I was in New Jersey today at the studios of CBNC taping The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch. The show was about “The Comeback Mindset: How Do We Comeback from Failure“. I looked forward to showing Donny how to “Bounce!” Unfortunately, I arrived at 3:00 AM last night after the flight out of Chicago was delayed, but the drivers for CNBC were there to take me to my hotel room so I could get some sleep. This morning, I arrived a the studios to meet the other people who were going to be on the show as well. Each of them were amazing in their accomplishments. They included:

Cynthia Cooper- the courageous woman who blew the whistle on Bernie Ebbers and the financial fraud at Worldcom. She has a new book out, published by Wiley called “Extraordinary Circumstances“. I talked with her for awhile and she still does not see herself as a hero. Cynthia said it was the right thing to do. I congratulated her because I do not think that everyone would have done the same thing in her shoes- we all say we would do the right thing but I have found in my own experiences, sometimes we fail our own expectations.

Nadja Piatka who after her husband left penniless and she started baking to earn money. She now runs a baked goods company that supplies to Subway, Stop and Shop, etc. We talked about her experience of being on Oprah twice! and Don Peebles,  the owner of the largest African American real estate company in the country. A short 13 years ago he was swept up in the Marion Berry scandal. He now runs a $4B company! Talk about Bounce!

After I had met the other guests, I was then brought into makeup. There I sat under pictures of Maria Bartiromo and other CNBC personalities. I needed extra time in make up to take out all the shiny spots!I was then briefed by the producer on the outline for the show. Finally, it was my turn as I was brought to the studio to wait for a commercial break to join the other guests on stage. Donny’s interview style made it easy to easy to get engaged right away and participate with a high level of energy. I was impressed with how articulate each guest was and at times it was hard to get my contribution in, but Donny had the knack for spreading it around to welcome participation. Now I know why is show is so popular.

One of my favorite parts of the show was when callers asked their questions and what to do after sinking all their money into a failures. I gave guidance and encouragement. At the end of the show, Donny asks for a final playbook or comment. Mine was- “To mount your comeback, set patient goals for yourself. Small successes will give you the renewed confidence to achieve your long term visions.” Finally, after the show was over, the producer asked me to stay to do a “Web Only Special” and talk more about how the path to success is not a straight line: Watch the story of the Gossamer Albatross!

Check out my Blog Post on The Big Idea!

Before I knew it, it was over and I was off to catch my flight back to Chicago. My hats off to Donny and the high energy folks that put on The Big Idea. All of you make it fun and easy to participate!

I spoke this past week at Westlink’s Innovation Conference. in Calgary, Alberta. It brings connects  representatives from industry, venture capital, government and academia. I entrepreneurs and researchers at various stages. An interesting futurist speaker that I listened to was Dr. Thomas Keenan of the University of Calgary. He talked a lot about trying to protect the info you let out on the web and how difficult it is to guard your personal information. It was downright scary.

And of course I asked, “How Do You Bounce?” From Calgary, the Canadians bounce a bit different than Americans.

The decision to close a business is never an easy one. Most of us want to honor the great American rally cry of “Winners never quit and quitters never win”. Nonsense. Sometimes it makes real sense to close a business when you have run out of cash or passion or both. As they say, “winners know when to quit.”

A women recently wrote me a note that described how she felt after closing her business:

“I am finally starting to feel the pain and sadness that comes with closing a business. At first, I was hopeful that I could transform the business into a different format. However, I was afraid of yet a second non-successful outcome. The first time I opened my business my instincts compelled me; now I am a afraid to trust or listen to them…”

Ah, business instincts. It is what makes us take the jump and the leap of faith when we start out. I always joke that entrepreneur’s are not risk takers- if we were, there is no way we would start a business since it is too risky. And when you use that instinct and you fail, its tough to trust it again. The advice I gave this women was that she should find a stable job or other less risky source of revenue stream to rebuild her instinct. Time has a way of rebuilding your confidence. She will find her footing again. What advice would you give her?

2008 is proving to be a difficult one for many of us with the mortgage crisis, gas prices and credit crunch. The stock market is down, unemployment is up. I believe we are in a recession. I don’t need economists to tell me that. My clients have less opportunities for work. People are paying slower.

We all have good days and bad days. During these trying times, we all need to be able to “bounce” and let go in order to move on. In order to lift our spirits (and best of all earn some cash), we are sponsoring a video contest to find out “How Do You Bounce?” Tell us how you pick yourself up when you are low. Tell us how you celebrate when everything is going your way. Tell us how you face all the time in between. Play the You Tube videos. Learn how others bounce! Visit HowDoUBounce.com and Win!

I am on the board of directors of a wonderful organization called IIEE which helps high school kids in disadvantaged and underserved populations.When I spoke at their annual conference this past Saturday, I met a group from East Newton, MO. What was amazing about this group along with their teacher, Denise Stafford was the effort they put into coming to the conference. Denise told me about how economically challenged the community is. They had to earn the thousands of dollars it required to attend the event. They rented a yellow school bus to make the 14 hour trip from their town to Chicago. The businesses they started ranged from bath salts to fudge.  But let them tell you their story:

I spoke last week at an Indiana Venture Center sponsored conference called Incubicity. What in Incubicity? It is a business plan competition to help Indiana form and grow new companies. What I like about these events are that people right here in the middle of America are starting real companies: Things for flat bed trucks, more efficient buring of fuel substitutes, soy products… It is proven that during difficult times people go out and start more businesses because they have no choice. And yes, I asked these entrepreneurs how do they bounce?

I had forgot how quickly television and the media moves. With the new book, Bounce! I am doing more television. I taped a segment for First Business today in Chicago on what we need to survive and prosper in a recession. I arrived at the station at 10:00 AM to record my segment.  I met the host, Beejal Patel and was escorted to the set. I was “mic-ed up” and then she started to ask 5 or 6 relevant questions….and that was it. Beejal thanked me and escorted me to the lobby. I looked at my watch- 10:12 AM. Wow! That was fast.

I guess I always imagine that my television appearances will be like Oprah or Jay Leno where I am sitting on “the couch” and when we have to break away for commercial the hosts says, “Barry, this is fascinating. Can you stay and talk with us a little longer”. So far, only in my dreams.

One of the most famous quotes in world history is Winston Churchill’s WWII speech that England will “never, never surrender“. This probably is good advice in war but not in business. Winners know when to quit. As Will Rogers says, “If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing you have to do is stop digging.”

I was reminded of this in a recent article about a Japanese High School baseball team that was down 66-0 after 2 innings. They quit. This made good sense. The pitcher had already thrown 250 pitches allowing 26 runs in the first inning and 40 in the second inning. (The average major league starting pitcher usually throws about 100. In 6th grade, my son is only allowed to throw 40 in a game). Quitting here makes alot of sense.

It is difficult to know when to persevere or just quit. On one hand, we need to persevere, to stick it out many times to be successful. Alternately,quitting gives us an escape hatch, so we can let go of the present result, and bounce, take another action that can give us another chance of success. How do you choose? Look at your passion and your cash flow. Talk to your trusted advisors around you. They will help you make the right decision.

The Japanese baseball team was smart to call it a day. The good thing is in baseball, the next game they play, the score starts at 0-0.

I watched some of the Masters Golf Tournament yesterday. It was mostly to watch Tiger Woods come from behind to beat the rest of the field…but he didn’t. Trevor Immelman won from South Africa. What is most interesting about Immelman, who had won another recent major golf tournament, the 2006 Western Open is that he actually missed the final cut in a golf tournament in Houston the week before. He had not finished higher than 40th in his last 6 tournaments. A week later, he was the Masters Champion beating Tiger Woods. Now that’s a bounce!

I spoke yesterday at a global sales meeting for a $100M technology company. Even though I was speaking at 5:00 PM, I had to fly in early in the morning to make sure I was there on time. Airplanes work mostly but you can’t trust being on time with our aviation system. When I arrive early at a location when I come in just for the day, I try to get a day room at the hotel where the event is so I can relax and practice my speech a bit. I practice almost every day and this day was no different- except there was no place to practice. There were no rooms at the inn as they say.

I finally was able to get into the exercise room of the hotel which was empty (and freezing!). I was practicing parts of my speech outloud as I always do to the empty room. I then  decided to text my performance coach to let her know that I was practicing and keeping my commitments to constantly improve my presentations.

In less than a minute after I told her I was absurdly in an exercise room rehearsing, her replay came back…

“And I am rehearsing in the lady’s room- I do a presentation in 20 minutes”.

I had to laugh and realized what I crazy business I am in…and statisfying. What can be better than to stand up on stage, passionately speak about what you believe and have people consider what you have to say?