Launch Key

The most direct route off the corporate merry-go-round is you.

Did you know? 

The majority of startups in the U.S. are launched by people over 45?

Join hundreds of execs and late career entrepreneurs reading the Launch Key newsletter as we share modern tools, old school wisdom and free knowledge gleaned from decades of digital innovation.

Content Publisher

EnergyXchain

EnergyXchain was awarded a National Science Foundation Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grant to conduct research and development work using blockchain technology for transaction processes in the natural gas industry. The company has a growing IP portfolio and patented technology processes that may also be utilized for energy transaction management via smart contracts, with equal applicability in sectors such as hydrogen, carbon attribution tracking, natural gas and electricity.

CEO, co-founder

Empowered

Empowered grew from one question: What if benefits enrollments were easy? Everyone struggled with insurance. Brokers needed more time with clients, HR managers drowned in paperwork and employees couldn't enroll in a basic medical plan without hassle. We wanted to provide everyone with a simple, transparent enrollment process. A process that made it easy for someone to pick the best benefits for their family.

In 2000, we launched our first consumer-driven healthcare programs, sprinting ahead of the industry by prioritizing people. Today millions of employees trust this platform for their benefits. Empowered is  wholly owned by Aflac.

Chief Innovation Officer, co-founder

Leader of the effort to redesign, develop and deploy EDA’s flagship data product as an online analytics tool. Product launch led to 20% increased sales and returned 100% of the investment in the first year post development.  

With the insight that EDA brings to the table, businesses can make better decisions by identifying trends, exploiting market opportunities, supporting sales service dealer strategies, being informed about regional hot spots, and emerging markets.

If you sell, finance or service capital equipment, EDA offers you the priceless information and timely market intelligence you need to get ahead. www.edadata.com. EDA is a Randall-Reilly company.

VP of Sales and Marketing

Vialogix

Web development company focused on user-based web solutions for internet, intranet and extranet applications.  Solutions included e-commerce, Web-enabled and database applications that enabled clients to reduce business costs or increase sales. The business cultivated long-term relationships with a broad client list that included Fortune 500 level companies Baker & Taylor, Bank of America, First Citizens Bank, National Gypsum, Novant Health, and Wachovia.

Rob Norris Communications

Built technology consulting practice specializing in digital asset management. Apple expertise used for creating networks, managing infrastructure with corporate clients - First Union National Bank, Interstate/Johnson Lane, Royal Insurance, advertising agencies in the Charlotte area. Created multimedia CD-ROM projects, interactive projects and first web based tools in 1994.

President

Coleman Lew & Associates

Recruited advertising and marketing executives for a retained search firm. Interviewed prospects and researched backgrounds. Wrote recommendations, presented candidates, negotiated salaries and benefits with clients.

Executive Recruiter

30+ years of business experience creating and leading innovative technology businesses. From the 90's internet to AI, I've carved out a living explaining and building solutions to solve business problems. 

Expertise in application development has been leveraged across energy, health care, financial services, ecommerce and data analytics businesses. I've sold to both Fortune 500 companies and SMB. I've bootstrapped and won National Science Foundation grants. There have been my fair share of entrepreneurial mistakes but have also published patents and even won a SXSW award. 

I'm not quite finished with technology and can help you avoid a few headaches to launch your startup. I recommend resources, and tools that will help spin up your dream in weeks - not years. My network includes experts in literally every business function and I will happily recommend people who will level up your startup. Win/Win/Win.

Join the Launch Key newsletter for free: 
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How many business ideas fail because the founder didn't have the necessary patience and consistency? Everything worth doing takes longer than you think. Good perspective Hanna Larsson

Rob Norris

Founder | Publisher @ Launch Key 🚀 | Leverage your experience to launch digital products at any age. Join like-minded execs and late-career entrepreneurs reading the Launch Key for digital inspiration.

I help startups build revenue growth, audience & high-performing teams 🔥 From 0 to $30M ARR | Startup & GTM Advisor & Builder 📈 ex-Remote 🦄 | Founder at Huntrs

99% of Warren Buffett’s wealth was created after his 50th birthday.

Coca-Cola sold 25 bottles the first year → today its the world's most valuable soft drink brand valued at $98 billion.

12 years ago Mr. Beast had 15,000 views on YouTube - today → 19,135,206,772 views. 

In 1995, J.K Rowling's book was rejected 12 times → 25 years later she's sold over 500 million books.

Walt Disney was fired for not being creative enough → he then founded Walt Disney Company; one of the world’s most successful entertainment and media companies.

Great visions start SLOW.

→ And everything takes longer than we think.

So while most people are busy looking for shortcuts, lean into PATIENCE.

Patience is a SUPERPOWER.

Do you agree?



♻️ repost to share this with your network
Image credit: Gary V

This week's Launch Key is the Power of saying 'No.' 
 
Plus subscriber Naras Eechambadi, Ph.D. as this month's Career Portfolio highlight and a classic Steve Jobs clip telling his best customers 'No.' 
 
Its hard to say, but necessary for your business success.  
 
Plenty of links to other resources and inspiration for your own digital products or services.  
 
https://lnkd.in/gAnD73xT

32 week streak. Slow and steady growth. 

beehiiv has the best email platform I've used. 

Advertising opportunities, partners who boost your newsletter, recommendation engine and more. Highly recommend. 

LAUNCH KEY grew by 50 subscribers on @beehiiv. 

Subscribe below 👇🏽 
https://lnkd.in/eD73b9dd 

Great reminder Hanna Larsson - and at any age! 

Don’t let self-doubt hold you back.

→ you can learn any skill you want online. 

→ if you want change, you need to take action and embrace the unknown. 

Be brave enough to suck at something new. 

Do you agree?


📌 PS. You start by building your personal brand into an asset that will compound for you and attract more opportunities → subscribe to my newsletter and learn how to build yours. 

While 30 under 30 lists and sensationalized tech startup stories dominate the media, the truth is, more than half of those running small businesses in the US are over the age of 55.  
 
Leverage your experience and network to build exactly what you want.  

Here's a good Shopify blog of 11 older entrepreneurs who have learned how their years of experience—both in life and at work—have created a great foundation for starting a business from scratch.
 
https://lnkd.in/eTusnUhi

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Julia Child couldn't cook when she graduated from Smith College. 

She didn't write her first cookbook until the age of 50. 

She gained a reputation as one of the top French chefs in the world and eventually became the first woman inducted into the Culinary Institute Hall of Fame.

You're not late. Your timing is perfect. 

#olderpreneur

"If we tried to think of a good idea, we wouldn’t have been able to think of a good idea. You just have to find the solution for a problem in your own life." 

~ Brian Chesky, Co-founder of Airbnb

More fodder for your late-career business idea. 

You're not late. 

Open article: Over-50s are the new business start-up generation by ft.com • 16 min read

Over-50s are the new business start-up generation

This week's Launch Key is on news stands and available for your reading pleasure.  
 
Escape from being a 'wantrapreneur' by taking a Leap of Faith.  
 
Did you know? 
 
The majority of startups in the U.S. are launched by people over 45?  
 
https://lnkd.in/exqAWftw

The future of work is self-reliance. 

This week's Launch Key issue with a reminder about having an honest mirror as well as Old School Wisdom from the Founders and Ralph Waldo Emerson. 

As always, links and resources for adding to your career portfolio. 

Open article: The future of work by launchkey.beehiiv.com • 2 min read

Ogilvy and other marketers know that 60+ is the fastest-growing and wealthiest consumer class. 

Don't just buy stuff. 

Make stuff. 

Leverage your Silver Economy strengths and add to your career portfolio. 

Open article: Marketing to the 50+ crowd: A booming opportunity | MarTech by martech.org • 4 min read

Marketing to the 50+ crowd: A booming opportunity | MarTech

The vast majority of Launch Key subscribers are over 50, experienced, late-career professionals and entrepreneurs. 
 
But Tuesday's issue is about Who's Got Next. 
 
Our kids and Gen Alpha.  
 
Get in there and join like-minded execs and late-career entrepreneurs looking for resources and ideas to launch digital products and add to your career portfolio. 
 
https://lnkd.in/eD73b9dd 
 


Where do you spend your time growing your business? 

Open article: LinkedIn is the Twitter/X rival no one is talking about | TechCrunch by tcrn.ch • 3 min read

LinkedIn is the Twitter/X rival no one is talking about | TechCrunch

Aussie Blogger with 1B+ content views in 10 years | I teach people to use writing online to create career opportunities | Let's connect: tim@timdenning.com

Commutes take time away from your family.

Remote work fixes this. It also helps you get better working in a digital world. You get better at Zoom, direct messages, and working with a team on Slack.

And often the office politics is far less and so too are the distractions. Remote work is the future. Embrace it. Buy back your time. 

Insist on an employer that doesn't care where you work from.

<<<>>>

✍️ Do you insist on working remotely? 
♻️ Reshare if you found this helpful.

Authentic is the new black.  
 
This week's free Launch Key newsletter with my riff on our willingness to settle for “good enough.”  
 
As always, this issue includes links to articles, Modern tools, an Old School book and a clip from one of my favorite podcasters.  
 
Stop accepting generic and build things that only you can create.  
 
 
https://lnkd.in/eFraDfPq

The Kids are Alright is this week's Launch Key message.  
 
Subscriber Brooks Lockett is a great example of 20-somethings building not whining.  
 
Plus other good examples of next generation 'kids' not only building their own careers but helping ours.  
 
Short form video expert advice from a teenager. VC insights from one of my sons and excellent optimism on Gen Z and Gen Alpha from Marc Andreessen . 
 
https://lnkd.in/emjsmywg 


Good on you Sahill! I quoted Emerson in a recent newsletter about self reliance. We should all re-read the classics! 📚 

Exploring my curiosity and sharing what I learn along the way.

This may be the best definition of success I've ever come across...

Emerson's 9 Pillars of Success:

Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote the following:

"To laugh often and much: To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you lived. This is to have succeeded." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

I'd break this down into Emerson's 9 pillars of success:

1. To laugh often and much: Laughter keeps us young. Without laughter, you aren't really living!

2. To win the respect of intelligent people: Earning the respect of people you admire (my adaptation on "intelligent people") through the way you live your life.

3. To win the affection of children: Children see through BS. You cannot earn their affection without being kind, genuine, and trustworthy.

4. To earn the appreciation of honest critics: Earning respect of good faith critics through the way you live your life.

5. To endure the betrayal of false friends: Surviving the inevitable betrayals of people you thought were friends. Painful, but impossible to avoid.

6. To appreciate beauty: Expressing gratitude for the tiny daily beauties all around us.

7. To find the best in others: It's easy to point out the flaws in others, but it's much better to seek out the best in them and focus there.

8. To leave the world a bit better: Taking daily actions to improve the world's condition, whether in a grand or tiny way.

9. To know one life has breathed easier because you lived: Acting in the service of others, rather than solely in the service of the self.

So much beauty in these ideas and words.

How are you doing on this definition of success?

If this resonates, repost to share with others ♻️ and follow Sahil Bloom for more in future.

📌 Interested in self-improvement? Join 750,000+ others who get my free newsletter: https://lnkd.in/esGsF85Q

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