James Altucher’s Best Advice for Entrepreneurs

James Altucher is an entrepreneur, bestselling author, and angel investor. At the 90th New Jersey Tech Meetup, Altucher graced the Stages of Wisdom and dispersed his trademark blend of wit, wisdom, and optimistic advice to the crowd of entrepreneurs. Here’s his nine best pieces of advice:

1. Find the right people, or your business won’t make it. “One bad person in the mix will ruin everything. There is no Band-Aid for bad people.”
2. Clear, compassionate, and respectful communication is key. “I can look at a business and tell if it’s going to succeed or not, based on how the partners are communicating.”
3. But, make sure you’re communicating with the right people.  “Who do we talk to and who do we need to stop wasting our time talking to? Life is too short to waste time talking to the wrong people.”
4. Get out of your comfort zone. Here’s James’s simple exercise: “Next time you go to a Starbucks, see if you can have 10% off. Don’t give a reason. That’s going to hurt the cashier’s head, but it’s an easy way for you to get out of your comfort zone.”
5. Retain a sense of wonder as you move through the world. “With entrepreneurship, you have to have this childlike sense of I haven’t tried that yet, but I’d like to.”
6. The magic equation for success in business? “If it goes in line with helping people, and the time is right, and you throw in a little luck, then you have a good business.”
7. Cryptocurrency is the wave of the future. “In the history of money, every form of cash has replaced the previous form of cash. The dollar is painted with all of these imaginary sayings so we trust it. But, bitcoin is is fueled by hundreds of years of science and solves so many problems like the infinite printing of money, anonymity, and all the friction in the banking system.”
8. Don’t worry about sticking to one business idea. Instead, “Always think about helping people and putting groups of good people together.” 
9. Passion is everything. “If you don’t have love for it, then shut that business down and move on to the next one.”

Watch highlights from James at the Stages of Wisdom:

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