So tonight i went to Santa Monica to the Milken Center to hear Jason Nazar share without bleeps the methods to his madness. He walked the audience through more than sixty minutes of a very arefully structured set of 10 steps towards building, funding and sustaining a startup. It is very rare for me to be engaged for 10 minutes let alone sixty minutes (unless it is Creflo Dollar) and this wunderkind really did it, and did it well.

so what did the co-founder of DocStoc (20 million visitors a month) have to teach the audience of hundreds?
in short i would highlight these moments

1. he went out of his way to warn the would-be entrepreneurs to expect that the first two years would basically suck for anything more than the business and ONE THING (like family or friends) but not two things. so be prepared to sacrifice your health, your friends and/or your family. But balance this sacrifice with the reward that each day you wake up with unbridled anticipation to get to the office and not only do what you do best, but if you follow his hiring policy, then be surrouded by a team of those who do what they do best as well.

2. the trick to getting funded is simply laying out a plan of success with a finite timeline. then over-deliver on the successes and do it in a faster time than originally intended. He event went so far as to say tell your board one set of numbers and your team a different more aggressive set of numbers. then when the team deliver its numbers you report to the board those numbers which are magically better. and this goes for investors, as well as people you are trying to make deals with. in short i would call this whole "Aitza" (advice) a plea for setting expectations - not just for others but for yourself.

3. focus on the 1% that produces 90% of the results you need to grow your business. Stop wasting time on what he calls business STD's that use up 30% of your day and produce no tangible business value - like clearing up your desk. So always have your eye on the BIG ROCKS, not the sand and the pebbles. DRIVE TRAFFIC and be the best at any technique you find that is working. dont run to the next one until you spam the crap out of the techniques that work. he talked about how he is one of the top 10 people in the world that can monetize Adsense by example.

4. Be persistent. don't accept a soft no. so keep going after your prospects. hunt them down. buuy them drinks ala Schindler's List until you develop the social connection that moves the person out of being a prospect into being a colleague. Buttter up writers by retweeting their posts and commenting on their articles. then call in your chit months later. and remember that writers love talking to the CEO not the PR people.

i didnt stay for the mingling afterwards because i'm fighting a fever. my goal was to learn from a guru. and that i did. not sure if i would be willing to follow his advice all the way and "work more than the next guy". but i found his talk to be very TED like and very informative. and best of all was no notes. i am always impressed  by this.