The Skim - February 2019 - Skimming Pebbles on Water

The Skim — February 2019’s business inspiration summary

1st February 2019

Now that 2019’s in full swing, February’s condensed collection of thought leadership highlights will help you sustain your career, study and lifestyle resolutions.

Amongst other inspirational topics, it covers career migration, tech startups and space leadership — take a break to unwind with these words to the wise.

Gunnar Lovelace

‘A mistake is also a compost for what’s going to come next — it’s like a fertile terrain from which the next seed comes’ Gunnar Lovelace.

In this edition of Lewis Howes’s Five Minute Friday podcast, the host chats to digital startup guru and serial entrepreneur Gunnar Lovelace about founding and running Thrive Market, his booming organic groceries ecommerce store which has expanded to 700 employees and seven million users in just three years.

For Gunnar, one of the keys to startup success is embracing mistakes as learning opportunities and dismissing a drive for perfection in order to take risks and seize opportunities as they arise.

Find out more about Gunnar’s journey here

Annie Lawless

‘I stayed in jobs, relationships and situations that didn’t align with where I knew deep down I wanted to go in my life. Looking back, I see that everything good in my life has been a result of listening to my own internal voice and following what I know is right for me.’ Annie Lawless.

If you’re seeking reassurance that there’s more than one path to entrepreneurial success, Annie Lawless is an excellent example.
After dropping out of law school, she co-founded successful cold-pressed drinks brand Suja Juice (which Coca-Cola snapped up a $90 million minority share of in 2015), then moved on to create clean makeup brand Lawless Beauty.

In an inspirational interview with Yola Robert for ForbesWomen, Annie discusses switching from law to entrepreneurship, applying personal passion to business success and self-funding her latest enterprise.

Read Annie’s insightful interview here

Andrew Zimine

‘By any means, raising venture capital is not the first thing you should do when building a startup. Research and custom development should always come first, but there will be a moment when you need money to start growing faster.’ Andrew Zimine.

As CEO of international crypto-fintech company Exscudo OU, Andrew Zimine knows a thing or two about acquiring adequate capital, hiring the right talent and remaining legally compliant while launching a niche enterprise.

And in his recent self-penned piece for Entrepreneur magazine, he describes the crucial steps towards launching a fintech firm — including knowing your market, leveraging your technological expertise and adopting a never say die attitude to remain resilient.

Enjoy more of Andrew’s leadership article here

Gavin Tweedie

‘There is endless research related to the benefits of collaboration in business — from introducing fresh thinking to more satisfied customers (which in turn benefits the bottom line).’ Gavin Tweedie.

Gavin Tweedie is CEO of Scottish geospatial analytics firm GSI — and in his recent article for Insider, he outlines the out-of-this-world entrepreneurial opportunities opening up as Scotland positions itself as the latest entrant to the space race.

Gavin’s excited about developments like the potential creation of a Scottish spaceport and satellite manufacture, and his enthusiasm for collaboration across businesses and borders is essential reading for anyone whose innovations will have an international (or interplanetary) impact.

Read more about Gavin’s vision here.

The Skim will spring back into action with another business inspiration summary in March.

In the meantime, these related blogs should provide food for thought: