If you had the chance to meet the most successful person in your industry...

[AgaBoogaBoo]

If you're in a specific industry, and could meet the Dean Kamen (Segway) or Larry Page/Sergey Brin (Google) of whatever you're involved in, what would you ask them?

I've been trying to meet someone for about a year now and finally have some time with them in the near future, probably an hour. There are three things I'll discuss:

1. Introduction about myself, things I've worked on in the past, things I'm involved with now
2. Specific questions about two projects (he's familiar with both)
3. Mention a few people we've both worked with

My goal in the end would be to have them become a mentor, I'm not sure if that's something I would ask in the first meeting or not though. I've met with him a few times, just long enough to shake his hand though, and ask if he'd like to meet sometime.

I'm blanking out on questions I want to ask them though and so I need some recommendations on what to ask. With about an hour of his time, I don't know how it would come off if we finished in 15-20 minutes. Maybe just let the discussion carry itself? I've been looking forward to this for quite a while and now that I have the chance, I'm not sure what to ask...

 

[Evadman]

Something along these lines: "why do you make so many bad decisions?"

 

[NatePo717]

"Can I have some money?"

 

[ChaoZ]

How do I embezzle money without getting caught?

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Originally posted by: Evadman
Something along these lines: "why do you make so many bad decisions?"

Just edited the summary to include that it's someone you look up to

 

[Saint Michael]

What time is it? Or maybe what are you drinking? Or what was your flight like? Nothing to do but make small-talk when you first meet somebody.

 

[Saint Michael]

Originally posted by: Evadman
Something along these lines: "why do you make so many bad decisions?"

The title of the thread pretty much answers that for you ("the most successful person").

 

[LS21]

nothing. i do what i do , without coveting or emulating others. i guess thats both good and bad

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Originally posted by: Saint Michael
What time is it? Or maybe what are you drinking? Or what was your flight like? Nothing to do but make small-talk when you first meet somebody.

Good point, I should maybe start off with something small, maybe even just the weather if I can't think of anything better. (Indiana weather changes all the time, it's a joke around the place)

I could maybe move into the people we've worked with after that, to establish some credibility? These are people with a good name in his books that I've had the opportunity to work with.

 

[sobriquet]

Well, my reply is going to be irrelevant to most of the other people here, but the most successful person in my field was my tuba teacher (he passed away about two years ago). He was the top tubist in Southern California and was the first call player on EVERY movie soundtrack - if you've seen a movie made in the last 40 years, you likely heard him playing. I once asked him how he got to where he was, what separated him from everyone else. His response was "Luck." That's it. He never believed that he was better than his peers. He even admitted that a lot of players were far better than him. He was just in the right place at the right time, made the right connections, impressed the right people. For him, that's all it took. I then asked him "Who's going to take your place?" "No one," he said. He was right. Since he passed away, no one has managed to establish the kind of dominating presence he had, even though a lot of them are better players than he was (sorry, Tommy). For him, it really was the luck of the draw. It's unlikely that anyone will ever be as clearly dominant as he was.

Ah, drunk eulogizing...

 

[pstylesss]

Is cheesecake a pie or a cake.

 

[HannibalX]

The most successful person in my industry would be Bill Gates. I would ask him for free lunch!

 

[Grunt03]

Originally posted by: Evadman
Something along these lines: "why do you make so many bad decisions?"

I would 2nd this.........

 

[wwswimming]

* what hardware & software did you use for the Pillsbury Dough Boy animation ?
* what hardware & software did you use for Shrek 1 ?

for the guys that started Pacific Data Images, the company that became Dreamworks Animation.

 

[SSSnail]

Can I borrow $100 Mil for 24 hours for 50% of the profits of whatever I make?

 

[nanette1985]

I did meet one of the top people in my industry, and I asked him where I thought the industry was heading - what was next big thing.

So far, he's been wrong. But it was a fun conversation.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Originally posted by: princess ida
I did meet one of the top people in my industry, and I asked him where I thought the industry was heading - what was next big thing.

So far, he's been wrong. But it was a fun conversation.

Good point - asking questions about where they see the most growth would definitely be good for getting a discussion going.

 

[Juno]

i can has ur money?