8 . REMEMBER , ACTION ALWAYS TRUMPS INACTION .
Taking fast action on your ideas and dreams is more important than knowing how you ’ ll get there when you don ’ t have everything all figured out . When Jesse was 27 years old , he was a guest on a private airplane . Inspired , by the time he landed , he and his partner had decided to start a private jet company . By the time he was 28 years old , he and his partner co-founded Marquis Jet . “ I wanted to fly privately , except we had no airplanes , but we had an idea ,” Jesse said . “ Our idea was so simple . We wanted to give everyone access to their own private plane without owning it . Everybody . . . is one idea , one referral , one meeting away from changing the entire trajectory of [ their ] life . And if you have an idea and it keeps coming to the top of your brain , the universe is telling you to pay attention to it .”
9 . DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY .
You don ’ t get a lot of chances for big opportunities . Most times , you have just one shot . You must figure out before an important meeting how you are going to stand out in a big way .
Jesse landed a meeting to pitch his idea for his jet cards and Marquis Jet to Net Jets , the largest private jet company in the world . But 12 minutes into showing his PowerPoint presentation to Rich Santulli , founder of Net Jets , he was thrown out of the meeting . “ We leave dejected thinking , where are we going to get 650 planes to start this company ?” Jesse said . “ The president grabs my arm and says , ‘ That was unbelievable . Rich Santulli doesn ’ t give anybody 12 minutes . There ’ s something here . Come back next week and bring this thing to life .’ We realized as entrepreneurs we ’ ve got to be different . We ’ ve got to stand out . We have to take advantage of the opportunity . We have to look for the white space . So , we brought in our own focus group . We set up a table by the boardroom table , and one by one , eight people came in . Carl Banks from the New York Giants . Run from Run-DMC . A powerful female real estate mogul from New York . One by one , they stood up and said they would never buy a fraction of a plane , which is what Net Jets was selling , but they would buy a 25-hour jet card . By the end of the meeting , Richard Santulli said , ‘ I ’ m going to give you guys a shot .’ A year later , we were bigger than NetJets . We did $ 5 billion in sales cumulatively , and we sold that company to Warren Buffett .”
10 . DON ’ T NEGOTIATE YOUR GOALS .
You must have a do-whatever-it-takes attitude and relentlessly chase your goals all the way to the finish line . When trying
THINKING BIG IS ABOUT YOUR MENTALITY . IT WILL SHAPE THE WAY YOU MAKE DECISIONS AND THE WAY YOU DO THINGS . IT CAN MOTIVATE YOU , ATTRACT THE RIGHT PEOPLE
AND OPPORTUNITIES , AND LURE YOU OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE .
to get Marquis Jet off the ground , he got a notification that Matt Damon , Jennifer Lopez , and Ben Affleck wanted to fly from Los Angeles to the Sundance Film Festival in Utah to demo his product . If they liked it , they would buy a jet card for $ 100,000 each . In order to pitch and close the entertainers in person , he told them he was going to Sundance too so he could get on the flight with them . But when he didn ’ t get to pitch them on the plane , he didn ’ t let up on his goal . He continued to pursue them at the event , even convincing a gatekeeper to let him in the room at a VIP event .
“ We get to 41,000 feet ,” Jesse said . “ I come out and I start pitching Matt Damon on this idea . He says , ‘ Look man , this sounds like a really cool idea , and I ’ m actually interested in this , but I ’ ve got to get ready for our Project Greenlight event tonight . We ’ re having this small intimate gathering , and if you ’ re not doing anything , come by . There won ’ t be that many people there , and we could talk about your product and program there . I ’ d love to learn more .’” Jesse hadn ’ t planned to go to the film festival , so he had no clothes and no hotel room . When they landed , he checked into a Motel 6 , bought an outfit at the Gap , and then headed to the event . “ It ’ s not an intimate affair ,” Jesse said . “ There are 4,000 people trying to get through one guy with a clipboard . And I know I ’ m not on the list , but I also know I don ’ t negotiate my goals . When we have a goal , it ’ s unwavering . The plot might change . The script might change . But the goal , we don ’ t dumb it down . I ’ m leaving with the sale .”
11 . IF YOU DON ’ T HAVE A SEAT AT THE TABLE , MAKE ONE .
In the VIP room , he sees the table next to Matt Damon ’ s has Pauly Shore ’ s name on it , so he gets rid of Pauly Shore ’ s nametag and gets a new nametag and writes Jesse Itzler on it .
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