Big Omaha Video Series: Dan Martell of Flowtown

Today, we’re pleased to share with the you the eighth video in our Big Omaha 2011 Video Series, brought to you by CoSentry. The video features Dan Martell, co-founder of Flowtown, a social marketing platform focused on helping small businesses achieve real results in the world of social media. An award-winning entrepreneur at age 25,…

Dan Martell at Big Omaha 2011 – Thursday, May 12, 2011

Today, we’re pleased to share with the you the eighth video in our Big Omaha 2011 Video Series, brought to you by CoSentry.

The video features Dan Martell, co-founder of Flowtown, a social marketing platform focused on helping small businesses achieve real results in the world of social media. An award-winning entrepreneur at age 25, he founded Spheric, Inc, which grew an average of 152 percent per year until he sold it in 2008. As an informal angel investor, he is active in advising entrepreneurs using the Lean Startup approach to gain market adoption.

In his talk, “Five Unconventional Steps to Entrepreneurship,” Martell shared his beliefs and ideas he’s compiled over his years as an entrepreneur, investor and mentor to numerous businesses.

Here are the five steps Martell shared:

  1. Don’t listen to your parents – Your parents are biased and don’t want you to hurt. The advice they give you is supportive, but not going to allow you to try something risky because they don’t want you to get hurt.
  2. Embrace laziness – Embrace the fact that you should find people that play at the things you work at.
  3. Choose your friends carefully – You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.
  4. Hustle to help – When Martell meets people he strives to be able to understand their top two challenges. The willingness to offer introductions and be willing to go out of your way to help the other person not only feels good, but comes around in the long run.
  5. Failure is part of the process – Entrepreneurship is all about taking a hit and getting right back up. It’s not about failing, it’s about not dying.

To read a recap of Dan’s talk, see our post:

“Big Omaha – Dan Martell: ‘I realized it’s not about not failing. It’s about not dying.’ “

Dan is a well respected entrepreneur and mentor in the space and we were truly honored to have him take time out of his schedule to come in and not only present his ideas, but spend time with us during the entire event. Let Dan know how much you appreciate his time and ideas via Twitter,@danmartell.

Big Omaha is Silicon Prairie News’ premier annual event held each May to inspire, educate and connect entrepreneurs, especially those with an interest in the tech industry. Visit BigOmaha.com to learn more.

Next up: Thinc Iowa. If you enjoyed Big Omaha, then you’ll want to be the first to know about Thinc Iowa, an event aimed at exploring the common ground between startups and corporations. Sign up to be the first to learn more at thinciowa.com.

This story is part of the AIM Archive

This story is part of the AIM Institute Archive on Silicon Prairie News. AIM gifted SPN to the Nebraska Journalism Trust in January 2023. Learn more about SPN’s origin »

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