6 Interesting Things We Learned From Entrepreneurs About Starting A Business

Company: Jive Jerky, a homemade jerky retailer based in Moscow, Pennsylvania

Founder: Tim O'Grady

Question: "What advice would you give to an aspiring small-business owner?"

Answer: "You can spend your whole life trying to plan something out, thinking about the best way to go about it, before you realize the years have slipped by and you never did it. Just go out and start it. If it fails, it fails. But at least you went out and tried."

Read his full Q&A.

Company: Num Pang, a Cambodian-style sandwich chain in New York City

Founders: Ben Daitz (left) and Ratha Chaupoly (right)

Question: "What is your greatest talent, professional or otherwise?"

Answer: "You need to have many different strengths, every day. One day, you could be a plumber. The next day, you have to be an accountant. Then you have to be a chef," says Daitz.

Watch their full video Q&A.

Company: Music City Pizza, a Nashville-based restaurant that supports local bands and charities

Founder: Keith Hayman

Question: "What's the weirdest job you've ever had?"

Answer: "I was on the Anheuser-Busch account helping with branding for O'Doul's nonalcoholic beer. I had to drive a 24-foot beer truck with 30 kegs of nonalcoholic beer. I can't think of a bigger waste of time than driving around with lots of beer that can't get you drunk."

Read his full Q&A.

Company: DPS Skis, a carbon-fiber skis retailer in Salt Lake City, Utah

Founder: Stephan Drake

Question: "What advice would you give to an aspiring small-business owner?"

Answer: "Cultivate the ability to persevere, get tough, and mentally prepare yourself to weather storms, because there will be many. I think that's what separates those who survive and those who don't."

Read his full Q&A.

Company: Great Raft Brewing, the first post-Prohibition brewery in Shreveport, Louisiana

Founders: Andrew and Lindsay Nations

Question: "What is your greatest talent, professional or otherwise?"

Answer: "I'm pretty good at finding the positive in things and moving forward," says Andrew. "It took us two years to get off the ground."

Watch their full video Q&A.

Read the rest of our Fast Track Q&A series >