The Entrepreneur's Playbook

Giving back is simply good karma.

Everyone has a responsibility to give back.

If you want to grow and succeed, build an effective team. There is no other way.

Remember, the most effective way to build a team is through face-to-face communication

Remember, cheating isn't winning. Yes, you want to win, but you want to win the right way.

Create a personal mission statement. Just as you have an overall strategy and mission statement for your company, you need to have one for yourself.

Understand that ultimately, only you are responsible for your behavior. You don't get to rationalize it away by saying, "Everyone does it this way," or, "It was okay with my boss." You decided wheter you're going to be a mensch, or you're not.

Follow the Golden Rule. It sounds simplistic, but it's still a good rule of thumb: In the long run, do you want people to treat you the way you treat them?

This is how you should behave in business. You should be a mensch.

If it ain't broke - break it. Don't be complacent. Always improve. Always get better.

Let others help you learn

I love competing against people who don't learn from their mistakes. If you've studied their patterns, you know exactly what they're going to do in any situation and it's easy to take advantage of that fact. It's like playing poker with people who constantly show you their cards

Don't gamble with your future. Risk takers are not successful, as a rule. The reason for that is simple: they leave too much to chance.

Be risk averse. Perhaps the biggest misconception about entrepreneurs is that they're risk-takers. They are not. They're calculated risk-takers.

Minimizing risk should be an integral part of your company's strategy. I can't begin to tell you the number of companies that get lax about this as they grow, always to their detriment.

Unless you truly want to make something happen, the odds are, nothing will. Without that desire, nothing occurs. Your life will be filled in other ways.

Treating an uncertain world as if it were predictable only gets you into trouble.

Take action. Embrace uncertainty. Create the future.

"Passion? Why is he talking about passion; it's not a business subject. It's squishy, emotional, and seems awfully out of place. I don't recall anyone else writing about passion in a business book." You're right - and they were wrong not to include it.

If you ain't passionate about your idea no one else will be