Jump First, Think Fast Book

Love seeing more and more people with their copy of Jump First, Think Fast! Thank you so much for the support.

Have you ordered your copy yet? Take a look at https://bit.ly/3Blt9yJ

At 38 years old, I moved from the food industry to the electronic game industry with very little knowledge about the toy and game business. My interview with the president of Mattel in 1980 was not an assessment of experience, but of my creativity aptitude, and feel for new product development.

Because of this, I was able to convince the board to adopt a new marketing strategy that would turn a failing product position into a huge boost of demand just in time for the holiday season.

Employers, I encourage you to take a chance on the applicants that don’t necessarily fit the bill. You might be surprised by what happens.

https://bit.ly/3Blt9yJ

Jump First, Think Fast is available now! Let me know what you guys think so far.

https://bit.ly/3Blt9yJ

Jackie Robinson once said that life is not a spectator sport, and it’s always stuck with me. You can’t make the most of your life by staying in comfortable spaces and watching what goes on. Practice moving away from your comfort zones and challenge yourself to develop other things in your life, like new skills, hobbies, or ideas.

In my new book Jump First, Think Fast I talk about the risks I’ve taken and how I got comfortable taking them. Learn more at https://bit.ly/3Blt9yJ

Thank you Gary Ilminen and Ultimate Motorcycling for this touching review!

My work with Indian motorcycles is something I’ve cherished over the years, and I’m very excited to share the stories from that experience. Here's a first look:

“Jump First, Think Fast” Book Review [Gilroy Indian and more] “Jump First, Think Fast — An Unconventional Approach to High Performance” Book Review: A business book with a chapter on the Gilroy Indians.

My grandson Logan went from dropping out of college to building 3D models of furniture and machines worth thousands of dollars.

My advice for young people is to get a good grip on who you are before you graduate. So many people later in life discover they've been following someone else's path. Learn how to find what is unique about you and start the life you are meant to live, in my latest blog: https://bit.ly/3geEIjc

A bold move has the potential to change a company and an industry. I recently joined Tom Wheelwright, CPA for a conversation about how using consumer & industry insights can craft life-changing moves.

Thanks for having me Tom! Listen to our discussion here: https://apple.co/3hqxSYf

‎The WealthAbility Show with Tom Wheelwright, CPA: Calculated Risks, Bold Moves on Apple Podcasts ‎Show The WealthAbility Show with Tom Wheelwright, CPA, Ep Calculated Risks, Bold Moves - Oct 27, 2022

When I first met Barbara in LA, I would pick her up for dates on my motorcycle. She was familiar with the riding experience because her father had owned one. Years later, she would become a bit of a legend leading Indian’s 100th Anniversary ride across the country in 2001.

There is an interesting history behind women riding motorcycles. In 1916 the Van Buren sisters, descendants of the 8th President of the U.S., rode their own Indian Motorcycles 5,500 miles in 60 days across the Continental U.S. They wanted to prove that women could also serve in the military where motorcycles were heavily used, while promoting women’s right to vote. They wore men’s military style leggings and leather riding breaches, which got them arrested by local police.

Barbara was only 84 years behind the Van Buren sisters.

The fastest growing segment of the motorcycle market now is women. It requires special thinking about design, and dealers have begun hiring women as salespeople to represent this growing market. In any industry, it's important.

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A big part of growing in life and in business is being comfortable with the unknown.

I had a great conversation with Tristan Ahumada on the importance of taking risks when growing your company and yourself. https://bit.ly/3ftBM1W

Take that Big Risk with Frank O'Connell Frank O'Connell

Success isn’t a formula, it’s a process. Learn to take risks. Chase the unknown. Accept your failures and move on. Know yourself inside and out—your strengths, weaknesses, and growth opportunities. The best rewards come to those who dive in head first and think on their feet.

In this free guide, I reveal the five principles that have guided me through over 50 years of leading some of the world’s top consumer brands.

Get the Risk-takers’ Playbook today at https://bit.ly/3Blt9yJ

Check out my conversation with Bryan Kuderna on The Kuderna Podcast about having a risk-taking attitude, honing your skills, college, consumer behavior, and much more:

The Kuderna Podcast: Jump First, Think Fast with Frank O'Connell Frank O'Connell went from working on a farm as a young boy to becoming the President and CEO of Reebok, HBO, Indian Motorcycle, Skybox International and other iconic brands.  Diving into Frank's 50+ years of business experience, we discuss the risk-taking attitude needed to be successful. ...

Here’s a hard truth: there is no roadmap to success in . If there were, everyone would do it—and it wouldn’t work anymore. Over my 50-year career leading brands like Reebok, HBO, and Mattel, I’ve learned that you don’t need to know what’s at the end of the road. If you follow the right principles, you’ll be ready to adapt, pivot, and innovate—no matter what changes come your way. Get the Risk-takers’ Playbook: https://bit.ly/3Blt9yJ

This is a little tongue-in-cheek. I just found in my own case that working with entrepreneurs requires extraordinary focus and mild insanity, which throws normal behavior out the window. Maybe it wasn’t there to begin with.

I cashed in my bonus check and left a secure high-level job at Mattel to move to Santa Clara Calif to start a video game company. I left a beautiful home in Hancock Park in LA to move to a one-bedroom apartment in Santa Clara. Fortunately, my business plan quickly raised $4M from 20th Century Film Corporations.

It takes unbelievable faith, persistence, long hours, positive thinking, and hyper focus that ultimately spins you into an unreal orbit. Successful entrepreneurs are wired to jump First Think Fast. If they stopped and carefully thought about all the risks and life changes they will endure, many would probably would not do it. https://bit.ly/3Blt9yJ

Most of us have valuable business ideas but no idea how to get them started. The difference between a great idea and a successful business is a strategic plan. Here is my step-by-step formula to build one for your new business: https://bit.ly/3yH7eQI

CEOWORLD Magazine

To Build Your Strategic Plan, First Know What Business You’re In - CEOWORLD magazine No business can succeed without a strategic plan. Yet, based on my fifty years of experience leading companies like Reebok and HBO Video, I’ve come to realize that often the biggest hurdle to creating a plan is figuring out exactly what business you’re in. Below is my step-by-step formula for bu...

When racing driver Don Peck asked me to be his crew chief, I was stunned. And not because he was Gregory Peck’s half-brother, but because I knew nothing about being a mechanic. But Don was eager to teach me, and I was eager to learn. Here’s how race car driving taught me to Jump First, Think Fast:

Full Throttle Into The Blind Corner - Frank O’Connell How race car driving helped me to Jump First, Think Fast I grew up on a farm in the Finger Lakes region of upstate NY. Friday nights were spent going to the local stock car dirt tracks. I knew all the drivers who were sponsored by the local businesses and worked in the local garages. […]

When I got hired by the Carnation Company, it felt like a match made in heaven. It was a very successful food company with roots in a family dairy farm, and I, as you may know, am very connected to the farm life. And at its core was consumer products, which I had spent my summer getting to understand very well (not to mention what I learned from my MBA). All of these combined not only set me apart but it brewed my wild and crazy way of thinking.

I quickly realized that in order to advance, you need to work hard at your daily tasks and voice those intuitive observations that are not completely supported. It might be scary at first, but this is the first step in building your personal brand. This is how I became the new Product Manager soon after I started. Learn how to advance quickly at https://bit.ly/3Blt9yJ

I learned early on that Performance Reviews with embedded MBO’s (Management By Objectives) reflected in measurable and time related objectives were critical to a high performance culture. Performance reviews were unfortunately suspended by many companies during Covid -19. In my opinion, it allowed Quiet Quitting to fill the vacuum. But now they’ve returned. In this The Wall Street Journal article, Goldman Sachs and other companies are preparing to lay off hundreds of staffers as soon as this week as part of the annual review process.

If you don’t take out low performers or drifters, you will lose respect from the dedicated performers who are contributing to the success of the company. Performance reviews are not just to honestly provide feedback both positive and negative but a key opportunity to coach. There should be a development objective for every individual.

The Dreaded Performance Review Makes a Comeback Many companies suspended reviews during Covid. Now they are paying renewed attention to worker performance—much to the chagrin of some employees.

In the summer of 1965, I learned one of the most important lessons in business. I was 21 years old and running the Jewel Tea Home Shopping route in Chicago, my very first sales territory. Going door-to-door to sell directly to your customers taught me that the more you know about your customer, the more value you create in your business. These live interactions are the best chance for an honest market appraisal. Most people in marketing will spend their career designing products for a customer they’ve never met.

Get to know your consumer so you can build a better business. Learn how at https://bit.ly/3Blt9yJ

My beautiful wife Barbara and I enjoying the sunset.

And it’s never too late to start. Get started now and preorder your copy of Jump First, Think Fast, at https://bit.ly/3Blt9yJ