10 Things You Should Know About Marty Zwilling…

Q:   What would you do with an extra $1,000,000?

A:   I’m already a small Angel investor in early-stage startups, but an extra million dollars would make me a real Angel investor, maybe even one of the new Super Angels.  I’d have great fun with it.

Q:   As a small business owner, who’s your ideal customer?
A:   As a mentor and consultant to entrepreneurs, my ideal customer is always one who is willing to listen, learns fast, and really appreciates the help.  Sometimes I find that people with big egos do more talking than listening, are very defensive to any suggestions, or never quite get around to implementing any changes.

Q:   Do you ever doubt yourself or your actions?
A:   We are all human, so of course we all doubt our ability to handle tough situations or unknowns.  I’m happy that I usually find the courage to tackle new and tough challenges, and I’m ecstatic when I find out that my actions are occasionally the right actions.  I even enjoy learning from my mistakes, and I’ve made many in my lifetime.

Q:   What’s the most important, one-word characteristic of an entrepreneur?
A:   Confidence.  Without that, decisions don’t get made, no new ground is covered, and startups fail.

Q:   What’s your preferred method of communication—Email? Text? Phone? Twitter? Other?
A:   I use all of the above.  My preferred method is face-to-face, because that’s the most effective and productive.  Of the remote methods, I prefer email since it imposes the fewest limits on size and timing of the response.

Q:   How do you define a “good” day?
A:   A good day is when I learn something new, see one of my entrepreneur friends make some good progress through mentoring from me, or I accomplish a dramatic reduction in my work item queue.

Q:   If a genie granted you 3 business wishes, what would they be?
A:   1) That all of the startups I advise see some success; 2) That I could provide more funding to qualifying entrepreneurs; 3) That I could help more non-profits with worthy causes.

Q:   What’s the most important thing on your desk right now?
A:   Several good business books, to learn more about how things are changing and have changed in business.

Q:   What’s the last thing you do before you leave the office?
A:   Check my email and comments on my blog.

Q:   What’s the first thing you do when you get to work?
A:   Check my email and comments on my blog.