Step 5: Take The Third Door (Ch. 25-35)

Question 1

what did Larry King & Cal Fussman say of how to interview?

Answer 1

the secret is, there is no secret. be yourself, the same way you are with us (friends)

Question 2

after devouring Bill Gates books, what stride out the most to Alex?

Answer 2

his ability to do the hard, uncomfortable aspect that made it all possible

Question 3

Gates said “the best way to blast through skepticism is…

Answer 3

…to overwhelm them with expertise”

Question 4

when making a business deal, the best outcome is

Answer 4

strategic positioning for future relationships and investments

Question 5

by figuring out what people fear i can…

Answer 5

leverage it for their benefit and mine.

Question 6

it’s critical to do what of the person being dealt with?

Answer 6

become an expert on their background

Question 7

the best negotiating tactic is…

Answer 7

genuine, trusting relationships. if they aren’t invested in me, why would they invest in what i’m bringing to the table.

Question 8

pg. 470 (Elliot talking to Alex about the Gates interview)

“You idiot. You asked that stupid question when we first met and I told you there is

Answer 8

no tipping point. It’s all just little steps.”

Question 9

pg. 470 (Elliot talking to Alex about the Gates interview)

“A tipping point only appears in hindsight,” Elliott added. “You don’t feel it when you’re in

Answer 9

the trenches. Being an entrepreneur is about pushing, not tipping.”

Question 10

pg. 471 (Elliot on the importance of pipeline)

“Dude, that’s the story of my life. They’re called bullshit no’s. I get them a thousand times a week.

Answer 10

You just have to build a pipeline so when you get a bullshit no from one person, there’s still thirty others to work on.”

Question 11

pg. 471 (Elliot on the importance of pipeline)

“You want to know why a pipeline works?” Elliott went on. “A year and a half ago, when you first cold-emailed me asking for advice, you didn’t know that a month earlier

Answer 11

I’d made it my New Year’s resolution to find someone to mentor.”

“could’ve known that. My point is that I’m sure I wasn’t the first person you emailed for advice. You asked dozens of people, and because of an external factor you couldn’t have predicted, one of those things worked. You have no way of knowing what’s going on in the lives of the people in your pipeline. You can’t anticipate their mood or how generous they’re feeling. All you can do is control your effort.”

Question 12

pg. 472 (Elliot on non-refundable offers)

“can’t give you all the answers, but I’ll give you an example. For the Summit conference we organized in Washington, D.C., we couldn’t get a single person to give the main keynote. People were busy. Blake Mycoskie from TOMS said he couldn’t come. It was just a disaster. So we had to think bigger: Bill Clinton. And we had to think differently: we hosted a fundraiser for his foundation so he had to come. Once he was in, we called Russell Simmons—who had already said no—and we asked him if he could give the opening remarks for Bill Clinton, so now he said yes. Then we planned the event to coincide with Ted Turner’s travel schedule in D.C. Doing that, plus having Clinton confirmed, led to Ted Turner saying yes. Blake Mycoskie still told us he had other commitments, so we changed the request and asked him to moderate a Q and A with his hero, who we knew was Ted Turner. Boom. Now Blake was in.

Answer 12

You just have to give people an offer they can’t refuse.”

Question 13

pg. 473 (Elliot talking to Alex)

“An idea was coming to me. “I wonder if—”
“Yes.”
“I was going to say, I wonder if—”
“Yes. Yes, yes, yes. Whenever you wonder, the answer is yes.

Answer 13

People don’t want to do small shit. You need to think bigger and think differently. Don’t ‘I wonder’ through life. Just make it happen.”

Question 14

pg. 489 (Wozniak speaking to Alex)

“Most people do things because that’s what society tells them they should do. But if you stop and do the math—if you actually think for yourself—you’ll realize

Answer 14

there’s a better way to do things.”

“I’m happy because I do what I want every day.”

Question 15

pg. 496 (Pitbull speaking to Alex)

“He soon told me that ever since he was a kid, he loved looking for new challenges.
“A true hustler is always looking for the next one,” he said. “It’s like playing a video game—let’s say Mario Bros. Okay, you beat the first level, now you got to beat the second level, now you got to beat the third level. Once you beat

Answer 15

the game, you’re like, ‘Whoa, whoa. Where’s the next game? Where it at?’ ”

Question 16

pg. 499 (Pitbull on recognizing opportunity)

“That’s number one in anything: understanding the opportunity you have. I knew that if I wanted to make money rapping, I had to

Answer 16

write to music. So I started writing rhymes. I didn’t know what a record was at the time. I just wrote rhymes, rhymes, rhymes, rhymes.”

Question 17

pg. 501 (Pitbull on interning)

“The best CEOs in business started out as interns. Because when you go from intern to CEO, no one can bullshit you. But all you can do is

Answer 17

help them. ‘Look, I already did that job. I know exactly what it took to make that happen.’ ”

Question 18

pg. 506 (Pitbulls philosophy on life)

“Pitbull’s key to continued success: it’s about always staying an intern.
It’s about humbling yourself enough to learn, even when you’re at the top of your game. It’s about knowing that the moment you get comfortable being an executive is the moment you begin to fail. It’s about realizing

Answer 18

that, if you want to continue being Mufasa, at the same time you have to keep being Simba.”

Question 19

pg. 527 (Maya Angelou on perspective)

“I look at them and think, ‘I’m a human being. She was a human being. She overcame

Answer 19

all of these things. And she’s still working at it. Amazing.”

Question 20

pg. 533 (Angelou on writing)

“Now, what I do, and what I encourage young writers to do, is to go into a room alone, close the door, and read something you’ve written already. Read it aloud, so you can hear the melody of the language. Listen to the rhythm of the language. Listen to it. Before you know it, you’ll think, ‘Mmmh, it’s not

Answer 20

too bad! That’s pretty good.’ Do it so you can admire yourself for trying. Compliment yourself for taking on such a difficult, but delicious, chore”

Question 21

pg. 535 (on piece of advice from Angelou)

“Try to get out of the box,” she said. “Try to see that Taoism, the Chinese religion, works very well for the Chinese, so it may also work for you. Find all the wisdom that you can find. Find Confucius; find Aristotle; look at Martin Luther King; read Cesar Chávez; read. Read and say, ‘Oh, these are human beings just like me. Okay, this may not work for me, but I think I can use one portion of this.’ You see?

		“Don’t narrow your life down. I’m eighty-five and I’m just getting started! Life is going

Answer 21

to be short, no matter how long it is. You don’t have much time. Go to work”

Question 22

pg. 549 (Alba on how death can be an impetus)

“reflection of her lowest point. She tapped into her humanity. She created something that resonates with all people. That was her key to ascending her second mountaintop: to first go back down to her deepest valley.
“Facing death,” Alba said, “makes you sensitive to how delicate life is. Everything is so”—she snapped her fingers —“in a moment. It forces you to

Answer 22

think about all of your decisions in a different way. What really matters? What are you spending your life doing? What are you going to do when you stare your biggest fear in the eyes?”

Question 23

pg. 551 (Alba on support and acceptance)

“meme. “I think you can remove some of those hurdles in the road, if you surround yourself with the right people,” she said. “If you try to go it as a lone wolf, if you’re just angry and fighting the system the whole time, no one is going to want to be around you because you’re always going to be mad, fighting the good fight. But if you can run the race with grace, dignity, and integrity, it makes it a lot easier to get to the finish line.
“Nobody is in control of who they are when they’re born,” she continued. “You’re born into the family you’re born into and you’re born into the circumstances you’re born into. So you just have to take what you can from where you’re at and not compare yourself to other people. You have to

Answer 23

look at your path and know that whatever got you there, and where you’re going, is unique to you. You weren’t supposed to be any other way.”

Question 24

“you really only learn if

Answer 24

you’ve gone through it.”

Question 25

pg. 553 (Alba on best candidates)

“cofounders and I always say here that it’s tough to find job candidates who are intelligent and focused, but who are also dreamers. The dreamer part is that entrepreneurial spirit—where if this door is closed and that door is closed and that door is closed—

Answer 25

how the hell are you going to get in? You just need to figure it out. You need to use common sense, build relationships; I don’t care how you get in, but you’ve got to get in somehow.”

Question 26

pg. 554 (Alba on hiring)

“Yes! I don’t care where you got your degree. I don’t care about your past work experience. I care about how you solve problems. I care about how you take on challenges. How do you

Answer 26

create new ways of doing things? It’s about having that hustle, that drive. That’s everything when it comes to the best people here. It’s all about the Third Door.”

Question 27

Quincy Jones wisdom nugget #1

Answer 27

“I teach the musicians I mentor to become themselves. To know themselves and to love themselves. That’s all I care about…Know yourself and love yourself.”

Question 28

Quincy Jones wisdom nugget #2

Answer 28

“Young people are always chasing. It’s because they think they’re in control of everything. They have to learn to be connected to the universe. Just let it happen to you.”

Question 29

Quincy Jones wisdom nugget #3

Answer 29

“There’s a statute of limitations that’s expired on all childhood traumas. Fix your shit and get on with your life.”

Question 30

pg. 586 (Quincy on mistakes)

“You have to cherish your mistakes,” he said. “You have to get back up no matter how many times you get knocked down. There are some people who face defeat and retreat; who become cautious and afraid, who deal with fear instead of passion, and that’s not right. I know it seems complex, but it’s relatively simple. It’s: let go and let God.
“You can’t get an A if you’re afraid of getting an F,” Quincy added. “It’s amazing, the psychology of growing in your field, no matter what you do. Growth comes from

Answer 30

mistakes. You have to cherish them, so you can learn from them. Your mistakes are your greatest gift.”

Question 31

pg. 609 (Alex reflecting on the process)

“As I stared out of the airplane’s window, watching clouds floating below, I couldn’t stop thinking about how this Gaga experience came to be. In a way, it just seemed like a series of little decisions. Years ago, I chose to cold-email Elliott Bisnow. Then I chose to go to

Answer 31

Europe with him. I chose to go to that concert in New York City where Elliott introduced me to Matt. Then I chose to spend time visiting Matt’s home and building a relationship with him.”

Question 32

pg. 611 (Alex on reframing perspective)

“Everyone has the power to make little choices that can alter their lives forever. You can either choose to give in to inertia and continue waiting in line for the First Door, or you can choose to jump out of line, run down the alley, and take the Third Door. We all have that choice.
If there was one lesson I learned from my journey, it’s that making these choices was

Answer 32

possible. It’s that mindset of possibility that transformed my life. Because when you change what you believe is possible, you change what becomes possible”

Question 33

pg. 618 ( Alex speaking on his dad passing)

“when you don’t have access to money or possessions, when you can’t even open your eyes—all you’ll have left is

Answer 33

your heartbeat, your breath, and your soul’s connection to those you love”

Question 34

pg. 642 (Alex paying it forward)

“If you find yourself just as passionate about this idea as I am, if you want to help bring the Third Door mindset to the world, I want to hear from you. Call me, email me. Together,

Answer 34

we can make a difference.”