Perhaps you might not be the producer or the director but you could still be a star 
The things that you did or didn’t do ”yesterday” add up to your success or failure today. 7 months ago I saw a trailer for a movie called the YES Movie (www.theyesmovie.com). YES stands for Young Entrepreneur Society. So as soon as I saw it, I said, WOW! That is cool, the folks in my community would love that and could benefit from it. So I wanted to get us involved with it. As evidenced in Exhibit A: Translation- The comments section of the video that is at the end of the post, I asked the Producer of the movie at the ground level- how can I get involved? And he promptly commented back (very much appreciate that) and said that I could help with the promotion of the video. Who else would ever see that comment? I don’t know… So I contacted the Director of the movie and founder of the YES Concept and Community Louis Lautman (always call from the top) and I asked how can I help YOU promote your movie? And he basically said, I am grateful of whatever way you want to get involved.
The Young Entrepreneur Society – Movie Trailer from Bernard Bonomo on Vimeo.
Saturday, February 7th, 2009 Comments (2)
The Wonder Twins were fraternal twins, a brother and sister, from a 1980’s American Children’s Cartoon. They were the good guys so to speak and whenever a problem happened they got notified on their special little walkie talkie type watches. They would look at each other do a ‘fist bump’ and say “Wonder Twin Powers…Activate”. Then one would say Shape of a [blank] and they would turn into whatever that person, place or thing was and the other would say Form of a [blank] which was usually liquid in some form or variety. Then they would go off on their mission to save the world. When you think about it, this is alot like being an entrepreneur.
Apart we are strong but together we are mighty.
Two small ‘guys’ come together so that they can manifest something bigger and faster than if they tried to go at it on their own as they pursue their individual and collective mission of saving the world. Case in point, a few weeks ago I joined forces with self-made millionaire and Internet Serial Entrepreneur Yanik Silver (www.yaniksilver.com).
Thursday, February 5th, 2009 Comments (2)
Patricio Quezada, Teen CEO of Duox Technologies made his online radio debut yesterday on Teenaged World of Maddy. Aside from saying ‘ummm’ approximately 437 times I would say he did pretty darn good. The interview is thorough, covers a lot of information about his company, how he stays organized, how he re-energized himself when he lost focus for a bit and at some point, he turns the table and asks the interviewers questions!
In Patricio’s interview he also talks about his new Hispanics Learn training classes and his forthcoming book The BiLingual Computer Handbook (expected release date: March 2009).
Listen to the interview at your leisure: http://twurl.nl/zf4auw
Or connect with Patricio Quezada on Facebook,
On his blog: Hispanics Learn Blog
or
Find Patricio Quezada on Twitter: @teenceo
As always, the (Teen) Renegade CEO’s would like to extend a very special thank you to Maddy and Katherine, the loverly co-hosts of Teenaged World of Maddie.
Friday, January 30th, 2009 Comments Off
This is a quickie! While surfing the’net today I found this article of ways people can make extra money without ‘technically’ getting a second job. In the case of a teen entrepreneur, I thought it would be a good option if you are trying to get your business off the ground and need a fast way to raise some start up funds. So I thought I would share the article. While I don’t think suggestion #2 would go over really well with teens of today, I have to tell you….sometimes we have to make short term sacrifices for long-term gains. Dats all I’m sayin’ 
You can peep the article here.
And just because it’s Friday and I am ready to get my full throttle fun on, I will leave you with Asylum Street Spankers and their Hick Hop (Country Western Ballad meets Gangsta Rap) video that I discovered a few months ago (be advised: it contains profanity). Cheers.
Friday, January 30th, 2009 Comments Off
Kind of sounds like a riddle huh? If you want to be exlclusive, then try being inclusive. Too often I see young entrepreneurs who aspire to be like some certain ’successful & branded’ person or accepted into this certain circle of ‘friends’. Now don’t get me wrong, role models are important and all but what is it about that person that you idolize? Is it their lifestyle? Their fame? Their attention? Their money? All of the above?
Before many of those people were rich and famous and branded….they were what?
Saturday, January 24th, 2009 Comments (1)
Yanik Silver made me go there. That’s all I can say. He made me break out my old school teflon coating suit and sky bike (see image at right). This was a Shonikamine custom designed for me back in 2004 by my friend James Canty of Click One Media. He took close ups of me (when I had much shorter hair) and he did some kind of 3d rendering thingamajiggy. Yes, I know. I was also hip and dangerous a long time ago…don’t act so surprised. ;-) So today, I am back in the lab dusting off and testing my old toys. And I’m also playing around with the new ones that Yanik just sent me. My challenge of the day is to modify my special teflon coating suit. Those curves are still there, but seems they just aren’t where they used to be, lol. A teflon coating suit is critical when you go on a mission such as this one because you have all those haters and folks trying to dissuade you from going where you KNOW you need and want to go. So you need something that won’t allow those old ideas and ideals to stick. So anywhoo, let me go ahead and share why I had to back go back into the virtual abyss-
Yanik Silver, yes, “THE” with an emphasis on THE…’Serial Internet Millionaire Making, Maverick Business Insider Mastermind Creating, Underground 5 Online Seminar Quaking’ Yanik Silver, invited yours truly, Shonika Proctor aka [words cannot do my coolness any justice] to go with him on his next Top Secret Mission. So as I prepare I need back up posse–live and uncensored. More specifically I am seeking 10 Entrepreneurs Ages 13-21 [READ: Emerging Young Renegade CEO's] because what fun is getting wild and crazy by yourself? If you’ve ever tried it….it just doesn’t quite work the same. [Sidebar: Leave the parents at home].
These 10 Young People will get to hang with me and Yanik Silver for 3 days in Washington, DC (February 20-22, 2009). Two for one! How fun is that?
But wait it gets better- it’s not even two for one. It’s two for FREE! YOU! Yes, you could be one of ten (10) lucky winners who gets free admission to Yanik Silver’s Underground 5 Online Seminar!
So here’s the quick and dirty:
1. I’m looking for 10 Young CEO’s ages 13-21 who can come to Washington, DC Feb 20-22nd to play with me, Yanik and all our fun entrepreneurial toys. Plus we’ll intro you to all the cool kids.
2. The 10 best ever, visionary and most fun Young CEO’s will receive a free ’scholarship’ (valued at $2,995 each) to attend Yanik Silver’s Underground 5 Seminar. Here you’ll get schooled by professors who will show you what it really takes to get an MBA (Massive Bank Account)!
3. At the seminar you are also going to get a swag bag with 1,000’s of dollars worth of goodies PLUS you’ll meet self-made millionaires and lots of entrepreneurs (300+) who can open some secret doors for you and your business PLUS you’ll get a closed door coaching session and a special VIP lunch with Yanik and moi.
The contest ends on February 4th…so you totally need to register today:
Enter contest here: http://www.undergroundonlineseminar.com/challenge
If you want to peep the site to see what Underground 5 Seminar is all about and some of the fancy smancy people who will be there visit: www.undergroundonlineseminar.com
Now where did that Zap-a-Minder 5000 disappear to?
Saturday, January 24th, 2009 Comments Off
I stumbled across this funny ’visual’ blog post about a week or so ago- “Fun Logos After the Crisis”. I believe they were designed by social media marketing students at UCLA. How many companies can you identify?
Thursday, January 22nd, 2009 Comments (1)
Matthew Turcotte, Teen CEO and founder of North Shore Web Development and Host North Shore lives in a very progressive small town on the mighty and beautiful St. Lawrence River. He attends the local high school and is a straight A student and accelerated student. Two years ago he acquired the rank of Eagle Scout. [btw, I recently learned that only 2% of all youth who enter Boy Scouts ultimately achieve the honor of Eagle Scout, so congrats to him]. He enjoys mountain climbing in the nearby Adirondack High Peaks region in the spring, summer, and fall. As fate would have it, it seems that the life experiences which dot his past (dating back to first grade) make him the ultimate poster child for his company, North Shore Web Development. His company, a full service web design company, along with his recently launched hosting company, provides web design and online marketing strategies with a strong focus on small towns and the small businesses within those small towns. As Matt grew up in a small town and currently lives in one he is extremely knowledgeable on helping them build a big presence on the webwithout compromising their quaintness and charm. Today’s Innerview covers lessons learned and his experiences as a teen CEO in high school.
Thursday, January 22nd, 2009 Comments Off
Matthew Turcotte, Teen CEO and founder of North Shore Web Development and recently launched Host North Shore was featured yesterday evening on the Teenaged World of Maddy.
In his first radio interview Matthew holds nothing back as he talks about:
- How we got inspired in first grade to start his business along with experiences that dotted his childhood that kept in motivated on that path
- How he started a business with a passion but no ‘formal’ training
- How he has learned to leverage adult owned small business owners in his personal and professional networks and;
- Mutual funds and compound interest
Listen to the full interview online now: http://tinyurl.com/d4tc4q
Thursday, January 15th, 2009 Comments (10)
Learning to Fall by Bryce Maddock, Founder of Task US
In yoga, one position I can’t master is the handstand. Every week I am put to shame by the 50 and 60 year old yogis who effortlessly toss themselves in and out of the position. Last class, as my frustration surged, I took it upon myself to ask one of the handstand masters, “How did you learn to do that?”
“I learned how to fall,” she responded.
This lesson applies to business and life: In order to truly succeed one must be willing to fall. We all know people who are too afraid to fall. Unwilling to take risks, they never get off the couch, never pursue the guy/girl they are attracted to, never escape their mind numbing 9 to 5 job.
If you are an entrepreneur you have already demonstrated a willingness to take a big risk. However, simply being willing to fall is not enough. Ultimately it is a numbers game. The more risks you take, the more you increase your chances of success, but the more falls you have to be willing to take as well.
This is why the most successful entrepreneurs have fallen many times. Russell Simmons launched the now defunct website 360 Degrees of Hip Hop. Richard Branson was forced to sell off his prized possession, Virgin Records. The Donald has lost fortunes on multiple ventures, and even went bankrupt.
