 5 min read Steve Blank: 'Entrepreneurship is a Calling, Not a Job.'

SEPTEMBER 29, 2014
During the course of my conversation with
veteran entrepreneur Steve Blank , he described
himself as the "busiest retired man you've ever
seen." That's a fair assessment. Blank is a
prolific blogger and a teacher and lecturer at
universities like Berkeley and Columbia. He also
works with organizations like the National
Institutes of Health and the National Science
Foundation to, in his words, "commercialize
science" and innovation across the country.
Sounds like a busy schedule, but Blank is used to
this lifestyle.
The New York-bred Blank has spent more than
30 years being involved in the world of startups
-- both as an entrepreneur founding eight
companies and a venture capitalist -- in Silicon
Valley. Blank, along with fellow entrepreneurs Eric
Ries and Alex Osterwalder, is credited with
developing the "Lean Startup" movement,
an approach that aims to help business owners
build their startups with more efficiency.
We caught up with Blank to talk about the
importance of family and following your passion.
Related: 50 Signs You Might Be an Entrepreneur
Q: Knowing what you know now, what would you
have done differently when you were first starting
up?
A: I don't think looking back I would have
changed a thing.
I followed my passion. I guess when you've done
that in your life it's hard to say you would do
anything different. I did everything I wanted.
Q: What is your best advice for aspiring
entrepreneurs?
A: I think you should do something that you can't
wait to show up to work in the morning. And if you
don't have that feeling, you're in the wrong job.
Entrepreneurship, particularly if you're a founder,
is a calling, not a job. That's biggest piece of
advice I could give any entrepreneur.  The
problem today is that it's cool and trendy, so you
think you should do it. Entrepreneurship is for
crazy people, much like an artists. You don't get
assigned to be a sculptor, a painter or a writer.
It's something that you can't get rid of. It's inside
of you, dying to get out.
Related: 10 Things That Set Entrepreneurs Apart
From the 9-to-5 Crowd
Q: What are you glad you didn’t know then that
you know now?
A: I'm glad I didn't have kids until later in life. A
dirty secret of entrepreneurship is that you never
get a memo that says you can't undo personal
and family relationships.
I watched people -- who I thought were gods at
work -- who had kids that by the time they left
home hated their parents because they had never
seen them.
I would opt for a happy family over a pile of
money. It was harder doing the family right, cost
me one marriage in Silicon Valley but luckily there
were no kids. I remember one day my ex-wife
asked me, what’s more important: me or your
job? I remember sitting there, having to think
about it. And then we both looked at each other
and realized the marriage was over. That was
sad, because I wasn't mature enough to
understand there were more important things
than just doing the thing that was driving my
passion. My other passion should be the family.
And finally when I did get married again and have
kids, I had a greater passion, which was to have a
great family.
I don't understand why we're embarrassed to talk
about this [topic] or see it as some sort of sign of
weakness. Entrepreneurship is 24/7, but
entrepreneurship without a family is meaningless.
It's one of those fool's gold things.
Related: 7 Entrepreneurs You Should Start
Following Now
Q: What do you enjoy about teaching future
entrepreneurs?
We started something which became the Lean
Startup Movement. It's a way to build startups a
lot more efficiently than we used to. We've
invented a methodology that has changed
people's lives. We changed the way
entrepreneurs built startups and we've also
changed how VC's think about funding startups
and we've changed how school's teach
entrepreneurship.
My intent in teaching is that I realized human
beings don't learn genetically, we don’t pass on
our knowledge via DNA. We have to pass it on by
making it digestible and repeatable for the next
generation. So I decided there was a body of
knowledge that we might want to pass on to the
next generation of entrepreneurs, so they didn't
have to learn it all again [on their own].
Q: What was the best advice you were ever
given?
A: Find out what customers want and need. You
can't be smarter than the collective intelligence of
your customers.
- This interview was edited for clarity and brevity.

TEEBILLZ OPENS UP: “DOROTIWA IS A SHAREFULL GIVER”

It’s no longer news that rumours about crack in the
Celebrity marriage between Mavin first lady Tiwa
savage and frontline producer and her former
manager Tunji “TeeBillz” Balogun has been on the
pages of entertainment blogs, gossip sites and
social media lately.
FNN and other media houses has been doing
everything possible to get an official confirmation of
what is going on from both parties or either of the
two Nigerian celebrities. Luckily for us, one of our
correspondents ran into TeeBillz yesterday and
asked for an interview but he refused to speak in
detail about the development.
After our correspondent remained persistent in
getting answers, TeeBillz curtly said:
“Oh! You are asking me what the problem is?! as if
you all don’t know already, now no one seems to
remember ‘Doro na Tiwa…..Doro is a shareful
giver’, go and ask DoroTiwa what the problem is
and leave me alone”
In as much as FNN strive to keep you updated with
every information we get, We call on the public not
take the dictionary into their own hands and try to
explain what “shareful giver” means, but wait on
TeeBillz and maybe the MAVIN crew to explain it at
a later date, though we won’t be surprised if your
guess is as good as ours.

Things You Need To Do For A Relationship To Last Longer

Relationship To Last Longer
Going Into A Relationship, is One of The Top
Priority of Every Guy or Lady, But the problem is
that when most of them them successfully go into
it, they relax and they feel they have arrived,
forgetting the fact that for any relationship to last
long, it requires constant maintenance . Luckily,
there are simple things you can do to make your
relationship last longer:
1. Forgive and Forget. Jesus said something about
forgiving someone not just seven times but
seventy times seven? That is 490 times. And If
you forgive but don’t forget, did you really forgive?
I know people who claim to have forgiven but still
use every available opportunity to bring it up. And
if you don’t want to forgive, forgetting works well
too.
2. Engage in lots of eye gazing. New couples seem
to do this naturally, but don’t drop this strong
bonding behavior just because the relationship has
progressed. This is one of the best ways to keep
the romance alive.
3. Do something amazingly thoughtful and out of
the ordinary, and try to add an element of surprise
to it. For example: Playing his/her favorite songs,
A special dinner on an ordinary night, Taking a
walk, watching movies together, Filing up his/her
car.
4. Remember to say "thank you"
Even and especially when things don’t seem like
they need to be acknowledged.
5. Call him every day just for a few minutes. Cook
his favorite meal once a week. Once he begins to
expect these things, you will always be close to
his mind.
6. Do something edgy. If you get your partner’s
heartbeat rate up, he/she may associate the
feeling of excitement with you and may develop
more powerful feelings for you. Examples are:
Going on a roller-coaster ride, taking a balloon trip,
etc. Anything with a touch of danger to it—can
make him fall more deeply in love with you.
7. Do something nice for someone your partner
loves. If you show kindness and love for someone
he/she loves, you will earn major points. When
you enter a relationship, Automatically, you also
enter a relationship with all his family and friends.
Show him that the people who are important to him
are also important to you.
8. Don’t be afraid to give voice to your love. Tell
him/her how you feel. Write a loving note or poem.
Lovers have been doing this from the beginning of
time because it works.
9. Exercise. You owe it to each other to be in the
best physical health.
The mental side effects from exercise will also be
beneficial.
10. Compliment each other Sincerely and Often.

Super Rich!!! Meet the four Nigerian billionaire women who own private jets

You Go Fear Fear!!! There are more private jet
owners in Nigeria than any other country in
Africa. There are about 177 private jets in
Nigeria currently, with Dangote and Oyedepo
owning the highest number...four each. Out of
the 177 PJ's in Nigeria, four of them are owned
by women. According to unconfirmed reports,
these are the four women who own private
jets in Nigeria...
1. Billionaire businesswoman - Mrs Folorunsho
Alakija
2. Minister of Petroleum - Mrs Diezani Alison-
Madueke
3. Oil magnate and politician - Bola Shagaya
(who bought hers very recently)
4. Daisy Danjuma, who reportedly got hers as a
gift from her billionaire husband, Rtd Gen.
Theophilus Danjuma.

To Excel You Must Learn These 6 Crucial Lessons That School Can Never Teach

Be proud of yourself for continuing your education
past traditional schooling. Learning, studying and
investing in yourself doesn’t stop when you
become successful, that’s when it really starts.
The sooner you learn that all the skills you need
to learn to thrive will occur after you leave the
confines of educational conformity, the sooner
you will succeed. Here are six game-changing
ideas that you can’t learn in the classroom.
1. A powerful “why.” Realize that no matter
where you are right now, you can always take it
up a notch. Are you really giving your all daily?
Your possibilities are endless when you
find compelling reasons. The goal is to create a
"why'' so strong that it pulls you through any
challenge, past all doubters and over even your
own limitations. We’re in an economy that now
welcomes the entrepreneur. It’s become easier to
realize your ideal future. It just takes compelling
reasons, clear intentions and the right guidance.
Related: The Smartest Long-Term Investment is
You
2. Focus on strengths, delegate
weaknesses. Anybody who tells you to focus on
your weaknesses hasn’t experienced consistent
peak performance. The idols you and I respect,
along with all well-known achievers, prospered by
deliberately focusing on their strengths. If you’re
not sure what your strengths are, start
asking people around you. Your strengths
are where you get results and maybe isn’t
always what you love. The goal is the be so good
at your strengths that it propels you to stand out.
Everybody loves doing what they're good at, and
your creativity will flourish if you love what you
do. Focusing on too many things causes you to be
average in many versus exceptional in a few.
3. Habits always trump inspiration. Inspiration is
needed to create consistent action, but your
habits are ultimately going to define your success
or failure. It’s been said that only 5 percent of the
people at seminars and conferences  actually use
what they’ve learned. Why is that? Because
inspiration is very short term. It feels good in the
moment but doesn’t last past the activity
producing it.
In our Game Changers Academy we focus on
shifting habits, gaining better perspective and
interrupting bad thought patterns instead of just
inspiration. The biggest inspiration of all is seeing
progress and results, which comes from new
habits. When you begin the formation of a new
habit, stick to it and see the lasting change in
your new-found life.
Related: How Making Employees Lifelong
Learners Can Help Your Company Succeed
4. Mastery vs. information overload . Mastery is
the highest form of accomplishment. The only
way to become successful is to master the
fundamentals and skills needed to reach your
goals and dreams. We have so much information
available to us, it’s easy to become overwhelmed.
When overwhelmed, we seek distractions.
Instead of reading 50 books this year, master and
implement three. The immature learner wants to
get as much information as they can as fast as
they can, but you’ll find them broke, stressed and
lacking real progress. The mature mind is very
deliberate with what they study. The achievers
focus on listening to something until they’ve
adopted it into their daily agenda, and seen their
results improve. Jim Collins says it perfectly, “If
you have more than three priorities, you don’t
have any.”
Make the list of what must you start saying no to.
5. The real education. Jim Rohn said “if you work
hard on your job you can make a living, but if you
work on yourself you can make a fortune.”
Entrepreneurs understand, at a level most don’t,
that Rohn wasn’t kidding. Investing in yourself is
at the top of the list of ways to solidify an
exceptional future, for nations as well as
individuals. Apple said it bluntly "We shouldn't be
criticized for using Chinese workers, the U.S. has
stopped producing people with the skills we
need."
Ouch! When I say develop yourself, grow and
improve your skills, I don’t mean school. Weird,
but true, school sometimes distracts you from the
things that actually matter in advancing your
career and life. Warren Buffett said, “The best
education you can get is investing in yourself,
and that doesn’t mean college or university.”
6. Create something meaningful. Few companies
nowadays have a compelling story or vision. The
companies that are attracting top-tier talent --
Google, Apple, Amazon, Tesla, Zappos -- have a
mission bigger than themselves.
I challenge you to start a movement. What can
you create that helps other people? I will tell you
from experience, life becomes much more
fulfilling when you become involved in a
movement or a cause greater than yourself. A
meaningful mission isn’t optional anymore.
Movements are thriving while well-put-together
plans are failing left and right.
As long as you have strong enough reasons,
there has never been a better time in the history
of our economy to create your ideal life.
Understand that the only person you should try to
be better than is the person you were yesterday.
Get clear on exactly what you want this year.
Figure out the type of person you need be on an
everyday basis to reach the goals you've set for
yourself. Do everything you can to find a
community of like-minded people to encourage
you along the way. They are the ones who won't
let you give up during the toughest of times.