Renegade Entrepreneurs

Hey there, hope you're doing awesome…

I've never been one to wanna conform to the norms or comply with the status quo.

I like to do things my own way…

In my teens and twenties it got me into a lot of trouble, but today in my late thirties I've been able to get it to work for me.

You see, I'm completely unemployable, so I own businesses.

I like to live and work on my own terms… and enjoy feeling I've figured things out that very few people have ( Like how to get up at 11am and own two successful businesses)

Not that this way of life is for everyone, but for me it's perfect.

I'm also intrigued by other personalities who do things their own way… out of the box… who stand up for who they are, change the way things are done, and make a lot of money and have a lot of fun in the process.

That's what this post is about… The Renegade Entrepreneur… and I'd like to introduce you to a few of my favorites…

Dave Tate

Dave Tate is a powerlifter and founder and CEO of Elite Fitness Systems… which is staffed by some of the most experienced strength training professionals in the world.

When he was little he was the kid that everybody picked on, he grew up with disabilities and was teased just about every single day.

One day, the neighborhood kids invited him to play baseball… since he'd never played before he was stoked they'd asked him to play.

After a few practice tosses the kids were ready to start playing, and right before the first pitch the batter looked at Dave and said "You didn't really think we wanted you to play, did you?"

He then swung the bat and hit Dave right in the mouth, knocking his tooth out.

To this day, that off-color tooth is a symbol of how the "stupid kid" of the neighborhood grew up… beaten down and alone.

When he was eleven his uncle bought him a weight set and Dave realized he didn't need anyone as long as he had the iron.

He became the dude you don't f*** with.

Today, Dave has been a top powerlifter for over two decades, and now spends his days teaching others how to become super strong, while running his business EliteFTS.

Dave has conducted literally hundreds of seminars and clinics for gyms, training centers, universities and schools.

He's logged more than ten thousand hours of personal training and strength consulting with athletes of all levels, as well as with many top professional and university strength coaches.

Dave holds Elite status in powerlifting (in three weight classes) with PR's of…

• 935 squat
• 740 deadlift
• 610 bench press
• For a 2,205 total

Dave earned a Lifetime Achievement award in 2005 from the Society for Weight Training Specialists.

And on top of all that, Dave is a motivational speaker, author and business adviser.

Dave lives with his family in London, Ohio.

Quote: "Passion's the thing that f*cking trumps everything"

You can check out Dave's site at http://www.elitefts.com/

And check out this awesome training video of Dave: The Death Squat

Brian Deegan

Brian Deegan is a business man and one of the most awarded freestyle motor cross riders of all time. He has constantly pushed the limits of what he is able to accomplish.

Brian moved across the country from the midwest to California as a teenager to start competing in motocross cuz' he thought he was pretty good so he should give it a try.

Turns out he's one of the best of all time.

He was the first rider to ever do a 360 in competition, and despite NUMEROUS broken bones, losing a kidney… messing up his spleen… earning a scar the ENTIRE length of his stomach AND almost dying three separate times, is the most decorated freestyle motocross rider in X Games history.

Brian has always pushed the edge of what is possible with the sport.

His secret: HE DOES'T GIVE UP.

He's also one of the founders of Metal Mulisha, a group made of a bunch of his riding buddies who have a reputation for being tough and riding hard. They're notorious for always ranking towards the top if not winning at every FMX competition they show up for.

Today Brian competes in Off Road Truck Racing and has been hugely successful marketing his brand and Metal Mulisha clothing as well as other products including a line of toys called Heavy Hitters available in retail stores such as Walmart.

Brian swept the industry with his bad boy persona and is a ready-for-anything, live-life-on-the-edge kind of guy. ( After a few near death experiences, Brian became a reborn Christian along with the majority of the Mulisha, even holding their own bible studies.)

A few years of Brian's life recently became the topic for a documentary called Disposable Hero, you can watch the trailer here…

Disposable Hero Trailer

And here's Brian's website http://www.briandeegan.com/

Tim Ferriss

Tim Ferriss is the author of the Four Hour Work Week and his teaching is all about how you can choose to design your lifestyle and limit the hours you work every week.

A lot of people think he's a scammer and full of sh*t… but I bet not one of those people applied the strategies of his book with everything in them.

If you have something to say, some people will love you, and some will hate you… Tim understands this and makes no apologies.

Tim shows you how to systematize and outsource the majority of your business as well as a lot the mundane stuff in life that we all need to do… but it sucks up a ton of time and we don't really enjoy doing it.

There's a line in the book that goes something like "The world has agreed to shuffle papers from 9 to 5" - Tim shows you how not to buy into this ridiculous behavior if you don't want to… if you enjoy it, by all means go ahead, just know there's another way, and Tim's book is your travel guide along the path of the other way.

The Four Hour Work Week probably has had more impact on my business and work life than any other book I've read… I'm living proof that it works if applied.

No I don't work only four hours a week, but I think I have it it better than anyone I know in terms of freedom… here's what I mean…

I used to put in 40-70 hour weeks and take one week off a year.

Today I make well over five times as much money and work about a 20 hours a week most of the year… and I typically take about three months off out of the year. ( You can read a post here where I talk about that )

Tim's book is a major reason for this.

If you've ever read The Emyth ( another one of my favorites) look at The Four Hour Work Week as the Emyth on steroids.

I have nothing against long hard work… I just found a better, less stressful way that allows me to live a fairly balanced life… and Tim Ferriss is a MAJOR reason for this.

Quote - "Being selective—doing less—is the path of the productive. Focus on the important few and ignore the rest." - Tim Ferriss

You can see Tim's blog here: http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/

Jesse James

Jesse James owns West Coast Choppers in Long Beach, Ca. making custom motorcycles for select clients.  He was originally working as a body guard before he took off after his passion of customizing motorcycles.

Jesse's motorcycles are some of the most sought after in the world, there's usually a GIANT waiting list to get one, they are EXTREMELY expensive and his bikes are the pride and joy of many A-list celebrities and sports figures.

Jesse's business exploded and he even got his own TV show Monster Garage… where he ended up meeting his wife Sandra Bullock.

What's amazing about Jesse is how many different ways he has managed to build businesses up from his first success.

He expanded to buy a custom car shop in Austin, TX, set up a restaurant next to his WCC in Long Beach, launched a line of women's clothing and men's work clothes, and has his show Jesse James is a Dead Man on Spike TV where he does crazy stunts and damn near kills himself every week.

Jesse has created an image of himself that markets to a niche and he has all kinds of merchandise based on it.  A lot of the merchandise has probably even helped to BUILD his image based on its design.

Just like Brian Deegan, Jesse's bad boy persona has helped him create a huge following and make a ton of money, on his own terms. ( By the way, West Coast Choppers sponsors Brian Deegan.)

You can check out Jesse's West Coast Choppers site here http://westcoastchoppers.com/

Richard Branson

This dude almost has an obsession with starting new businesses, and his company Virgin, has over 360 subsidiaries from a record store chain to an airline.

He started from the ground up selling records out of the trunk of his car to record stores before he ended up getting his own record store, starting his own label, and eventually deciding to create an airline which was a pretty big leap.

"My interest in life comes from setting myself huge, apparently unachievable challenges and trying to rise above them… from the perspective of wanting to live life to the full, I felt that I had to attempt it." says Richard

"And you know, I've had great fun turning quite a lot of different industries on their head and making sure those industries will never be the same again, because Virgin went in and took them on."

Branson is now a billionaire and constantly adding to his businesses as new opportunities come up.  But the guy doesn't just work on business, he spends his free time chasing world records for fastest crossing of the Atlantic in a boat and hot air balloon rides… all of which he of course makes sure his logo is present for when the media shows up to see his attempts… free advertising.

Branson is also heavily involved in many humanitarian efforts.

You can check out Sir Richard Bransons blog here http://www.virgin.com/richard-branson/blog/

Frank Kern

Frank Kern became a hugely successful internet marketer by studying and applying strategies that WORK.

He doesn't really give a sh*t about finding some new way of doing things that's never been done before, he just does what works and does it better than anybody else.

He'll be the first to admit "Basically I just steal from Dan Kennedy and insert profanity"

Franks's created this cool image of himself as a surfer who does next to NOTHING and makes a ton of money... he's pretty much transformed himself into 'The Dude' from the classic dark comedy The Big Lebowski…

He's the rock-star ideal-version of who is audience wants to be… to the 40 year old over-worked underpaid man, he's the ultimate representation of freedom and escaping the rat race.

Frank walks the line between being completely transparent and using under-the-radar persuasion tactics such as NLP… he walks this line probably better than any other marketer out there.

One of Frank's biggest strong points is getting in touch with his market and understanding EXACTLY what they want so that he can tailor his marketing perfectly. He is master at persuasion and is probably the most liked internet marketer alive today… at least when it comes to info-gurus.

Frank's been busted by the FTC, has helped Tony Robbins with his marketing, has made a ton of money in such niches as dog training and internet marketing.. and likes to spend his days surfing by his home in La Jolla, Ca

And trust me, Frank lives the life he presents to the world…

I've been at his HQ on the beach in La Jolla at noon on a Wed. when he just got back from surfing, then he sat down for about 20 minutes and talked to a little old lady who was his neighbor, while most entrepreneurs are stressed and rushing around like a maniac, Frank's living on his own terms, and enjoying the view as he goes.

When Frank gives presentations to crowds of hundreds at business and marketing events, he's known to dress in bare feet, old jeans and old t-shirts and cuss like a sailor… he's also able to get the audience to laugh almost the entire time he talks with his laid back sense of humor and off-the-wall drug references… while the typical presenter is up tight and wearing a suit and tie… Frank's taking it easy up there having the time of his life.

I've used Franks methods in much of my marketing and they work, period.

You can check out Frank's blog here http://masscontrolsite.com/blog/

Henry Rollins

Henry Rollins is definitely not a guy you can fit into a box.

Rollins was a clammy awkward kid with extreme ADHD and was jacked on Ritalin all the time.

Move forward to today… he's had a hand in everything from a few hard rock and punk bands ( like Black Flag and The Rollins Band), to acting in TV and movies ( like Heat and Sons of Anarchy), owning a publishing company, documentaries, to writing, to stand-up comedy, to poetry, to having his own tv and radio shows and even some powerlifting thrown in for good measure.

When it comes down to it …Henry's an all around bad ass.

Rollins dropped out of college and was working a minimum wage job when he found Black Flag's Nervous Breakdown album and became a huge fan of the band…to the point of writing to them, inviting them to stay at his house, and becoming friends with them until they ended up needing a new vocalist and asked him to join the band.

He stayed with Black Flag for years, living from gig to gig before the band broke up and he moved onto solo work including a bunch of spoken word work ( a mix of stand-up comedy, ranting, story telling and philosophy)

In 1991 Henry's best friend Joe Cole was murdered in a robbery right in front of Henry in their shared home in Southern California.

He's also been a huge human rights advocate and has used his documentaries to point out problems he sees to raise awareness… and although Rollins isn't gay he's an outspoken gay activist.

What's crazy is that usually people in media and entertainment choose one avenue and then suck it dry… and Rollins has just raced down any path that stuck out to him at the moment.

He certainly didn't do anything the easy way, but he tried his hand at everything he wanted to and has income coming in from a ton of different things.

Quote - “Scar tissue is stronger than regular tissue. Realize the strength, move on.”

Here's a cool video interview with Henry - Henry Rollins Interview

And here's his website - http://21361.com/

Bill Phillips

Bill Phillips tried his luck at body building before he figured out that he could use his knowledge of the industry to market products.

He first became known for his Muscle Media 2000 magazine and how he didn't hold back any punches in talking about steroids and other stuff going on underground in the body building industry… he figured body builders were gonna do steroids, so why not show them how to do them as safely and effectively as possible.

It was the first HONEST body building magazine.

He also published a popular underground book called the 'Anabolic Reference Guide'… basically a "How to" guide for steroid users.

After a few years he figured out there was a lot more money to be made in being mainstream… so he dropped the roid' talk and the '2000' from 'Muscle Media 2000', and the magazine became simply Muscle Media.

With the following behind the magazine he started endorsing products ( He was co-founder of Met-Rx) and eventually dominated the supplements industry with his brand EAS… he's pretty much the mastermind behind bringing creatine to the marketplace.

He's also the reason that meal replacement powders have been as successful as they are.

Bill used to put out a supplement review book that was actually pretty damned good, and it ranked supplements, with his brand always coming out in first.

He was a master at the way he always made you feel like you could trust him and he was dishing out secrets on the industry just to you… his select group of readers.

His magazine was loaded with articles that were like  "ten tips to _________", and tip # 10 was usually "buy this EAS product"… however he did it in a way were you felt he truly cared about you and your results.

Bill was probably the best of all time when it came to before and after pictures in his marketing. He understood how powerful they are and made them work for his business… he'd hold contests ( he even made a documentary about one) and even break the transformations down into sub-groups by age, gender and so on… so everyone felt they had a chance of winning.

He was even savvy enough to have members of the Denver Bronco's be seen on national television wearing EAS apparel after a football game.

Bill won Entrepreneur of the year.

He's donated HUGE sums of money to the Make-a-Wish foundation.

And his bestseller Body For Life ( basically a cleverly disguised sales letter for EAS products) has sold over 4 Million copies

Bill Phillips is beyond a doubt the greatest fitness marketer of all time IMO.

( BTW, about a year ago I was able to order every issue of Muscle Media and Muscle Media 2000 in digital format from EAS, all ten years worth, the advertising in there is gold and it makes for a KILLER swipe file… it only cost me about 80 bucks)

Here's a post I did about Bill quite a while back - Bill Phillips Post

You can check out a bio about Bill on his site here - http://www.transformation.com/ttv-hd/bio/

Gene Simmons

Gene Simmons was born in Israel and grew up in New York and is best known as the demonic looking bassist from Kiss…. the one with the crazy tongue that parents hated and all the children of the 70's and 80's had no choice but to rebelliously follow.

Simmons managed to keep the band going strong through publicity stunts like taking off their makeup for a while…..and then throwing it back on….but you can only do that so many times.

People love Kiss's music, but it's really all about the show.

What's brilliant about Simmons besides his music is how he pushed for Kiss merchandising and franchising of EVERYTHING you can think of…over 2,500 licenses!

He wrote a book Sex Money Kiss he talks about how he doesn't have any problem with licensing out his face for anything… which has proven true since he's licensed out everything from Kiss lunchboxes to Kiss "Kondoms" to Kiss "Kaskets".

He's launched his own record label, has his own reality shows, published an autobiography, and put together a clothing line called Moneybag all of which were independent of Kiss.

Talk about cradle to grave merchandising.

What's cool is that his business isn't dependent on his music… he's making bank based on his persona he created… Gene is the self-aggrandizement business.. The Gene Simmons business… and business is VERY good.

Quote from Gene - "Every other band in the world wanted to be the Beatles….KISS wanted to be Coca-Cola."

You can check out Gene's site here - http://www.genesimmons.com/

Steve Rocco

Steve Rocco was working for a skateboard company in the late 80's who decided to cut him… which left Rocco with no alternative but to revolutionize the skateboard industry and start his own company from the ground up that would eventually over throw all of the big name skateboard companies and get him a cult like following of skaters.

He brought down these huge corporations by incredible marketing (aka TOTALLY anti the norm) and snatching up young talent that he found.

What's super cool though is how he's handled crash and burn situations… like after he built up his World Industries skate company and several years later most of his team of young skaters ran off to start their own company.. .leaving him to deal with the aftermath.

Instead of trying to rebuild everything exactly the way he'd always had it…he chose to head in a new direction and make boards with graphics that appealed to kids who were now getting into skating, and completely rebuilt his business.

He also Co-Founded Blind, 101, Plan B, Duffs & more

His marketing was crazy because he didn't go with the standard skateboard marketing of using a couple big names, he exclusively used a street team, which nobody thought was possible… and he pretty much said "F*&# You" to traditional skate board marketing using offensive ads… some of which ended up with him being investigated by police… except they couldn't figure out what exactly to charge him with.

Some of the graphics on his boards were so offensive you can see they wrapped it in a black plastic bag and threw a sticker on the outside with the words: "WARNING: Censorship is Weak as F*&#"

When it came to tribal marketing and "Us vs. Them" marketing, Steve was one of the best of all time

Quote - "We were just pushing the boundaries of things that hadn't been done before…and why not? I actually felt like we almost had an obligation to do it."

Rocco's crazy overturn of the skate industry is documented in his movie The Man Who Souled the World you can watch the trailer for here: Man Who Souled The World Trailer

TapouT

You probably recognize TapouT from their clothing line targeted towards the mixed martial arts crowd. What started as a few friends who were die-hard MMA fans is today a nine figure business.

Co-founders Mask and Punkass started the clothing line in '97, and over the next ten years of skillful marketing managed to bring their business from $30k per year in the late 1990's to $100 Million in 2008.

In an interview, Dan Caldwell ( one of the now three partners… with Skyskrape being the newest) said the company had a hard time turning their passion for MMA into profits.

The company was started by Mask ( R.I.P),  real name is Charles Lewis Jr., and Dan Caldwell in 1997, they originally sold only on the internet and had reached sales of approx. $29k by 1999.

"We were basically just pouring the money back into the business to buy new inventory" Caldwell said.

Things started to change a few years ago, as TapouT rode the tsunami of popularity for MMA fighting.

Today their apparel is sold in over 6000 stores world wide including Dillards, Pacific Sunwear, Tilly's, Hot Topic and Champs

They are a major sponsor of many MMA events and even have their own reality show.

Mask recently died in car accident in Orange County Ca.

"Life is full of influences, It's your application that sets you apart. That's something I wrote to myself and completely believe in. You can't be scared to set out to do something in life because you believe it may be similar to something, or because you don't know the clear cut path on how you're going to accomplish your goal or dream! Just take a step towards your belief daily - fearlessly, wholeheartedly, digging and dreaming within yourself, believing that as you push on through sacrifice, you will one day stand alone on top of a hill that you created that now encourages and inspires others to chase their dream. Knowing that through tenacity and patience anything can be achieved.
If you simply believe" — Mask

http://www.tapout.com/

Quentin Tarantino

Quentin Tarantino is a director, producer, writer and actor who has made some of he most badass movies around, including three of my favorites… Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown.

What most people don't know is Tarantino started acting when he was a kid, but was so interested in directing that he would find himself working at a video store paying attention to what movies people rented to see what kind of stories they were after.

His movies are crazy and unique because he twists a whole bunch of story lines together and introduces you to all the characters kinda separately until there's usually some big blow out scene where all the dots get connected… and lots of sex, drugs, extreme violence, and language that you probably wouldn't want to use around Grandma.

He also probably writes dialogue better than any other living screen writer.

Quentin has this weird ability to make you laugh when you really feel like you shouldn't be laughing…

Unlike most film makers, Quentin never went to film school

"When people ask me if I went to film school I tell them, 'no, I went to films"

The great part is that this guy with no background, who just studied what people wanted and gave it to them managed to piss off so many other screenwriters as they couldn't figure out how an insanely violent movie like Pulp Fiction could do so well when it didn't even follow standard storylines that the major producers stuck to.

Quentin is a true renegade.

You can learn more about Quentin here - http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000233/

Dan Kennedy

Dan Kennedy is IMO one of the greatest copywriters of all time ( along with Gary Halbert) and probably the best direct response marketer alive today.

He's one of my biggest influences as well as the biggest influence of almost every top internet marketer today ( Dan himself is NOT an internet guy though)

Not only is he a copywriter, he's also an extremely high paid business consultant ( currently charging about $17,000 a day and that's through application only), he's an info-marketer, speaker, author, publishes multiple newsletters, hosts multiple mastermind meetings and is probably the most entertaining marketer around ( along with Frank Kern)

Like I said above Frank Kern will be the first to admit "Basically I just steal from Dan Kennedy and insert profanity"

Dan is known to be grumpy, sarcastic, difficult to work with, easily irritated, a time management nazi, extremely hard to reach, has no cell phone, refuses to use email and is a computer dunce.

Dan has created a cult-like following of marketers from hundreds of niches who will buy thousands and thousands of dollars of Dan's products every single year.

Direct response marketing, internet marketing and information marketing would not be what is today were it not for Dan Kennedy

You can learn more about Dan at http://dankennedy.com/

I hope you enjoyed this post

There were others like the late Gary Halbert, Steve Jobs ( I'm a Mac freak) and Sean Stephenson - but this post was just taking too damned long, and at 4400 words maybe I'll add them later or do a part two.

Would love to hear your comments below about any of the renegades in this post, or any of YOUR favorite business renegades…