BGBS Episode 001: Dream Big, Work Hard, Create Value
He may not be as well-known as William Shatner, but Jeff Hoffman knows him. Jeff has gained global insight and experience from launching and growing various companies, including Priceline.com. His impact on how we travel and do things in life has been significant. Jeff has built a career by innovating through entrepreneurship and seeking out solutions that create industry shifts – from the way we book airline tickets to how we create entrepreneurship in emerging economies across the continents.
You’ll Learn…
- Purpose and process of starting Priceline.com was to create buyer-driven commerce and harvest consumer demand
- Challenge for Priceline was on the consumer side – needed to get people to trust it and change consumer behavior
- When you check in at airports today, you can use a kiosk that prints your boarding pass; you can thank Jeff for those kiosks and saving you time
- Entrepreneurship is the tool, not the purpose of solving big problems; people complain when there’s a problem, entrepreneurs are the ones to take action
- Entrepreneurship went from being crazy and can’t find a job to being cool; Jeff made a connection between goals and dreams with the work he could do
- Jeff’s Formula for Success: Dream Big, Work Hard, Create Value
- Nothing is ever easy, and there are always obstacles; shake off failures and learn from them
- Jeff spends time mentoring entrepreneurs around the world and teaching them how to turn ideas into businesses – making their dreams a reality
- Badge of honor used to be working for a major company for numerous years; now it’s about the gig economy where you have multiple jobs to reach fulfilment
- Jeff uses stories to learn something and get his point across; makes customers the heroes of his stories
- Be an entrepreneur with an eye for wonder and non-stop intellectual curiosity; what are successful people doing that others aren’t doing?
Resources
Quotes from Jeff Hoffman:
“Entrepreneurship is a set of tools you use to solve a problem. It’s a mindset and it’s a tool set to take you anywhere you want to go.”
“Solving problems and making things more efficient is a DNA thing for me.”
“Nothing is ever easy. But nothing worth having is ever easy. There’s always a lot of obstacles, which just makes the victory that much sweeter.”
“Get to know them (customers). Listen to them, don’t listen to what your competitors are doing.”
