Simply G's Blog: A Lot to Learn About Nothing to Lose-By: Ryan Blair-Part #1

Here is an article that was written for Forbes Magazine by my dear friend, and our CEO Ryan Blair!

I’ve built my career as a start-up entrepreneur. So far over my lifetime I’ve created seven business enterprises, some that I’ve sold for millions, and a few that didn’t. One thing that I learned from my ups and downs is that my most solid success came when I used a mantra that I adopted when I was a kid living in poverty. The mantra is—nothing to lose.

When I was a kid, the neighborhood where I lived was run by gangs. In this environment we struggled for dominance and survival; we faced cops, rival gangs, prison…but the thing we used to worry the most about were guys who acted like they had nothing to lose.

I saw nothing to lose as an invincible power. The trump card. When I got older, I recognized the business world as a similar competitive environment, and when I applied this mantra and carried it as a mentality from start-up to exit, I would always win. I even wrote a New York Times bestseller about it.

Ironically, in my position today, playing like I have nothing to lose is dangerous. My company has thousands of people that depend on it for their incomes. That’s a lot to lose. Steve Jobs was noted for saying that sometimes you have to “bet the company” or, in other words, play like you have nothing to lose. And I agree, as long as you keep in mind that you had better bet smart, and bet correctly.

I’ve been on all sides of the deal, from raising seed venture capital to my current role as CEO of a division of a public company that did $96M in revenue in the 4th quarter of last year. I know very well the decision making, and risks and rewards associated with going from having nothing to lose, to everything to lose. Let’s start with the decision-making first. Here are some insights on what I like to call the NTL vs. ETL (nothing to lose vs. everything to lose) decision tree.

• First I ask myself, “is this a ‘bet the company decision?”

Often you don’t realize the decision you’re trying to make is a ‘bet the company decision.’ So I use a simple trick to determine the potential cost of a decision: I price tag it. This is easy if I’m signing a $50 million dollar purchase order for inventory and the material impact of making a bad inventory decision is self-explanatory, however sometimes your gut will say one thing and the people around you will say another.

This is where many entrepreneurs fail to act, or rather, to think. If you ask yourself the question—is this a bet the company decision—and the answer is yes, then stop the train and evaluate every detail no matter how mundane or routine the actual task is or how much the experts around you tell you it’s ‘no big deal.’

Article By: Ryan Blair

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GJ Reynolds also known as “G” is a Passionate, Playful & Powerful Warrior Entrepreneur, Author, and Life Transformer. He is also a Visalus Founding Promoter, Ambassador, Co-Founder of the Body By Vi 90 Day Challenge, business developer, coach, mentor, trainer, public speaker and radio host. He teaches others how to have fun reclaiming their Life, Health & Prosperity! G is driven to assist others to reach their full potential and having their magnificence to shine. He loves to teach and work with like-minded entrepreneurs and professionals who choose to reclaim their personal power and transform their life, health and prosperity. He lives a life of purpose, on purpose and for purpose. He enjoys the process of his personal, spiritual, and professional journey, while assisting others to do the same. G is at his best when he is learning, teaching, inspiring, creating, organizing, and leading the way! He also enjoys communicating with others that are of like mind and is on a mission to assist millions of people to transform their lives! Need a little help?

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