From a talk given in 2014 on Being Entrepreneurial in A Non-Entrepreneurial Environment.

Being an entrepreneur in a non-entrepreneurial environment can be very challenging. It’s not an impossible situation; but first, you must first understand your environment.

The key to success, is meeting people where they are.

You’re not going to move mountains, or influence people, or be a tremendous change agent, if you don’t understand the facts on the ground… if you don’t understand what your starting points are.

You can be a visionary, you can have great ideas, you can have all the deal flow in the world; if you don’t have a receptive audience that understands the value proposition that you’re offering, it’s a non-starter.

If you want your solutions, your ideas, to grow and prosper, you have to plant [them] in fertile ground.

And that fertile ground comes – first – from understanding the problems that exist with your current workforce, with your current working base, and moving to address those; then, all the great entrepreneurial ideas you have will find some sustainability in the long term.

Go, and be you.