SMP 81:  Keys to Entrepreneurship Success from John Lee Dumas, Creator of a Multi-Million Dollar Podcast Empire

 
Episode Summary
In this episode of Solar Maverick, John Lee Dumas("JLD"), founder and host of the Entrepreneurs on Fire podcast, talks about his experiences with solar power in Puerto Rico, shares the three things that make entrepreneurs successful, and where is the future of the podcast industry.   With over 2,500 episodes, 1 million + listens a month, and seven-figures of annual revenue, JLD is just getting started!
 
Benoy Thanjan
Benoy Thanjan is the Founder and CEO of Reneu Energy, as well as an advisor for several solar startup companies. Reneu Energy is a premier international solar energy consulting firm and developer, and the company focuses on developing commercial and industrial solar, as well as utility-scale solar plus storage projects. The company also sources financing for solar projects and hedges both energy and environmental commodities. Reneu Energy has brokered $27 million in environmental commodity transactions. 
Benoy received his first experience in Finance as an intern at D.E. Shaw & Co., which is a global investment firm with 37 billion dollars in investment capital. Before founding Reneu Energy, he was the SREC Trader in the Project Finance Group for SolarCity, which merged with Tesla in 2016. He originated SREC trades with buyers and co-developed their SREC monetization and hedging strategy with the senior management of SolarCity, to move into the east coast markets. Benoy also worked at Vanguard Energy Partners, Ridgewood Renewable Power, and Deloitte & Touche.
 
John Lee Dumas
JLD was born and raised in Maine where he went to Massabesic High School and then to Providence College on an ROTC scholarship to get his Bachelor of Arts degree in 2002.  After graduating, he was commissioned in the US Army as an officer.  During his four years of active duty, he served eighteen months in Iraq and at the age of 23, JLD became the Armor Platoon leader responsible for men and tanks.  After that, he served four years in the Army Reserves before becoming a civilian.
After serving in the army, JLD struggled to find his next goal. He tried his hand at law school and dropped out in the first semester. Later he joined the John Hancock Life Insurance company in Boston but after working for two years with the organization, he decided to quit and took a commercial real estate job, which didn’t last more than a year.
After spending a lot of time in his car, commuting during the jobs and having no interest in radio, JLD started listening to podcast interviews and instantly fell in love with their free and inspiring content and decided to start his own podcast. The distinguishing feature of his podcast was that it was a 7-day-per-week podcast where he interviewed several successful entrepreneurs. Despite not generating any revenue for the first nine months, he still remained confident and loyal to his listeners and his work. Since then, the podcast has grown and generated over $16 million in revenue with more than one million monthly listeners. After the success of his podcast, Dumas has started a free Podcaster Course which teaches everything a person needs to know to start their own podcast.
JLD has also written several books on podcasting and productivity.
The Freedom Journal: Accomplish Your #1 Goal in 100 Days

The 100-Day Goal Journal: Accomplish What Matters to You

The Mastery Journal: Master Productivity, Discipline, and Focus in 100 Days

The Podcast Journal: Idea to Launch in 50 Days

Podcast Launch: How to Create & Launch Your Podcast Kindle Edition

The Common Path to Uncommon Success - available March 23, 2021

 
Insights from this episode:
Reasons why JLD is incorporating solar and other sustainable features into his lifestyle. 
Details on Puerto Rico’s energy situation and how solar power and the increase in the future in available electric vehicles can help.
How to be a successful entrepreneur by being productive, disciplined, and focused.
Details on trends in podcasting, what JLD is working on now, and what his future holds.

 
Quotes from the show:
On why JLD installed solar in his home: “I’ve really wanted to continue to move a little more self-sufficient, a little more or the grid in different areas of my life to include energy.” – John Lee Dumas, Episode #81
“Successful entrepreneurs [are] productive, disciplined, and focused human beings.” – John Lee Dumas, Episode #81 
“The future of podcasting is niche.  Niche is going to win.” – John Lee Dumas, Episode #81
“I think you always mention, be your authentic true self as well and that really resonates.”  – Benoy Thanjan, Episode #81
“What I recognized is, the path to this uncommon success is not complicated.  It’s not super difficult.  It’s a common path.” – John Lee Dumas, Episode #81
“The problem is people get off the pathway too early.  They may start on the right path but they just don’t know how to continue in the right direction and continue with the right focus.” – John Lee Dumas, Episode #81

 
Stay Connected:
 
Benoy Thanjan
Email: info@reneuenergy.com 
LinkedIn: Benoy Thanjan
Website: https://www.reneuenergy.com
 
John Lee Dumas
Website: eofire.com
Podcast: Entrepreneurs on Fire 
Twitter: @johnleedumas
Facebook: John Lee Dumas
 
Top 5 Solar Energy Podcasts You Must Follow in 2020
Thank you to Feedspot for having the Solar Maverick Podcast as one of the top 5 Solar Energy Podcasts You Must Follow in 2020.  Below is the link with more information.
https://blog.feedspot.com/solar_energy_podcasts/
 
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This episode was produced and managed by  Podcast Laundry (www.podcastlaundry.com)