A beautiful brown buck, with a giant rack atop his head, gracefully feasts on the downed tree branches left over from the big ice storm a couple of weeks back. The remaining trees sway to and fro, and dim light with a slight touch of pink fills the sky over the distant hills, which I can see even better since the storm cleared some branches out of the view.
I sit here in this soon-to-be-warm moment reflecting on my past, deeply grateful for each experience, including those that did not work out as I had hoped.
Reinventing Radio
In 1998 I wrote an article in Radio Ink, my radio industry trade magazine, predicting that one day consumers would get their radio and TV online. The feedback on the article was negative; in fact, I just about got laughed out of the radio industry. Yet for some reason, I had the ability to see down the road. I was so consumed by this concept that I started a radio industry conference about the future of the Internet and its impact on the industry. Though it was successful because people wanted to know more about these new things called websites, they could not buy my vision that people would listen to radio online.
Lunch With a Soon-to-Be Billionaire
Later that year I had lunch with Mark Cuban at the Hard Rock Cafe in Las Vegas. Mark had started a company called AudioNet, and it was putting ball games online. I told him my vision that music radio would one day be online as well, and he encouraged me to “go for it.”
A Boys Scout Is Always Prepared
After a few weeks of refining my idea, I picked up the phone and called Tom Toy, an old Boy Scout buddy I’d heard was a venture capital guy. I knew nothing about raising money because I’d built my publishing business one sale at a time, with no borrowed money other than a small loan from my dad.
Hold, Please
When I told Tom my idea, he said, “Hold for a second. I want to get someone else on the call.” Soon I was pitching my idea to another guy on his team. And then they said, “Can you be here Monday to do a presentation?” So I pulled out my best PowerPoint skills and built my vision for a company I called RadioCentral. My concept was to do thousands of niche radio stations for interest groups, and to do every radio format of music.
Quickly Intimidated
I flew to San Francisco and found myself entering a big conference room with about 10 people sitting around the table. I told them that the future of radio and TV was the Internet, and that RadioCentral would be like a newsstand in audio form, with radio stations operated by people for specific interest groups.
To my surprise, they said they had interest but wanted me to define my presentation more. “Come back next week after flushing out the financials,” they said. “Show us how you’re going to make money and create value.”
A Trip a Week for Seven Weeks
I returned the following week, and each Monday for seven weeks. Keep in mind, I was running my business while flying weekly to San Francisco from West Palm Beach.
On the seventh week they announced that they were giving me a million dollars to start, and more would come based on progress.
Our Money, Our Town
When I said I’d get started right away, they insisted I move to the San Francisco area. “Our money, our town,” they said. I argued that I could build it in Florida and have much lower costs, but they knew I needed to be where they could coach me, have me meet with other people who could fund us further, etc.
Defying Physics
Without going into exhaustive detail, I launched the company, managed to hire a team of 50 people, and we invented something that was not physically possible. In fact, when I interviewed engineers provided by a search firm, every one of them told me that what I wanted to do couldn’t be done. One guy I interviewed, Rich Sadowsky, said, “It’s not possible to do this — but I’ll find a way.”
I hired him, and months later we had invented a way to do the impossible. In fact, he filed a couple of patents, and we ended up with a system that everyone uses today. The impossible was possible.
Launch Finally Comes
We ended up launching dozens of radio formats, and we were doing radio for some of the biggest brands online at the time; we did branded radio for EarthLink, About.com, and several others. But I was swayed away from my idea of radio broadcasters in niche categories. Of course, years later, Apple launched podcasting, exactly what I had pitched five years earlier, though they had a better way of doing it than I had.
Long story short, we launched, had clients, and even sold some advertising. We raised more money. And then two towers in New York were downed by aircraft, investment dried up, and the company was shut down.
A Lost Decade
I spent years licking my wounds, looking back at what should have been and telling myself, “If only…” “If only I had been one year earlier, we would have gone public and I would have been a billionaire.” “If only” was stuck in my head, and I became risk-averse, depressed, and defeated. Sadly, it took me close to a decade to recover.
Lessons Learned
Hindsight is a beautiful thing. Once I had enough time and perspective, I realized I had learned so much, and that I went for it. The mistake I made is that I did not get back on the horse when I got knocked off. I wasted lots of good years whining about what could have been instead of moving on to the next big thing.
When have you been knocked off your horse? Have you picked yourself up or stayed stuck?
Where have you wanted to “go for it” but not taken action? When you went for it and failed, did you try, try again?
Crawling Into a Hole
Bruised egos and painful experiences sometimes make us want to just curl up into a fetal position because things that were supposed to work out did not. I’ve lived it. Thankfully, I eventually went for it again and came up with something that has given me the deepest, most rich life I could imagine.
People With Zero Vision
When I first told my industry and my friends about my plan, they told me all the reasons it was a bad idea. Had I listened, I would not have lived some of the most important lessons of my life, met some of the best people of my life, and developed technology that became a standard being used today.
Visionary People
I did not listen because I believed in my idea. And, though my business failed, I lost a lot of other people’s money (which I felt awful about), and ultimately I did not hit it big financially, decades later I have the satisfaction of knowing I was right, that my vision has come true with things like podcasting, Spotify, Pandora, TuneIn, Apple Music, and others. I’m not suggesting for a moment I invented those things, but I went to San Francisco to do similar things that no one had yet done.
I was not alone in this vision — others started about the same time, and while some of us did not succeed, others did. I met a young man at a party who had just started this thing called YouTube. Another had started Pandora. Another had started Napster, which revolutionized the world of music. I met dozens of others, including the two founders of a startup called PayPal. I even met two 19-year-old guys who had started a company called Google. They all had revolutionary ideas. They all went for it. Some succeeded, some became the most influential people in the world, while others failed. But everyone learned important lessons.
Beyond Bitter
I was bitter for years, but I’m no longer bitter. Maybe I was just too early, maybe I did not work hard enough or fast enough, maybe nothing I could have done would have changed the outcome. And, in hindsight, I needed to learn some important lessons. Sometimes it’s necessary to get your teeth kicked in. There is no reason to be bitter when lessons are learned. It took me too long to realize that. And because I had failed, I stopped taking big risks and following up on other ideas. That was my biggest mistake.
When are you going to go for it? Live your dream? Follow your vision? Take a chance?
Failure is an important part of the process of going for it. The odds are stacked against you. Go for it anyway. Again and again.
Billionaire John Kluge once told me at lunch that he never made big money until after age 70. Most of his friends had retired to play golf. He kept trying. HIs best advice to me: “Keep pitching.” So if you’re thinking it’s too late, stop thinking that. And if you’re thinking you’re too young, stop thinking that.
There is no time clock. If you’re breathing and can communicate, no matter what age, if there is an unfulfilled dream, you need to go for it. No matter how impractical, no matter how impossible.
It’s better to try and fail than never to have tried at all. And your odds of success increase substantially when you try.
Go for it.
Eric Rhoads
And now, the rest of the story…
The morning of the 9/11 tragedy, my pregnant wife and I sat watching in disbelief, knowing that I was supposed to be in that building that morning. Had I been there, I would have missed watching triplets be born, with 11 people in the OR assisting us. I would have missed so much.
This week Grace, Brady, and Berkeley turned 21. It’s been a tornado of activity, years of band practices and ball games and school meetings, and stress over tests, graduations, COVID, boyfriends and girlfriends, happy times and sad ones. Fears, bullying, tears, laughter, vacations, Christmases, and 21 birthday celebrations.
I was fired from my own company, and my last day of work was the day our first child came home from the hospital. That was God’s perfect timing. I was needed at home, and I’ve worked from home every day since then so I could be there.
I often get asked if they are the same, since they were born triplets. But they’ve revealed their own unique personalities and interests since the day they were born. The past 21 years have been the most special journey any man could ever hope for. I’ve seen more joy in my life than I ever expected, along with more pain than I ever expected. I consider myself deeply and richly blessed to have been here for this 21 years.
These Sunday Coffees were designed to be a diary of thoughts to share with my kids when they are old enough to appreciate it. I hope they someday find it. And my advice to them … go for it. Follow your dreams. Ignore roadblocks.
On another note…
When Laurie got pregnant, she could not stand the smell of paint in the back bedroom where I painted, so I took it outdoors. Had I never been in the Bay Area for that company, I would never have discovered plein air painting, which led me to publishing PleinAir Magazine, which led me to creating conferences, videos, retreats, and so much more for artists. One of those events, PleinAir Live, an online conference about landscape painting outdoors and indoors, is a result of those early days. I’m grateful I can live the dream of helping others discover how to live their dreams. I hope to see you there this coming March.
Never wonder what would have happened if you had taken a left turn instead of a right turn. You are where you are supposed to be, and there are lessons you are supposed to learn. Had I never gone for my dream, the dream I’m living today would never have happened.
Hi Eric…..I Love your writing….It is so alive and personal! And I look forward to it every Sunday. I just wanted you to know how really good I think your writing is . It’s straight-forward, sincere, energetic, and so interesting!! I don’t find a lot of writing that is just about life in all it’s ups and downs, in such an engaging intimate way. Thanks Eric….I know you wrote it for your children (someday), but it is very enjoyable to many of us right here , right now. Thanks and keep it coming!
I love what you said about not being too old to pursue what is in us to do. That statement encourages me to keep walking forward and take joy in continuing to learn watercolor, and to watch for the new opportunity that may be just up ahead. I don’t have the firm vision…yet….but something is “cooking” in me 🙂
Thank you for sharing your thoughts online with us, with me. I hope your grown kids will savor these writings at their perfect timing.
You are a blessing.
Eric, this is one of your best Sunday Coffee posts ever! It gives us hope to go for our dreams and courage to pick up the pieces when it doesn’t work out. Thank you for expressing your deepest thoughts, successes and failures with us this Sunday. I plan to share this post with my kids today. Much to learn from your experiences. Your triplets are so lucky to have you as their father.
Hello Eric. Your fine and wise advice prompted me to reflect on my own life’s journey. How so very many good folk miss having at some stage of their lives, a wise and accomplished mentor, who is generous with his or her own time, who is honestly interested in passing on living batons of experience and indeed visions for the future they may not see. Indeed, we live, dream, and search for that which most completes us. Your weekly letter is becoming my catalyst. The best is yet to come. Well done and thank you. Kind regards Keith.
So inspiring. Thank you for sharing.
Good for you, Eric, for following your visions and not giving up. Second guessing is so self-defeating, yet how often have we been guilty of falling into a pattern of self doubt. Thanks for giving me some confidence today with your message. I am very grateful for your encounter
raging words.
Thank you.
Eric,
It’s the start of another week, and it started with a little nudge from you. Thanks for your honesty and inspiring words!
Best Wishes,
Lynn
An inspiring article, Eric. Thanks for sharing. I turned 72 in September 2022, and for the past four years have been preparing to build my Art endeavors into a full-time business. My wife and I now have two Art Studios and one Dedicated Gallery on our 1.3-acre property in Meadow Vista, CA. In June of 2021, I retired from 51 consecutive years coaching Cross-Country and Track & Field for various schools and universities. I’ve also been in ministry since 1084 as the director of a small Christian non-profit organization. I’m not interested in becoming a Billionaire like John Kluge because I don’t want the responsibility of managing employees and being overwhelmed by hours of work to maintain that status. Instead, my goal is to paint and create in an unpressured manner, attend several Art shows and related events each year, teach some occasional Watercolor classes, as well as be a mentor to young people who are just starting their Art businesses. We are content to make enough income to live comfortably, add some to our savings and investment portfolio, and have the freedom to travel and visit our sons and their families. I am enjoying living my artist’s dream at this point in my life.
Hi, Eric,
Never knew that about you. I like to hear everybody’s life story; each one provides a way to learn from someone else’s experiences. I don’t take all of them at face value because each one is heavily biased by personal opinions that may not hold true for my own life – but you have the receipts to show what worked for you. That is something generously given that no amount of money can buy. Letting everyone know what didn’t work for you, at that time, in that place, in that way, is not discouraging We are all different. (I am in the 4th quarter of (I hope) my 100-year-old life and I am still having fun and learning today – even about myself. We have the power to change things. Whatever our own experiences have been, our futures start now. Thank you for walking along side us. nv
John Kluge is so right. Go for it. Never give up
Enjoyed the comments as usual. Always wanted triplets or twins but it wasn’t in the cards. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you, Eric, for another inspirational Sunday Coffee! I could relate to so much of what you talked about. One small example that it made me think of was that when I switched from watercolor painting to oil painting in the late 1990s, and my husband who couldn’t handle the smell of oil paints in the house, kicked me out with my paints. We were forced to turn the garage into my painting studio! After a small, relatively inexpensive remodeling job: some dry wall, a window a/c and painting the cement floors…I found myself with a “Room of My Own”, as Virginia Woolf called it. It changed my life for the better in so many ways – I didn’t know what I’d been missing until I had it. A place to be alone, to paint, to dream and to teach my art classes.
I love this. I’ve had turmoil for the past few years with the passing of my brother and dad. This is a very hopeful post. Things are getting better.
Thank YOU!!!
Thank you for sharing this part of your story and showing me/us how God can still use us to be a bigger part of His story. You have given me hope that even at 70 I can still dream and accomplish much.
In a single word: Fantastic! Thank you for the divine energy you share with us all.
What a great read on a Sunday to inspire for the rest of the week. Thank you!
Leaving the timing up to God is so hard to do. In a day and age of instant everything the concept of wait upon the Lord is difficult to understand, but when we follow it, we are blessed beyond measure. It’s a difference between receiving what we ask for and getting the best that God has to give. His provisions are already in place for His plan for our lives. Each day I am grateful for whatever may come. His love overcomes my fears of failure manifested by some of my best, creative art work. I really never thought to apply this promise to my work until I heard you bear witness to it yourself. Thank you.
Good morning and happy Sunday! Despite the ups and downs and all around a I have always said to never doubt the path you e chosen- it might turn out to be a horrible decision and that’s when the lessons come and after kicking our wounds and go forward – wisdom can come – we just have to hold onto it and learn. The most painful lessons produce the greatest fruit and detours often lead to wonderful surprises- thank you ever so much for sharing and reminding us all to keep moving forward! We are not people of the past, but those of the present.
BAM!
I love having coffee with Eric every Sunday morning. I needed your “go for it”this morning. I am 83 years old and I’m a plein air painter, and sometimes wonder if it’s time to just retire to my studio to paint. It was great encouragement this morning so I’m going out to paint now in this 40° weather. I’m going for it. Thanks.
Beautiful and inspiring. Thank you!
Dear Eric, I look for your Sunday Coffee every Sunday! Your writing style and heartfelt words of inspiration motivate me. Today you talked about getting back on the horse when you fall off. That is something I totally relate to! I am nearly 60 an equestrian and now a retired art teacher who was in her element teaching art for 30 years. Now I feel like I’m starting over trying to create an art business while still remaining on our farm to help my husband in the summer harvesting hay. I have your book and am on the second reading of it. I am attempting to connect horses and art. You give me hope and I just want to tell you I am grateful. Thank you Mr. Rhodes! Please keep getting back on your horse! You have made a difference in many lives through this direction God has put you in. You are not a ghost person behind the big tech but you are a real, family and God loving person that our world needs more of! Thank you again! Sincerely,
Love these Sunday morning revelations! Inspirational, many thanks for sharing!
Eric, reading your Sunday Coffee emails is such a pleasure for me. I am on the list to receive them regularly and I enjoy your writing and living skills.
I am an elderly woman who lives to paint in watercolour. I have often thought it would be easier to switch to oil because it seems to be easier than watercolour. But I guess I enjoy the challenge of getting it right.
I am not attending your marvelous events because I don’t have the funds to do that, nor do I feel qualified to compete with the best artists in the world.
When I read about your adventures I feel excited for you and really appreciate your ability to rise above the very difficult challenges.
Sunday Coffee is like a book of adventure for me – please keep on entertaining me.
Best regards
Brenda
WISE WORDS. THANK YOU
You give all of us that follow you, read your magazines and books, attend your art conferences, watch your interviews with artists or DVDs of artists, read your Sunday blog, all of it, an abundance of the best you can give. You are greatly valued and admired. Thank you!
What a wonderfully inspiring article! I will read it again and again when I need reminding to not get hung up on mistakes or challenges. Instead to just go for it! Thank you!
This newsletter is one of your many best-s. I am keeping this article on special reading area. Thank you for your eloquent writing.
I love these Sunday Coffee messages of inspiration! They have encouraged me to paint more and consider making and achieving some goals again.
Your writing and experiences are gifts to us! keep sharing!
Thanks for sharing so much of your life story. Fascinating. Congratulations for getting back up after disappointing events. Some people never recover.