Ep 024: Founders, Date Before You Marry w/ Mike Chan

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikewchan ()Mike Chan is an entrepreneur, consultant, marketer, and blogger. He is the co-founder of Ribl, a real-time, location based message board app, where you can share and discover the most relevant content about your current vicinity, so you’ll never miss out on what’s happening around you. Not only that, he is also the Founder and Host of his own show, the Go and Grow Podcast. Where he interviews entrepreneurs and industry leaders to learn how they launch and grow products and companies.

STRATEGIES USED TO FUND BUSINESS
My businesses are often bootstrapped. I’ve either started them working on the side while working a full time job or leaving a full time job and doing some consulting. There are certainly pros and cons to that but the bottom line is…just make it happen. Funding from outside sources is not necessary to create a startup

FOUNDERS
The first startup that I worked on didn’t last very long. And it was because of founder issues. One of the biggest problems for non-technical entrepreneurs like me who are trying to get into a tech startup is to find technical co-founders. I found 3 technical cofounders really quickly and what happened was that I essentially got married without dating. It failed a couple months down the road. We couldn’t agree on the next steps, we couldn’t agree on the strategy and the vision of the company. And this was the startup I quit my full-time job for. Date before you marry.

HUGE SUCCESS
I haven’t got to the point, at least in my eyes, when I realized I’ve achieved great success. You have to celebrate the small successes. One of the things that I look at is just seeing the fruits of your labor when you’ve worked hard.

SUPERPOWER
I think empathy is my greatest strength. Whether in business or life in general, I think I’m pretty good at putting myself in other people’s shoes and seeing things from their view.

KRYPTONITE
My kryptonite is that I am a Jack of All Trades, but a Master at None. It’s tough for me. I like to know a lot about a lot of things, but it’ll serve me well to focus on one thing and get really strong at that.

IF YOU CAN HAVE ANY SUPERPOWER
I want to be able to read people’s minds. Empathy is part of this, but I’m definitely not at the point of reading people’s minds.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE OR APP
https://trello.com/ (Trello): The free, flexible, and visual way to organize anything with anyone.

 

RECOMMENDED BOOKS
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1596981148/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1596981148&linkCode=as2&tag=stalifhac-20&linkId=NKOOR6HNURGTGZL5 ()

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1596981148/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1596981148&linkCode=as2&tag=stalifhac-20&linkId=6B3FJPDEZJLJ7T2J (The Business of Happiness: 6 Secrets to Extraordinary Success in Life and Work)

WHAT IS YOUR STARTUP LIFE HACK?
Don’t think about what you might miss out on if you fail. Think about what you gain when you succeed.

 

ADVICE TO HACKER NATION
Depending on what business you want to start, just do one little thing because that’s what gets it going.

FOLLOW
[email protected]

https://twitter.com/mikewchan (Twitter @mikewchan)

http://www.mikewchan.com/ (http://www.mikewchan.com/)

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikewchan (Linkedin)

Mike Chan is an entrepreneur, consultant, marketer, and blogger. He is the co-founder of Ribl, a real-time, location based message board app, where you can share and discover the most relevant content about your current vicinity, so you’ll never miss out on what’s happening around you. Not only that, he is also the Founder and Host of his own show, the Go and Grow Podcast. Where he interviews entrepreneurs and industry leaders to learn how they launch and grow products and companies.

STRATEGIES USED TO FUND BUSINESS

My businesses are often bootstrapped. I’ve either started them working on the side while working a full time job or leaving a full time job and doing some consulting. There are certainly pros and cons to that but the bottom line is…just make it happen. Funding from outside sources is not necessary to create a startup

FOUNDERS

The first startup that I worked on didn’t last very long. And it was because of founder issues. One of the biggest problems for non-technical entrepreneurs like me who are trying to get into a tech startup is to find technical co-founders. I found 3 technical cofounders really quickly and what happened was that I essentially got married without dating. It failed a couple months down the road. We couldn’t agree on the next steps, we couldn’t agree on the strategy and the vision of the company. And this was the startup I quit my full-time job for. Date before you marry.

HUGE SUCCESS

I haven’t got to the point, at least in my eyes, when I realized I’ve achieved great success. You have to celebrate the small successes. One of the things that I look at is just seeing the fruits of your labor when you’ve worked hard.

SUPERPOWER

I think empathy is my greatest strength. Whether in business or life in general, I think I’m pretty good at putting myself in other people’s shoes and seeing things from their view.

KRYPTONITE

My kryptonite is that I am a Jack of All Trades, but a Master at None. It’s tough for me. I like to know a lot about a lot of things, but it’ll serve me well to focus on one thing and get really strong at that.

IF YOU CAN HAVE ANY SUPERPOWER

I want to be able to read people’s minds. Empathy is part of this, but I’m definitely not at the point of reading people’s minds.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE OR APP

Trello: The free, flexible, and visual way to organize anything with anyone.

 

RECOMMENDED BOOKS

The Business of Happiness: 6 Secrets to Extraordinary Success in Life and Work

WHAT IS YOUR STARTUP LIFE HACK?

Don’t think about what you might miss out on if you fail. Think about what you gain when you succeed.

 

ADVICE TO HACKER NATION

Depending on what business you want to start, just do one little thing because that’s what gets it going.

FOLLOW

[email protected]

Twitter @mikewchan

http://www.mikewchan.com/

Linkedin