8 Lessons from Poker That Will Make You a Better Entrepreneur

To launch online flower marketplace BloomNation, David Daneshgar brought to bear many of the skills he developed during his former career as a professional poker player.

BY WILL YAKOWICZ

 

Back in the early 2000s, a Berkeley student named David Daneshgar started playing poker professionally. He found out he had a knack for it and started making serious dough. By 2006, he was ranked as the fifth-best player in the world, and over the course of his career won about $2.5 million in professional poker games.

After retiring from the professional circuit and the underground games in Hollywood, he went to the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business to get his MBA. Following his graduation, he and his two friends Farbod Shoraka and Gregg Weisstein found BloomNation, an online marketplace similar to Etsy but focused on local florists. Instead of 1-800-Flowers and FDT, services that Daneshgar says charge high fees that eat into florists' revenue, BloomNation helps local flower businesses connect to customers in one easy-to-use location.

The startup surpassed $1 million in sales last year and continues to grow 15 to 30 percent each month. It has received $7.2 million in funding from brand-name Silicon Valley VC firms. But long before he was able to get the business to this point, Daneshgar jump-started it with one last poker game.

Since none of the founders had a technical background, BloomNation needed capital to pay a developer to build a proof of concept. In 2010 Daneshgar decided to enter a tournament in Los Angeles that had a grand prize of $30,000. He won it, BloomNation's site got built, and after going through the MuckerLabs accelerator the company got $1.7 million in seed capital from Andreessen Horowitz, Chicago Ventures, and Spark Capital.

Inc. caught up with Daneshgar to find out the skills he learned while playing poker that he believes helped him launch and grow BloomNation. Below, check out his eight tips.

1. Leave your emotions at the door.

In poker, you need to sit, observe, analyze, and make decisions in seconds. You cannot be emotional and you can't let the pressure of losing a large sum break you. "If you take longer, people start to understand something is wrong. Whether it's an employee issue, negotiation with investors, or business decisions, you have to be ice cold and make decisions that could implicate the company," Daneshgar says. "I have made decisions while playing games where if I was wrong it would've cost me $1 million. Now I can calculate things and make decisions, hard ones, without feeling the pressure." 

2. Read people and look for patterns.

Once you get past calculating the odds, "it's all about the ability to read people," he says. "I sit there and watch people--I track their pulse, their breathing, their posture, and look for patterns in their behavior."  After doing an initial read of a competitor, Daneshgar says, you have to take a deeper dive and consider how smart he is and how many steps ahead he's thinking. "If he's smart enough, he will know that I know what he knows. It becomes psychological manipulation, a game of game theory. It's extreme, but it's situational."

He says the ability to read people can be used to help you beat a poker player, give a client what they want, or negotiate with an investor. "The ability to understand people on a psychological level is real and it's what makes the best poker players and businesspeople. They call it 'gut' in business, but it's about seeing clues and patterns and coming out with it quickly."

3. Sharpen your ability to execute.

"At the end of the day, it's all about execution. If you see your opponent's pulse going quickly, then later she reveals a great hand and her pulse was fine, you deduce that her pulse quickens when she's bluffing," he says. "But if you're risking $100,000 on the decision you're about to make, can you see it through? It's all about execution."

4. Spot the sucker.

In a negotiation, you need to know if you're the least skilled businessperson at the table before the other people take you for everything you have. "They say if you can't spot the sucker at the table in the first 30 seconds, you are the sucker," Daneshgar says. "Most players can sit at a table and at a high degree of accuracy understand everyone's ability in 30 seconds. At the negotiation table, that skill is priceless--you need to be able to understand the books and the streets."

5. Don't think you can follow a script.

While studying at Berkeley, Daneshgar taught a class on the probability and statistics of gaming. His students would ask him specific questions about poker hands such as, "I had two queens, what should I have done?" He says those are the wrong types of questions to ask. Instead, you need to ask "How many chips did you have? How aggressive was the player? How did the other players perceive you?"

Business is the same way. "There's no script in business, just like there's no script to follow during a poker game," he says. "Poker and business are both situational--you need to tailor everything you do and say to each individual person or client. You listen to what they say, hear them out, make quick decisions, and adjust."

6. Remember "The Gambler."

Daneshgar says you need to know when to fold 'em. "A lot of people can win on winning hands, but not everyone can minimize their losses on losing hands," he says. "If you win big hands but lose big on other hands, you'll be a net-even player or a net-loss player. If you see a losing proposition, you need to act quickly and fold." In other words, when you've sunk a lot of money and resources into a project or deal that's going to go bust, don't wait to see the next card. Ditch the project and get on with your next move.

7. It's not all about the money.

By the time he was 24 years old, Daneshgar says, he was meeting actors, celebrities, and prominent businesspeople while playing in underground poker games in Hollywood. But with the exception of Jerry Buss, the former owner of the Los Angeles Lakers who later wrote his recommendation letter for business school, he didn't focus on building relationships with them. "I was there solely to make money and I regret it," he says. "Networking and keeping up relationships are really important in business--with customers, clients, investors, you need to build relationships with everyone at the table." 

8. Reinvent yourself at every table.

America loves a good comeback. No matter who you are, what you've done, or what you're planning to do, you can change your trajectory. In poker, Daneshgar says, it's the same. "You can reinvent yourself at every table," he tells Inc. He says you cannot let a past losing streak or past poor performance follow you to new endeavors.

Many business people are too risk-averse, he says. In a startup you need to ride the wave of risk, but avoid going too far over. "If you can't let the debt go and see it through, you'll lose. It's the same in poker--it's called 'tilt.' If you lost a hand before, if you can't block it out and play this game emotionless, you're going to lose."

Your Daily Quote - Ambition

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambition. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.

Mark Twain

Louise Hay - The Power Is Within You

This audiobook is the extension of  "You Can Heal Your Life"

Your Daily Quote - Mastery

If people knew how hard I had to work to gain my mastery, it wouldn’t seem wonderful at all.

Michelangelo (who spent 4 years lying on his back painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel)

How to become an 'extreme success'

BY JUSTINE MUSK

Extreme success results from an extreme personality and comes at the cost of many other things. Extreme success is different from what I suppose you could just consider 'success', so know that you don't have to be Richard or Elon to be affluent and accomplished and maintain a great lifestyle. Your odds of happiness are better that way. But if you're extreme, you must be what you are, which means that happiness is more or less beside the point. These people tend to be freaks and misfits who were forced to experience the world in an unusually challenging way. They developed strategies to survive, and as they grow older they find ways to apply these strategies to other things, and create for themselves a distinct and powerful advantage. They don't think the way other people think. They see things from angles that unlock new ideas and insights. Other people consider them to be somewhat insane.

Be obsessed.

Be obsessed.

Be obsessed.

If you're not obsessed, then stop what you're doing and find whatever does obsess you. It helps to have an ego, but you must be in service to something bigger if you are to inspire the people you need to help you (and make no mistake, you will need them). That 'something bigger' prevents you from going off into the ether when people flock round you and tell you how fabulous you are when you aren't and how great your stuff is when it isn't.

Don't pursue something because you "want to be great". Pursue something because it fascinates you, because the pursuit itself engages and compels you. Extreme people combine brilliance and talent with an insane work ethic, so if the work itself doesn't drive you, you will burn out or fall by the wayside or your extreme competitors will crush you and make you cry.

SEE ALSO: Bill Gates is world's richest man once again

Follow your obsessions until a problem starts to emerge, a big meaty challenging problem that impacts as many people as possible, that you feel hellbent to solve or die trying. It might take years to find that problem, because you have to explore different bodies of knowledge, collect the dots and then connect and complete them.

It helps to have superhuman energy and stamina. If you are not blessed with godlike genetics, then make it a point to get into the best shape possible. There will be jet lag, mental fatigue, bouts of hard partying, loneliness, pointless meetings, major setbacks, family drama, issues with the Significant Other you rarely see, dark nights of the soul, people who bore and annoy you, little sleep, less sleep than that. Keep your body sharp to keep your mind sharp. It pays off.

Learn to handle a level of stress that would break most people.

Don't follow a pre-existing path, and don't look to imitate your role models. 

There is no "next step". Extreme success is not like other kinds of success; what has worked for someone else, probably won't work for you. They are individuals with bold points of view who exploit their very particular set of unique and particular strengths. They are unconventional, and one reason they become the entrepreneurs they become is because they can't or don't or won't fit into the structures and routines of corporate life. They are dyslexic, they are autistic, they have ADD, they are square pegs in round holes, they piss people off, get into arguments, rock the boat, laugh in the face of paperwork. But they transform weaknesses in ways that create added advantage — the strategies I mentioned earlier — and seek partnerships with people who excel in the areas where they have no talent whatsoever.

They do not fear failure — or they do, but they move ahead anyway. They will experience heroic, spectacular, humiliating, very public failure but find a way to reframe until it isn't failure at all. When they fail in ways that other people won't, they learn things that other people don't and never will. They have incredible grit and resilience.

They are unlikely to be reading stuff like this. (This is *not* to slam or criticize people who do; I love to read this stuff myself.) They are more likely to go straight to a book: perhaps a biography of Alexander the Great or Catherine the Great or someone else they consider Great. Surfing the 'Net is a deadly timesuck, and given what they know their time is worth — even back in the day when technically it was not worth that — they can't afford it.

I could go on, it's a fascinating subject, but you get the idea. I wish you luck and strength and perhaps a stiff drink should you need it.

Source:

http://mashable.com/2015/04/22/how-to-be-great-jobs-musk-branson/

Your Daily Quote - Live a Full Life

We come this way but once. We can either tiptoe through life and hope that we get to death without being too badly bruised or we can live a full, complete life achieving our goals and realizing our wildest dreams. 
Bob Proctor

Virginia Satir: Communication Levels

The "Mother of Family Therapy", Virginia Satir, talking about the two levels of communication.

Your Daily Quote - Time (and Productivity)

Time is an equal opportunity employer. Each human being has exactly the same number of hours and minutes every day. Rich people can’t buy more hours. Scientists can’t invent new minutes. And you can’t save time to spend it on another day. Even so, time is amazingly fair and forgiving. No matter how much time you’ve wasted in the past, you still have an entire tomorrow.
– Denis Waitley

5 WAYS TO SHOW YOUR PARTNER YOU LOVE THEM

Words of Affirmation

Positive reinforcement works for a reason – we respond well to that contagious energy that is positivity. It’s like when someone laughs and that makes you laugh, we are naturally drawn to what makes us feel good.

Saying kind, genuine affirmations to your partner will make them feel good about themselves when it comes from the heart. Often we say things because we want to be heard or we want the recognition for what we’re doing.

These remarks, observations, compliments or anything of the like hold meaning when they are specific. Think about the core of what you love about them, and describe how it makes you feel.

When I told my partner they were amazing I got met with the response “Amazing at what?”

Acts of Service

This can look like a lot of things from doing the dishes to rubbing feet – the point is, you should want to do it. The joy you bring to your partner when you take something off their plate is an act of service. Do something for your partner because it brings them joy, which in turn brings you joy.

When we do something because we want to be recognized or want some level of affection, say what you want rather than trying to get it through an act of service.

Be transparent and forthcoming about what you want. That is an act of service that takes practice and persistence. Being yourself is an act of service. Being ‘real’ is an act of service. Anything that brings some degree of ease to your partner could be considered an act of service.

Do what you feel compelled to do because you want to not because it gets you off the hook.

Receiving Gifts

Some would consider an act of service as a gift – but this is more “something I am giving to you, rather than something I am doing for you.” This can look like giving anything from a personalized present to flowers, chocolate, something you know your partner likes. Gift giving can be used both to create special moments and to try to get out of something you did. When we give without meaning, our gifts are meaningless.

Doing this because you truly want to is key in a successful relationship and that fractals out to all aspects of your life.

There is an ebb and flow of giving and receiving and sometimes we need to ask for what we want. We can’t assume everyone knows how we are feeling so it is our responsibility to let them know. It’s almost a punishment to not engage with our partners.

Quality Time

It’s almost a punishment to not engage with our partners. 

On some level – it is a punishment, and this translates to everything from eye contact, body language and the engagement during intercourse. Giving your undivided attention to your partner is a gift, an act of service and one of the best ways to show them love. It’s incredibly easy but the design of our society ensures the constant stimulation of our brains. Put your phone away, concentrate and listen deeply to what your partner has to say because this is something you should want to do.

If you don’t feel compelled to do these things in your relationship, carefully evaluate the reasons you are in it and account for the joys versus the stress. Every relationship has its ‘ups and downs’ thats how motion continues forward, but if you are feeling there is more negative than positive – that equation needs to be balanced.

Physical Touch

This is an incredibly powerful tool that can be easily misused. We’ve all been guilty of trying to get a kiss while our partners are mad at us – and it can work.

Depending on the nature of your relationship, physical touch can be the dominate reason for being in it in the first place. Our hormones draw us together, naturally we are meant to be close, to be open and vulnerable. It is so crucial to be able to read the energies of when it’s appropriate to physically connect with someone.

Even just touching someone’s hand or shoulder, see how they react to it. The more you carefully and deeply observe peoples energies towards things you do and say the more you learn how to navigate communication.

Having a sexual experience of any capacity holds an immense amount of energy, and when our intent is focused on what we want – we can make it happen. Having a constant, open stream of communication with your partner makes everything enjoyable, understandable and real.

Based on the 5 love languages. 

Source: http://thespiritscience.net/2015/04/24/5-ways-to-show-your-partner-you-love-them/

Your Daily Quote - Change (and Behavioural Flexibility)

"It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change." 

Charles Darwin

Wayne Dyer: 10 principles / The power of intention

Stay connected with the highest, the greatest part of yourself!

Your Daily Quote - Procrastination

There are different types of procrastination. Some are related to the lack of clarity of direction, others – due to perfectionism. Don’t become an expert in any of them!
Elena Long

Have trust and move forward

12 Habits of Genuinely Courageous People - part 2 of 2

BY JEFF HADEN

6. They're not afraid to show genuine emotion.

Acting professionally is actually fairly easy. (We all know a few robots.)

Acting professionally while also remaining openly human takes courage. It's not easy to show sincere excitement, sincere appreciation, and sincere disappointment--not just in others but also in yourself. It takes real bravery to openly celebrate, openly empathize, and openly worry.

Don't be afraid to strike a balance between professionalism and humanity. That's what builds exceptional relationships--both professional and personal.

7. They're not afraid to forgive... and forget.

When an employee makes a mistake--especially a major mistake--it's easy to forever view that employee through the lens of that mistake.

But one mistake, or one weakness, or one failing is also just a part of the whole person.

It's easy to fire, to punish, to resent; it's much harder to step back, set aside a mistake, and think about the whole person. It takes courage to move past and forget mistakes and to treat an employee, a colleague, or a friend as a whole person and not just a living reminder of an error, no matter how grievous that mistake may have been.

Don't be afraid not just to forgive... but also to forget.

8. They're not afraid to stay the course.

It's easy to have ideas, but it's hard to stick with those ideas in the face of repeated failure.

And it's incredibly hard to stay the course when everyone else feels you should give up.

Hesitation, uncertainty, and failure causes people to quit. It takes courage to face the fear of the unknown and the fear of failure.

Don't be afraid to trust your judgment, your instincts, and your willingness to overcome every obstacle. You can.

9. They're not afraid to earn the right to lead.

Every boss has a title, and in theory that title confers the right to direct, to make decisions, to organize and instruct and discipline.

The truly brave leader forgets the title and leads by making people feel they work with, not for, that person.

Don't be afraid to stop falling back on a title but instead working to earn respect; when you do, you earn the permission to truly lead.

10. They're not afraid to succeed through others.

Great teams are made up of people who know their roles, set aside personal goals, willingly help each other, and value team success over everything else. Great business teams win because their most talented members are willing to sacrifice to make others successful and happy.

Don't be afraid to answer the question, "Can you make the choice that your happiness will come from the success of others?" with a resounding "Yes!"

The payoff is worth it.

11. They're not afraid to say, "I'm sorry."

We all make mistakes, and we all have things we need to apologize for: Words, actions, omissions, failing to step up, step in, show support.

It takes courage to say, "I'm sorry." It takes even more courage not to add, "But I was really mad, because..." or "But I did think you were..." or any words that in any way places the smallest amount of blame back on the other person.

Don't be afraid to say you're sorry. You'll gain, not lose, respect--and in the process repair a relationship that might have been damaged.

12. They're not afraid to take undeserved blame.

A customer is upset. A coworker is frustrated. A supplier feels shortchanged. An investor is impatient.

Whatever the issue, the courageous people step up and take the hit. They support others. They support their teams. They willingly take responsibility and draw negative attention to themselves because to do otherwise is not just de-motivating and demoralizing, it also undermines other people's credibility and authority.

Don't be afraid to throw yourself under the bus; and if that's too much to ask, at the very least never throw other people under the bus.

Source: http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/12-ways-genuinely-courageous-people-are-more-successful.html

Your Daily Quote - Vibration (Positive Energy)

Vibration is simply a method to describe your overall state of wellbeing.
You can raise your vibration by:

Zig Ziglar - You Were Born to Win

Some of Zig Ziglar's best messages and quotes.

Your Daily Quote - Take Action

If your ship doesn't come in, swim out to meet it.
Jonathan Winters

12 Habits of Genuinely Courageous People - part 1 of 2

How many do you possess?

BY JEFF HADEN

Think of courage and you may first picture physical bravery, but there are many other forms of courage. After all, "Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it." (Who should know better than Nelson Mandela?)

That means bravery--sometimes an extraordinary level of bravery--is required in business and entrepreneurship. Like taking a chance when others will not. Or following your vision no matter where it leads. Or standing up for what you believe in even though those beliefs are extremely unpopular.

Or simply doing the right thing, even though the right thing is definitely the hardest thing.

(Think of courage that way and you may be surprised by just how brave you really are.)

Here are ways otherwise ordinary people display extraordinary courage:

1. They're not afraid to believe the unimaginable.

Most people try to achieve the achievable. That's why most goals and targets are incremental rather than massive or even inconceivable.

Incremental is safe. Believable is safe. Why? When you play it safe you're less likely to fall short. You're less likely to fail. You're less likely to lose credibility and authority.

Don't be afraid to expect more from yourself... and to expect more from others by showing--and helping--them strive for "unsafe" heights.

2. They're not afraid to be patient.

When things go poorly, changing course or simply giving up is often the easiest way out.

It takes more courage to be patient, to believe in yourself, and to show people you believe in them.

Showing patience in others also shows you care. And when you show you truly care about the people around you, they find ways to do things that amaze everyone--including themselves.

Don't be afraid to give other people the gift of patience; it costs you nothing, but could mean the world to the recipients.

3. They're not afraid to say no.

Turning down huge requests is somewhat easy, but can you say no to requests for favors or demands on your time?

In those cases, saying yes is usually the easiest move. Saying no, even when you know you'll later resent or regret having said yes, is much harder. Yet it's often the best thing to do, both for you and oftentimes even for the other person.

Don't be afraid to say no.

4. They're not afraid to take an unpopular stand.

Many people try to stand out in a superficial way: clothes, or interests, or public support for popular initiatives. They're conspicuous for reasons of sizzle, not steak.

It takes genuine courage to stand out by taking an unpopular stand.

Don't be afraid to take risks not just for the sake of risk but for the sake of the reward you believe is possible... and by your example to inspire others to take a risk in order to achieve what they believe is possible.

5. They're not afraid to ask for help.

No one does anything worthwhile on his or her own. Even the most brilliant, visionary, and fabulously talented people achieve their success through collective effort.

Yet it takes courage to sincerely and humbly say, "Can you help me?" because asking for help shows vulnerability.

Don't be afraid to ask for help; not only will you get the help you need, you'll also give the gift of respect.