Manolis Sfinarolakis RealityCrowdTV Crowdfunding Summit & Incubator

Entrepreneur. Difference-maker. Believer in the power of one. Lifelong learner. Passionate leader. Strategic Dreamer. Author of Paper Napkin Wisdom (@wisenapkin). Coach and teacher to more than 50 Accelerator companies. Becoming the change I want to see ...

Founder, Co-Founder, Partner, President of 9 companies. Sold 7 of them. Bootstrapped and VC backed. Started in retail/franchising and commercial RE, transitioned to software/Internet. Decent dude, love to help/connect others.

(The following is directly from my book Building Business Profits Fast) Most of the people I know who are very successful have surprising backgrounds. When you read the following highlights of my professional career, it may seem like I had some special start that enabled me to accomplish all of this. My start was the damn cleaning, yard work, gardening and numerous other chores my mother made me do before I could do practically anything else – especially social activities after school. I was the oldest of four children in a household of very modest means. By many standards – mine included – we were poor. I knew we were poor because I had friends whose families lived differently from mine and I didn’t like how I lived. I didn’t like the clothes I had and didn’t like how I never had money. So, I learned to make money. I had a paper route, I caddied at the country club, I learned how to play drums and joined a band and we made money playing at clubs and for weddings. I associated hard work with making money. That served me for awhile. At some point, however, that continual hard work led to frustration. Later in my career, when I’d achieved boardroom status, I was still frustrated. That led to entrepreneurship, which actually turned out quite well, initially. Then, as I aggressively made more entrepreneurship decisions, I made some bad ones and lost just about everything…except for my talents. I remember one night, not that long ago, I was in an extremely stressed state of mind. I began asking myself some questions: • Do you think you will be homeless? • Do you think you will starve? • Do you think you will lose everything? • If you lost everything, how much money would you need each month to come back strong? That night, I knew I’d never be homeless, starve or lose everything. That night, I knew $1,000 a month would pay for a cell phone, Internet access and basic necessities. I also knew I could make more than $1,000 a month. Once I knew these answers, everything seemed to become unblocked. I became relaxed and confident. Things began moving forward very rapidly. The following is a tree-top summary of my professional career. I wanted you to know there’s more to me than those accomplishments. In other books, I will share even more of my life. I now realize that the more I share, the more I help others. Brief Career Summary Early in my career, I was an internal auditor for several companies and earned my certified internal auditor certificate. In the 1980’s, I worked for Arthur Anderson & Company, where I grew the firm’s client base and revenues by tens of millions. I’ve also served as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer of major companies, including Safelite Glass Corporation, Drug Emporium, Nationwise Automotive, Technology Services International and companies in the restaurant, convenience store and real estate development industries. My areas of accountabilities have included: financial reporting, business plans and recapitalization, marketing, SEC/GAAP/Audit, strategic planning/budgets, profit improvement/reengineering, and finance. I have a proven record of accomplishment in the Big 8 (now Big 4) as CFO with companies at $40,000,000 to $1,600,000,000 and I’ve been Chief Executive Officer of companies with revenues up to $50,000,000. I attended Xavier University, where I earned my MBA with a GPA of 3.76 and Clarion State University, where I earned my BA in Business Administration and Accounting. I hold a CPA license and I’m the Executive Director of Life Rights: The Peace through People initiative. I coach business owners and Fortune 500 companies and I’ve developed the system you now hold in your hands. This system is the direct result of my experience, of the people I’ve met and of my continual study of business and financial successes and failures. Online businesses that I run generate cash profits and I’m an international speaker to groups of incredibly successful business owners, entrepreneurs and people looking to start their own business. I’ve developed a following on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and on my blogs. This has enabled me to help hundreds of people – possibly thousands of people – discover their own true personal income potential. You can also be part of this list of people who benefit from my blogs and free online courses, in addition to my personal advice for your particular business situation, by visiting my Websites: http://stevepohlit.com http://manifestmastermind.com http://www.tampacapitalpartners.com http://usrealestatepartners.com http://buildingbusinessprofits.com http://facebook.com/stevepohlit http://linkedin.com/in/stevepohlit I hope you benefit from this book and I want you to know you are always welcome to Email me at stevepohlit@gmail.com or call me at 727-587-7871.