I recently wrote a blog and made a video called “I can do that too!” It’s basically about how people see a successful product or service doing well even though it doesn’t seem to be that great. The article went into some of the reasons mediocre products do well. If you didn’t read it or watch the video you can check it out to get caught up. A few days later, the press reported that Master P and a group of investors were in talks to acquire Reebok. If anyone is an example of what I talked about in my recent blog it is Master P. First of all, I want to state that Master P is one of my entrepreneurial heroes. At the time when P came out, I was a hip hop snob. To me, everything was all about skill and technique. P will be the first to tell he was not the greatest or most skilled rapper. I, like others in the music industry saw P succeed and thought, just like what I said in the previous blog post, that if P was blowing up, I knew I could. I definitely felt I had a better product than P. Years later, I came to realize how stupid my thinking was. If my product was better than P’s, then why was he dominating the charts while I wallowed in local obscurity? The answer is simple. Master P is one of the greatest hip hop entrepreneurs of all time and my hustle was subpar. My talent earned me some opportunities, many that I did not take advantage of. Meanwhile, Master P tapped in to what the public wanted and gave it to them and dominated the charts. While I was spending my time trying to be the lyric al miracle, P was focusing on marketing and distribution. He was focusing on building a strong independent company. He went on to sell over 50 million records. What makes P so great is, decades after his run in the music business he’s still here making power moves. He has produced movies, tv shows, clothing lines, food products and his own shoes. If P does indeed acquire Reebok, it will be a power move of historic proportions. What P may have lacked in lyrical ability, he more than made up in vision, drive and hustle. He has proved that what determines success in the music business and in business in general are the traits that he has. All of P’s products have been criticized, but he just keeps coming and succeeding. So, the point of the “I can do that too” series is that when you see some one getting it and you think that you are just as talented and can produce a better quality product than that person, you need to understand that it is not talent and quality that put them in position to succeed. Their hustle is what put them in position to succeed. Your talent alone should not make you feel you can succeed in business. You should compare your hustle to those succeeding. If you feel like you have hustle, drive and vision matching those succeeding, then you should step in the arena. If you only feel you have just as much or more talent, you should probably step aside.
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