6. Be Distinct or Be Extinct

—Kevin Noland (A.D.A.M., Inc.)

Talking with Kevin Noland is like drinking a double shot of espresso at an amusement park. He's just plain exciting. That's because Kevin is the kind of guy who sees the fun in things rather than the downside. It started when Kevin was a teen and wanted to be an edgy rock star and moved to Atlanta to get discovered—and just to play it safe he enrolled in engineering school. Obviously, Kevin never became a rock star, but he thrived in buckled-down corporate America in a way you wouldn't expect: He made himself stand out instead of fitting in.

"I never wanted a job. I wanted an adventure," Kevin says. Yet even though corporate jobs aren't usually considered chock-full of adventure, Kevin ...

Get Entrepreneurship Lessons for Success (Collection) now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.