The Musings of Russell Simmons

The rap mogul takes his genius to the masses

When you think of a ‘hip hop mogul,’ entrepreneur Russell Simmons automatically comes to mind. The mogul is taking his business genius to the masses on a four-city tour to educate and inform African American small business owners.

Simmons dropped knowledge at the Verizon Wireless Small Business Empowerment Series held at Midtown Loft recently. The Def Jam founder gave many helpful tidbits and other life lessons for these budding business owners.

The Loop 21 pieced out Simmons’ ten best helpful hints for entrepreneurs that will make you reflect or laugh, whichever comes first:

1. “When you go to work, that’s the only thing that’s going to pay you is the work itself. They really can’t give you sh-- in the end.
2. No matter how big your mansion, you can only sit your butt in one seat at a time.
3. If you don’t quit, you can never fail.
4. Give until people cannot live without your service.
5. As a society, the collective, we’re sheeple. If you don’t check for yourself, it’s not real.
6. You can find yourself going the wrong way on the train right, and not have the courage to get up and go the other way. But if you can let your mind settle, you can make a choice.
7. Yogi’s like to refer to life...as like being in a movie. Now you can be an extra, or you can play the lead role and direct the movie. It’s really up to you.
8. I’m not a big celebrator. People live to celebrate. Most people live to celebrate their success story. ...It’s not that you shouldn't be happy. You should be happy all the time...but it is not a moment. It’s not fulfilling.
9. People think I’m Bill Gates or something. [Russell's response to being asked to donate his time to charities other than his own.]
10. My partners have walked away from every business I’ve done. ...My partners have always quit.”