So many people are frightened to throw an event, set up a meeting, or even send an important email unless it’s perfectly crafted—as if you shouldn’t put yourself out there unless everything is flawless. Elliott understood in that moment that the most important quality an event can have is space for the unplanned—room for the spontaneity and

Start with the people in your circle and spiral out from there through referrals. It had worked in his knife-selling and nightclub-promoting days. If you grow your audience organically through the people you already know, you can build meaningful relationships that will do your networking for you.

We’re not the smartest people in the room; we’re simply the ones who put the room together.

We’ve long believed that entrepreneurs lose a great deal by not sharing their ideas out of fear of having them ripped off. Nobody is really thinking about the same thing you’re thinking about, let alone plotting to steal your idea to monetize it. Even if they tried, could they be more successful at it than you?

Lead with generosity. Generosity creates trust. Trust creates productivity.

What was the point of selling the company only to hit a payday and lose what we loved doing? Bands sold albums, not their bands. We were in it for the long haul.

For twenty minutes, with line after line, Sean stripped the ego out of an auditorium full of overachievers: “Confidence is about improving ourselves. Arrogance is about proving.” “Emotion is the currency of humanity. And the individuals that are truly able to understand how to reach the masses emotionally are the wealthiest people on the planet.”

“Here’s what we’re going to do,” he told our assembled team. “I want everyone to find all the coffee tables in the house and carry them to the balcony. Next, I want you to get all the cushions and pillows from the couches, carry them here, and we’ll use them as seats under the coffee tables. Then I want you to bring twelve lamps and extension

Instead of shelling out money to pay for transportation, we built a parade into the itinerary to try to disguise the ten-minute walk to dinner.