what he did and I offset what I knew to be looking for 157 00:17:59,480 --> 00:18:06,120 EA Csolkovits: for his ability and short term yeah it was great long term I took a real bloodbath right 158 00:18:06,120 --> 00:18:12,200 EA Csolkovits: so I can share with your listeners when you're forming those teams so I want to touch on the five 159 00:18:12,200 --> 00:18:21,820 EA Csolkovits: steps of forming a team if I can because I think that will really that would be great you know we've developed it into an acronym the acronym is seven letters it spells out the 160 00:18:21,820 --> 00:18:25,420 EA Csolkovits: word discern the key point in developing your inner team. 161 00:18:26,120 --> 00:18:29,500 EA Csolkovits: Nothing will be as prolific in your business, 162 00:18:30,670 --> 00:18:31,950 EA Csolkovits: whoever's listening to this podcast, 163 00:18:33,130 --> 00:18:41,750 EA Csolkovits: than the people you have around you. They will influence your decisions, the things you do, how happy you are when you put your head on your pillow at night, your family, 164 00:18:42,110 --> 00:18:44,070 EA Csolkovits: they will influence all parts of that. 165 00:18:45,080 --> 00:18:49,680 EA Csolkovits: So be discerning. So the first thing we have, the D in discern stands for, 166 00:18:50,420 --> 00:18:58,540 EA Csolkovits: How do you decide those people? How do you decide? those 12 people in your team. What do you look for? So what we do is we actually provide a free checklist 167 00:18:58,540 --> 00:19:07,500 EA Csolkovits: and we say these are the 25 things. We call it the 25 dues. These are the deeds. Forget about what they're saying. Watch what they're doing. 168 00:19:07,900 --> 00:19:13,660 EA Csolkovits: Can you run through some examples of those dues? Because you brought up before and that popped into mind and I know you and I talked about it a bit on the show, 169 00:19:13,800 --> 00:19:18,120 EA Csolkovits: but just some of the some of the real juicy ones for our listeners just to get their appetite going 170 00:19:18,120 --> 00:19:22,400 EA Csolkovits: on what some of those specific dues are versus listening to what people are saying. Because I think that's 171 00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:27,800 EA Csolkovits: very powerful. One of them is a giver, you know, because we have givers versus taker dues. And 172 00:19:27,800 --> 00:19:33,220 EA Csolkovits: when we say, by the way, give and taker, I want your listeners know, we love everybody. We're not labeling people. 173 00:19:33,920 --> 00:19:42,680 EA Csolkovits: We label deeds. So when we say giver, we're actually identifying giver deeds. And we say taker, we're not labeling a person. We're labeling taker deeds. So a good example of a 174 00:19:42,680 --> 00:19:50,580 EA Csolkovits: couple of the dues, if you will, for a giver. A giver that you would have around you is willing to delay gratification for the overall project. 175 00:19:50,940 --> 00:19:59,760 EA Csolkovits: Another thing with a giver, a giver will not do shortcuts. We call it do the thing to get the thing. Do not the thing get something else. 176 00:20:00,220 --> 00:20:04,740 EA Csolkovits: A taker will always be shortcutting. You'll see them glom onto other people's efforts. 177 00:20:05,460 --> 00:20:10,900 EA Csolkovits: You'll see them try to get credit for what other people have done. Yes, we did this and they didn't do anything. They just happened to be hanging out there, right? 178 00:20:11,380 --> 00:20:18,380 EA Csolkovits: So a giver, the part that you want on a team, are those people who you will see. And they'll be identified by the first ones that's 179 00:20:18,400 --> 00:20:23,740 EA Csolkovits: step up when something needs to be done you'll see them step up first and say i'll do that or yeah i'll do 180 00:20:23,740 --> 00:20:30,360 EA Csolkovits: that as opposed to oh you know crap i got to work weekends you know why sit there and talk them into working 181 00:20:30,360 --> 00:20:37,790 EA Csolkovits: weekends get rid of them replace supplant that person so those are just a couple of the 25 dues 182 00:20:37,790 --> 00:20:47,350 EA Csolkovits: that we give people as a free checklist to help them discern who should they have in their team the second part is called involve or invite i should say 183 00:20:47,350 --> 00:20:57,230 EA Csolkovits: you know when you have these 20 these 12 people, you got to invite them, right? So decide, so there's decide, then invite. The third is what we call seed. 184 00:20:58,130 --> 00:21:01,510 EA Csolkovits: And that is, you simply begin to, from the onset, 185 00:21:03,760 --> 00:21:12,040 EA Csolkovits: let them know from an expectational standpoint, what's to be expected. In other words, this is what we're doing. This is what's expected. 186 00:21:12,600 --> 00:21:19,960 EA Csolkovits: Are you willing to do these 25 things? Are you willing to be a part of this? Because if so, this can be great. 187 00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:25,360 EA Csolkovits: But if not, I want to let you know, we're bound by this, and we have no problem parting away friends. Either way is okay. 188 00:21:25,780 --> 00:21:29,740 EA Csolkovits: So we teach people, look for people that have the ability to do what I just said. 189 00:21:30,500 --> 00:21:37,060 EA Csolkovits: Independent, not dependent thinkers. If you have dependent thinkers in your team, dependent meaning, they will do 190 00:21:37,060 --> 00:21:44,800 EA Csolkovits: things dependent on what everyone else is thinking and saying. An independent thinker has the ability to think and hold their own counsel. 191 00:21:44,960 --> 00:21:49,020 EA Csolkovits: They will work and think independently. They will listen to everyone else. 192 00:21:49,820 --> 00:21:58,770 EA Csolkovits: but they're not going to emotionalize it because they have the ability to do the following. They do not allow their emotions to rule their intellect. They have their intellect 193 00:21:59,230 --> 00:22:00,650 EA Csolkovits: controlling their emotions. 194 00:22:01,650 --> 00:22:03,670 EA Csolkovits: Big difference of who you want around you. 195 00:22:04,770 --> 00:22:12,210 EA Csolkovits: You want the person who has that ability of their intellect controlling their emotions. And they can listen to someone who's maybe even mad at them. 196 00:22:12,490 --> 00:22:18,110 EA Csolkovits: And you watch and they see they don't even flinch. In fact, they can even smile back at them because they're saying they're just talking. Those are just words, right? 197 00:22:18,290 --> 00:22:25,610 EA Csolkovits: So the first one, is discern or decide second one's invite third one is seed and i was explain what's expected to them 198 00:22:25,610 --> 00:22:33,690 EA Csolkovits: up front uh and then um the next one is convene which is really important get with your team meet with 199 00:22:33,690 --> 00:22:40,250 EA Csolkovits: them on a regular basis and set that up front now it may adjust weekly daily whatever it is and also 200 00:22:40,250 --> 00:22:49,610 EA Csolkovits: you know we we joked about this earlier i'm a firm believer of when you show up on time you're already 15 minutes late so you know with your team you don't want the one 201 00:22:49,630 --> 00:22:56,470 EA Csolkovits: if you see them being consistently late, you say, hey, you know, what's the deal here? You know, this is called get up early. This is called leave five minutes early. 202 00:22:56,890 --> 00:23:04,550 EA Csolkovits: This is called be a big boy, you know, and let's get done. You know, so I sometimes have gotten very detailed with people right up front. 203 00:23:04,830 --> 00:23:12,090 EA Csolkovits: But I say, it wasn't like we didn't talk about this. So what are you doing this for? You know, let me know. You know, we'll work through it. So convene. 204 00:23:12,350 --> 00:23:19,430 EA Csolkovits: The next one is to establish, by the way, with your team, this is a really important, simple things. Name your team. 205 00:23:20,330 --> 00:23:29,230 EA Csolkovits: name it with ben franklin the leather apron club with henry ford um the four vagabonds 206 00:23:29,230 --> 00:23:35,890 EA Csolkovits: give your team your inner you know eight 10 12 people two to 12 people give it a name 207 00:23:35,890 --> 00:23:44,530 EA Csolkovits: give it an identity and that helps so much with creating because here's something that most people don't recognize with the team whenever two or 208 00:23:44,530 --> 00:23:52,530 EA Csolkovits: more minds formed together in a spirit of harmony a third mind is formed by the way that works all the time with givers, and it works all the time with takers. 209 00:23:53,560 --> 00:23:59,560 EA Csolkovits: With takers, it's called a lynch mob. With givers, it's called those people working together for a common purpose. 210 00:23:59,980 --> 00:24:06,750 EA Csolkovits: So when we've identified them with the 25 dues, we have that spirit of harmony. As my business 211 00:24:06,750 --> 00:24:14,370 EA Csolkovits: mentor said, and I share this with every one of your guys starting something up or starting something new, you do not have money problems. There's no such thing. 212 00:24:14,790 --> 00:24:24,590 EA Csolkovits: You have idea problems. Work with the idea problems. And you won't have to worry about any money. problems and I can share story after story personally with 213 00:24:24,590 --> 00:24:33,350 EA Csolkovits: my personal experiences when there wasn't two nickels to rub together or small amounts of money to rub together how massive things happened by simply crafting with 214 00:24:33,350 --> 00:24:40,250 EA Csolkovits: a great idea a way where everyone could benefit so it's not money problems it has to do with 215 00:24:40,250 --> 00:24:49,650 EA Csolkovits: idea problems so we had convene we had and then established which means really a name the last one is rotate get don't always be the person who has to be upfront 216 00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:59,440 EA Csolkovits: Give the people of your team rotate who's going to be in charge of the meetings or the teams and have an agenda to give it a high structure, but also make sure that 217 00:24:59,440 --> 00:25:05,840 EA Csolkovits: you rotate the leaders. Give everyone a shot at the podium, so to speak, you know, but set forth the agenda, right? 218 00:25:06,220 --> 00:25:12,580 EA Csolkovits: And then the last being numbers, because as the first few people of your innermost team 219 00:25:12,580 --> 00:25:21,780 EA Csolkovits: begin to manifest themselves in your company scales, what you have set up in the beginning, not only as your core group, 220 00:25:22,660 --> 00:25:25,500 EA Csolkovits: but also it will manifest through the entire organization. 221 00:25:26,260 --> 00:25:35,290 EA Csolkovits: Sidebar story, as was taught to me by Michael Bash, one of the co-founders of Federal Express. And he told me that Federal Express in the very beginning 222 00:25:35,290 --> 00:25:41,830 EA Csolkovits: had a simple slogan, absolutely positively overnight. I don't know if you remember that. He said, when Federal Express started, 223 00:25:42,490 --> 00:25:52,210 EA Csolkovits: they had 600 employees, 250 jets, and told all the employees, please do not cash your money. your check, there's no money in the bank. 224 00:25:52,650 --> 00:26:00,530 EA Csolkovits: So imagine telling 600 employees. The first day they delivered five packages, and four of them were by their salesmen to other clients about getting 225 00:26:00,530 --> 00:26:03,670 EA Csolkovits: them customers. He said it cost about $250,000 a package. 226 00:26:04,330 --> 00:26:11,030 EA Csolkovits: You know, for to sell it. So, and what was amazing is Michael said the following. He said, we had this goofy thing absolutely positively 227 00:26:11,030 --> 00:26:18,490 EA Csolkovits: overnight. And he said, the, and he said, we had, we were going basically out of business. He said, And later on, by the way, obviously they didn't. 228 00:26:18,590 --> 00:26:24,390 EA Csolkovits: They changed the start date of the company and went public because they didn't want everyone to know when it actually started because the numbers looked so bad. 229 00:26:24,810 --> 00:26:34,390 EA Csolkovits: So they restarted the start date of the company. So when they went public, it looked good. And he said he had this gal in Chicago that wanted to fly, pilot 230 00:26:34,390 --> 00:26:44,210 Kevin Mako: story, a Piper Cub and had never flown one. And the company back then had given everyone a $50 bill, basically, do whatever you need to get a customer and we got a $50 leeway. 231 00:26:44,810 --> 00:26:53,560 Kevin Mako: This person called said, I need my. wedding dress it's got to be here the same day so this little gal an employee of federal express goes and 232 00:26:53,560 --> 00:27:01,360 Kevin Mako: rents a piper cub pays a 50 bucks flies the wedding dress from chicago to Milwaukee it turns out that the 233 00:27:01,360 --> 00:27:08,080 Kevin Mako: wedding was for the chairman of the board's daughter for rca and everyone at the wedding was talking about 234 00:27:08,080 --> 00:27:17,800 Kevin Mako: how they got this wedding dress there the same day it was unbelievable back then and so they Michael Bash, the co-founder, asked the girl, why'd you do it? 235 00:27:18,040 --> 00:27:25,380 Kevin Mako: Whatever provoked you to do this? She goes, well, I was just following my job description. He said, what? She said, well, absolutely positively overnight. 236 00:27:25,600 --> 00:27:31,180 Kevin Mako: He said, that's not your job description. That's what we tell customers and clients. She's, oh, I didn't know. I thought it was my job description. 237 00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:39,790 Kevin Mako: So I got, so there's the importance of the team. See, when you have the right team, it will have a profound effect. 238 00:27:40,310 --> 00:27:49,800 Kevin Mako: And it's arguably the main account that got Federal Express and saved it and became the fellow express we all knew today. For your listeners, be selective, 239 00:27:50,760 --> 00:27:55,440 Kevin Mako: get a mentor, if you don't, find one, and make sure you're asked the most important question. 240 00:27:56,180 --> 00:28:06,120 Kevin Mako: Can I see what you've done? Number two, build a team and be discerning on your team, even if it's laborious, if it requires more time than you think it should. 241 00:28:06,700 --> 00:28:14,740 Kevin Mako: Better, you have less people, and as each person comes in, they are doing those 25 things, and then you know 242 00:28:14,740 --> 00:28:23,340 Kevin Mako: they're a long-term team mender and you will have a dynamic of that spirit of harmony where you get that greater part 243 00:28:23,340 --> 00:28:32,260 Kevin Mako: like attaching two batteries together and you get a greater electrical charge because of the synergy of it that team will make or break 244 00:28:32,260 --> 00:28:39,300 Kevin Mako: your business start out and I've seen great products with crappy teams that folded 245 00:28:39,300 --> 00:28:42,540 Kevin Mako: and I've seen lackluster products 246 00:28:42,540 --> 00:28:47,430 EA Csolkovits: with spectacular teams that became highly successful. 247 00:28:48,110 --> 00:28:50,930 EA Csolkovits: I experienced them both myself, and I can tell you, 248 00:28:51,850 --> 00:28:58,370 EA Csolkovits: the team and the relationships and the discernment you use with those people around you will impact you in profound ways. 249 00:28:58,690 --> 00:29:06,990 EA Csolkovits: One of the things I find so amazing when you go to these business award shows and whatnot, you hear the speeches and been up there and done them myself. 250 00:29:07,130 --> 00:29:15,410 EA Csolkovits: And one of the first things that always pops to mind is the team and the effort that went behind it for everybody. It's not just you and me talking about it here. 251 00:29:15,590 --> 00:29:20,870 EA Csolkovits: I would say almost unanimously across any successful scaling entrepreneur that has got 252 00:29:20,870 --> 00:29:30,190 EA Csolkovits: to a certain point that is award worthy or whatever else, they'll tell you the same thing. It couldn't have happened without an incredible group of people around them 253 00:29:30,190 --> 00:29:35,310 EA Csolkovits: that amplifies that goal. And something that really resonates with me that really kind of flowed through everything 254 00:29:35,310 --> 00:29:42,810 Kevin Mako: you said on this talk today is the power of vision. And it seems that if the FedEx example was a great one, 255 00:29:42,830 --> 00:29:51,750 Kevin Mako: that if you can align everybody from the get-go, both in choosing, then hiring and bringing on that team, keep them aligned to the goals and vision, 256 00:29:52,230 --> 00:30:02,110 Kevin Mako: they will naturally fulfill that vision for you when you're not there to make the decisions or when they can make better decisions than you can or simply amplifying your message. 257 00:30:02,390 --> 00:30:10,470 Kevin Mako: And that really plays into the rotation element that you mentioned too, bringing on different players of the team, on different meetings or on different decisions 258 00:30:10,470 --> 00:30:15,390 Kevin Mako: to bring out their leadership so that you're not missing out on the value of those incredible 259 00:30:15,390 --> 00:30:19,710 Kevin Mako: people that have been brought into your organization that match that shining star that you put 260 00:30:19,710 --> 00:30:25,750 Kevin Mako: forth and making sure that they are there to contribute and you're not missing out listening to some of this very profound advice. 261 00:30:25,890 --> 00:30:31,770 Kevin Mako: It might be coming from anybody within your organization. And final that I'd say to that as well, and I like how you kind of wrapped it all together, 262 00:30:32,250 --> 00:30:40,450 Kevin Mako: you need structure to all this. Having structure makes things happen. It keeps things moving and really structure is to be. 263 00:30:41,170 --> 00:30:50,730 Kevin Mako: And if you can have both this innovation with this team, as you mentioned, by having the right people and allowing them to innovate and be independent thinkers, but in conjunction 264 00:30:50,730 --> 00:30:58,130 Kevin Mako: as well, have that structure in there to keep things flowing and keep everybody following that shining star that you've set forth, then is very powerful to any business. 265 00:30:58,190 --> 00:31:02,330 Kevin Mako: And I can tell you, from my own business, I would never be at a 30-person team across four 266 00:31:02,330 --> 00:31:06,670 Kevin Mako: offices without having all kinds of people that I can look back in the early days, in the middle 267 00:31:06,670 --> 00:31:12,830 EA Csolkovits: days that even to today that I relied on heavily to help build that that entire establishment 268 00:31:12,830 --> 00:31:19,110 EA Csolkovits: for sure for sure um one just a side two-minute story at the best because it really does sort of 269 00:31:19,110 --> 00:31:24,810 EA Csolkovits: it's a great sum up story um i saw an interview many many years ago about a guy he was interviewed 270 00:31:24,810 --> 00:31:29,590 EA Csolkovits: his name was j paul getty at the time jay paul getty was the wealthiest person in the world 271 00:31:30,170 --> 00:31:33,870 EA Csolkovits: and he was being interviewed and the interview asked him i remember the interview like it was 272 00:31:33,870 --> 00:31:37,530 EA Csolkovits: yesterday. The interview asked him, said, you know, if you lost all of your oil, that's where he made 273 00:31:37,530 --> 00:31:42,710 EA Csolkovits: his money, oil, tankers, you know, big oil tankers and shipping oil and that kind of thing, and subsequently 274 00:31:42,710 --> 00:31:49,890 EA Csolkovits: a lot of other products and businesses, they said, if we took it all from you, all of your holdings, all of your tankers, all of your oil, could you do it again? 275 00:31:50,870 --> 00:32:00,060 EA Csolkovits: Could you do it again? And he said, not only could I do it again, but in one year, it would be bigger than it is 276 00:32:00,060 --> 00:32:07,080 EA Csolkovits: today. And I would ask that you only leave me one thing. Take it all. Take all of my money. Take all of the 277 00:32:07,080 --> 00:32:14,430 EA Csolkovits: assets, all of the ships, all of the oil, all of it. Take it all. Just leave me one thing, my organization. 278 00:32:15,050 --> 00:32:18,810 Kevin Mako: That's amazing. And you know, Grant Cardone just did that on TV. 279 00:32:19,530 --> 00:32:27,290 Kevin Mako: He took that challenge where somebody said, if you started over again, I forget what the number was, X thousand dollars and 10 grand in your pocket or something like that. 280 00:32:27,430 --> 00:32:36,510 Kevin Mako: Could you build something? And he actually, did a reality TV show. I think it's over the course of 90 days or something like that where he converts that into a big thing. 281 00:32:36,610 --> 00:32:42,210 EA Csolkovits: And I said, man, that that's amazing because he really did it, put the proof in the pudding. A lot of people have said that over the years. 282 00:32:42,870 --> 00:32:49,010 EA Csolkovits: And he took the challenge and actually pulled it off. But that is a reality. And a lot of entrepreneurs will tell you the same 283 00:32:49,010 --> 00:32:57,450 EA Csolkovits: thing. A lot of entrepreneurs as well, I heard some stat. It's an arguably some X million dollar entrepreneurs have failed or gone bankrupt twice in their life. 284 00:32:57,890 --> 00:33:05,670 EA Csolkovits: And that just goes to show you that that there's something well beyond luck or even hard work. There's a combination of elements. 285 00:33:06,030 --> 00:33:10,550 Kevin Mako: And as you mentioned, you believe the most important one is the team. And there's a lot of merit to that. 286 00:33:10,970 --> 00:33:18,650 Kevin Mako: But it proves it when you watch these people that have failed and then rebound it from great failure, learn from that and then built something new again. 287 00:33:18,770 --> 00:33:21,850 Kevin Mako: And I think that's very powerful, especially if we're thinking about hardware startups 288 00:33:21,850 --> 00:33:28,690 EA Csolkovits: and understanding the journey that you have to go through up front before you start getting money. You have to give a lot, as you said, before you start receiving. 289 00:33:28,690 --> 00:33:37,370 EA Csolkovits: and that is in actually producing your product and getting payments in. You have to give a lot first, build yourself a great team, invest a lot both personally, 290 00:33:38,850 --> 00:33:45,370 EA Csolkovits: financially and emotionally to get a product over the line. But if you do it well and you give enough, the dividends are incredible, 291 00:33:45,730 --> 00:33:51,770 EA Csolkovits: especially if you surround yourself with a great team to get there. I interviewed over two years, 1,000 millionaires. 292 00:33:52,530 --> 00:33:58,070 EA Csolkovits: And you know, Kevin, every single one of them had the story you just said. 293 00:33:58,710 --> 00:34:07,710 EA Csolkovits: Every one of them had a time where everything looked dark, where everything, the business, the money, the family. Everyone said, throw in a towel, throw in a towel. 294 00:34:08,050 --> 00:34:14,760 EA Csolkovits: Do you know some of them, interesting, even use the same words with me. Some of them even said, do you know I took the next step out 295 00:34:14,760 --> 00:34:22,880 EA Csolkovits: of morbid fascination just to see if there's anything else that could go wrong? He said, it was like I was thinking, I hit them all. Is there anything else? 296 00:34:23,500 --> 00:34:32,340 EA Csolkovits: And they took the next step. And they said the amazing thing about that. And they all, I'm not saying some of them, Kevin, they all 100% had that story. 297 00:34:32,900 --> 00:34:37,140 EA Csolkovits: And they all said they took that next step when they were, and for some reason, 298 00:34:38,120 --> 00:34:39,240 EA Csolkovits: it was like failure left them. 299 00:34:39,760 --> 00:34:45,620 Kevin Mako: And all of a sudden things started coming together almost on, they said almost magically on its own, in spite of them. 300 00:34:45,920 --> 00:34:51,860 EA Csolkovits: It was amazing that all thousand of them had that exact same story out no matter what kind of industry and business. 301 00:34:52,120 --> 00:34:59,720 EA Csolkovits: And what happens is when we have our product, it becomes our baby. You know, we're giving birth to this thing. breathing air in it in his nachos every single day. 302 00:35:00,560 --> 00:35:05,220 EA Csolkovits: I think it was Malcolm Gladwell that said when you feel like you've hit the breaking point, 303 00:35:05,360 --> 00:35:15,060 EA Csolkovits: your failure, you're almost at the tipping point where it's going to become exponentially successful. Like when you finally feel like you've hit wit's end, you're very, very 304 00:35:15,060 --> 00:35:24,100 EA Csolkovits: close to success. And that's what you refer to as that next step, just a little bit further and you're over that hill. 305 00:35:24,180 --> 00:35:31,460 EA Csolkovits: And if you have the right team, they're going to be there, see? the wrong team they're all going to be of the mindset you know last one left in a restaurant 306 00:35:31,460 --> 00:35:36,300 EA Csolkovits: get stuck with the check you know that's their mindset right but when you have a givers team they're 307 00:35:36,300 --> 00:35:40,200 EA Csolkovits: going to say hey we can do this this is nothing let's do it you know no problem so and and again 308 00:35:40,200 --> 00:35:48,880 EA Csolkovits: because those times are going to happen and it'd be naive to think they're not going to they're going to but with the right team and following very specific 309 00:35:48,880 --> 00:35:56,480 EA Csolkovits: proven methodologies in discerning who to have a part of that team it's a winning it's a winning formula look appreciate you being on 310 00:35:56,680 --> 00:36:02,400 EA Csolkovits: Now, just talk fairly quickly about Givers University that you've established and how folks can 311 00:36:02,400 --> 00:36:06,720 EA Csolkovits: reach out to learn more about your processes, especially that 25-point list of the dues. 312 00:36:07,280 --> 00:36:13,260 EA Csolkovits: I really want everyone to know where they can get this information, where they can learn more from you as they're building out their teams. Just go to our website. 313 00:36:13,460 --> 00:36:20,660 EA Csolkovits: It's giversuniversity.com. So it's plural, giversuniversity.com. Sign it for our newsletter. It's absolutely free. We're not spammers. 314 00:36:20,900 --> 00:36:25,420 EA Csolkovits: So as soon as you do that, you'll get a thing in your email. It says, do you want to communicate these people? Say yes. 315 00:36:25,420 --> 00:36:34,600 EA Csolkovits: and about an hour later you'll get an email that has a download in it that is called the six arrows that takers shoot at givers and 316 00:36:34,600 --> 00:36:43,180 EA Csolkovits: then about two days later you'll get that 25 dues checklist and then every week on Thursday Thursday morning will be a short suite 317 00:36:43,180 --> 00:36:52,780 EA Csolkovits: what we call the givers toolbox this is specifically every week we give a new tool that every business owner can add to the relationship 318 00:36:52,780 --> 00:36:59,880 EA Csolkovits: toolbox on how to discern their team What should they should be looking for? And every week, it's short, sweet, it's not detailed. 319 00:37:00,720 --> 00:37:06,680 EA Csolkovits: You know, we're not one of those. I hate that. You sign up for something next thing. You know, you get 10 emails a day. And unsubscribe, unsubscribe, unsubscribe, right? 320 00:37:07,080 --> 00:37:16,240 EA Csolkovits: And once a week on Thursday, they're going to get a simple, short little thing that's going to help them build up a great relationship team toolbox, which 321 00:37:16,240 --> 00:37:23,620 EA Csolkovits: will be the most important thing. And as crazy as that sounds, I can submit to you with absolute proof. 322 00:37:24,510 --> 00:37:30,870 EA Csolkovits: it'll be more important than their product or their service. Because what will happen is that product or service at Sunday will have a life. 323 00:37:31,670 --> 00:37:35,510 EA Csolkovits: But a great team, they're going to keep that after the life of that product or service. 324 00:37:36,570 --> 00:37:41,210 EA Csolkovits: Powerful stuff. Yeah, I really appreciate you being on the show today. Thanks again. You bet. Thank you. 325 00:37:41,290 --> 00:37:49,650 Narrator: Thanks for tuning in to this episode of the Product Startup Podcast. The show that teaches you what it really takes to bring your product to market 326 00:37:49,650 --> 00:37:58,550 Narrator: and turn it into a big success. This podcast series is brought to you, Bob. by Mako Design + Invent, the original and leading firm in 327 00:37:58,550 --> 00:38:07,410 Narrator: North America to provide global caliber in-to-end physical consumer product development to startups, inventors, and small product business clients. 328 00:38:07,610 --> 00:38:13,190 Narrator: If you're looking for product development help on your invention, head over to Mako -design.com. 329 00:38:13,450 --> 00:38:23,210 Narrator: That's M-A-K-O Design dot com for a free consultation from one of Mako Design's Ford Design Studios from coast to coast. Thanks for listening. 330 00:38:23,210 --> 00:38:24,670 Narrator: and see you next time.