The Modern Entrepreneur

I met Tom Herter by sheer chance, he and his partners just happened to be staying at our hotel in Indianapolis during the weekend of the Indianapolis 500 closing a new deal with the NFL for their company Eye Level Interactive. As a young Entrepreneur or business professional, you need to take any and every opportunity to expand your network and showcase your talents and abilities. I had noticed Mr. Herter’s Super Bowl ring and NFL Players Association blazer and decided to inquire. It just so happened that Mr. Herter Lives in Orlando, Florida, where I just moved, soo we immediately hit it off. He gave me his information and we have talked and emailed multiple times since. I met with Mr. Herter and his assistant this past Friday July 22, 2011 to discuss his new company as well as the historic day in which the NFL labor negotiations had ended.
Mr. Herter is the Vice president of the NFL players association in Florida and had won 2 Super Bowls both as a Player and a coach. He also owns several businesses including Pak Mail franchises, an Arena Football team, Champion sports training facility, and now he is Vice President of Eye Level Interactive. We spoke about the intense nature of the NFL negotiations and what it took to get such a long and arduous deal signed off and sealed. He believed that the solidarity and unity of the players and owners was essential, for the sheer fact that both sides were at least on the same page with their constituents and knew what each side was looking for. The mutual respect and mutual benefit were also key factors in the negotiations, respect was crucial to the players who had earned it, and both sides understood that the popularity of their sport was at an all time high and there was too much money to be lost by both sides had they let their ego’s get the best of them! This insight into one of the most historic labor negotiations in recent memory was amazing. But I was most interested in my potential role with Eye level Interactive.
Mr. Herter explained to me his role with Eye level, which was to open the door to licensing negotiations. Eye Level has patented E-reader barcode tag, which is a new social marketing application on Consumers cell phones, which can connect consumers with their favorite companies and brands through one click. The main goal of the meeting was to see if I could get involved in this brand new company, which was founded in January and has already generated over $200 million in revenue. The company only has a few employees and I wanted to continue to grow my network, get involved on the ground floor to learn and maximize my potential, and then utilize my connections and network to be a viable asset to this new company. I began by expressing my interest in all new businesses when I first met Mr. Herter, expressing my love and passion for investing. I also showed my appreciation and intrigue for new and promising technologies, which is why I believe Mr. Herter wanted to get together and discuss this potential. Little did I know, he really wanted me to work for Eye Level, which only has about 6 employees as of now. I knew that my affiliation with certain entities and my connections with the IRL, Mountain Dew, Simon malls, and Live Nation would be appreciated and could be used as leverage when discussing my potential role. My knowledge of Marketing and Finance also helped me significantly, but when I began to spit out ideas and potential clients for the company he was very excited and even offered me a huge percentage of commissions. Utilizing my experiences and connections we had an amazing meeting and conversation, which will hopefully lead to some great deals and tremendous personal growth, thanks to my negotiating and social tactics.