Gabe Arnold, founder and CEO of Business Marketing Engine, sits down with Vlad Mkrtumyan, founder of the company Logic Inbound. In “Today’s Business Leaders,” BME’s regular podcast, Gabe picks the brains of other successful entrepreneurs to see how they got to where they are today.
Vlad is still a pretty young guy (at least as far as the calendar is concerned). At 26, he has had many business successes and a fair share of failed business attempts, but such setbacks have offered valuable insight, and he has parlayed these successes and missteps into Logic Inbound.
In “Today’s Business Leaders,” each episode is more of a fun and casual exploration of the nature of entrepreneurship, rather than a standard interview. In this case, Vlad and Gabe discuss the different benefits of utilizing a specific skillset.
Interestingly enough, they started off on two different sides of the same coin. Vlad has always been great on the networking side; meeting people and bringing them together. As such, he believes that learning the technical aspect of online businesses (coding, programming, etc.) is a valuable skill to have because it enables entrepreneurs to create products that they can then sell.
On the flip side, Gabe started out as a technical wizard, learning how to code and build websites, but he doesn’t believe that it’s necessary to get started as an entrepreneur. His grandfather was a bricklayer for many years, which is a skilled occupation (a la coding). However, it wasn’t until his grandfather started a business and learned how to network and manage people that his potential really took off.
The crux of the issue is figuring out what your superpower is that will ensure success for your business. Although people can learn different skills, everyone has something that they are naturally good at.
For Gabe, it’s sales. He can sell anyone on anything with just a few minutes of prep time. For Vlad, it’s networking. He excels at bringing people together and finding the right talent for the job.
So, as an entrepreneur, what skills do you bring to the table? Regardless of which side of the industry you fall on (sales vs. programming, for example), your superpower can be leveraged into something successful. As both Vlad and Gabe prove, it just takes the ability to connect with people and work together with them towards a common goal.
Also, don’t be afraid to fail. Every entrepreneur fails at least a couple of times in his or her life, so take them as learning opportunities and keep adapting.
