#19 David S. Rose: The Man, The Legend, and Original Inventor of the iWatch

Craftsman Founder with Lucas Carlson and Eliot Peper

When I read the following words, I nearly peed my pants.

I’ve been an entrepreneur for, oh, half a century or so, and I’m still making most of these mistakes! (And yeah, these are mistakes…his list is bang on target). When I grow up I wanna be Lucas or Jason, who not only know the pitfalls, but don’t keep falling into them [sigh].

It wasn’t the words themselves (which of course was very kind), but who wrote it that I couldn’t believe.

David. S. Rose.

When I saw the name I could hardly believe it. I have watched David’s TED Talk about raising investments about a thousand times. I’ve watched it so many times that I nearly have it memorized. I am certain it helped me raise nearly $10 Million from investors.

What makes David’s talk so special is that it gives you unique and actionable insight into the mind of an investor. If you have ever wondered what investors are really thinking and really looking for, there has never been a better explanation.

Whenever founders ask me for advice for raising funds, I always send them to David’s talk. I have recommended the video over a hundred times.

So you can imagine my excitement when I saw these words coming from a man I personally considered a legend and guru.

David’s comment was in response to my 30 Things to Stop Doing as a Startup Founder on Quora. As soon as I read the comment, I clicked on the name I was so familiar with already and thanked him profusely for the kind words and asked if he would come on my podcast.

Imagine how excited I was when the legendary man said yes!

I didn’t want to talk to him about about stuff he has covered other places, so instead of asking him how to pitch investors, I asked him just one question: how did David S. Rose get to become a legend?

His answer was EPIC and well worth listening to all the way through. Grab yourself a coffee and start a fire, because this story is a lot of fun to listen to.