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Teaser: Pete’s goal is to help inspire more and more people become entrepreneurs. He’s spent most of his life as an entrepreneur and is helping others develop a purpose and a passion for entrepreneurship. Recap: Pete Sveen is the host of the Think Entrepreneurship Podcast, a show that interviews successful entrepreneurs and shares their journeys and experiences with you. His guests have included Kevin Harrington from Shark Tank, NFL great, Fran Tarkenton and many other motivated and well-known entrepreneurs.

Pete Sveen

Pete studied entrepreneurship at the University of Nebraska and while he was in college he started a car detailing business and he learned that he wanted to be his own boss.  He loved the fact that he could get into something that he could be passionate about. His first business was his car detailing business and then he got into the printing business, which he still owns today.  He then got into e-commerce and he started making signs called SignsoftheMountain.com.

He started the Think Entrepreneurship website back in 2010.  He’s also been involved in real estate investing. The entrepreneurship focus in colleges is growing and he started taking an Intro to Entrepreneurship class.  He learned how to write business plans and learn how to start a business. He got practice working on his business plans and entered a contest and got some money to help him start his business in college.  He also did some consulting for businesses with some things that the businesses he did some projects for.

Pete learned a variety of things from the entrepreneurship program at the University of Nebraska, but the greatest thing it offered was networking because he was able to meet investors and find mentors that helped him in the beginning stages of his business. Pete has learned so much in his entrepreneurial journey.  Every day Pete learns how to do new things for his business, but that’s what makes things exciting.

Think Entrepreneurship

Pete came up with the name for Think Entrepreneurship for his friends and he was trying to get people to connect his local friends where they could bounce things off of each other.  In 2010, Pete got more active with the website.  He really understood early on that he began to develop some great connections and the first person that he interviewed ordered 2,000 t-shirts from his printing business.

Pete thinks that podcasting is really blowing up right now.  He visited the NMX Conference and they talked about the importance of podcasting.  Pat Flynn said there is 4.5 million blogs and only 250,000 podcasts our there which means it’s a great medium and a great opportunity for people looking to spread their message.

The biggest mistake Pete has made was trying to do everything on his own.  He didn’t outsource anything and he wishes he had outsourced things sooner.  He reaches out to local college students and tries to hire out as soon as you can so you can focus on the more strategic parts of your business. One of the most interesting interviews Pete had was interviewing Fran Tarkenton . . . and Pete’s been a Vikings fan since he was born and it was a great experience for Pete to interview him.  He had a wealth of information and he was inspiring to hear from.  Fran is now doing a lot of investing in start-ups and is working with around 25 companies and he’s currently working with Office Depot to help mentor entrepreneurs from around the United States.

Pete gets guests for his podcasts by reaching out to people who he would like to try and get to.  He sends emails and calls entrepreneurs in order to get guests for his podcast.

Pete says one thing that strikes him about entrepreneurs is how willing they are to give back. Pete does a lot of affiliate marketing which is referring a lot of businesses and companies that you believe in and sending them to their websites.  He is also gathering sponsors for his podcast which are sponsoring episodes.

Pete Sveen

Engaging Discussion Questions:

• Do you have a clearly defined purpose?
• What do you think about entrepreneurship?

Links to Great Stuff:

• Think Entrepreneurship – “We created this website to help entrepreneurs and small business owners start and grow their business. We are extremely passionate about helping, inspiring, advising, and motivating other entrepreneurs.”
• SignsoftheMountains.com – “Thank you for visiting SignsoftheMountains.com. Signs of the Mountains is based in Bozeman, Montana. We produce unique metal signs that serve to recreate memories you’ve had out in the mountains. We create signs about skiing, hiking trails, mountain elevation, gps coordinates, hunting, fly fishing and so on. We also create motivational signs to help inspire outdoor enthusiasts and others. In addition to our standard signs, we are able to personalize signs to make them even more special for our customers.”
• University of Nebraska – “The University of Nebraska–Lincoln, chartered in 1869, is an educational institution of international stature. UNL is listed by the Carnegie Foundation within the “Research Universities (very high research activity)” category. UNL is a land-grant university and a member of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU). The university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.”
• Kevin Harrington – “Kevin Harrington, chairman and founder of TVGoods, Inc. and chairman of As Seen On TV, Inc., is widely acknowledged as a pioneer and principal architect of the infomercial industry.”
• Fran Tarkenton – “Fran is a hands-on entrepreneur. His companies are the result of his ideas and his direct day-to-day involvement. He funds the start-ups, develops the business plans and executes the strategies to build thriving businesses. Fran launched 20 companies over the last 25 years, the largest one reaching revenues of $142 million. He was a founding board member of Coca-Cola Enterprises. He also served on the Board of Directors of Sterling Software, Blimpie International and Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc.”
• Pat Flynn Smart Passive Income – “With this blog, I want to be as transparent as possible with everything I do online. My businesses, my strategies and my income – it’s all out there for you to see. I’m not trying to show off my success – that’s definitely not my purpose.  If you’re already doing business online, I hope that my experiences – both my wins and my failures – can help you reach your goals.”

Success Quotes:

• “Success is finding something that you’re passionate about and you want to work on every single day.”
• “Success is finding something you’re passionate in that can bring in a good income to do the things you want with your family.”
• “My big goal is to reach out and inspire as many people out there about entrepreneurship.”
• “My goal is to help inspire as many people as possible.”
• “I have to be helping somebody in order to stay passionate about it.”
• About Entrepreneurs: “One thing that I’ve really noticed is their willingness to help other entrepreneurs.”
• “Every day I’m learning.”

Special Requests: If you need help finding your passion or have questions about how we can help you develop yours, send me an email at Zeb@WelbornMedia.com, visit and comment on our blog www.DefiningSuccessPodcast.com or visit and comment on the Defining Success Podcast Facebook page.