Cody McKibben shares 10 top lessons from entrepreneurship, living abroad, slow traveling 4 continents, and fatherhood… a presentation for Nomad Summit 2016 in Chiang Mai, Thailand

2. Cody
McKibben
Lessons Learned
from 8 Years
Bootstrapping
Businesses while
Living Abroad

3. A few
• 2006 – started writing online, web dev
freelancing
• 2007 – read 4HWW, quit my job
• 2008 – one-way ticket to Thailand
• 2009 – BKK Tweetup, nonprofits,
magazine
• 2010 – sold ad revenue biz with partners;
moved into productized services,
Sovereign Man & Chris Ducker
• 2011 – coaching and membership
training course
• 2012 – the “year of suffering”
• 2013/14 – hosting events, SF workshop,
Costa Rica retreat
• 2014/15 – fatherhood & becoming sole
provider for a family
milestones

5. I QUIT!

6. Travel
+Entrepreneurship
=
MASSIVE
personal
transformation

7. “Fun things happen when you
earn dollars, live on pesos, and
compensate in rupees.”
–Tim Ferriss

8. 1. DON’T • You NEED support. You need to
find your cheerleaders…
• Business is still about PEOPLE –
about service – don’t forget that.
• Don’t build in a vacuum! Actively
seek out feedback from your
target market.
• Build a community – incorporate
your audience/customers in your
story, and let them be a part of
the process building your
products/services.
stay isolated

9. Rajesh Setty
• 8 Silicon Valley
companies
• Author of Beyond Code,
Upbeat & 7 others
• 14,000+ followers,
writes for HuffPo, etc.

10. 2. FIND
• EVERYBODY has something to
teach you. Your job is to LEARN.
• Especially seek wisdom/
experience from your elders.
• Nobody is out of reach – authors,
millionaires, CEOs.
• That can mean reading BOOKS!
• Free work (yes, free) – Charlie
Hoehn, Recession Proof Graduate
• Empire Flippers content
marketing position –
THRL.IN/EFintern
mentors

11. 3. KEEP
“You are the average of the
five people you spend the
most time with.” –Jim Rohn
a MasterMind
group
**It really is who
you know.

12. 3. KEEP
• Who do you have around you?
• Are they assisting you?
• Are they distracting you?
• Are they blocking you?a MasterMind
group
**It really is who
you know.

13. 3. KEEP
• Who do you want to BE? Find
people to “model”
• Build a tight support group –
POSITIVE peer pressure!
• Don’t be limited by geography
• Learn more: THRL.IN/mastermind
• Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow
Rich – THRL.IN/tagr
• Sovereign Man Network
Infiltration Report –
THRL.IN/networkinfiltration
a MasterMind
group
**It really is who
you know.

14. 4. PRACTICE
• The mind continually FINDS more
of what it looks for.
• 5 Minute Journal – THRL.IN/5min
• Earl Nightingale – you become
what you THINK ABOUT most of
the time.
• “All we are is the result of all we
have thought.” –The Buddha
• Mindfulness – meditation,
Headspace, Calm, no TV for 7
days
gratitude

15. 5. FAILURE
• The ONLY secret key to success.
• Just SHIP (then iterate) – Reid
Hoffman: “If you’re not
embarrassed by the first version
of your product you’ve launched
too late.”
• Learn from it, look at it as
feedback, learn to pivot/change
your approach.
• More:
ThrillingHeroics.com/failure
is necessary
“Only those who
dare to fail greatly
can ever achieve
greatly.”
–Robert F. Kennedy

16. 6. DON’T
stay married to
your ideas

17. 6. DON’T
stay married to
your ideas
• Vishen Lakhiani (Mindvalley)
• The 3 Most Important Questions
to ask yourself:
• What do you want to experience?
• How do you want to grow?
• How do you want to contribute?
• Visit THRL.IN/3questions for the
whole exercise

18. 7. DON’T
• Do your due diligence – on
potential partners, JVs, clients,
etc.
• Don’t partner up overnight,
figure out who you’re dealing
with.
• EXPECT others will try to take
advantage of you, or leave you in
a bad situation.
• Find people with similar values.
jump into bed
with the
wrong people

19. 8. BUT, DO
• Doing EVERYTHING yourself is
the fastest way to burn out.
• Teaming up with others is the
best way to amplify your
potential.
• Spend more time & energy
focusing on your strengths.
• Outsource/delegate for your
weaknesses
• Free up time, think critically,
focus on highest-ROI tasks
collaborate

20. 9. TAKE CARE • Conscious health & fitness
practice are for LATER, not for
NOW
• When you don’t have your health,
body/brain is not working
optimally, everything else suffers
• Focus on proper sleep, diet,
fitness, emotional health,
happiness – so you can give
energy back to others
• TheHabitSheet.com
of yourself
first

21. 10. NEVER
• “As long as you live, keep
learning how to live.” –Seneca
• Self-directed learning is more
engaging, practical & fun
• Put yourself in a position where
you’re FORCED to adapt/grow
constantly.
• Adversity builds character &
strength.
stop learning

22. A THOUGHT EXPERIMENT
• CLEARLY define what you want.
• Who do you listen to? Who do
you want to BE??
• Listen to people who HAVE what
you want.
• Top 5 role models or idols
• 5 friends who are closest to the
ideal life you’d like.

23. MY LIST:
• Vishen Lakhiani
• Joe Rogan
• Anthony Bourdain
• Tim Ferriss
• Richard Branson

24. ThrillingHeroics.com/signup
• The 15-minute daily meditation
that gives me SUPERPOWERS
• My list of Top 10 most
recommended books
• TONS more resources, goodies
like free AppSumo courses,
discounts, freebies, etc.

25. DigitalNomadAcademy.com
• Get over 65 % off
• Use code
NOMADSUMMIT16
and get it for just
$16/month

26. NOW
go out and
.com

27. Q&A