Episode 285: How to Start Ugly with Chris Krimitsos

I’m happy to welcome to Chris Krimitsos as the guest for this episode. Chris is a father, husband, community builder and ever-evolving innovator. He loves people and their stories and has leveraged his gifts of connecting others to build communities around entrepreneurship, podcasting, and multimedia.

Chris was profoundly affected at 16 years of age when he watched his father lose a restaurant he had bought with sweat equity and eventually put the keys in for the last time giving it back to the bank. He vowed then that he would make it his mission to help business owners the world over to avoid that terrible fate. His book, Start Ugly: A Timeless Tale About Innovation & Change is an extension of that promise and a story that can be understood by all who read it.

Talking Points

  • Chris shares the premise of Start Ugly and why it’s been such a powerful thing for him
  • Why did Chris decide to write the book as a parable of sorts?
  • Does starting ugly help with the ability to deal with change? If so, how?
  • This is the single step of the seven Chris shares in the book that he believes is a barrier for most people
  • Chris and I discuss the role that comfort plays when starting something ugly
  • What does Chris have to say to people who are worried about the risk factor and forging a path that seems uncertain?
  • How has Chris taken his family and personal obligations in mind when starting something ugly?
  • This is what Chris sees down the line for the podcasting community
  • Chris and I talk about how he is able to handle all of his obligations… of which there are plenty!
  • We talk about the importantafce of being nimble
  • What are some of the other biases that Chris has come across and realized that the book may have helped break?

The way you’re going to start is never going to be as perfect as where you’re going to end up, so it’s always going to be an ugly start.

– Chris Krimitsos

The Productivityist Podcast theme song is Nothing at All by Fictions (courtesy of Epidemic Sound)


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