10 All-Time Best TED Conferences For Entrepreneurs - Most Viewed TED Talks in the Business Category

A couple of weeks ago, I've received an overwhelming reception for my featured article, Top 15 Motivational Videos of 2017 for Entrepreneurs. It's exhilarating that people appreciated what I shared, and as a result, I'm here again to give you the 10 All-Time Best Ted Talks under the business category.

These are my personal picks. :)

Dan Pink

Cited as one of the top business thinkers in the world since 2011 by Thinkers 50, a global ranking of management thinkers. Dan is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller, To Sell is Human, it is known for receiving the Berry-AMA Book Prize for the Best Book in Marketing in 2013.

In the 2009 TEDGlobal, Dan shared a story about an experiment in behavioral science: exhibiting the true power of incentive. It's amusing how he revealed that most of the time rewards narrow people's focus and often suppress creativity.

I’m sure most of you will find yourself nodding and realizing that we could all be guilty of focusing more on the reward than concentrating on the actual goal; though I strongly agree that people still need rewards, right? Right! Now, I'll share with you one of my methods: focus on the goal first even if it doesn't come with a lustrous reward, and be patient. Let your work speak for how much you're worth. Sooner or later, you'll be rewarded for all your efforts... and that's for sure. Remember, you reap what you sow.

Shawn Achor

The author of The Happiness Advantage, a New York Times best-selling book about how happiness and and positive thinking can help us make all things possible and achieve success. Shawn is a positive psychologist advocate and has travelled to more than 50 countries and lectured the importance of happiness and its role in achieving your goals.

When I first saw this inspiring TED talk of Shawn, I got a vibe like I'm watching a witty stand-up comedian. It's amazing how turned a serious topic into a light and fun conversation.

Shawn's on point when he said it's human nature that people work hard to be happy, that a person needs to be successful in order to be happy; which he strongly opposes, and uttered that happiness is what really inspires us to be more productive. If you're happy with what you're doing, then you're more likely going to become successful.

Bill Gross

A serial entrepreneur, an investor, and the Founder and CEO of Idealab, a startup company helping pioneering companies grow a prosperous business, by providing advice on strategy, branding and corporate structure. Bill is also the Founder and former CEO of UberMedia, a marketing and advertising company providing quality mobile data solutions like targeted mobile advertising.

Starting up your own company? You need to check out Bill Gross's TED talk where you'll get a straightforward interpretation of why some startups succeed and some fail. The information he's presented is actual data that he accumulated from hundreds of companies.

What I liked most about what Bill shared is when he emphasized that aside from a good business model, great idea, and execution, perfect timing is the main factor for a company's success. He even cited that YouTube was perfectly timed when it first started. Watch the entire clip to know more! :)

Arianna Huffington

An author, columnist, businesswoman, and founder & CEO of Thrive Global, a company with a mission to cease the stress and burnout epidemic. Arianna is also a co-founder & former editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post, which is now owned by AOL.

Arianna rediscovered the value of sleep after fainting from exhaustion and getting injured when she fell badly. Due to that incident, she studied and met with medical experts and scientists, then came up with the conclusion that the way to a more productive, inspired and joyful life is getting enough sleep.

Arianna shared an event when she had dinner with a guy who bragged that he had only gotten four hours of sleep the night before. It's funny how she told a man that their conversation would've been a lot more interesting if he had gotten five hours of sleep; it's her way of informing people to never brag about sleep deprivation because sleep is one important key to a smarter decision-making.

Jason Fried

A correspondent for the Getting Real column at Inc. Magazine's, an American weekly magazine which features everything you should learn if you want to start your own business. Jason is the Founder & CEO of Basecamp, a web-based project management and collaboration software.

Where do you go when you really need to get something done? How many people do you think would actually say that they love working in the office? Jason has been asking people around for years, and he heard people say things like the basement, coffee shop, train, or extra room in the house. He's quite surprised that he almost never hear people say they love working in the office!

Why do we expect people to work well if they're being interrupted all day at the office? I know many digital marketers and remote workers can relate to Jason's argument. Others would normally say that there are more distractions at home, but Jason opposed that and revealed that you get to decide when you want to be distracted at home. Unlike in the office, when you're doing important work and the manager calls a meeting, you don't have a choice but to attend.

Richard St. John

An active marathon runner, a judo black-belt, success expert, entrepreneur, speaker, and the author of bestselling book The 8 Traits Successful People Have in Common: 8 To Be Great. Richard is one of the few people who had the privilege speaking with Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Martha Stewart, and many other prominent people.

Richard started his mission of finding out about the secrets of success after he failed to give an answer to a teenager who asked him what leads to success. Next thing he knew, he's in TED standing in the middle of accomplished TEDsters. That's the moment he came up with the idea of talking to successful people and asked what helped them succeed so that he can relay his new-found wisdom to the youth.

In his 3-minute TED Talk, Richard revealed the 8 Secrets of Success, the result of 7 years of research and 500 interviews. My favorite on this list is Joe Kraus's, Persist because my persistence helps me keep going no matter how many failures I encounter.

Julian Treasure

A five-time TED speaker with an estimated 50 million views all in all., and has been featured in TIME Magazine, BBC, The Times, and The Economist. Julian is also the founder of The Sound Agency, a company that specializes in making a business or brand's name sound good, to be heard and listened to.

People need to learn to voice out their thoughts for them to be able to convey their ideas which is crucial if they want to succeed. However, it's a fact that you won't always get people's attention and make them listen to what you're saying. In his TED talk, Julian demonstrates the steps in achieving powerful speaking.

What caught my attention in Julian's talk is the Seven Deadly Sins of Speaking; comprised of gossip, judging, negativity, complaining, excuses, lying, and dogmatism. If you possess these sins, you may find it hard to make people listen to you.

Tim Urban

The writer and illustrator of Wait But Why, a site with posts about life, relationship, happiness, aliens, or topics about almost everything under the sun and beyond the universe. In 2015, Elon Musk tapped Tim and asked if he's willing to write about his company, that lead to a five-part series of Wait But Why posts about Elon Musk and his companies.

In this talk, Tim revealed what's happening with a procrastinator's mind and I'm pretty sure every procrastinator, including myself, can't help but agree with everything he's explained.

Procrastination displays a negative image, and a person who procrastinates is customarily labeled unprofessional. Tim perfectly demonstrated why some people get trapped in the dark playground of procrastination, and this will make non-procrastinators understand that once procrastinators step out of the mentioned playground, they can be professionals as well.

Paul Tasner

A Cofounder and CEO at PulpWorks, Inc., a company that designs and manufactures sustainable, environment-friendly, biodegradable packaging for consumer goods. Paul also became one of the TED Residents, Class of Spring 2017.

It's heart melting when Paul shared that he's doing the most rewarding and meaningful work of his life right now after being imprisoned in corporate life for more than four decades. It's moving that he shows no regrets for the years he dedicated working as an employee. and he's even thankful for the experience he acquired that made him into the man he is now.

It's never too late to start working on your dreams and reinvent your life. Paul is one living proof that if you set your eyes on the goal, you can still succeed regardless of how late you started.

Tom Wujec

An author, advocate of visual thinking, and a fellow at Autodesk. Tom is also a founding professor at Singularity University where he teaches design paradigms, collaboration techniques, and design technologies.

Tom did an extensive research on Peter Skillman's Marshmallow Challenge, an activity that involves dry spaghetti, one yard of tape, and a marshmallow. It's remarkable when kindergarten graduates did better in the experiment than CEOs and executives.

You know what made the kids stand out? CEOs, executives, and other business people focused on creating strategies and business plans, and a huge amount of their time was wasted on planning while the kids just kept on doing the challenge using trial and error until they got the perfect design to finish the challenge.