Likeonomics: The Unexpected Truth Behind Earning Trust, Influencing Behavior, and Inspiring Action

Maverick Adventures—Kitesurfing with Richard Branson: Industry: Internet/Tech

Industry: Internet/Tech

The Story

There are some entrepreneurs who are in it to make money. Their definition of being an entrepreneur is creating the next multimillion-dollar idea, and then selling it and moving to the next thing. And then there’s Yanik Silver. He writes blog posts about ideas that he has for helping his kids, who are four and six years old, learn about entrepreneurship. He organizes events called “Dangerous Dinners” where he invites people in his network to gather for absinthe tastings and other memorable experiences. His most ambitious goal is to inspire 1 million young entrepreneurs between the ages of 13 and 23 to start or grow their own business by 2020. And along the way, he has also built several seven-figure Internet businesses.

It’s not a bad result for a lifelong entrepreneur who started his career at 14 years old selling latex gloves to medical facilities as part of his family business. What he learned early in his career was that the more you can offer to help others become successful, the more that success comes back to you. Perhaps the best example among his many efforts of this is his Maverick1000 network, which is made entirely of entrepreneurs who fit three simple criteria:

1. You must be a successful business owner with a minimum gross revenue of $1 million (which is verified).

2. You must be willing to share your business secrets openly.

3. You must not have a huge ego. ...