Jim Pearson

Being in good position is everything. It minimizes risks, improves success odds, and insulates you from competition. I learned the art of strategic positioning and quickly adapting to change to improve my position as a Big Ten wrestling champion and elite level competitor at Team Foxcatcher. More than 20 years later, the disciplines of wrestling have served me well in developing into a successful serial entrepreneur, organizational leader, and business-builder who understands how to gain a return on capital invested. I’ve always been an entrepreneur. I just didn’t know it until I was working for another company and arrived to work one day finding an ‘out of business’ sign hanging on locked doors. My next move was what is known in wrestling as a “reversal” – a move requiring quick thinking and an even faster reaction. At the time, I was married with a 2-year-old and another baby on the way, building a new house and not much money in the bank. I took the $40,000 I had saved and started my first business distributing medical equipment. I was hooked and have been an entrepreneur since 1997. Notice that I did not say “successful” entrepreneur. I’ve had many failures. All entrepreneurs do. In fact, most entrepreneurs fail three times before real success is achieved. I’m no exception! The failures helped me build my portfolio of “to-dos” and “not-to-dos”. As entrepreneurs, I think too much is made of our successes versus the knowledge gained by our struggles and setbacks. Today, I am an entrepreneur with many successes who continues to learn with each new opportunity. I still have some failures, but I’m better at managing them now and they are smaller in scale. My track record demonstrates I know how to build something from nothing – entrepreneurship at the most fundamental level. I understand each facet of the journey, from incorporation to money raising, fielding the team, delivering results, changing outcomes that demand a change in industry standards, and exiting the business for a healthy return on investment. Successful entrepreneur and wrestling -- the two test your strength, endurance, intelligence, and quickness as you engage in a physical and mental chess match with your competition. You must use moves and countermoves as you navigate the constant struggle for the upper hand. Entrepreneurial success forces you to “embrace the grind” – to look forward to and even appreciate the inevitable suffering that comes with building anything of value. It gives you competitive advantage and allows for laser focus to get the hard work done.