Fran Tarkenton understands what it takes to win in sports and in business. As one of the NFL's all time great competitors, his leadership skills have been tested time and time again. He was inducted into both the National Football League and the Collegiate Football Halls of Fame, and he was an All-American athlete at the University of Georgia. As quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings, Fran took his team to the 1973, 1974 and 1976 Super Bowls. He set the all-time NFL passing records for the most touchdowns (342), the most yards gained passing (47,003) and the most completions. Those records stood for 17 years.

Fran is now a hands-on entrepreneur. Since his football career ended, he has launched 15 companies with revenues that range between $1 million and $142 million. His companies are the genesis of his ideas. He funds the start-ups, develops the business plans and executes the strategies to build thriving businesses.

He was a founding board member of Coca-Cola Enterprises and also served on the Board of Directors of Sterling Software, the tenth largest software company in the world as well as Blimpie International. Fran was among the pioneers behind the launch of Guthy-Renker Corporation in 1986. Today it is the leading infomercial production company which introduced television spokesperson Tony Robbins to the world. Fran is the promotional genius behind successes such as Power-Rider fitness products and also helped launch 1-800-BAR-NONE, the top sub-prime auto loan program in the United States.

In 2003, he started Tarkenton Financial, a company focused on financial education and the benefits of fixed annuities and single premium life products. The company embodies his vision, values and his passion and is the culmination of his work for the last 10 years.

A highly regarded entrepreneur for the last 40 years, Fran's philosophy is that there is only one reason for a business to exist - to provide products and services that enhance and improve the quality of life of its customer.

• Winning Through Adversity : There's not a successful business person alive today who hasn't taken career spills. In this program, Fran tells what it takes to keep losses from denting initiative. It outlines his secrets for creating wins on the backs of losses and how to develop the attitude required to pick up and keep going in the face of adversity. "The most successful people I know have made the most mistakes. The biggest winners are also the biggest losers."
  
  
• Leadership : One look at business leaders shows that there is more to successful business than making or marketing good products, ideas or services. It takes leadership in a company to help employees see and share the ideas that lead to a great company. Employees don't follow a leader who has plans...they follow a leader who has fire and a passion to add value to people's lives. In this program, Fran talks about these and other characteristics of a genuine leader and what it takes to inspire people in an organization. He also shows how you can assess your own organization to see how well it is adding value to people's lives.
  
  
• The Entrepreneur Inside the Corporation : What make a company truly great? At the end of the day, corporations are made great by the independent, free-thinking, entrepreneurial attitudes of the people inside of them. In this program, Fran describes what it takes for a corporate insider to learn entrepreneurial behavior and how corporations can foster the atmosphere that encourages the creativity.
  
  
• Thriving in the Small Business Marketplace : In the United States, small business represents 50% of the revenues and 75% of the job growth, and the numbers are projected to explode in the 21st century. Every major corporation is itching to tap into this lucrative small business market. In this program, Fran shares his experiences in starting businesses and in the process, becoming one of the country's leading authorities on finding - and marketing to - small business owners.

Books by Fran Tarkenton...
What Losing Taught Me About Winning: The Ultimate Guide for Success in Small and Home-Based Business