There is alot of hype around entrepreneurship. I don’t buy into the rags to riches stories since in between, there is always alot of hard work, heart ache and some luck.

Scott Jordan is a true American entrepreneur. I had the good fortune of working with Scott many years ago in Chicago when he first got started. He was a lawyer that was frustrated with trying to carry all of his gadgets, so he decided to do something about it. Investing his own money in an industry he did not know alot about, Scott created the first Scottevest  jacket was born where you could carry all of your devices concealed and comfortably. He was at first concerned that he could not get any of the major retailers to carry the product. This did not hold Scott back- he went directly to the public garnering unprecedent media with his product in every major online and offline publication. Fast forward to today, where Scott now has an entire patented line and his products are available at major catalog companies. There aren’t better clothes to live and travel in!

Scott is featured in the new Bounce! book and I am now honored to join is board of advisors which includes Steve Wozniak, founder of Apple and Kenneth Klopp, founder of North Face.
 

There was a time when my youngest son would put a price tag on everything in his room so he could get money to buy the video games he wanted. He would lure dinner guests up to his room and ask them if they wanted to buy anything from his room. Many an “obligated” guest did.

I remember one time he had asked for something at the store that cost $5.  I purchased it for him but as soon as we got home, he put it in his room on display with a price tag of $3. I told him that I just bought that for him for $5…how could he sell it now for $3? (”we would lose money”) He replied, “It wasn’t my $3!”.

In that instant, I knew he understood the meaning of cost of goods sold. In my own businesses, I wish I learned that a bit sooner.

CNN Money writes last week about where the tax and regulatory climate is best for for small business. They quote Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council’s latest ranking which puts, drum roll please: South Dakota at the very top. It does not tax personal income or capital gains, corporate income or  capital gains. Fuel is cheap. A little far away from those of us that like the city life, but hey, you can’t have everything.

Now number 2, Nevada has all the advantages taxwise of South Dakota but sales and gas taxes are among the highest in the nation. Water can be scarce and whatever else comes with gambling. But heck, the entertainment here is alot better than South Dakota.

Where does your state rank? Illinois is not in the top ten!

I pondered this question in my upcoming book, Bounce!. There are alot of famous success college drop outs like Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Richard Branson and Steve Jobs. Lesser known ones I learned about at a site called, College-Startup.com (I love their tag line- Get Rich in Your Dorm Room). Interesting and suprising to me were Simon Cowell, Barry Diller, Walt Disney, Rachel Ray, Ty Warner and Frank Lloyd Wright. Any surprises for you?

I went to college because my parents told me that if “I wanted to get a good job, I should get a good education“…guess they were right, but no one said anything about skipping college and becoming an entrepreneur. In the late 70’s, starting your own thing was certainly frowned upon.

But going to college, does have its benefits. You can learn social skills (or is that partying skills?), working in a team, and how to prioritize tasks.

What did you learn at college that helped you in business?