7 TED Talks Every Entrepreneur Must Watch

For years, TED had grown in generating ideas that have the potential to impact millions for the better. It created the concept of taking a few minutes to explore personal, important stories that connect us and help us become better versions of ourselves. It also became the largest library that is full of online resources that encourages self-development.

Here is a list of the 7 most important, inspiring, motivational, and focused TED talks for entrepreneurs.

     1) Seth Godin: How to Get Your Ideas Spread

Seth Godin is a marketing genius, he explains why the most unusual and out-of-the-box idea is often much more successful than the boring and usual ones.

So many entrepreneurs are using the old ideals of marketing, and failing to connect with the new consumer who has more choices and less time to listen. This talk will inspire you to spread your idea and get your marketing mind and strategy on the right track.

     2) David S. Rose: Pitching to VCs

Serial entrepreneur turned investor, David Rose, has personally raised tens of millions of dollars from VCs, and is no stranger to being pitched to as well. In this talk, he basically gives you the ability to read the mind of an investor before you pitch, in 15 minutes, and for free. Every entrepreneur shouldn’t miss this talk.

     3) Simon Sinek: How Great Leaders Inspire Action

This TED talk touches on one of the most important entrepreneurial topics -- leadership. Simon Sinek challenges listeners to search their inner rebel and not to think and act like everyone else. In fact, he stresses on the importance of doing the complete opposite of what everyone else is doing.

For entrepreneurs attempting to become industry leaders, watch Sinek’s TEDTalk for a thorough exploration of this idea, with real-life examples.

     4) Maya Penn: Meet a young entrepreneur, cartoonist, designer, activist

If you ever feel like you are too young and inexperienced to start your own business, watch Maya Penn’s TED talk – who started her first business when she was 8 years old. She discusses being an entrepreneur, cartoonist and an activist and reveals where great ideas really come from. She claims that powerful mind isn’t the only source of innovative ideas that spark movements and change the world.

     5) Bill Gross: The Single Biggest Reason Why Startups Succeed

We all know that new businesses face a ridiculously high failure rate.  What Bill Gross has done is explore – in a masterful display of data analytics — what differentiates startup success from failure.  It turns out there’s one surprising factor that correlates with success. Watch this TED talk to know it.

     6) Gary Vaynerchuk: Do What You Love (no excuses!)

Entrepreneur and public speaker, Gary Vaynerchuk, built his family’s business into a 50M dollar company. In this talk, he takes listeners through his life stories, giving insights into how passion led him to starting a new company at age 30. He helps entrepreneurs look at what they really care about, and understand the importance of brand equity.

     7) Eddie Obeng: Smart Failure for a Fast-Changing World

Business educator, Eddie Obeng, talks about the idea that our world has changed so quickly that our minds haven’t caught up. He points out a fundamental flaw in the way we think, and encourages us to consider what impact in the future the problems we solve today will have, and what new problems will be caused. Entrepreneurs must watch this TED talk because they have to be visionaries to be great.