Julia Dilts is the CEO and cofounder of Maverick angels, an angel investment network based in Southern California with affiliate chapters in Western Europe and Tel Aviv, which she founded with her late husband, John Dilts. Maverick Angels focuses on mentoring and training global entrepreneurs to fund promising early-stage companies resulting in successful and self-sustaining businesses.
Additionally, Maverick is presently creating strong affiliations with other angel groups, universities, incubators, accelerators, and government agencies to train, mentor, and coach aspiring entrepreneurs via their “Maverick Angels Investment Accelerator for Entrepreneurs” seminar. This monthly course is based on studying capitalized start-ups from around the world over a ten-year period to determine what success factors an entrepreneur must possess to become attractive to investors. Additionally, they have also enrolled experts in debt/equity financing, valuations and corporate structuring, legal counsel, and social media to guest lecture at their Investment Accelerator seminar.
Before Julia’s work with Maverick Angels, she was the co-owner of Dilts Ventures, a corporate management consulting firm with an entrepreneurial approach to business. Julia and John advised corporate giants such as Nestlé USA, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, Fiat, and Kraft Foods in areas such as entrepreneurial training within the corporate culture, innovative approaches to product development and market-entry strategies, and visionary leadership.
Today, while I was working from my home office, I saw a hummingbird perched on a branch for an extraordinarily long time. My immediate thought was that I had so much work to do, I couldn’t keep staring at the pretty bird outside of my window. But instead of writing another e-mail, I watched this beautiful, delicate creature. It reminded me that I had just been given an incredible gift, and of a valuable lesson.
Life steers us into some very interesting turns. If someone told me more that a decade ago that I would be championing entrepreneurs and stepping in as the CEO of my own investment group, I would never have believed them. I thought of myself as a creative, a crazy woman on Instagram. I have a butterfly tattoo … How in the world did I end up in finance and in the international world of entrepreneurship? The answer: a man.
I first met John when we were both attending UCLA in the 1980s. There I was with my big hair and my pearly pink lipstick while John was sporting Ray-Bans and preppy button-down shirts. John became a senior political staff writer for The Daily Bruin, our college newspaper; I was the copy editor who would edit all of his articles. In fact, I honestly fell in love with his writing before I fell in love with him because he and I first met face to face months after I prepared his articles for print. The whole reason I went to UCLA was to become a journalist. Even at a young age, I knew that I wanted to write and express myself to educate and engage people. I was longing for a creative outlet, and that’s what John and I had in common as we began our courtship.
We were in school during the Reagan years. Life was big and bold, and women wore power suits. My confidence levels shot through the roof during my college years. I had my life all planned out: marry the adoring husband, take on a fast-track career, have a family, buy a house—a road map to happiness. What I didn’t factor into my perfect little formula was that life has its own plans in mind for each of us.
Seven years ago, my husband, John Dilts, and I founded Maverick Angels. Our vision was to create a robust angel group, which included an entrepreneurial training course, now titled the “Investment Accelerator,” to help start-up companies perfect their pitches and increase their chances of becoming successfully funded. John and I complemented each other as a team—building our angel network and seeking out the best and brightest entrepreneurs to present to our investors.
Around the time that John and I founded Maverick Angels, John and his brother Robert, a well-known behavioral scientist, were involved in a ten-year study interviewing more than three hundred capitalized entrepreneurs from around the world. The game-changing findings from this study became the genesis of our Investment Accelerator.
Have you ever wondered why one person will achieve success while another who started up the same type of business has to close up shop? When you take a closer look, the people who achieve success are more likely to be more open-minded, be coachable, have enrolled mentors, have a clear vision of where they are taking their company, and initiate can-do attitudes when facing challenges. “Reframing” the tough times into opportunities is also an essential behavioral strategy that successful people will likely use.
The study revealed that there are eight Success Factors, or personality traits of entrepreneurs that contribute to their business success. Support System. Motivated. Inspired. Fearless. Charitable. Confident. Coachable. Team player. If you are an entrepreneur and your DNA includes these eight Success Factors, it is proven that investors will be more likely to write you checks. These behaviors, along with knowing your venture and financials cold, are the road map to entrepreneurial success.
Fast-forward to August 2, 2010. John passed away from cancer a week after he was diagnosed, and my world would never be the same. There I was—suddenly a grieving widow holding on to our beloved angel group, John’s legacy. From the Dilts brothers’ study, I learned that true leaders strive to create something bigger than themselves. This motivated me to keep the Maverick vision alive as I stepped into provide immediate leadership just days after John passed. As anyone can imagine, it was the greatest challenge of my life—and I found the eight Success Factors guiding me.
During difficult times, I rely on what motivates and inspires me in order to keep moving in a positive direction. I draw on the strength that others and the memory of John provide to me. Interestingly enough, a supportive spouse or someone close to you is the number one Success Factor in the entrepreneurial study. If you have a go-to partner or posse to cheer you on, the odds are in your favor that you will drive a thriving business.
The entrepreneurs who have the chips stacked against them often have a closed-minded way of doing business, which isolates them from their team and alienates those who are willing to offer guidance. Eventually, many of these leaders close down their operations due to their myopic belief systems. I would guess that these entrepreneurs were not motivated to create a vision for themselves, their teams, and potential investors, and weren’t willing to be resourceful and flexible in order to turn roadblocks into strategic wins for their companies.
My hat goes off, though, to those entrepreneurs who have tried fiercely and, for whatever reasons, had to shut their doors. I have great respect for those individuals. To them I say, “Be proud of your battle scars and turn them into a badge of honor. Please, give it another go!”
No matter how Webster’s defines entrepreneurship, it does not describe the grit it takes to be an entrepreneur. Although the media tends to cast a shiny spotlight on those who have achieved great success, there is rarely a mention of the entrepreneurs quietly working endless hours, enduring great sacrifice, and living a more modest lifestyle in order to pursue their dreams. These unsung heroes and heroines especially are my greatest role models.
The best part of my position at Maverick Angels is connecting with these entrepreneurs. I am fascinated by their passion, their war stories, and what motivates them to keep going. I also draw encouragement by remembering those enterprising men and women who lived before us and faced incredible challenges to make the world better for the following generations. We may not have had many of today’s technologies, freedoms, and legal rights if these individuals had not been brave and fearless.
Going through my husband’s passing has made me somewhat fearless—and this inspires me. My mantra to be fearless in business comes down to this question: What is the worst that can happen? Most likely, you will not end up living on the street and going hungry. If you are well prepared, plan ahead for life’s curve balls, and are confident that you will always land on your feet, then you are well on your way to the path of success.
Along with being brave and fearless, our entrepreneurial ancestors have also proven it is essential to feel worthy to grab the brass ring—to feel confident. I practice this behavior daily, and it helps me turn limiting thoughts into plans of action. Entrepreneurs must believe in their visionary powers and innovative minds. In the study, we discovered that entrepreneurs must give themselves permission to become successful, not self-sabotage that success.
I also find inspiration by giving back—by coaching entrepreneurs, volunteering my time, and making contributions to benefit entrepreneurial causes. Showing compassion toward others is another Success Factor among star-quality entrepreneurs. Whenever I attend Maverick’s monthly seminar and see how the behavioral and business models motivate promising start-ups to think big and sharpen their pitches, it validates why I champion entrepreneurs—the pioneers of our day.
Clearly, a positive attitude, loads of passion, and tribal leadership to help entrepreneurs march forward are all key to success. Anyone who ever said that being an entrepreneur was easy has never been an entrepreneur! When times are good, life is great. However, when times are tough and morale is low, entrepreneurs must draw from the eight Success Factors to motivate themselves and their teams to believe that tomorrow is a new day filled with opportunities.
Despite the setbacks and challenges entrepreneurs currently face, the good news is that start-up companies are growing at record numbers globally. It amazes me that so many are willing to give up that comfy corporate paycheck for a life of unpredictability and risk in the name of success. Yet during times of economic challenge, opportunities for innovation, prosperity, and start-up companies abound. Now is the time to become an aspiring entrepreneur if you are searching for more than what the status quo has to offer.
In my life, I have had a lion’s share of hard knocks, trials and tribulations, and sweet victories, which I feel honored to share with you here. My wish is that my story will in some small way help you through the challenging times and inspire you on your entrepreneurial journey.