Eric Edmeades argues that not knowing an industry can be an advantage when starting a business. He shares how a visit to Industrial Light & Magic led to owning a special-effects studio, where his outsider perspective helped him focus on growth rather than getting lost in operational details, eventually spawning award-winning medical-simulation equipment for the U.S. Army.
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Sometimes we're actually better off to start a business in an industry we don't know that much about, so that we are more inclined to work on the business. One day, a friend of mine, a film producer, called me, and he said, would you like to come up to San Francisco and get a private tour of the Industrial Light and Magic Studios? Now, if you don't know what that means, I'll just put it this way. It's the special effects studios for Lucasfilm, where Star wars and Indiana Jones and so many of the most incredible movies were made. And when I got there, I found that my friend Gavin, who was helping the owners raise money, they were doing a number of pitches for potential investors and trying to raise money for the studio and for a bunch of 3D technology they were building. Now, here's where it got interesting. I sat in on one of these presentations, and let me tell you something. It was bad. I mean, it was really not good. And afterward, I was like. I went over to Gavin. I'm like, gavin, they're never gonna raise money like that. That's not. They're not telling any stories. They're not sharing it. Like, no way is that ever gonna work. And then Gavin says, well, would you mind sharing that with the owners of the studio? No, I'm on a tour. I'm not sharing that with the owners of the studio. And he goes, come on, please. They really need to hear it. They won't listen to me about it. You've got to tell them. They're like, why would they listen to me? I'm just on it. Cut to. Suddenly, I'm in a boardroom, and there's the owners of the studio, and the next thing you know, I own a movie studio. And I want to tell you something. This was an incredibly magical time in my life, and it was where I really began to understand something so incredibly valuable. And that is that when you know a lot about what's happening inside your business, there's a temptation you face, and that is to do all of those things. Suddenly, I found myself in a business where I knew very little about what happened inside the business. We were building models for Avatar and Pirates of the Caribbean. We were doing special effects shops, pyrotechnics. We were blowing stuff up. I didn't know much about that, and so I wasn't tempted to get involved. I focused on working on the business. And as a result of that, I ended up starting some really interesting businesses during that time using Hollywood tech. And one of those businesses went on to create life saving medical simulation equipment for the U.S. army that won awards from Congress and the U.S. army. Why? Because I didn't get in the business. I worked on the business. One of the most powerful principles you can understand in entrepreneurship. Sometimes one of the mistakes that we make in business is starting a business in an area that we know a lot about it. And the reason that can be a mistake is that we're then tempted to work inside the business all the time. Sometimes we're actually better off to start a business in an industry we don't know that much about so that we are more inclined to work on the business. Join me for a really powerful masterclass that I've done with Mindvalley where I can share more distinctions about entrepreneurship for you. With this in mind, as your business gets bigger, you should become more free, you should become more financially free, and you should have more free time. Let's learn some powerful things about entrepreneurship and your personal freedom.
