Most of the time I don’t like tidy little lists that box reality into a few bullet points, but they’re also helpful as a starting point for a more real-time, nuanced, and complex exploration that go way beyond the list itself. With that in mind, I’d like to share with you four dimensions of entrepreneurship that I regularly touch base with, feel into, and consult my peers and mentors about. I found these four to be consistent in all of my ventures, regardless of their focus and industry,which include:

• Buddhist Geeks, co-founded with Vincent Horn. A spiritual media company.
• Falling Fruit. A failed podcasting network, but one of the most rewarding and educating entrepreneurial experiences of my life.
• PowerUp Productions. My web design and branding company.
• Sex, God, Rock ‘n Roll. A national television show that I co-produced, a film/tv version of a start-up.

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In September I had the honor of coaching the talented and insightful Kristen Wheeler for her TEDx Boulder talk. If you don’t know her, one of the things I love about Kristen is she is contagiously joyful and energetic (she has a trampoline in her office that she jumps on when she has an epiphany or breakthrough, just to give you a picture). Kristen had a clear idea and heartbeat of what she wanted to offer and communicate in her talk and I helped her craft that into a succinct, well-organized, and emotionally impacting TEDx talk. The result was her talk being voted top 5 by the Boulder audience and a line of people after the event wanting to connect with her.

I absolutely enjoyed the process, particularly because Kristen was so open the entire time, and so I thought it might interesting to share my experience and insights. My approach to the talk was heavily influenced by my experience in screenwriting and film, which might seem odd to some. Of course, I also have other experiences that influence me – leadership training, speeches, group presentations, etc. But TED talks are you unique and more than anything, I find them to be a hybrid between a lecture, story telling, and acting.

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