Entrepreneurship - want to Win? You have to Fail first

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Hello there!

Just back from a weekend in Pittsburgh (go Steelers) - amazing city 🏈 🥃 🚴‍♀️ 🚡 - Lantern fly dodging was less fun 🪰 😬, but you can’t have it all! 🤷‍♀️

On the plane back, I was listening to Pivot (a tech podcast with Kara Swisher - amazing journalist, and Scott Galloway - Professor of marketing / Entrepreneur). The conversation turned to failure. It was Sooo refreshing...

1. 🏆 Failing is winning in disguise

2. 📸 Event re-cap

3. 💬 Community Convo’s in Slack / WhatsApp

4. 📆 Upcoming TKS Events

5. 🙋‍♀️ Member Shout outs, asks and wins

6. 🚀 Launches

7. 🛠️ Resources

8. 🗽 Events across NYC

9. 😰 Tips on How to fail, if you want to win

…continuing from above.

Scott Galloway is successful (Google him), yet when it comes to winning - eg elections, he was a failure! I mean - everything he ran for he lost (4 class president elections in a row to be exact).

But then… he goes on to become hugely successful. Using these skills, learnings, and the strength it gave him, to build numerous companies, advising corporations across the globe, being a respected academic. It got me thinking…

Far too often, they are positioned as negative. As an end point, something to avoid at all costs 🏃‍♀️😰.

Instead of simply a fork in the road, that is leading us to something better 💪

Entrepreneurship is all about failing….

• Fail to find product market fit (but could you pivot? ⤴️)

• Fail to raise funds (but what about grants, loans, a diff’ approach?💰)

• Fail to make “that hire” (there’s always another candidate🙋🏾‍♂️)

• Fail to land the big client (but the next could be be bigger ☎️ )

• Fail to take a risk (and then you jump 🤬)

• Fail to make a profit (review what’s driving your expenses 💸 )

• FAIL TO TRY…., (then frankly on this one - here’s the door 🚪)

The only way to win, is to fail first. If you aren’t failing - how do you know how far you can get? How big the opportunity really is?

• What will this test help me understand?

• How will this conversation help me achieve my objectives?

• How can i use these insights to build a stronger business?

Now, on with the show! And as always, thank you for being here.

If you know any other founds who would benefit from the newsletter, remember to forward it and tell them i said hi 👋

Tori Hanson

​Founder, The Knowledge Shop & Meet in 10 ( in-person networking as impactful as Linkedin)

ps - #FailFest is October 16th - when did you last fail? Or was it really a win in disguise? A coworking day designed to share openly the struggles we’ve faced, and how the unexpected was quite often just around the corner.

Tickets include 1:1 coaching sessions to boost your startup 🚀. RSVP

Aug 9th, was another amazing coworking day. 🏆

Thanks again to our incredible hosts The Yard, Columbus Circle ❤️, and our visiting experts Jonathan Bailie Strong - aka the #VirtualAssistantGuru and Katie Dunn - the fundraising 🚀 , who so kindly donated their time to the group.

Not been to one of our events? Or just want to reminisce, then the photo and video maestro Sean Pfarr or Innovent Agency produced the amazing highlights reel below - starring the famous “Naughty Gus Barrett” (IYKYK)🐕‍🦺

Pictures more your thing? Then head to Linkedin for your viewing pleasure.

• Helping friends - the following talented folks are on the job hunt…

  • Paraic Mclean - Digital & product marketer - Impressive at managing community, newsletter strategy and product-led communications / social media. Also a budding wine influencer.

  • Bernardo Montes - Author, researcher & Script writer - If you've seen Slidebean's Startup videos on YT - he's the researcher and writer behind the scene.

  • Emilio Brenes - Full-stack engineer. His ability to think of user-problems & ownership was exceptional.

• Searches for marketing / growth Interns

• Recommendations for transferring money - Revolut got the nod.

• Sinch vs Twilio for OTP verification

Aug 30th

Summer Cocktails. Members and Friends only. We wanted to give back to everyone who has supported us so far this year, and provide you all with a chance to reconnect and compare notes. Cash bar. Apply to Attend

Sept 15th

Coffee Huddle. Small group of founders, drinking coffee around a table. (Enough said) RSVP

Sept 20th

Fundraising / Storytelling Coworking Day. Hear from the founders of Power to Pitch - Kat Weaver & Katie Dunn. A few lucky attendees can book office hours with them too RSVP

Oct 16th

#FAILFEST. Share Highs, Lows & everything in between - how these learnings propel you to WIN. Complete with leadership coaching 1:1’s RSVP

SAVE THE DATE: Oct 19th

#GROWFEST. Sales and marketing coworking day. Founder Coworking day focussed on all things revenue generation and profitability.

SAVE THE DATE: Nov 15th

#BROOKLYN BABY. Our first Coworking day in the borough. May do a sneaky holiday / gifting themed event. Founder of a CPG brand? Reach out.

A big 👋 and hello to some of our newer members, including...

• Christina Cappelli, multimedia designer and producer turned creative technologist! Recent grad from NYUs masters in interactive telecommunications program, exploring many ventures.

• Sanjay Subbarao, passionate about Mental Health. Building out a bunch of initiatives in the space, and evangelist for Dextego

• Abhishek Pillai, building Whimsy, to make reading and writing more engaging/creative for kids using generative AI.

• Jared Kleinert, founder of Offsite (just launched on Product Hunt). Think end-to-end offsite management and Airbnb-like marketplace.

​💰Fundraising

• What Investors really mean when they say this .... (thank you to Charlie O'Donnell)

• FREE money - list of different grants for NY based founders

• How to fill your fundraising pipeline (Another Charlie O'Donnell classic). Many resources and a step by step guide

⏰ Operations

• Virtual Assistants / Managing Remote Teams. Real-world examples of how to hire and get the best from them. 🙏 Jonathan Bailie Strong

• Delegate! 79 tasks to give a Virtual Assistant (Via Nick Gray)

• AI Tool alert, Briefly summarises meeting notes / action items etc.

Thurs Aug 24th

5pm. Shop Black NYC: The Future of Popup Retail. Join Black Entrepreneurs NYC, for an in-person panel discussion and networking reception and resources available to minority-owned businesses. RSVP

6pm. GenAI companies building in NYC. A monthly demo+ happy hour hosted by the AI Furnace. Two GenAI will be showcased. RSVP

Fri 25th Aug

Corporate Chocolate Coworking Day. Indulge your sweet tooth & boost your productivity at our upcoming Corporate Chocolate Co-work Session RSVP

Sun 27th Aug

Budgeting workshop. A virtual, free event to help you manage your funds better. (Thanks to Nirmal Topiwala for sharing) RSVP

Wed 30th Aug

2pm. Tech Walk. Stroll around Central Park, led by expert tech hosts from a variety of backgrounds. Perfect for Tech & Saas founders. Get outside, meet new people, and enjoy some fresh air, while practicing mindful movement. RSVP

🌟 5pm. Summer Cocktails 🌟 Members and Friends only. We wanted to give back to everyone who has supported us so far this year, and provide you all with a chance to reconnect and compare notes. Cash bar. Apply to Attend

6pm. Brand Storytelling Workshop. Hosted by Boundless Creative, talk branding, raising money through storytelling, the impact of visual identity and more. RSVP 

Sept 20th

🌟 Fundraising / Storytelling Coworking Day 🌟. Hear from the founders of Power to Pitch - Kat Weaver & Katie Dunn. A few lucky attendees can book office hours with them too RSVP

Oct 16th

🌟 #FAILFEST 🌟. Share Highs, Lows & everything in between - how these learnings propel you to WIN. Complete with leadership coaching 1:1’s RSVP

1. Re-Frame, Re-frame, Re-frame. It was the plan all along!

2. 100 days of rejection

3. Talking about failure is crucial for growth. The New York Times.

4. A guide to living a memorable and full life on your terms

5. How to get over your fear of failure ⬇️. Tony Robbins

6. Achieve your full potential, unlocking this mindset. Entrepreneur

7. How to overcome your fear of failure. Harvard Business Review.

8. Don’t fail fast, fail mindfully. Ted Talks

9. The power of vulnerability. Brene Brown

10. MindTools to overcome your fear of failure.

​See you on Aug 30th.....

Only 30 spots. Priority to the most active TKS members. Apply to Attend

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