Antonio Centeno’s story begins in a trailer park in West Texas where he grew up. When he left Texas to attend Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa no one would have guessed he would end up founding two companies and affecting the way men dress around the world.
With a few exceptions, the people who lived in the trailer park where Antonio grew up did not seem to care about the appearance of their property or their clothing. In contrast an aunt of Antonio’s kept herself, her trailer, and her car neat and clean. She taught him that even though he might not have expensive things, he should always put his best foot forward. The people Antonio came to respect were the people who took care of their belongings regardless of price.
Just before graduation from Cornell College he joined the Marine Corps, following the example of other family members who had served in various branches of the military. The Marines is considered by many to be the premiere branch of the U.S. military, and Antonio saw it as a challenge. The Corps had a significant impact on him; he even says that the Marines formed the person is today. He was humbled yet encouraged to constantly seek ways to improve himself. As an officer in the Corps Antonio learned what it meant to be a servant leader whose purpose was to support for the ground troops. This instilled in Antonio a desire to help others.
After leaving the Marines Antonio lived in the Ukraine for a couple of years. While there he ran a nonprofit organization that provided services to orphans. It became clear that the nonprofit was not going to survive, but Antonio had learned that he knew nothing about business.
An Idea Is Born
While still in the Ukraine, Antonio searched for a suit for an interview. He discovered that he could not find one that fit in the Ukraine. He tried to find one online, but was disappointed with the quality and fit. During his search he realized that he knew how to wear a uniform, but knew nothing about how to wear a suit. He met with custom clothiers and discovered that the industry was dominated by people without formal education in fashion who were making good money; and an idea began to grow. Continue reading IIP020: From USA Marines To World Leading Style Expert For Men
“Richard And I Will Invest Dollar-for-dollar In Your Company”
How many people do you know that made a million dollars from Twitter?
How many people do you know that got funded by Sir Richard Branson, on their first startup?
How many people do you know that did both – before they turned 19?
“Mom, we have some really, REALLY good news”
Today’s guest is Stacey Ferreira Co-founder of MySocialCloud. Stacey’s story has been told again and again over the last two years, and for a very good reason.
When Stacey finished school, she moved to California to live with her brother and work on the project which is now MySocialCloud. They shared an apartment in south central Los Angeles, not the area where you would want to live. The apartment was very small. They set up their office in the living room, and in typical entrepreneur style – Scott slept on the coach while Stacey slept on an air mattress. Stacey says that they lived the project that summer, sometimes not going outside for weeks at a time.
One morning Stacey was on Twitter and saw a tweet from Sir Richard Branson. The tweet said that If you donated $2,000 to the charity of his choice, you could attend the 25th anniversary celebration of Virgin America and meet him in Miami for intimate cocktails. Stacey was skeptical that someone like Sir Richard Branson would send out such a tweet, but she decided to go for it, afraid that someone else will steal her opportunity. She replied and asked if she and Scott could participate – even though they were underage. At 2am, Stacey and Scott got a positive response.
Of course, they didn’t have $2,000 – never mind $4,000 for the two of them, plus expenses. So they called their parents in the middle of the night, asking for a loan. Stacey and Scott’s parents were dubious; but decided it would be a good learning experience for them. Two days later, the siblings were on a plane to Miami. On the first night, they waited with about 18 others to meet Sir Richard Branson. It just happened that Stacey was by the door when Richard Branson entered. Stacey took the opportunity and introduced herself. After telling him a bit more about their project, Stacey boldly asked for his contact information, and was delighted when he gave it to her.
Stacey with Richard Branson
Getting Funded, A Dream Coming True
Once the Ferreiras returned home, they focused on building the initial product. They kept Branson updated on what they were doing with regular emails. Eventually he suggested that he introduce them to a friend of his – Jerry Murdock. They talked with Murdock by phone, explaining their vision and what they were planning. A few weeks after their initial conversation, Jerry flew out to California.
The cofounders went over the product and gave Jerry a little demo. That night at dinner, Jerry announced, “Here’s the deal. Branson and I are going to invest dollar for dollar in your company.” Stacey and Scott were amazed by Jerry’s announcement. It was such an incredible opportunity. Now with investors, they could build their product!
And Today…
Two years have passed, and a lot has changed. The MySocialCloud story became world known. Stacey dropped out of college and moved to the west coast to work full-time at MySocialCloud. But more important — so many lessons were learned, mistakes made, achievements reached – and all of those Stacey shares with us today.
The Ferreiras
In This Episode You Will Learn
How Stacey & Scott Ferreira got $1M funding for their startup because of a single tweet
The secret to making huge things happen for you.
How to build your team and what are the crucial things to pay attention to
What kind of prototype do you really need in order to get an investment from Richard Branson himself, Jerry Murdock, or someone of such caliber
How to keep your business going in the right direction
What challenges did the MySocialCloud team face since funding, and how they overcame.
How does a free tool like MySocialCloud make money
What are Stacey’s thoughts and tips for young entrepreneurs that are about to start college
How to effectively execute your ideas
How to find an opportunity, make a goal and make it happen
Our Udemy Giveaway is still taking place, where I’m giving away 4 of my favorite Udemy courses, at a total value of $771, to the listeners of the show. Join and claim your prize right here. The giveaway ends in two weeks, and winners will be announced on episode 8 of the podcast.
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I Need Your Help!
Thank you all for checking out this episode of the Inspiring Innovation podcast!
If you haven’t already, I would love if you could be awesome and take a minute to leave a quick rating and review of the podcast on iTunes by clicking on the link below! It’s the most amazing way to help the show grow and reach more people!
Disclosure: Please note that some of the links above are affiliate links. There is no additional cost to you, and I will earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase.
$771 Giveaway + How Would You Like To Earn An Extra $10,000 This Year?
In this episode of The Inspiring Innovation Podcast, I am very honored to share the success story of Udemy as told by my guest, Dinesh Thiru — the Marketing VP of Udemy.
Oh, where also giving away $771 worth of gifts today, so Read on!
Udemy’s story began years ago in a one room schoolhouse in a small village in Turkey, and continues today as a multimillion dollar education marketplace that gives the equal opportunity for everyone to teach and learn online.
In 2012 it became an amazing sensation when the top 10 instructors on Udemy have earned together over 1.6 million dollars. Late in 2012 they announced that 1 of every 4 lecturers on the platform earns over $10,000 annually — from a course that takes 40-50 hours on average to develop.
To show you how much I believe in Udemy’s power, I’ve selected 4 courses that really helped me become a more successful entrepreneur, and I asked the teachers to donate some spots on their classes to the amazing listeners of the podcast. So here are the courses that you can win a spot in for free in todays giveaway:
Ari Meisel, tutor of ‘The Art of Less Doing – Make Everything in Life Easier’ has donated 3 places for our listeners, valued at: $147. This course has completely changed the way I manage my time and saves me hours over hours every single day. Say goodbye to the to-do list, say goodbye to trying to remember everything and learn about outsourcing and using an external brain to manage your tasks, free your time and energy, and bring happiness to your entrepreneurial life!
Ralph Quintero, tutor of ‘Entrepreneur Success Series’ has donated 5 places for our listeners, valued at: $95. In this ongoing series, you will hear from amazing entrepreneurs like Mike Michalowicz, Ali Brown, Grant Cardone, Pat Flynn, Ed Dale, Linda Hollander and many, many more. This course consists of a series of interviews & lectures with top entrepreneurs from around the world who share their stories about how they did it and works for them. Each interview and lecture is jam-packed with advice, tips, motivation and ideas that you can put to work for you and your business right away. Think of this course as a “virtual” mentorship program.
Farnoosh Brock, tutor of ‘The 10 Minute Daily Invigorator’ has donated 5 places for our listeners, valued at: $135! This course is your quick routine to a high-energy day. The number one benefit of this course is a boost in your natural productivity on emotional, physical, mental and creative levels and you can get to this benefit in only 10 minutes a day! This course shows you how to switch off your fatigue and change mid-day slumps with invigoration to productive afternoons. You learn to do all of this with natural and efficient techniques. Just imagine, what would it feel like to have more energy through the day? How would it feel NOT to have to fight that annoying fatigue when you have so much to do?
Benny Hsu, tutor of ‘Develop iPhone and iPad apps with no programming experience’ has donated 2 places for our listeners, valued at: $394 . Benny is the creator of Apple’s app of the week Photo365, that generated over $80,000. Benny developed the app with absolutely no knowledge in programming. To this day, Benny can’t write a single line of code to save his life. In this course he will show you exactly how you can take your idea, validate and test it, find a programmer and mange him to make your app idea a reality, and a huge success — without ever spending time on figuring out how to code it!
How To Participate In The Giveaway?
Dead easy! All you have to do is comment on this page, saying what course interests you. You are only allowed to mention a single course per comment, but you ARE allowed to comment 4 times if you are interested in all 4 courses.
If you are ready to become a better entrepreneur and get free access to these amazing courses, leave a comment now and tell me which course you want to take. The winners will be announced on episode #7 – two weeks from now. May the odds ever be in your favor!
P.S. Make sure you enter your correct email address so I can contact you if you win!
How Is The Giveaway Going To Work?
In two weeks, I will make a list of all the people who chosen each course, and will pick at complete randomness the winners for each course. As simple as it gets 🙂
$135 Gift To Every Listener – Everybody’s a WINNER!
That’s right. Udemy have been very generous with us, and allowed me to give each and every one of our listeners and readers a 50% discount on 3 of my favorite Udemy courses:
The discount is only valid till the end of this month, so hurry up! & Thank you, Udemy! You rock!
Sharing the love – gratitude for reviews!
My deepest appreciation to all of you (comment or email me if you want to be removed from the list):
Ms. Sea Rose
Mr. Jobs It
Steve Pyoung
Jeff Mendelson
Vroom1279
Don’t Miss an Episode! Subscribe Below:
Using something else? Copy this address: ––– http://www.meronbareket.com/feed/podcast/ –––
I Need Your Help!
Thank you all for checking out this episode of the Inspiring Innovation podcast!
If you haven’t already, I would love if you could be awesome and take a minute to leave a quick rating and review of the podcast on iTunes by clicking on the link below! It’s the most amazing way to help the show grow and reach more people!
Disclosure: Please note that some of the links above are affiliate links. There is no additional cost to you, and I will earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase.
