The Most Inspiring #TEDTalks All Entrepreneurs Should Watch

As the business world enjoys another year of the Entrepreneurial Renaissance, startup business owners are popping up at an alarming rate. What’s going to make your new business stand out from your competitors this upcoming year? 

Think about embracing #TEDTalks this year (if you haven’t already). Below is our compilation of the most inspiring TED Talks for entrepreneurs that are looking to make 2017 their best year yet.

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So who is TED and what are TED Talks? “TED is a nonprofit devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or less). TED began in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment and Design converged, and today covers almost all topics.” 

With over a billion collective views, chances are, you’ve seen a TED video. We suggest starting with these Ted Talks to get pumped up with inspiration and useful knowledge:    

• • How to learn a new skill in 20 hours.
• • The importance of brand transparency.
• • How to be remarkable and standout.
• • Feeling fulfilled as an entrepreneur.
• • Why you shouldn’t fear rejection.
• • Focus on what you can control.

Inspiring TED Talks for Entrepreneurs:

How to Learn A New Skill

The First 20 Hours: How to Learn Anything

Presenter: Josh Kaufman

Josh debunks the 10,000-hour theory in this video showing you why it only takes 20 hours – as opposed to 10,000 hours – to learn a new skill to your satisfaction. He talks about his defeated attitude when he reviewed the data, “If you want to learn something new it’s going to take 10,000 hours to get there… [That’s] a full-time job for 5 years!”  

Kaufman began to research where this rule originated and learned that 10,000 hours is the amount of time it took professional athletes, world class musicians and chess grandmasters to perform at an expert level. But Kaufman realized that if you’re truly dedicated in your practice, you can learn a new skill in just 20 hours. 

His method discusses how to:

1. 1.) Deconstruct the Skill
2. 2.) Learn Enough to Self-Correct
3. 3.) Remove Practice Barriers
4. 4.) Practice for At Least 20 Hours

This #TedTalk shows you why shouldn’t be intimated or scared of learning something new to bring more value to your business.

The Importance of Brand Transparency

The Greatest TED Talk Ever Sold

Presenter: Morgan Spurlock

In this video, documentary filmmaker, Morgan Spurlock, speaks about his crash course in brand marketing when he pitched, The Greatest Movie Ever Sold. His humorous and informative style pulls back the curtain so you can see brand marketing in action and learn more about:     

• • The Truth Behind Product Placement
• • Effective and Defective Brand Management
• • New Media vs. Old Media Opportunities
• • Getting Your Message to the Masses
• • The Importance of Marketing Transparency
• • A Glimpse into Neuromarketing

Watch how Spurlock discovers and develops his brand personality and get a feel of how you can do the same with your brand. He’ll show you how 500 companies rejected the opportunity to become a partner with his brand; also, he discusses the 17 brands that took a chance on him.      

Interesting Fact? Spurlock actually sold the naming rights to this Ted Talk to a business for $7,100 on eBay.   

How to Be Remarkable and Stand Out

How to Get Your Ideas to Spread

Presenter: Seth Godin 

The well-known internet marketing innovator, Seth Godin, takes 18 minutes to discuss why “being good” isn’t “good enough” anymore. In this popular Ted Talks, Seth lays out the rules for standing out from the crowd:

1. 1.) Design is free when you get it to scale; get it to work for you.
2. 2.) The riskiest thing you can do in this age is be safe. Don’t be safe; be remarkable.
3. 3.) Being very good is boring and average. If it’s very good, no one is going to notice it.
4. 4.) Finding ways to stand out amongst the competitors and be remarkable. ­
5. 5.) Do something big and unexpected; grab the attention of a select few.

This video is one of the most popular and inspiring TED Talks for entrepreneurs; having millions of views across various platforms. Watch this Ted Talk if you’re looking for inspiration to make your business more unique this upcoming year.   

Feeling Fulfilled as an Entrepreneur 

Rethinking Commitment: What Makes Work Worth It?

Presenter: John Jantsch 

What makes an entrepreneur feel fulfilled and successful? John Jantsch started a quest to discover the difference between the kinds of entrepreneurs that succeed and those that don’t. He walks you through defining and realizing what success means to you.  

In his talk, John highlights and discusses a small janitorial business that had a turnover rate of 400%. The business owners couldn’t grow their company because they couldn’t keep their employees. After some investigation, the business owners determined the hidden problem and with a few tweaks, they were able to reduce their turnover rate to 0%.

Watch this Ted Talk to understand why you need to get to know your staff on a more personal level. Taking time to learn more about your employees’ dreams will give you the opportunity to inspire and create focused and loyal leaders.

Why You Shouldn’t Fear Rejection

Surprising Lessons From 100 Days of Rejection

Presenter: Jia Jiang

Do you have a fear of rejection? Jia Jiang shares his truly inspiring story about how he turned his extreme fear of rejection into a life-changing experiment.

After having a successful marketing career, Jia took a leap of faith in himself. He opens up and shares, “4 days before my son was born I quit my job to become a full-time entrepreneur.” The Ted Talk walks you through his story and allows you to see how he began #Rejection Therapy by seeking out rejection for 100 days straight.    

In the end, he learned that being an entrepreneur is about finding a problem and developing a solution for it. Jiang now lives by these two rules that keep his fears at bay:

1. 1.) “Making crazy demands showed me the power of human kindness. If I open myself to the world the world will open itself to me.”

1. 2.) “Rejection can be constant, painful and crippling. But it’s nothing but a number. President Obama was rejected 61 million times but he was still elected.” 

Jia Jiang was invited back to elaborate on his experiences with rejection in his next TED Talks video, The Hidden Opportunity Behind Every Rejection.

Focus on What You Can Control

If You Want to Achieve Your Goals, Don’t Focus on Them

Presenter: Reggie Rivers

You might have read somewhere that focusing on your goals will give you a greater chance of achieving those goals. Reggie Rivers disagrees and presents his theory that to reach your goals, you absolutely cannot focus on them.

His experiences and arguments about not focusing on your goals are funny, thought provoking and poignant. Reggie points out that almost all goals include the participation of other people and therefore, are out of your control. He suggests that focusing on your behaviors allows you to have the 100% control needed to put you in a position to reach your goals.   

With this 3-step process, Rivers says you can take control of the outcome you seek by:

1. 1.) Setting and defining your goal.
2. 2.) Mapping out what you need to do to achieve that goal.
3. 3.) Focusing on your behavior and remaining dedicated.

These inspiring TED Talks for entrepreneurs will show you that when you have passion, focus, determination and one heck of an idea, you can do anything.