Thoughts by Dmitriy Kozlov
Introduction…
So much has happened in Maverick NEXT in the past few months! We continue to grow in every way… in the quality of experiences and events, in each members’ personal and business growth, in the amount of awesome young entrepreneurs in the community, in member benefits, and more.
I’m excited for the second major NEXT feature in the Maverick Newsletter, to share the experiences of the last few months, the growth, and the amazing new NEXT’ers.
Thank for your continued commitment to your own personal growth and writing your NEXT biggest entrepreneurial chapter!
Dima’s Peru Trip: A Summary of Experiences and Lessons
My “Entrepreneurs Awakening” trip to Peru was by far the most transformational travel experience of my life to date. I heard from past attendees of the same trip that they often see their lives as vastly different chapters “before Peru, and after Peru” – and that is certainly true for me.
It’s difficult for me to summarize all my major life lessons and personal transformation in this article, but I’ll share a few key bullets. (Catch me in person for more downloads.)
The trip was 10 days, with 10 amazing entrepreneurs, and lead by Michael Costuros (a successful tech entrepreneur and strategic business coach). We spent the first half of the trip at a retreat center called Paz Y Luz (Peace and Light with the guidance of a very wise (and down to earth) shaman.
For the second half of the trip, we explored mystical Macchu Piccu, Cuzco, and other unique places in Peru together. Exploring the ruins in Peru was mind blowing, in seeing what humans created so many centuries ago without modern technology, on top of mountain peaks, and the incredible structure (and energy) those creations still hold today.
While my actual ceremony experiences were deeply personal, here’s my best attempt at a brief summary from my journal…
- All the work I am doing here (in Peru) is “personal” work more than it is work for the world. It’s all personal work, for all of us, until we feel whole as love. Only from the place of feeling whole as love can we truly start to do “work for the world.” However, since the world is largely a reflection of each of us individually, the “personal work” we do in growing and healing ourselves is ultimately expressed as the work we do in making the world a better place.
- All judgement is self-created. When we feel judgement from others, what we are feeling most are our own insecurities, fear, and ultimately self judgement.
- Bring things to completion (this was a big ‘personal demon’ that I have struggled with as an entrepreneur). Through several unique experiences during ceremony, my mind learned how to better complete things, which has massively affected my work since.
- Everything is a story. There are very few ‘universal truths’ that go beyond individual perception, and beyond our individual stories. We choose our stories, so choose a story that serves you. This applies to any small situation, or an important relationship, or your life and behavior overall… listen to the story you’re telling yourself. Ask: “Is this story serving me?” If it’s not, be willing to rewrite it.
- Love and light are the answers to healing suffering and living a life you’re happy with.
- All of our personal suffering is self-created. All human suffering is self-created by humanity. Through love and light, we can un-create our suffering.
- Suffering is pain times resistance. We will experience pain, whether we choose it or not. We can choose to accept that pain, then to heal it; but we cannot heal it if we ‘resist’ it (meaning we don’t accept it), and so we suffer.
- I have a unique poetic talent, and I’m meant to use it for teaching and improving the world, beyond just my own self expression.
- Heaven and hell aren’t places we go when we die, but places we create on earth with how we choose to live our lives. We can choose to create our own personal hell, or our own personal heaven. We do this with not only big life choices and the beliefs we hold, but also in our daily choices and routines. Collectively, we create heaven or hell on earth as a humanity, through the choices we make as a society. As individuals, we have the power to influence those choices, and therefore the world we co-create.
It’s hard to describe in words, but the trip literally changed my life and my presence in so many ways. Of course, all of this work also massively increased my ability to serve NEXT, and perform in my entrepreneurial ventures, where I’ve seen a very direct ROI.
I highly recommend it to those who are ready for a big jump in their personal and entrepreneurial growth. I am in discussions with Michael Costuros on potentially organizing a similar trip, with a lower budget, specifically for NEXT’ers and young entrepreneurs. If you’re interested in this, please email me directly. It’s a lot of work (and it’s not-for-profit work, purely impact), so we’ll only do it if we have enough interest from the group. Personally, I would love to see a NEXT trip to Peru, and know the difference it will make in each of your lives, and ultimately in the world.
San Diego Traffic and Conversion NEXT’Perience Day (February)
For a second year in a row, many NEXT’ers attended Traffic and Conversion Summit this year at a huge discount… but even better, we turned the whole conference into a unique NEXT’Perience!
We held a NEXT’Perience pre-day before T&C, which started off with jumping out of planes! After the adrenaline of skydiving together, we joined several Mavericks for a mastermind lunch focused on everyone’s biggest challenges and opportunities, which stimulated some great breakthroughs. We finished the day off with a dinner, along with 30+ Mavericks – great start to an awesome week at T&C!
For the rest of the week, we got together for meals with fellow NEXT’ers and Mavericks at nearly every lunch and dinner, and partied a few times on a yacht (which at one time was John Travolta’s boat) that a group of Mavericks rented, and many of us got together at my home in San Diego after the event for more good times.
I heard from many members that after attending an event like T&C with NEXT’ers and Mavericks, it’s hard to imagine going to another conference without the tribe there.
Whether formally as a NEXT’Perience pre-day, or just members getting together at conferences, I’m excited to see how this changes the dynamic of attending other business and marketing events for everyone.
Austin NEXT’Perience (May)
Wow! This was by far our best NEXT event yet (not only in my opinion, but based on all the feedback from members and guests at the event). We planned this as a two day business focused event with some fun, along with a bonus experience day… and it turned into so much more than that!
Many attendees who arrived early or live in Austin got to start the week off with a party at Perry Belcher’s place (who was generous in inviting all the NEXT’ers in town) where they partied with some of the speakers and other Mavericks (Ryan Deiss, Ryan Moran, Shelby Larson, Josh Lee, and more).
We kicked off the business day with an amazing session from one of my mentors (my sensei from Austin), Tristan Truscott, who started by leading us through some martial arts routines that we applied to our lives and businesses, and then dug deep into the personal growth balance it takes to live a truly successful life on your own terms. After Tristan, we had a focused 4+ hours of Ryans (we called this the Ryan cubed day, with Ryan Moran, Ryan Deiss, and Ryan Levesque). Each Ryan shared some powerful strategic, tactical, and personal tips, along with deep discussion with the group. They all loved the NEXT’ers so much, and stayed well beyond their scheduled times for Q&A time, and each offered to follow up with a Google Hangout for further Q&A at some point this summer (schedule coming soon). We ended the evening with a magical boat cruise at sunset, followed by a unique dinner.
We started the second day off with some very insightful peer to peer presentations in the Big Idea sessions. We heard from Austin, Mansal, myself, Kevin, and Zion. We then dug into everyone’s biggest challenges and opportunities in focused roundtables with peers and mentors (Mavericks Shelby Larson, Curt Maly, Josh Lee; and myself and Kevin Kurgansky) at each table, creating many breakthroughs and insights. Next we got over an hour of Q&A and discussion with Mike Dillard (Mike’s material was some of the first I read in online marketing many years ago, and it was such a pleasure to lead this session with him). Then we all had a blast GoKart racing at K1 (Mike Dillard is also a professional racer, and won first place), followed by a “farewell dinner” for those that were departing the next day.
All the presentations are posted in the members area (thanks to Bren Davis for recording) at https://mightybell.com/communities/89473/posts/708347
The third day was all about fun, memories, and bonding, as we flew above the water together on water jetpacks, paddle boards and fly boards, while enjoying the day on a boat on Lake Austin. The formal event schedule ended there, but the fun and growth continued after that.
On Thursday, Maverick Shelby Larson was generous enough to run a workshop with many NEXT’ers, helping them craft their funnels and email sequences. That evening, Paul Kirchoff had us over in his office for a tour, some high level Q&A, and strategic business discussions. Several NEXT’ers stayed late in Austin to hang out and bond with each other, attend an internet marketing party and other events (Zion extended his stay until May 19th!)
It was truly a transformational experience for many, and a big leap forward for the NEXT community. Every NEXT’Perience will be unique in its own way, and I look forward to co-creating more adventures and growth experiences with all of you in the coming years!
New York City NEXT’Perience Day (May)
Another amazing NEXT’Perience Day! We organized the New York City event to get the local members together along with some great potential NEXT Members as guests, for some business growth, fun, and bonding. Thanks to Zion’s support, we had over a dozen young entrepreneurs there, and several of them are now new NEXT Members.
After a nice lunch, we met in my good friend Chris Jett’s (Chris and I got to know each other in Peru) company office for a NEXT mastermind and Q&A time with entrepreneur and bestselling author Ramit Sethi. After the session, Ramit privately told me “these are the kind of questions I live for. You’ve got an amazing group here, I really enjoyed it.” We had another roundtable session on everyone’s biggest challenges and opportunities (these seem to keep getting better and better), then went out for happy hour in the city.
We enjoyed the evening together with a unique dining experience at The Mckittrick Hotel, followed by the famous Sleep No More immersive theatrical experience (if you haven’t heard of this before, I highly recommend checking it out next time you’re in New York City.
This was the first time we’ve done two NEXT’Perience events back to back (Austin and NYC), and both were a huge success! The day in NYC expanded my vision for what’s possible with shorter events in major cities where we have a strong concentration of members, and I look forward to how this will unfold in other cities as our tribe grows.
Google Hangouts with Maverick Mentors
We’ve had some really great Maverick Mentor hangouts recently, all of which are posted in the members area. Huge props to Kevin Bombino for the massive value on the hangout about continuity (if you’re in saas or info marketing, I *highly* recommend watching the recording). Melissa Jaffe contributed with some insightful Q&A time on business law, IP, and more (if you have some business law questions, I recommend commenting on her hangout thread on Facebook).
In January and February, we also had a hangout on Running Multiple Companies with a panel of Maverick Mentors, and a hangout on Balancing Life, Relationships, and Business with another panel of Maverick Mentors – both highly requested topics.
Since the speakers at Austin were so passionate about continuing to contribute to NEXT, you can expect to see more great hangouts coming throughout the summer. I encourage you to join the hangouts live and ask questions! It’s a lot more powerful to be there live and interact with these smart entrepreneurs over just watching the recordings. You’re getting access to minds that otherwise charge up to thousands an hour (if you can reach them) for free because of their passion for supporting your growth, and the more engaging these are, the more of them we’ll do.
NEXT’ermind Groups
The NEXT’ermind groups (groups of 4 – 5 NEXT’ers with a specific topic) have started. Some have been really engaged with massive value (like the Info Players group), and others haven’t met much yet. Remember these are optional, but highly valuable.
Since I can’t be there personally to moderate each group, I highly encourage picking a group leader to get the meetings going weekly, and sharing resources consistently.
I’ve learned that MightyBell circles haven’t helped with organization or engagement much for these groups, so moving forward we’ll have small secret Facebook groups for each active NEXT’ermind to stay organized (though I do recommend posting valuable resources for everyone in the Member Resource section on MightyBell).
Right now we have the following groups…
NEXT Infoplayers
Nextcommerce (eCommerce)
Business Services & SaaS
Nexelerator (Traction mastermind, for those going to 7 figures and beyond this year)
Maverick Startup (Fast track to 6 figures)
If you want an active group and don’t have one, volunteer to be a group leader! Also feel free to get in touch with me and Bren (who will be helping to get these in motion) for support in getting it rolling.
As NEXT continues to grow, I cannot commit to being on every group’s weekly call, but I am here to support as much as possible to get these sparked for you. You have access to an incredible group of smart peers, and these groups can be invaluable for your business growth if actively utilized.
Upcoming Camp Maverick!
I am so excited for Camp! This August (20 – 22), we’ll be getting 100 Mavericks, NEXT’ers, and other high level entrepreneurs together for 3 days of adventure and business growth in a unique adult campground (don’t worry, you won’t be sleeping in a tent, we have great lodgings arranged), with plenty of unique experiences and business workshops.
Normally the Camp Maverick price tag is $2995 and by application only, but as a NEXT Member you get in for only $1695, which includes all of your lodgings, experiences, and meals for the 3 days (and we’ve even broken it down into an optional 3 month payment plan).
All the business workshops will be held by Mavericks and other experts that Yanik brings in. For those of you that have been to Underground, you know there will be some amazing instructors as “camp counsellors” – and instead of just watching them speak on a stage, you can expect some interactive growth focused workshops with high level expertise.
I’m personally *really* excited for Camp Maverick, and looking forward to having many of you there with me for 3+ days of meaningful memories, business growth, and a lot of fun!
MightyBell as a new members area!
NEXT finally has a beautiful, well organized, and easy to use members area (and member directory) on the MightyBell platform. You can access all past event recordings, Google Hangout recordings, and many other resources here, as well as see upcoming events and a full member directory.
There is also an area where you can post your own suggested resources, and comment on others. It’s setup like a mini social network and is fully interactive.
If you have any questions about how MightyBell works, or have any feedback on it, please let me know directly!
I’m also working on some organizational improvements for the NEXT Private Facebook group, which you’ll see implemented early summer.
Bren Davis supporting with NEXT Media and more
You’ve probably noticed Bren Davis is now in the NEXT Facebook and WhatsApp group. Bren is going to play a big supportive role as we grow NEXT by helping to organize and moderate the Maverick Mentor Google Hangouts, will be recording some of our events (like he did in Austin!), and will be supporting with other media efforts.
Bren is also one of my best friends and housemate, so we work well together and he’s great at keeping me accountable on always doing more for NEXT!
One of our “projects in the works” together is a NEXT Podcast, which will tell the stories of NEXT Members (you!), share high level content from Mavericks for young entrepreneurs, and give you a platform to teach the world through your own expertise. More on this later! Meanwhile, if you know you’d like to be featured on the podcast, please reach out to me and Bren.
How Can Mavericks Get More Involved With NEXT?
As a Maverick, there are several unique benefits from being involved with NEXT. First and foremost, you get to contribute your talents and wisdom to impact the NEXT Generation of Maverick Entrepreneurs, creating a powerful long term impact on the world.
Second, you get to work with young and bright minds in technology, marketing, and business who have tactical skills, business models, and insights that can be valuable for your own business growth. This is the perfect opportunity for cross-generational idea exchange.
Here are several ways that Mavericks can get involved with Maverick NEXT:
- Join and participate in the NEXT Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/mavericknext/ review the posts and answer questions, post your own suggestions and resources, or just pop in the group every once in awhile to see where you can help with your connections. You might even find great collaborative opportunities.
- Participate in a monthly “Maverick Mentor” Google Hangout. These will be on a new topic each month, based on what the NEXT Members need most support with, and will range from one Maverick to a panel of members and experts, depending on the topic. If you have something specific you would like to share with the NEXT group in a presentation or Q&A format, please email dima@mavericknext.com
- Make yourself available for a one on one mentorship session. Much like Mavericks have 40/40, NEXT Members will have the Maverick Mentors Board, where they can schedule individual 30 minute calls with participating Mavericks. This commitment can be as small or big as you’re comfortable with. The Mentor Board is still in development. In the meantime email dima@mavericknext.com if you’re interested in contributing a time slot.
- Join for a local event as a Maverick Mentor. We intend to hold small mastermind events in 2015 in San Diego, Austin, New York, and London. If you live in any of these areas and are open to dropping by for a mastermind or a dinner, please email dima@mavericknext.com – the event calendar is still in development.
- Offer perks (freebies, discounts, resources, etc) for NEXT Members. This can range from event tickets to software discounts and more. Please email rose@maverick1000.com if you have a perk you’d like to provide.
Maverick Mentorship is a huge part of NEXT, and we deeply appreciate anything you do to support this amazing group of young entrepreneurs. If you have any additional ideas, please email Dima anytime.
