April 2011 Entrepreneurs of Knoxville EOK

Our featured speaker for the April meeting was Leo Knight, founder of the Entrepreneurs of Knoxville (EoK). Leo discussed the EoK and how inventors can benefit from an organization devoted to entrepreneurship. Also, the TIA received copies of Stephen Key's new book, "One Simple Idea." Copies of the book were distributed to those in attendance.

Leo Knight explained how Entrepreneurs of Knoxville (EoK) had 12 people in the organization in 2008. EoK has grown to over 1000 members in 2010. Leo was surprised by how fast the organization grew. EoK is a non-profit organization. There is no membership fee to be a member. All activities are supported by sponsors.

Leo feels that the key element that sets his organization apart is the rule that he established in the early stages. The rule is, “Do not sell within the organization." The idea is to help your brothers and sisters in the organization succeed in their business. Members are encouraged to form joint venture companies and to sell to people outside of the organization. There have been about 34 or 35 companies that have started from EoK already.

Due to the fast growth, Leo formed the Board of Directors to govern the organization that covers the following areas: Operations, Technology, Marketing, Communication, Finance, Fund Raising, Education, Membership, and Student Relationship. There are people requesting EoK to have chapters in their cities. Potential Chapters are Chattanooga, Seattle and Nashville. EoK will continue to have head quarter in Knoxville.

EoK has meetings on every Wednesday morning from 8:30am. Guest speakers start from 8:30 to 9:30am telling members their success stories. The full schedule is on EoK’s website. People can visit EOK’s web site: www.EOKHQ.com All meetings are recorded live and stream live on-line.

Leo provided important insight on product creation and marketing. “Get feedback from others, then build the product.” By doing that, you will know what people really want.

He also suggested a few books to read: E-myth by Michael E. Gerber and 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss.

Igor suggested having joint meetings between TIA and EoK in the near future. Tom will work our details.

After Leo's presentation, Tom Kulaga passed out copies of Stephen Keys' book, One Simple Idea.The following video is the trailer for the One Simple Idea book.

YouTube video: One Simple Idea Book Trailer