Everything I Learned About Entrepreneurship, I Learned From Cartoons

I always talk about how the really small things make a huge difference.
Every round of "small talk" we have with someone else, really affects us and them greatly.
Children, on the other hand, because their lives have not been overcrowded with events yet, get affected by the multiples.

Probably everything I learned about life, I've learned in my early years. My family, friends, and teachers have all had a huge role in shaping my views and my deeply-rooted principles. Maybe now is a good chance to thank them.

Which brings me to my point: everything I learned about entrepreneurship, I learned, one way or another, through cartoons.
I used to looove Cartoon Network. And switched to Disney Channel when I couldn’t find my favourite shows on the former. I’ve watched them all: from Scooby Doo, to Hercules, all the way to Pinky and The Brain and Cow and Chicken. It’s like I knew them by heart.
Every little cartoon and every character, has helped shape who I am today.
Allow me to illustrate using a few simple examples.

1.    I LEARNED..

TO DREAM - BECAUSE EVEN ELEPHANTS CAN FLY.

If an elephant can fly,

Why can’t I?

I can be whoever I want to become,

Whatever I want to become.

If I want to be a flying elephant,

Or a multi millionaire,

Or do any crazy idea that is up in the air,

I can, I can, I can.

I will.

If an elephant can fly,

Why can’t I?

Inspired by Walt Disney’s movie, ‘Dumbo’.

2.     I LEARNED..

TO MANAGE RESOURCES. TO HAVE A SOLID VISION, TO PERSEVERE, AND TO FOLLOW MY DREAMS.

Remember the story of the three little pigs?
In a nutshell, there was a wolf and there were three little pigs. The wolf wanted to eat the three little pigs so they had to build houses to shelter themselves. The first pig built his house of hay, the second built it with twigs and the third with bricks.

Here is a refresher in case you don’t remember the story:

This is the basis of resource management. The three little pigs had different materials. The first pig decided to take less time building and take more time to play, but a higher risk was involved as the big bad wolf could “huff and puff and blow the house down” more easily.

The second pig took a lower risk and built his house of twigs. It took more time to build the house and was relatively more stable and it was harder for the big bad wolf to blow his house down.

The third pig, however, took more time and used the most resources to build his house of bricks. It took the least risk and used the most resources in the longest time to build and his pig friends made fun of him. On the long run, his house was the only one that was not knocked down by the big bad wolf.

“He don’t take no time to play,

Time to play, time to play.

All he does is work all day,” they told him.

He replied confidently, saying,

“You can play and laugh and fiddle
Don't think you can make me sore
I'll be safe and you'll be sorry
When the wolf comes through your door.”

He stuck to his vision through the mockery of his friends in order to realise this vision. Most entrepreneurs go through this. Friends' mockery, other people not believing in their ideas at all. But in the end, perseverance and vision are everything.

Inspired by Walt Disney’s movie, ‘Three Little Pigs’.

3.    I LEARNED..

TO BE GOOD TO PEOPLE. AND TO INVEST IN A RELEVANT, SOLID NETWORK.

 “Poor Cinderelly; every time she finds a minute,

That’s the time when they begin it!”

The mice anticipated that Cinderella’s aunts will not let her go to the ball. “Work, work, work,” one of them said, “she’ll never get her dress done.”

Because they were friends with no benefits who love each other for who they are, they helped her. They made her a dress so she can go to the ball and dance with the prince. Even though her network was one of mice and rats, it was very relevant to the job at hand when it came down to it.

Sincere friends, and solid networks will be there for you no matter what happens. And you are expected to be there for them as well.

She also had the right network of people who helped her when she needed it. It is important to have the right consulting advice, branding experts, operational professionals and people who make up a strong and solid network in order to survive in the marketplace.

Inspired by Walt Disney’s movie, “Cinderella.”

4.    I LEARNED..

TO GO SIMPLE!

I do not need to complicate things to make them better. The simple is almost always better and easier.

 "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication," they say. And it's true. When it comes to branding, when it comes to operations, everything! Usually when a person over complicates things, everything becomes more stressful. People need to “forget about [their] worries and [their] strife.”

Overdoing what could have been done in a simpler way just overcomplicates everything in vain.

“Look for the bare necessities,

The simple bare necessities,

Forget about your worries and your strife.”

I learned to enjoy life’s simple pleasures.

“And don't spend your time lookin' around
For something you want that can't be found
When you find out you can live without it
And go along not thinkin' about it
I'll tell you something true
The bare necessities of life will come to you.”

Inspired by Walt Disney’s movie, ‘The Jungle Book’.

5.    I LEARNED..

TO MAKE THE MOST OUT OF WHAT I HAVE. AND THAT CREATIVITY IS ACCENTUATED WITH RESTRICTIONS.

“The seaweed is always greener,

In somebody else’s lake.

You dream about going up  there,

But that is a big mistake.”

I have noticed that many young girls want to be like the Disney Princesses and most of them show special interest in the Little Mermaid.

What they need to understand is the fact that Ariel wanted to be like these young girls and walk like they do, talk like they do and sing like they do.

These young girls want to become mermaids like her.

It is true that:

“The seaweed is always greener,

In somebody else’s lake.”

Every entrepreneur needs to look deep down and use the materials and equipment that he/she has within reach, to create the best outcomes. Creativity really is accentuated with restrictions but don't look at others, don't think "them" think "me". And by developing your own business and your own practices, you will be the best version of yourself.

Ariel used the forks falling in the sea to comb her hair, for example!

Inspired by Walt Disney’s movie, “The Little Mermaid”.

6.    I LEARNED..

TO NEVER GIVE UP.

One of the main things I have learned from the movies in my childhood is to always try again even if something seems like it cannot be done.

In the television series The Pinky and The Brain, every night when Brain, a laboratory mouse, was very close to taking over the world, he and Pinky went to sleep deciding to continue the next day.

The next day they are forced to start all over again. And they do. Every single day - in every single episode.

“If I want to take over the world, I need to try harder and find new alternative ways that work. Even if humans destroy my experiments and my ways of doing things, I will always find a way around it and do it differently,” I assume they thought.

Inspired by Warner Brothers’ television series, “The Pinky and the Brain”.

7.    I LEARNED..

TO EMBRACE FAILURE.

 “Now I'm the king of the swingers
Oh, the jungle VIP.
I've reached the top and had to stop,
And that's what botherin' me
I wanna be a man, man cub;
And stroll right into town.
And be just like the other men
I'm tired of monkeyin' around!”

He is the king of the swingers and has reached the top.

When a person reaches the very top and gains all the fame and fortune, he/she has to learn when to stop and do something else. Because it is failure that makes us develop and go higher.

In every business there is a peak. When you have reached the peak and you have to stop, look for other alternatives and start something else all over.

Failure makes us grow.

Inspired by Walt Disney’s movie, “The Jungle Book"

8. I LEARNED..
TO FOLLOW MY GUT FEELING, NO MATTER HOW SMALL OR INSIGNIFICANT.
Remember how Jimminy Cricket from Pinocchio always told him "and always let your conscience be your guide"? His conscience was represented through a small cricket but it was so important.
Every entrepreneur must rely on his/her intuition to a very large degree. No one but you can see what you see, but it is what keeps you going and moves you forward.

I still believe in this concept very much and I still remember the little cricket singing the song, when my gut feeling tells me to do something that all the facts don’t.

Inspired by Walt Disney’s movie, “Pinocchio"

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These are some of the examples I thought of. Please share with me anything else that come across and may fit in this theme.

See you next week!

Cheers,

Dibo