I envision a sequel to Keith Ferrazzi’s “Never Eat Alone” entitled “Never Have Coffee Alone”. It would talk about how good it is to meet new people; and to be forced to explain what you do over and over so you get better at it. And to everyone that has humored me through this process, I offer a heartfelt “thank you”. YOU are part of our success!

At today’s coffee I was asked, “What makes you so successful?”

I was speechless. Successful? I have a lot more things to check off on my list before I feel like we can claim to be “successful”. So I blushed and mumbled something, but my coffee companion pressed on. “Ok then, tell me about your co-founder, and I’ll figure it out from there.” THAT was easy.

From Linda, I have learned lots of things I would have never learned in any class or “how to book” about running a business. She’s unfailingly optimistic and enthusiastic. About everything. To the point of being humorous sometimes. She sees opportunity around every corner - and I, well, lets just say I’m a little more cautious.

So here’s what I’ve learned:

• Optimism and enthusiasm are “magic” ingredients that remove rate limiting factors and enable a team to do amazing things!
• Investments in your space create a place people want to be, and want to be a part of. And making recruiting a non-issue is priceless.
• The business gurus are right when they tell you to hire people smarter than you. I think Linda and I both feel like we have the good fortune of working with one of the world’s most incredible teams - both our internal team and the greater constellation of people that are Pure Visibility. YOU are part of our success!
• Community is also priceless. I get some flak for having a favorite “Made in Detroit” t-shirt, because it’s pretty well known I’m a farm kid from Iowa (and proud of that, too :-). But this community shaped who I am, and what I’m able to do. Linda and I didn’t build this company. This community did! Ann Arbor, Michigan is the world’s most awesome place to build a company. Come join us! We will happily introduce you to wonderful, amazing, generous people who will be just as happy to help you as they were to help us - because that’s just what they do.

So, what does it take to make a business successful? I think we still have a lot to learn. But we’ll have fun doing it, help grow other companies while we’re at it, and do out part to improve the Michigan economy in the process. Sound bold? Yeah. Scary? Yeah. Inspiring? Yeah!

And it’s all ever-so-much-cooler because our *team* created that goal. That process was the most amazing thing I’ve ever been part of, and something that would make a great blog post, so stay tuned… And THANKS to each and every person who reads this post for being part of our success!

Now let’s hear from YOU! What makes you successful? I can’t wait to hear your stories! And thanks to Patricia Anderson, a Twitter friend, for suggesting opening up the question to others!