Seize the moment...
Seize the moment when you are sitting next to someone who may be able to help you with your business. It could be a chance to get good advice or an idea worth far more than saving the cost of a bus ticket. But you have to ask for the help.
I am recording the video at Charles de Gaulle airport on 28 March 2010 after a week in Denmark. We had Aminotastic all the previous day and until late in the evening. I was at Copenhagen Airport at a quarter past four in the morning, so I am bloody tired. But I am also very happy.
Seize the moment at an entrepreneurship event
It was a fantastic day and evening. We sold 300 tickets, and the event was completely sold out a week in advance. I am both incredibly tired and incredibly happy, and a little observation from the day makes me take out the camera before I forget it.
At one point, I sat down at a table to enjoy myself and listen to some of the fantastic speakers. Next to me was a guy who looked at me and asked: "Who actually are you?"
At first, I thought he was joking. Not because I am that famous, but I had imagined people at Aminotastic would have some idea who I was. He had also noticed that I had been up presenting something.
I replied that my name was Martin and I was the person who had started Amino. He said "oh" in a way that struck me as arrogant, irritated or indifferent. In any case, it was not the start of a particularly interested conversation.
The logo became more important than the conversation
Then he asked about the logo. Why was it in Comic Sans? He did not like that. I replied that it worked, that we were happy with it and that it had cost 5,000 kroner. That was that.
Then he sat looking down at his mobile phone for the next fifteen or twenty minutes while I did something else. Eventually, I moved on.
Later, I met him again. He had heard I was going to the airport and wanted to know whether I could drop him in Copenhagen. I said I had to go to Bagsværd first. He did not fancy that, so he turned away, annoyed, and left.
Good advice can be worth more than a lift
Afterwards, I sat thinking: What the hell are you doing at an entrepreneurship event like that? Here you are, an entrepreneur sitting next to another entrepreneur who has some experience and might be able to give you good advice. And all you get out of it is criticising a logo and asking for a lift.
During the event, I helped around 50–70 people with ideas for various things. It was an inspiration event for entrepreneurs, after all. The chance to talk about a business and get input was there.
But the biggest resource he tried to get from me was a drive to Copenhagen. Apparently that was all he could manage: trying to save the bus fare from Køge.
My point is not to act like a big shot. It is that sometimes you have a fantastic opportunity to speak to someone with knowledge or resources that might help you. So look around and use the situation.
Instead of just trying to save a bus fare, you might get good advice for your business. He could have had a lot of help, but he did not. He never asked for it. Seize the moment. Take opportunities while they are there. You can find my own experiences as an entrepreneur in Iværksætter til jeg dør.
Best wishes, Martin
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