Jon Acuff, best-selling author of Stuff Christians Like, spoke Wednesday in the Massey Board Room about the five lies every entrepreneur must ignore in order to succeed. An experienced speaker and the creator of StuffChristiansLike.net, a blog read by more than two million people in 97 percent of the countries in the world, Acuff has worked with companies like Home Depot, Chick-fil-A, Bose and Staples on their brand positioning and marketing.

In a talk sponsored by Belmont’s Center for Entrepreneurship, Acuff spoke on “5 Lies Every Entrepreneur Must Ignore to Succeed,” captivating a completely packed room of hopeful Belmont students and faculty by delivering his powerful message with a lighthearted and slightly comical spin.

He began by emphasizing the fact that technology and social media have completely redefined our generation’s standards and opportunities among the business realm. Acuff claimed that “consumer behavior has changed” because “our generation is the most over-marketed” generation in comparison to ever before.

The exorbitant amount of information that technology offers allows consumers to research and become aware of nearly anything, and they desire truth in marketing. Acuff brought up an example of change in comparing Nike’s marketing slogan years ago versus now to illustrate this point of truth in marketing. At one point, Nike’s marketing campaign was “Be Like Mike” which inferred to the consumer that by wearing Air Jordan shoes one could be like Michael Jordan. Now Nike’s marketing campaign is “Our shoes work if you do.”  This pointed example prefaced Acuff’s message of entrepreneurs being mindful of the lies that can often detour one’s success.

Acuff defined the first lie that many in the entrepreneurial world face to be stressing over “finding the next big thing.” He claimed that many look for the “Eureka moments” when often times the most successful ideas can develop from the “hinge moments,” the small changes or ideas that can have a meaningful impact on business ventures. He went on to show the “hinge moment” of Chick-Fil-A as being the addition of the spicy chicken sandwich. This was not a brand new or innovative idea, but this decision profoundly impacted the profits of the Chick-Fil-A franchise.