John Peltonen

Our customers don’t get us because we focus on the wrong thing. Have you ever done one of those logic puzzles that was impossible until your figured it out and then it was annoyingly easy and obvious? How about tapping out the rhythm of a song? In your head, the song is so obvious, it … Read more

I learned long ago as that the quickest way to gain trust with a customer is to say, “I don’t know.” When I tried to give a BS answer or to look like something I was not, the only person I’d fool would be me. Most people can see through that act immediately. The rest … Read more

Last week, on a sunny 60F (15C) day in San Diego, I found myself outside, shirtless, in nothing but a bathing suit, surrounded by 60 other entrepreneurs, and volunteering to be the first to plunge up to my neck in an ice bath. In the past, this kind of thing was ridiculously outside of my … Read more

Too many of us don’t step in to give real feedback, call out issues as we perceive them, or offer help when needed. Instead, we go for being “nice” to keep everyone comfortable in the moment. Two days ago, my 5am alarm came early. I was staying in Anacortes, WA and about to do a … Read more

As I mentioned before, I realized that I have a tendency to gather information without doing anything with it. It is like consuming empty calories. What does it matter how many brilliant books I read if I don’t take the time to process them and incorporate the learnings into my life? So, I’ve decided that … Read more

Even with this blog, which I started to help me slow down and process what I’m learning, I recently found myself going too fast, filling up with knowledge but not absorbing it. My brain felt almost like water running off saturated ground. I need to consume less and process more. I am a consumer of … Read more

I have this friend who believes the universe is a bountiful place. It is always presenting gifts for him to discover, learn from, and use. Even setbacks and obstacles become opportunities for growth. He sees and is grateful for gifts all of the time. I have another friend who feels that the universe is a … Read more

Daniel Pink, in his book, To Sell is Human, talks about how sales has shifted due to ease of access to information. In the past, salespeople had leverage because they had information their customers couldn’t otherwise access. When someone purchased, they would get the goods and services and the knowhow that was otherwise impossible to … Read more

There is a saying that if you can think of it, someone has already posted about it on the Internet. I was very proud of coining a phrase, The Polarization Fallacy, only to see that others have already claimed it to describe either/or options (you’re either with us or against us type stuff). I think … Read more

As an entrepreneur’s small business grows their focus has to shift from managing projects and people to managing internal and external alignment. When this happens, much of the management and some leadership level decisions gets delegated to others. This is a hard transition for many entrepreneurs to make. It certainly was for me. Usually, I … Read more