The Problem: A Serious Lack of Innovation & Over-Leeching

We are coming to the end of an era. Information is becoming decomoditized. Startups with no plan for monitization are getting wiped out.  And according to a recent BusinessInsider article, startups “have gotten really boring”.

Ever since the online content explosion around 2005, people have been looking to benefit from others’ content and ideas through auto-blogging, content ripping, and other black-hat tactics. In Silicon Valley, there are thousands of startups with visions of being the next Facebook or Twitter. Sadly, many of these startups don’t think in terms of finding a solution to a big problem, or how they’ll monetize the business.

However, there are still some entrepreneurs who are innovating at very high levels.  During my last trip to Vancouver, I meet with a variety of entrepreneurs. While boating around English Bay, I had a very refreshing conversation with Matt Michiewicz, co-founder of 99designs.com, sitepoint.com, and developerauction.com. Now here’s a guy who gets it! Matt has a talent for connecting groups of people with major needs through crowd-sourcing.

The Leecher Effect & How It’s Killing Innovation

In business, a leech is one who copies others’ information or benefits from their efforts, but does not provide any real value.

When a proven business model emerges, people will try to imitate or blatantly copy that idea. This has been prevalent in China and Russia for decades, which is why I’ll never do business in either of those countries. Unfortuantely, I’ve seen this trend growing among online entrepreneurs, bloggers, and other content marketers.

Leechers are the laziest breed of business people. They can’t come up with any of their own ideas, so they copy others’. Below are 5 common traits of leeches.

5 Common Traits Of A Leech:

1. They constantly hawk your site or business looking to copy fresh ideas
2. They trash talk you and your company while imitating the very source of your success
3. Their primary (and sometimes only) source of traffic is by soliciting your users
4. They use douchey SEO tactics that optimize for your company’s keywords
5. They rebrand dumbed-down copies of your products and services

Leecher Example 1 – “The” Stock Market Watch

A very popular market news site MarketWatch.com has recently been copied by another site, TheStockMarketWatch.com.

I can’t speculate if they’re actually developing their own content, but it’s obvious they’re trying to fool people into believing they’re the original stock market news site.

Leecher Example 2 – “Darkest Hour” Movie Stolen Social Network Site

This movie is a funny but sobering example of how greedy business people can behave. In this thriller, a trusted friend rips off a social media website, slaps a “The” on the front of the name, and calls it his own.

Leecher Example 3 – “Emini Academy” copycat

I’m not shy about the fact that we run a successful day trading education company. I recently learned that a former employee (who calls himself a former partner) has become a leech in the ultimate sense of the word. Even though I hired this guy away from a customer service job at a bank to help new traders, he promotes himself as an industry expert without having the slightest clue about the realities of today’s trading environment.

Here are just a few of the things he’s doing:

• He constantly hawks my sites and copies ideas, blog posts, or trading concepts
• He’s infamous for bashing on my company and fabricating his stock market experience
• We have ample evidence that he watches my every move and feeds on soliciting my customers
• He uses embarrassing SEO tactics, copied my business model, and slapped “The” on the front of his website
• He sells strategies that haven’t worked in years, and promotes unrealistic expectations and results

Granted, there is rarely anything “new” when it comes to technical analysis.  All trading strategies are built on similar foundations, but the only thing that matters is if you have a real-time edge in the market that can be validated.  Hindsight trading and cherry picking doesn’t count. 

The Answer – Find A New Solution To A Massive Problem In An Under-served Market

Richard Branson is the “knight” of problem solving. Through his ingenious branding system, he’s the best at identifying markets that are under-served, then creating new solutions to fill holes in the market.

I think the world would be a much better place if startups and entrepreneurs thought more about problem solving rather than making a quick buck. When it comes to wealth creation or building a bad-ass company, it’s always the problem solvers who stand the test of time.

Here are a few ways I’m looking to solve problems in various markets:

Real Estate - The biggest problem in real estate right now is financing. Home affordability is at all time highs and, contrary to popular belief, there is a strong demand for mid-income housing. The problem is that banks aren’t lending, even to qualified borrowers. I’m looking to fill that gap by providing financing to seasoned investors who can put together creative solutions for potential home buyers.

Day Trading - The problem among day traders right now is being able to compete with computer algorithms, and staying flexible with changing market conditions. At Emini Academy, our mission is to provide tools and resources to traders so they can compete with “big money” institutional traders.

Final Thoughts

Never hate those people who are jealous of you, but respect their jealousy
because they are the ones who think that you are better than them.

If someone is leeching off your business ideas or innovations, just let it go and keep innovating. Odds are they won’t be in business for long, and people will see through their bullshit.

Here are some questions you can ask to make sure you’re constantly innovating:

1. What markets are in need of a big solution?
2. Where is the market headed, and what technologies do you anticipate to emerge in the future?
3. What resources, abilities, or skills can I use to find a new and creative solution?
4. Is my solution really solving a huge problem that is difficult to duplicate?
5. How can I implement a plan of attack for creating and distributing my solution?

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Links & Resources:

Business Insider Article – “Startups are boring”

Emini Academy

Matt Michiewicz on Twitter

According to a study done by the University of Bristol, about 78% people who set New Year resolutions fail. So, ever since 2007 I haven’t worried about committing to “new years resolutions”. And every year since then has been more fun and productive than the last.

In this post I’m going to lay out the 3 steps I use to make each year even better than the last…

Step 1 – Write Down Your “Top 10 Experiences” From This Year

Can you think of a few big things you did this year? Instead of starting the year by making big promises to yourself about changes you’ll make, why not take a minute to reflect on the some fulfilling experiences you had over the past 12 months? After all, gratitude plays the biggest factor in someone’s level of happiness.

Here’s an example of my top 10 list for 2011:

1. Trekked the Himalayals in Bhutan - My biggest physical challenge of 2o11 was a trek through the Himalayan Mountains with Outward Bound International. My first time above 16,000 feet was tough but very rewarding.
2. Hosted a 7 day trading seminar - We had our first week long trading event in Austin, Texas for Emini Academy students.
3. Hiked part of the Appellation Train with my Dad – This is my highlight of the year! There’s nothing more rewarding than “surviving” and connecting with my Pops while disconnected in a beautiful part of the country.
4. Launched a new Real Estate company - I partnered with one of the biggest real estate investors in Texas to take advantage of this depressed real estate market.
5. Learned important lessons about hiring and firing – I like to consider myself a great vision planner, but not a great manager. I’ll be posting about some of the top lessons I’ve learned when hiring and managing team members.
6. Hosted 2 mastermind meetings for top trading companies – The New York and Las Vegas mastermind parties turned out to be great times and extremely productive.
7. The birth of my nephew – My sister keeps popping out amazing kids. It’s keeping my parents off my back, for the time being.
8. Kicked-back in the U.S. Virgin Islands - My fiance and I took a pre-honeymoon on St. Thomas and some other Virgin Islands. It’s definitely underrated!
9. Wrestled tigers in Thailand - Before setting off into the Himalayas I got to jump into a pit with over a dozen full-sized tigers.
10. Started 3 other projects with top-level entrepreneurs

Step 2 – Plan for Your “Top 10 Opportunities & Experiences for the Coming Year”

Forget setting meaning less goals. Achievement is great, but at the end of the day the most important thing is experiencing life! Making a million dollars doesn’t mean much if you didn’t enjoy the process.

So, instead of worrying so much about the end result, why not start by imagining what the experiences are going to be like?

Here’s an example list from some of my possible opportunities and experiences for 2012:

1. Implement the latest trading technology into our futures trading strategies and software
2. Help create solutions for would-be home buyers that can’t buy and desperate sellers who are upside down on their homes. Create a massive real estate portfolio and income stream in the meantime.
3. Get married!
4. Enjoy the process of increasing my trading skills and kicking off a trading journal to help other traders learn from my mistakes and breakthroughs.
5. Take 3-4 months away from “producing” to experience new cultures, people, and food
6. Learn to ski in Vail, Colorado with my new wife
7. Continue to build my team of bad-ass key players by filling 3 key positions
8. Publish and launch “project-x” for active traders
9. Evaluate big opportunities each week and be flexible and open to ideas
10. Start one new passion project that helps an emerging segment of entrepreneurs

Step 3 – Create a Plan for Hunting for Opportunities Every Day

Day traders are constantly hunting for “high profit potential trades”. In other words, they’re constantly on the prowl for trades they know have a high probability of winning. The concept of “hunting for opportunities” can apply to any area of life for entrepreneurs, business owners, and anyone who wants to grow.

There are a million and one reasons why only 12% of people actually follow through on their New Years Resolutions. Overwhelm, lack of focus, and procrastination are among the biggest reasons. But I think most people just get bored with chasing meaningless or difficult tasks.

How much better would your life be if you stopped chasing and started living? I think the difference between frustration and freedom starts with the quality of your questions. For example, check out these questions that could turn your focus from goals to living:

• What’s the one thing I could do to make today a great experience?
• What am I taking for granted or ignoring that could lead to huge growth?
• Why am I spending time on this right now? Is it bringing me closer to my vision?

I hope you have the best year yet. And feel free to leave me a comment if there’s anything else you like to do to prepare for a coming year.

The “work-life balance” says you should separate your business life  and personal life.  It says you should focus some time on your work life and some in your personal life.  Well, I’m here to tell you that it’s not possible for entrepreneurs to operate that way.  For business owners, their business is their life.  Now, that doesn’t mean someone has to be a slave to their business. Quite the opposite actually…

Working in Sprints – Keeping Life Exciting and Motivating

“But what about the four hour work week Chris?  You’re a huge proponent of that idea.  Is that lifestyle really possible?”, my buddy asked me at dinner last night.  As much as I love to travel and spend as time “off the grid”, it’s impossible to only work 4 hours a week every week and develop, build, or create something of value.  It takes a tremendous amount of focus and energy to create a cash-flowing business, develop a skill like day trading, or put together a high-performance team of employees.

My “work” strategy is similar to the way a sprinter competes.  I take long breaks and plenty of me time, but there are short bursts of intense-focused activity.  For example, after I got back from my month in Australia, I went on a 90 day business sprint where I launched a new company, coordinated a major launch, and published two experts.

Next, I’m breaking away from the daily grind by flying out to Bejing, China… then hopping over to the pristine mountain ranges of Bhutan for a 70-mile trek through the Himalayas.  I’ll get to re-group and plan out my next sprint all while meditating with some Buddhist Monks.

For me, this sprinting routine is the best way to keep my life exciting.  I always have something to look forward to that isn’t the same mundane routine of going to an office.  There’s always room to grow and expand, and always time to do and experience incredible things around the world.