Don’t be afraid to fail

Transcript

Full transcript page · Interactive episode

============================================================
TRANSCRIPTION WITH SPEAKERS
============================================================

[00:00] SPEAKER_01: Welcome to Canada's Podcast.
[00:05] SPEAKER_00: Hi, I'm Cynthia Lockery and welcome to Canada's Podcast,
[00:10] SPEAKER_00: where we talk to entrepreneurs who are making it happen right here in BC.
[00:16] SPEAKER_00: Today, I'm excited to be joined by Alex Clark.
[00:20] SPEAKER_00: Alex is the CEO and founder of QP,
[00:24] SPEAKER_00: a new social media platform for creators and influencers
[00:28] SPEAKER_00: to develop a self-sustainable subscription-based business,
[00:33] SPEAKER_00: allowing them to interact directly with their top followers.
[00:38] SPEAKER_00: Alex is a Vancouver-based serial tech pernure,
[00:41] SPEAKER_00: who previously co-founded Bitstew Systems,
[00:45] SPEAKER_00: which was acquired by GE in 2016.
[00:50] SPEAKER_00: So welcome to this show.
[00:52] SPEAKER_00: Why don't we jump in by you telling us a bit about yourself and QP?
[00:58] SPEAKER_01: Nice to be here. Thanks for having me.
[01:00] SPEAKER_01: So a bit about myself.
[01:03] SPEAKER_01: I was born and raised Silicon Valley,
[01:07] SPEAKER_01: where I started my first business like you mentioned,
[01:09] SPEAKER_01: and then made my way up to BC.
[01:13] SPEAKER_01: So it's been really fun journey.
[01:16] SPEAKER_01: I started the one company, transitioned it to up to BC,
[01:19] SPEAKER_01: and then started my second one, still in BC.
[01:21] SPEAKER_01: So it's been nice to see what it's like to run an operated business
[01:25] SPEAKER_01: in the two different cultures of Silicon Valley versus British Columbia,
[01:28] SPEAKER_01: and the similarities and differences and advantages and disadvantages to each.
[01:32] SPEAKER_01: And my current venture, QP, like you so nicely summarized,
[01:37] SPEAKER_01: really is a platform to help creators monetize directly instead of this kind of interesting,
[01:46] SPEAKER_01: but yet broken model of what social media has become,
[01:49] SPEAKER_01: where they do all the work, and they take all the risk,
[01:51] SPEAKER_01: and they provide all the energy and content,
[01:53] SPEAKER_01: and the platform makes all the money and kind of trickles down whatever they deem fit.
[02:01] SPEAKER_01: And that creates this really weird disconnect between the creator and their audience,
[02:04] SPEAKER_01: and it's a long story about social media evolved,
[02:07] SPEAKER_01: but it's just not right.
[02:08] SPEAKER_01: So we as society have evolved differently,
[02:10] SPEAKER_01: and then we're looking to fix that and give people a way to make money directly off of their hard work,
[02:17] SPEAKER_01: and then engagement.
[02:18] SPEAKER_00: And so you have a unique history, because being an entrepreneur is a long journey for you.
[02:26] SPEAKER_00: It wasn't like you woke up one night and decided to do this.
[02:31] SPEAKER_00: So how was a bit about what made you decide to be an entrepreneur from an early age?
[02:37] SPEAKER_01: So yeah, I mean, I always had this plan, this path for myself.
[02:40] SPEAKER_01: I started in tech because I just loved it,
[02:43] SPEAKER_01: and my brain seemed to work well with computers.
[02:48] SPEAKER_01: It's definitely not for everybody.
[02:50] SPEAKER_01: People had looked at me weird.
[02:51] SPEAKER_01: Like you just sit in front of the computer all day and type in weird languages stuff,
[02:55] SPEAKER_01: and I go, yeah, that's what I do.
[02:56] SPEAKER_01: I love it.
[02:56] SPEAKER_01: But I wouldn't recommend it to everybody,
[02:59] SPEAKER_01: but I definitely had a passion for it, and a trajectory for myself to rise through the ranks,
[03:03] SPEAKER_01: and eventually get into the executive side of companies,
[03:08] SPEAKER_01: and I did when I was 27,
[03:09] SPEAKER_01: and I was able to do that at the last company I worked at before starting my own.
[03:13] SPEAKER_01: And then once I had reached that point, I always knew I wanted to start my own company,
[03:17] SPEAKER_01: and that's because I said, you know what?
[03:19] SPEAKER_01: I want to take control of what it is that's being created,
[03:24] SPEAKER_01: and the operations of it, and you know,
[03:27] SPEAKER_01: I think at that young age, I was like, I don't, I want to be my own boss.
[03:31] SPEAKER_01: That's the thing.
[03:33] SPEAKER_01: And then it didn't take long before I learned the hard way that when you run your own company,
[03:37] SPEAKER_01: you go from having one boss in a regular business to having every customer and investor is your boss.
[03:44] SPEAKER_01: So it's like, wait a minute, it's got the exact opposite of what?
[03:46] SPEAKER_01: I have nothing but bosses right now.
[03:49] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
[03:50] SPEAKER_00: It's a different.
[03:52] SPEAKER_00: And is there any piece of knowledge or information about your industry
[03:58] SPEAKER_00: that might be of interest to people listening today?
[04:03] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, in the industry that I'm currently in,
[04:06] SPEAKER_01: it is really interesting to watch it evolve, and we can see existing,
[04:10] SPEAKER_01: you know, social media impacts everybody.
[04:11] SPEAKER_01: Everybody knows what it is.
[04:13] SPEAKER_01: Everybody can relate to it, and that's kind of cool in some ways,
[04:16] SPEAKER_01: because as I tell people what we do, the cool part about it is it's so relatable,
[04:21] SPEAKER_01: I get a flood of ideas.
[04:22] SPEAKER_01: Oh, wouldn't it be great if you did this?
[04:24] SPEAKER_01: Wouldn't it be great if you did that?
[04:25] SPEAKER_01: And that becomes a big challenge of how to cut through the noise and really figure out what resonates and matters on a broader scale?
[04:31] SPEAKER_01: And that's kind of a fun part.
[04:32] SPEAKER_01: But, you know, the interesting thing about social media is how it has evolved.
[04:36] SPEAKER_01: Right.
[04:36] SPEAKER_01: It started with the early days, and we'll talk about face,
[04:40] SPEAKER_01: but there was also my space, friends, during all this before,
[04:43] SPEAKER_01: kind of doing the same thing, which was connecting people.
[04:45] SPEAKER_01: That's cool.
[04:46] SPEAKER_01: And it was, hey, we'll connect people on college campuses.
[04:49] SPEAKER_01: They'll share about their day, and it was really became this great social thing.
[04:53] SPEAKER_01: And then as it evolved, and you had the rise of things like Vine and Instagram,
[04:58] SPEAKER_01: suddenly we weren't connecting in our inner social circle.
[05:00] SPEAKER_01: We were connected to an outer social circle.
[05:02] SPEAKER_01: We were making connections to people, but we didn't even know.
[05:05] SPEAKER_01: But somebody was taking this amazing vacation, or so it seemed, or so they made it seem,
[05:09] SPEAKER_01: and people were living these lives, and they started to become celebrities in their own right.
[05:13] SPEAKER_01: And so then people wanted that type of personal connection they got in the early days,
[05:17] SPEAKER_01: but people they didn't even know.
[05:19] SPEAKER_01: And social media is then evolved into what we're seeing today, which is,
[05:24] SPEAKER_01: you know, you can kind of see the success of TikTok and others,
[05:27] SPEAKER_01: where we're starting to see our favorite creators in like their bathroom and slippers doing funny little dances in their relatable,
[05:32] SPEAKER_01: and we're starting to feel this connection going on.
[05:35] SPEAKER_01: And that's really what it was all meant to be about, sharing creativity and connection,
[05:39] SPEAKER_01: but it sort of got lost along the way, because during the evolution of the platforms,
[05:45] SPEAKER_01: well, nobody knew where it was going to go, but these companies had to make money.
[05:49] SPEAKER_01: And so they said, hey, we're going to start interjecting ads, and we'll start, you know,
[05:53] SPEAKER_01: how do you make money when somebody's just sharing their lunch?
[05:55] SPEAKER_01: Like, here's a picture of my sandwich. Cool. What do I do?
[05:58] SPEAKER_01: So you put in ads, and as a society evolved to have these regular people become celebrities in their own right,
[06:05] SPEAKER_01: they can now jump between platforms. They can take control of their own destiny.
[06:09] SPEAKER_01: And while a great meaning for creative outlet, the only way that the platform is going to make money was ads.
[06:14] SPEAKER_01: And so that's where we got this really weird model, right?
[06:17] SPEAKER_01: You post a bunch, you build an audience, you become successful.
[06:19] SPEAKER_01: That audience admire as you and wants to connect with you,
[06:21] SPEAKER_01: and then they got to see ads for other stuff that then comes to this almost like,
[06:25] SPEAKER_01: it's almost like this punishment of success.
[06:29] SPEAKER_01: More successful you get, the more ads you have to sell to make money,
[06:32] SPEAKER_01: so you have to then drive this punishment to your audience,
[06:34] SPEAKER_01: and it just kind of created this broken model we see today.
[06:37] SPEAKER_01: And we can see it all the way through in what social media has done really to society overall,
[06:43] SPEAKER_01: because if your goal is to sell ads, then the algorithm, which is AI-based,
[06:47] SPEAKER_01: you say, well, hey, how do I get as much eyeball time on this platform as possible?
[06:52] SPEAKER_01: Well, guess what, human nature.
[06:55] SPEAKER_01: What moves, and what gets people watching more than anything else?
[06:59] SPEAKER_01: Solaceous scandal is content that might not even be true.
[07:02] SPEAKER_01: Rumors and lies spread seven times faster than the truth, because the truth is,
[07:05] SPEAKER_01: pretty normal. The world's a pretty good safe place, right?
[07:08] SPEAKER_01: I don't want to see that. I want to know that aliens have invaded my best friends backyard
[07:12] SPEAKER_01: and taken me, you know, taken somebody hostage.
[07:16] SPEAKER_01: That's what's going to get eyeballs, but it's not necessarily true.
[07:18] SPEAKER_01: And then we just have this model where dishonesty or disinformation feeds more time and success
[07:25] SPEAKER_01: of the platforms and starts to disenfranchise and disassociate the creators.
[07:29] SPEAKER_01: So it's this really interesting time where social media is starting to have to make a correction.
[07:34] SPEAKER_01: We see the big players reaching headlines, and we see startups go offering more authentic engagement
[07:39] SPEAKER_01: and getting more and more successful.
[07:41] SPEAKER_01: So here, respectively, what I'm doing in the business I have is really going to be fun
[07:45] SPEAKER_01: to watch social media over time and how it continues to evolve with the way society has changed with it.
[07:52] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and the younger generation, they're not watching TV or these shows.
[07:59] SPEAKER_00: They're fully getting their entertainment from creators.
[08:02] SPEAKER_00: I have a young man in my house who's all about the creators.
[08:07] SPEAKER_01: And these creators are now big powerhouses and they're calling the shots.
[08:10] SPEAKER_01: So what do we do from the really big ones who've made it, which is still a very small percentage statistically
[08:16] SPEAKER_01: to people with 10,000 followers but are providing tremendous value?
[08:20] SPEAKER_01: Well, then how do you keep them going?
[08:21] SPEAKER_01: Because it's like they have super engaged audience, but the platforms are going,
[08:25] SPEAKER_01: you don't get it to not enough eyeball time.
[08:27] SPEAKER_01: So we're not going to pay you anything.
[08:29] SPEAKER_01: Well, that's not right.
[08:31] SPEAKER_01: And so that's what we hope to fix.
[08:33] SPEAKER_00: Excellent.
[08:34] SPEAKER_00: And so what are you most proud of in terms of the work that you do?
[08:40] SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of things that I get to, I'm really happy with.
[08:44] SPEAKER_01: One is the simple things like, okay, we created a really cool platform and it happened.
[08:49] SPEAKER_01: It looks great and people love it.
[08:50] SPEAKER_01: That I'm proud of, right?
[08:52] SPEAKER_01: But that in itself is nice.
[08:54] SPEAKER_01: But I'm proud of the problem that we're tackling is a really big problem.
[08:58] SPEAKER_01: And it's a problem that could have major impacts on society because it's no secret to the ills of what social media have done
[09:06] SPEAKER_01: because of their broken model relying on advertising dollars and selling people's information.
[09:12] SPEAKER_01: And if we can be a part of cleaning that up because it has to happen eventually.
[09:18] SPEAKER_01: I mean, you can't keep this disconnect model going forever.
[09:21] SPEAKER_01: And if we could be at the forefront of that and really lead the way,
[09:23] SPEAKER_01: that's something I'd be really, really proud of.
[09:26] SPEAKER_01: That's kind of on the big scale.
[09:27] SPEAKER_01: You know, if we make it big and we take over the world and we can fix all that, that's great.
[09:32] SPEAKER_01: But on the small scale, it's what I'm really, really proud of is the team that we've built.
[09:35] SPEAKER_01: And as people who come together who are all great people, really passionate about what they're building and making something important and very cool for people.
[09:43] SPEAKER_00: And we love that you're doing it here in BC.
[09:46] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's a great place to do it.
[09:48] SPEAKER_00: It is.
[09:49] SPEAKER_00: So if you were talking to an entrepreneur who's just starting out on their journey, is there any advice that you'd give them?
[09:58] SPEAKER_01: Yes.
[09:58] SPEAKER_01: So there's a few things that there's lots of advice, I guess, that I wish I had along the way that I've learned the hard way.
[10:08] SPEAKER_01: But one is on this path, really, you know, if you want to be an entrepreneur and you're thinking about it and you're on the fence, I'd take, give it a shot.
[10:20] SPEAKER_01: Because on some level of what Steve Jobs had said to borrow the concept, which is everything you see that's amazing wonderful is built by really as people no smarter than anyone else.
[10:33] SPEAKER_01: There weren't these gods that came down from tech heaven and created something that we can't do.
[10:38] SPEAKER_01: It's just people who believe in something took a chance and gave it a shot.
[10:41] SPEAKER_01: The other part is don't be afraid to fail.
[10:44] SPEAKER_01: That is a lot of what I see stopping people.
[10:47] SPEAKER_01: Well, I want to take a chance because what if I fail? Well, what is failure to you?
[10:51] SPEAKER_01: To me, I think one of the best things I did for myself was failure. I characterized failure is not trying.
[10:58] SPEAKER_01: If I did something, I gave it my best. I could at least look back and say I tried and I gave it my best.
[11:03] SPEAKER_01: But if I had this GI wish I mentality and gosh, I really wish I started something and I became that person who starts talking to the kids, you know, 50 years from now, I'm like, yeah, I wish I really did this.
[11:15] SPEAKER_01: I could have created that. Right. I mean, how many times I heard that from others? Well, you know, that really cool thing there.
[11:19] SPEAKER_01: Everybody loves I had the idea for that 30 years ago. Why do you do it?
[11:22] SPEAKER_01: What would have been the worst thing that happened?
[11:24] SPEAKER_01: And the other piece of advice is the path to success as an entrepreneur is not linear.
[11:30] SPEAKER_01: You know, it was referred to me once and I kind of got to check that out as the drunken walk on the path of success.
[11:36] SPEAKER_01: It's not a straight line of here's my idea here's success.
[11:38] SPEAKER_01: It's I went all these different routes and these different ways and I tried these different things.
[11:44] SPEAKER_01: But the best thing you can do is listen to your market, right? Believe in yourself. Yes.
[11:48] SPEAKER_01: Don't believe in yourself so much that you don't listen to the to what the market is telling you and pivot. Right.
[11:53] SPEAKER_01: I mean, it fits to people ask me, well, how did you come up with the idea for AI for the investor?
[11:58] SPEAKER_01: I don't know if things well with that was my idea from the beginning. I'd be a super genius.
[12:02] SPEAKER_01: That was an idea at the start. The idea at the start was the genesis for that.
[12:06] SPEAKER_01: And I listened and talked to customers and tried different things and found it resonated and then did more of that and did less of the stuff that didn't work.
[12:13] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I love that. And I think with since COVID a lot of us have had to pivot a lot, but the result is you have more people being creative, which then leads to innovation.
[12:25] SPEAKER_00: So let's talk about being based in BC. We're both based in BC. What are some of the benefits of being having your company based here on the West Coast?
[12:40] SPEAKER_01: Well, West Coast is great because of the time zone proximity to a lot of major places, including Silicon Valley, which is important.
[12:50] SPEAKER_01: BC is fantastic to start a business. The reason I moved up from California to BC one, our largest customer at the time was up in BC, but to the advantages for starting a business were really, really good.
[13:02] SPEAKER_01: The government offers a lot of incentives and support. And so does the community for starting a business.
[13:08] SPEAKER_01: The other side of it is being a bit smaller in the tech area than Silicon Valley is an advantage. It's got its pluses and minuses.
[13:19] SPEAKER_01: So in Silicon Valley, you'll find that everybody goes there to be the best of the best. And so there's a lot of really good talent higher from, I'd say a bigger pool to some population.
[13:29] SPEAKER_01: But that comes with some negativity, which is, well, there's also a lot of companies with a whole lot of dollars going there and fighting for every one's time. So you get somebody going, hey, I'll join your company, but you better give me a 40% raise of what I had over somewhere else.
[13:41] SPEAKER_01: Otherwise, I'm going to go to some other company. Well, that's hard to compete with when you're just starting out.
[13:46] SPEAKER_01: BC is a lot more community focused, I find. It's a smaller pool population wise.
[13:50] SPEAKER_01: You get a lot of help from the government in terms of grants and programs that will help your company get started.
[13:59] SPEAKER_01: And the community as well is very close. And so you can really get very talented people that are also a finds person a little bit more loyal in terms of the time they spend with the company.
[14:13] SPEAKER_01: So in Silicon Valley, I joked when I was there, gosh, you're in a company more than two years, what's wrong with you? Right? Whereas in BC, there's a lot more of that sense of no, we're building something we're sticking in for the long haul versus jump and ship and just trying to do as much as you can.
[14:27] SPEAKER_01: So pros and cons to both. And it really depends what matters to you as an entrepreneur.
[14:34] SPEAKER_00: And is there any challenges from being based in BC?
[14:39] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, you have a smaller pool from a population size in terms of what you can draw from.
[14:49] SPEAKER_01: It's more competitive in terms of well, you know, because there are fewer people, you really have to plot a lot of the stops so people don't jump shit as much, but you have a smaller pool.
[14:59] SPEAKER_01: The government incentives to start the business are really, really good, but it can get a little bit higher and a little bit harder and more expensive tax wise going further down to the mid to late stage of your business.
[15:11] SPEAKER_01: So that's important to think of as well.
[15:14] SPEAKER_00: So if you know, you're based in Vancouver, so you're based in a big city, if you had somebody who was moving to Vancouver and just trying to get their foothold, is there any advice that you'd give them?
[15:29] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you can. So Vancouver is a beautiful place to start, but getting your foothold candy stuff. It's also expensive city.
[15:38] SPEAKER_01: Nowadays with technology, though, really getting remodeling into work is not as difficult as it used to be.
[15:46] SPEAKER_01: I'd still say, though, at least in terms of tech, but in business in general, having that occasional meaning where everybody's physically present is still really important.
[15:57] SPEAKER_01: So if you can come to Vancouver and you really want to get a foothold, you can have a business on the outskirts that you're starting or you can live on the outskirts to a business that you're joining.
[16:07] SPEAKER_01: But I'd say make sure you have access to at least come in and really get the people together once in a while. I think for creativity and brainstorming that helps a lot in my experience to have people in the same room and even building camaraderie having everybody together and then going out for dinner later or going bowling or go-carting or just doing something fun.
[16:25] SPEAKER_01: And really, really helps the team building and sense of connectives or connectivity.
[16:31] SPEAKER_01: But you certainly don't need to jump straight in, go right to the most expensive place downtown and start your business there.
[16:38] SPEAKER_00: Absolutely. Those days have definitely changed. They have changed. For sure.
[16:43] SPEAKER_00: So let's talk about success and challenges. How do you define success, but more importantly, how do you hit pause and celebrate those successes?
[16:53] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's a really good question.
[16:59] SPEAKER_01: Defining success has probably, for me, changed over time. For me, success now is less about numeric dollars. And it's really about building something to be proud of and putting in the best effort forward.
[17:19] SPEAKER_01: Because like I said earlier, if you do take the chance and you really give it your best and create something wonderful, enjoy that journey, you'll learn tremendous amount.
[17:31] SPEAKER_01: Even if you don't sell your company for hundreds of millions that you hope for and suddenly can retire.
[17:37] SPEAKER_01: Having done it before, the journey is the best part. That's really where the growth comes in and that's where the fun comes in.
[17:43] SPEAKER_01: But it's also the least appreciated part for me. I'm always looking to the destination. And so that gets to the next part of your question. How do you pause and look at the successes you've had?
[17:54] SPEAKER_01: And I remember at Bitt's Do and previous company, I was interviewed. We got to a certain level of success where I was interviewing stronger and stronger candidates. And I was interviewing this lady who was for VP of operations, but she had been a VP of operations at major, major companies.
[18:10] SPEAKER_01: And I was thinking to myself, wow, why are you interviewing here? And she was excited to interview with me. And you know, because I'm like, wow, you've been, you've been some major places. You're just said, my little company is pretty cool.
[18:21] SPEAKER_01: And she asked me if I ever pause and stop and think about what has been built and just appreciated. And at the time, it's struck me and I said, no, I guess I don't. I only see the problems coming ahead.
[18:33] SPEAKER_01: I only see what's going to, you know, what's going to kill you next kind of thing. So my view of the world is only the next problem, which is a shame because all that time, the 11 years that it really took to make that company successful.
[18:45] SPEAKER_01: Maybe it wasn't viewed out in the right way. And I think a big part of achieving success, whatever it may be, is taking the time to appreciate it.
[18:56] SPEAKER_01: Because if you collect all these things, experiences and memories and knowledge and friendships, but you never celebrate them and take the time to really just go, wow, this is actually pretty amazing.
[19:07] SPEAKER_01: One, you never shine enough lights on the successes, meaning you don't give it enough energy as you should.
[19:13] SPEAKER_01: Right. If you only give negative things energy, you kind of live in the negative world, which is not a great place to be. It's not in terms of productivity either.
[19:20] SPEAKER_01: Right. You're only viewing problems, you're only creating more problems, you're only seeing problems. When you see your successes, you then start to shine the light on it and the energy towards it and you start building more successes.
[19:30] SPEAKER_00: So we really achieve what we focus on. And so yeah, absolutely. And I think it's great for your team as well, because then your team realizes that the work they do is recognized and honored.
[19:46] SPEAKER_01: Yes, that is such an important part, right. And this being my second company, I'm hopefully wiser now and able to take those pauses and appreciate the success and just kind of every moment.
[19:56] SPEAKER_01: So I just sort of sat in the office and looked at everybody working so hard or laughing and having a great time and building something great.
[20:02] SPEAKER_01: And wow, this is something I don't want to end. This is really, really impressive.
[20:06] SPEAKER_00: And how do you deal with the fear and doubt that can creep in with all of us on our journey?
[20:14] SPEAKER_01: I don't listen to it too much. I think it's a natural part. It's a healthy part that fear and doubt really, you know, when we're feeling pain or when we're feeling discomfort, that's when we really have to check in and evaluate the decisions for make.
[20:26] SPEAKER_01: I think in the path that we're going on. So I've learned to not dislike, fear, doubt, anxiety, bad news, all the stuff that people try to avoid, because they're the most teaching moments.
[20:38] SPEAKER_01: And I've always kind of said to people, when everything's going great and there is no struggle and we're just all kind of happy moving along.
[20:46] SPEAKER_01: We don't really grow that much compared to gosh, I said something really stupid and hurt someone's feeling I feel terrible now or gee, I really screwed that up.
[20:57] SPEAKER_01: And I'm just sick to my stomach, but I'm thinking about it constantly and obsessing over how it could have done it differently. Those are the really uncomfortable moments.
[21:04] SPEAKER_01: But those are also the moments that I've grown the most. And so I've learned to appreciate those as well.
[21:08] SPEAKER_01: So when the bad times come in or the bad thoughts or the challenges or whatever, it's a time to actually not run from them is to run towards them and invite them, invite those feelings and those bad, bad things in, because that's where we can reflect and say, what isn't working correctly that I need to change.
[21:26] SPEAKER_00: I think that's excellent advice. Is there speaking of advice, is there any advice in your journey, whether it be from a mentor or a coach or a peer,
[21:37] SPEAKER_00: or even just something that you've read that stuck with you, that you think, oh, that really resonated and you want to share with our listeners?
[21:47] SPEAKER_01: Yes, I remember talking to a potential investor who, and my previous company, who actually declined to invest.
[21:53] SPEAKER_01: He was a Silicon Valley guy who had been very successful and he said, I think you guys will achieve success.
[21:59] SPEAKER_01: I think it will be harder than you expect and it will take longer than you expect.
[22:03] SPEAKER_01: But you'll get there. And he was right, having he had done it before many times.
[22:09] SPEAKER_01: And I think that was a really great piece of advice because in any business we started, whether it's a tech business or anything we venture out on a road, we're going to hear know a lot.
[22:18] SPEAKER_01: And we should listen to those knows and we should say, okay, what is it telling us, are we in the right market or in the right space?
[22:25] SPEAKER_01: You know, we don't want to be so angry that we just ignore everybody and keep going.
[22:30] SPEAKER_01: But listen to them, but also don't stop. I mean, one of my biggest keys to success was being able to hear know many, many times and keep going.
[22:39] SPEAKER_01: And we forget that these overnight successes that we see, they're not overnight successes.
[22:45] SPEAKER_01: They had to slog for years just trying to get traction.
[22:49] SPEAKER_01: We only hear about them once they have traction. So we're like, oh, they came out of nowhere. They must be an overnight success.
[22:54] SPEAKER_01: Very, very, very rarely as a company in overnight success. And if they are, it's almost like winning the lottery, don't expect it to really happen. It's just statistical and probability.
[23:03] SPEAKER_01: It's hard work and it's the ability to keep going that keeps people successful.
[23:08] SPEAKER_00: Well, and like you said earlier, this is where we learn the lessons. It's along the way and we get stronger. And I think we also appreciate those sweet moments more because of the journey.
[23:20] SPEAKER_00: Yes.
[23:21] SPEAKER_00: So is there anything else that you want to share with our listeners? I've really enjoyed this conversation and anything else you want to leave us with today.
[23:31] SPEAKER_01: I would love to just share that if you're thinking about starting something, go for it.
[23:39] SPEAKER_01: The amount of times I hear people say I have an idea for this and I encourage them to do it. They say, well, yeah, but what if it fails? What if it doesn't go right?
[23:48] SPEAKER_01: Just do it. Just go for it. And what is failure again is no one is going to look at somebody who said, I started a business. I gave it my all. I learned a ton.
[23:58] SPEAKER_01: And it didn't work out and be like, wow, you really failed.
[24:02] SPEAKER_01: Nobody's going to look at that. And you know what? You just might succeed. So go for it. Why not?
[24:07] SPEAKER_01: At worst case scenario, you learn a lot. Best case scenario. You have an amazing journey and you achieve everything you want to achieve.
[24:15] SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you. That is great advice. And I look forward to continuing to follow your journey.
[24:21] SPEAKER_01: Well, thank you. I appreciate it.