Mistake Bank Video Podcast #7 - Sue Pera on growing her business

Sue Pera and her husband Al own the Cornerstone Coffeehouse in Camp Hill, PA (where I live). Sue was very gracious to sit down and talk about an important mistake they made while considering expansion and what they learned from it.

Download: Sue Pera Mistake Bank Podcast (4:36)

To find other podcasts in this series, please visit http://mistakebank.com.

If you are an entrepreneur or know an entrepreneur who should be interviewed for this podcast series, please email me at john (at) caddellinsightgroup (dot) com. Thank you!

Mistake Bank Podcast #5 - Monica Gould of Strategic Consulting Partners

#5 in our series of interviews with successful entrepreneurs in which they talk about the mistakes that helped shape their careers. Our guest is Monica Gould, who founded her business, Strategic Consulting Partners, after a successful career at MCI, and has sustained it for more than 10 years.

Monica, like so many of the entrepreneurs I've talked to, is very candid and self-reflective, and willing to talk about mistakes, to teach others and to ensure they themselves learn from them. I was struck by Monica's sense of humor when she discussed the cobbler's kids dilemma - while she helped companies improve their planning she tended to neglect planning for her own business (something I've experienced myself). I'm sure you'll enjoy the interview.

Monica Gould podcast (31:24)

Content:

0:30 How she got started
11:10 An early mistake...the "we can help you with anything" brand
13:30 Consequences of a consultant losing focus
15:15 A more recent mistake: how long to try to break into a new market?
17:10 "Time is your biggest commodity"
18:50 A difficult situation with a subcontractor
23:45 A final thought on planning...

(audio content copyright 2010 John Caddell)

If you are interested in contacting Monica , please visit her website.


Previous podcasts can be found here.

Silicon Pasture Podcast #1 - Jason Kichline of OnSong

In our inaugural Silicon Pasture podcast, we talk to Harrisburg-based Jason Kichline, developer of the OnSong iPad application that helps musicians and bands manage chordsheets.

My favorite part of the interview is when Jason, when asked why he was able to succeed in building his own business developing websites, credited good timing rather than his own brilliance. Good for you, Jason!

Highlights:
0:35 How he got started
2:45 How can you build a sustainable business out of a hobby?
4:07 The idea for OnSong
7:05 What the app does
9:13 What's happened since the product's release
12:30 Marketing OnSong
14:45 On new computing form factors

You can download the podcast here: Silicon Pasture Podcast - Jason Kichline.

[A collection of other Silicon Pasture posts.]


Theme music: "Odyssey" by Woolfy.

Mistake Bank Podcast #3 - Tim Berry, Founder of Palo Alto Software

Here's another in our series of interviews with successful entrepreneurs in which they talk about the mistakes that helped shape their careers. Our guest is Tim Berry, a co-founder of Borland Software and founder of Palo Alto Software the publisher of Business Plan Pro and Marketing Plan Pro, among other titles.

Tim has shared many other great mistake stories on his blog.

Tim Berry Mistake Bank Podcast

Content:

0:40 The making of an entrepreneur
5:10 An early mistake - with serendipitous results
10:10 "Adjusting the aim" when evaluating people
15:16 Believing the hype of the dot-com era
19:12 The importance of killing mediocre products

(audio content copyright 2010 John Caddell)

Previous podcasts can be found here.

Mistake Bank Podcast #2 - Charlie Crystle of Chilisoft and Mission Research

Here's our second podcast focusing on the mistake stories of successful entrepreneurs. Our guest is Charlie Crystle, who founded Chilisoft, a web infrastructure provider which in 1999 was sold to Cobalt Networks for $70 million. He and two partners later started Mission Research, which offers low-cost business software to support nonprofits. Now he is working on a new venture and advising startups.

Download the Charlie Crystle podcast (28:27).

Content:

1:10 Investing in someone else's dream
4:00 On breaking up with a business partner
5:53 "Lessons learned doesn't necessarily mean lessons applied."
7:40 Personnel mistakes
12:50 Knowing when to step aside
16:45 On mistakes by your employees
20:00 Consequences of a culture of withholding information
21:00 "Startups have a lot to do with learning along the way"

(audio content copyright 2010 John Caddell)

Mistake Bank Podcast #1 - John Bliss, founder of Bliss PR

Welcome to the first in a series of podcasts in which we explore learning from mistakes with successful entrepreneurs. First up, John Bliss, founder of Bliss PR, discusses starting out working for the family business, then going out on his own, and what he learned along the way.

Download the John Bliss podcast

Content:

0:45 A brief history of Bliss PR
4:35 When you're starting out, you'll take any business you have
6:55 A mistake - sharing equity with a business partner
10:00 Another mistake - losing focus
12:20 A few hiring mistakes
15:30 Going downmarket in bad times
17:15 Learning from mistakes my dad made
19:40 "It's a 'we' business"

(Thanks to John, and also to Elizabeth Sosnow for connecting us.)

(audio content copyright 2010 John Caddell)