What makes a successful entrepreneur? If you are one, were you born that way?

**Warning, this episode contains adult language.**

This episode features: 
Corri McFadden, Founder and Owner of eDrop-Off
Nsi Obotetukudo, Co-founder Alley NYC
Scott Shane, author of Born Entrepreneurs, Born Leaders 
Logan Rockmore, Founder of SportsTap

Show Notes: 
This podcast features a clip from the a16z Podcast: Investing in (Business and Career) Change

For tools and information about how to start or grow a business on eBay visit ebay.com/openforbusiness.

#1 The Entrepreneurial Mind

How do you tell your company’s story in a way that resonates with customers? In this episode, we learn marketing lessons from a failed Silicon Valley pioneer and two entrepreneurs who gained major success with minimal marketing budgets.

This episode features:

Chodi McReynolds, former Vice President of Operations at Osborne Computer Corporation
John C. Dvorak, author of Hypergrowth: The Rise and Fall of Osborne Computer Corporation and host of No Agenda
John Lawson, CEO of 3rd Power Outlet and Shoe String King and author of Kick Ass Social Commerce for E-preneurs
Slava Menn, Co-founder of Fortified Bicycle
Jonah Berger, Associate Professor of Marketing and author of Contagious and Invisible Influence

Show notes:
For tools and information about how to start or grow a business on eBay, visit ebay.com/openforbusiness.

#4 Every Launch Is a Movement

The gig economy is growing so fast, it might just be the future of entrepreneurship as we know it -- but it is also still a work in progress. We explore its past, present, and future with two entrepreneurs who ditched the traditional idea of work to launch their own companies on  gig economy platforms.

This episode features:
Redd Horrocks, voice over artist on Fiverr
Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach, Director of the Hamilton Project at the Brookings Institution
Cori O'Steen, Founder and CFO of UPakNShip
Laura Chambers, Vice President of Consumer Selling at eBay

Show notes:
For tools and information about how to start or grow a business on eBay, visit ebay.com/openforbusiness.

This episode also cites facts and information from the following study:
J.P. Morgan Chase Institute: Paychecks, Paydays, and the Online Platform Economy Big Data on Income Volatility

Open for Business

#6 The Future of Work

We'll be returning in March with Season Two of Open for Business, and we'd love to hear what you want us to cover. Visit www.ofblistener.com to share your thoughts.

We're back, and we'd love your ideas!

From eBay and Gimlet Creative, we return with season two of Open for Business, a show about building your business from the ground up.  This season, we’re diving even deeper and exploring essential topics from financing to how to kill it at customer service to how to pivot when things don’t go as planned.

Season 2 Trailer

Sooner or later every successful business faces the need to change. Sometimes that change must be dramatic.

In this episode, we hear stories and lessons from two entrepreneurs who had to reinvent their companies in order to survive.

This episode features:
Debbie Marriott Harrison, Global Officer, Marriott Culture and Business Council

Betsy Helmuth, Founder, Affordable Interior Design
Ray Wayman, Founder, JR Boutique.

For tools and information about how to start or grow a business on eBay, visit ebay.com/openforbusiness.

Thanks so much to CEO and Cofounder of Homepolish, Noa Santos. Thanks also to Kim Shanahan, founder of Book Bouquet and to Paulina Grzechnik, designer at Affordable Interior Design. 

Read more about the ‘hidden competition curve’ here and the concept of the ‘USP’ here. 

Sponsors:
This episode is brought to you by BigCommerce-- get a free, three-month premium store subscription by visiting bigcommerce.com/openforbusiness 

This episode is also brought to you by ShipStation. Try it free for 30 days and get an additional month free by visiting visit ShipStation.com, clicking on the microphone at the top of the homepage and typing in “ebay”.

Open For Business

#7 How to Reinvent Your Business

It’s easy to satisfy your customers when everything’s going well, but how do you handle it when things go wrong? We’ve got stories from small business owners who’ve learned the hard way about how to get customer service right.

#8 Customer Service in the Digital Era

Less than 1% of companies get seed money from either venture capital or angel investors. So, how do regular people find the money they need to get their businesses off the ground? We bring you stories of how three entrepreneurs did it, complete with all the nitty gritty financial details.

#9 Bootstrapping 101

What happens if it all falls apart? Learn how to weather the storms of failure from two entrepreneurs who refused to give up, and have survived to tell their stories.

#10 Surviving Failure

Recent research indicates that U.S. entrepreneurship is increasingly clustered in just a few metro areas. What can we learn from entrepreneurs outside those hubs? We hear from entrepreneurs in three very different places about how to make the most of wherever your business is located.

#11 Embrace the Place

Every company knows what they sell. What’s harder to define sometimes is why? What motivates you beyond...money?  A great mission captures that reason behind why your business exists today. But it also leaves room for your company to aspire for more in the future. It can guide every single decision you make - whether you’re a business of one or one-thousand. In this episode we hear two very different businesses who have  figured out how to present their company to the world and one that’s just starting out.

#12 Who You Are, Not What You Sell

A big part of building a business is hiring and then creating a workplace culture where your team members want to stay and grow with you.

Live Show - Hiring, Firing, and Scaling: Creating a Workplace Culture

A branded podcast from eBay and Gimlet Creative, about building a business from the ground up.

Open for Business

Popular tracks