Start before you feel ready.
Ted sold Coca-Cola at eight and ran a 5 a.m. paper route. The itch showed up long before the plan did.
About the book
Behind every company is a story.
Behind every story is a person. And behind every successful entrepreneur, there's usually another one who offered encouragement, guidance, or simply the confidence to keep going.
That's the idea behind Meet One Entrepreneur. Ten chapters, each pairing a storyline from Ted A. Baker's life with the business principles it taught him, from selling Coca-Cola at eight years old to leading one of Indiana's most successful business incubators.
Why this book
Not a hundred. Not someday. One.
For years, business owners have been told the same thing: expand your network. Attend the events. Join the organizations. Connect with as many people as you can. Ted has done plenty of all of that, and he'll tell you it has value.
But when he looks back at what changed the course of a business, his own or anyone else's, it's rarely a crowd. It's usually one person:
- A mentor who offered wisdom.
- A customer who provided insight.
- An investor who believed.
- A fellow founder who shared hard-earned lessons.
- A community leader who opened a door.
So the book is built on a simple principle: meet one entrepreneur. The person you meet today may become a customer, a mentor, a partner, or a lifelong friend. More importantly, they may change what you think is possible.
Why now
More ways to connect than ever. Fewer real connections.
Artificial intelligence, automation, and remote work are reshaping how businesses start and how they run. Opportunity can come from any city, small town, or rural county with an internet connection. And yet, with more ways to reach each other than ever, a meaningful connection can still be remarkably hard to find.
No algorithm can fully replace trust. No software can fully replace mentorship. No platform can fully replace a conversation between two people exploring what is possible.
Ted's answer isn't more technology. It's more connectors: people willing to make an introduction, share a lesson learned, and encourage someone to take the first step.
What's inside
Part field guide. Part memoir.
Every chapter opens with a storyline from Ted's life and closes with the principles it taught. The appendix adds Ted's Takeaways: ten practical action steps for starting, growing, and sustaining a business.
Prefaces by Karl R. LaPan and Ron Fauquher. Foreword: Why This Book, Why Now.
- The Formative Years A Route to Independence
- Building Hustle Muscle Lessons from Side Gigs and School
- From Employee to Practitioner The Leap into Ownership
- Franchising with Purpose Sport Clips and Multi-Unit Management
- The Faith Journey in the Midst of Life
- The Transition to Community Impact Serving Entrepreneurs
- Building Business Foundations Incubation and Startups Done Right
- Scaling Businesses Systems, People, and Capital
- Sustaining Impact Operating Businesses for Longevity
- Legacy and the Mindset of a Modern Entrepreneur
- Epilogue Your Journey Starts Now
Appendices: Ted's Takeaways, recommended reading and tools, and resources for entrepreneurs in Indiana and beyond.
Field notes
A few of the principles.
In the short form they take at the end of a chapter.
Working inside a business is the best MBA.
Nearly twenty years in other people's companies came before the leap into ownership, and made it survivable.
Meet one entrepreneur.
The most significant opportunities come from a few meaningful relationships, not a room full of business cards.
A mindset that leads to creation.
Entrepreneurship isn't limited to starting a business. It's a way of thinking that favors curiosity, adaptability, and action.
An invitation
The premise is simple.
- Meet one entrepreneur.
- Listen to their story.
- Share your own.
- Learn from each other.
- Then repeat.
When entrepreneurs connect, ideas grow. When ideas grow, businesses emerge. When businesses emerge, jobs are created. When jobs are created, communities prosper.
Dedication
To the entrepreneurs.
You are the dreamers who become doers. You are the problem-solvers who see possibilities where others see obstacles.
The book is dedicated to every entrepreneur and business owner, past, present, and future, and to those who will find the courage to begin tomorrow.
In their words.
Meet One Entrepreneur reflects the way Ted lives: he sees the person behind the business and knows that one conversation can open a door or give someone the confidence to keep going.
Ted brings to life both the “art” and the “skill” of the entrepreneurial lifestyle and does so in a way that illuminates a path for those already living the lifestyle and those wanting to start down that path.
Reading it together?
Ordering for a class, an incubator cohort, a chamber, or your team? Ted's Takeaways were written to be worked through together, and Ted is glad to join the conversation in person or by video.
Questions
Questions people ask.
Is this a memoir or a business book?
Both. Each chapter pairs a storyline from Ted's life with the practical principles it taught him.
Who is it for?
Founders and students, established business owners, and the people who build entrepreneurial communities: incubator managers, economic developers, educators, and community leaders.
What's a “millennial trapped in a baby boomer's body”?
Ted's description of himself. His experience comes from the baby boomer generation, but his curiosity about what's next, his comfort with change, and his instinct to connect and collaborate are qualities we tend to associate with younger generations. It's not a knock on baby boomers. Ted is quick to say so himself.
What's in the appendices?
Ted's Takeaways, ten practical action steps for starting, growing, and sustaining a business; recommended reading and tools; and resources for entrepreneurs in Indiana and beyond.
Who wrote the prefaces?
Karl R. LaPan and Ron Fauquher. Both open the book with a short preface about Ted and the story he has to tell.
Does Ted speak to groups?
He does, nationally and internationally, on entrepreneurship, business incubation, entrepreneurial ecosystems, and community collaboration. See speaking topics.