Sean Wise | Lessons from ‘Naked’ Entrepreneurs

Since his time with Dragons’ Den and through to his role as Professor of Entrepreneurship at Ryerson, Dr. Sean Wise has engaged with many business and organization audiences as an exclusive speaker with National Speakers Bureau. Dr. Wise has now moved in front of the camera with a new TV show, The Naked Entrepreneur, premiering in Ontario on Oct 28th, and nationally on the OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network (Canada) on January 15th. The show features one-on-one in-depth interviews with the likes of: Harry Rosen, W. Brett Wilson, John Sleeman and Debbie Travis. We asked Sean to share his 5 top lessons learned from interviewing Canada’s greatest Entrepreneurs. NSB-Divider

It was a great honor to sit down one-on-one with some of Canada’s most iconic entrepreneurs. They had so much to say, to share, to teach. I think many people will learn a lot by watching. I know I did in listening to them. Here is what I learned:

#5: Entrepreneurship is a team sport.

Even though we interviewed one founder, we quickly learned that behind each successful founder, was a team. Sometimes partners, sometimes spouses, but none of our guests claimed to have done it alone.

#4: Entrepreneurship is 24/7/365.

If you see founding your venture as a job, you won’t succeed. There is no work/life balance in entrepreneurship. There is simply life = work. Entrepreneurs don’t get days off. Every day is a workday when building a successful venture.

#3: Entrepreneurship is a journey not a destination.

If all you are focused on is getting rich, you won’t succeed. Starting a business is a life choice not a job. It is your life’s work, not your day job.

#2: No passion, no business.

Being a successful entrepreneur takes a lifetime commitment. Don’t make that commitment unless you are so passionate that you would do the work for free (because you will eventually, sometime along the journey, have to do just that).

#1: Never give up.

Everyone I interviewed, from Harry Rosen to Rose Reisman, all had to overcome setbacks and hurdles. To be successful in business, each had to demonstrate a high Adversity Quotient (a measure of a person’s resiliency to adverse conditions). For a sneak peek at the Naked Entrepreneur click here.