Jon Giaan – Founder of Knowledge Source

I think there is greater awareness of the fact that striking out on your own is not as great a risk as so many people seem to make it out to be.

A self-taught and self-made multimillionaire, Jon Giaan experienced firsthand what it is like to pursue wealth and prosperity without being able to rely on any formal experience or education on the subject of investing. Citing a lack of a truly comprehensive resource in which a broad range of relevant educational content could be found, Mr. Giaan founded Knowledge Source as a means for filling that vast information gap. Mr. Giaan has since used his own experience to guide others possessing similar aspirations regarding wealth creation and long-term financial security, turning Knowledge Source into a comprehensive resource in which Australia’s most respected investment educators are able to offer their extensive insight and expertise across a wide range of subjects.

Knowledge Source is now recognized as Australia’s most prominent source of wealth-creation information and is rightly hailed as the country’s top education and training company, an achievement largely due to the tireless work ethic possessed by Mr. Giaan along with his unyielding commitment to the idea that anything is possible through self-education. Before founding Knowledge Source, Mr. Giaan researched an endless array of investment strategies and applied a number of unique methodologies on the way to building a property investment portfolio that is now worth more than $35 million.

Where did the idea for Knowledge Source come from?

My own experience as a new investor served as both the inspiration and the blueprint, with the goal of Knowledge Source being the elimination of trial-and-error in exchange for a sharper focus on tried-and-true.

What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?

I stay in close contact with the expert educators — who, it should be noted, offer such consistently outstanding insight through Knowledge Source — and am in constant discussion with our team regarding the subjects we want to cover so we can continue to help our subscribers as they seek to achieve their financial goals.

How do you bring ideas to life?

I’m a voracious reader and often find myself making connections between different books or articles that might be useful to our subscribers, so I keep a notebook with me everywhere I go so I can discuss any ideas I may have had with the team at Knowledge Source.

What’s one trend that really excites you?

I think there is greater awareness of the fact that striking out on your own is not as great a risk as so many people seem to make it out to be.

What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?

I’m always reading and am always in search of new educational opportunities.

What was the worst job you ever had and what did you learn from it?

I held a number of traditional corporate jobs that just didn’t suit my desire to be in complete control of my future while also expanding my horizons through diverse educational pursuits.

If you were to start again, what would you do differently?

I learned so much from the failures I had along the way that I could not imagine being where I am today if I had done things differently.

As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?

I am always consulting with others and am constantly seeking different viewpoints as often as possible so I can see every angle of a particular issue.

9. What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business? Please explain how.

The best strategy we have used is quite possibly the simplest one: the efficacy of our strategies is constantly shared via social proof, so by helping our subscribers achieve life-altering wealth we are also expanding our subscriber base without the need for traditional marketing.

What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?

There were countless failures I had when I first started, but I view failure as a form of feedback that makes the path to prosperity that much clearer.

What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?

There is a general lack of the educational resources most people are seeking; most of these resources are either too broad or too narrow to be useful.

What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?

My wife and I attended an orchestral performance in Melbourne and then enjoyed an exquisite meal at one of our favorite restaurants in the city.

What software and web services do you use? What do you love about them?

The software we have in place is designed to simplify and streamline a lot of our processes, which allows us to maintain our focus on the quality of the information we are providing to our subscribers.

What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?

Other than the book I wrote (“The Millionaire Phenomena”), I would recommend “The Innovator’s Dilemma,” by Clayton Christensen. It is essentially a blueprint for startups looking to outperform their larger and more established competitors.

What people have influenced your thinking and might be of interest to others?

Napoleon Hill, Warren Buffett, and Rene Girard.