WEBVTT - Kiip CEO Brian Wong on New Book, 'The Cheat Code' (Audio)

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Charlie Pellet. Costcos numbers are out a beat on

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<v Speaker 1>art seventy five on w t I, a gain of

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<v Speaker 1>one and a half percent. I'm Charlie Pellot. That's a

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<v Speaker 1>bloom Bread business flash. You're listening to Taking Stock with

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<v Speaker 1>Kathleen Hayes and Pim Box on Bloomberg Radio. We all

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<v Speaker 1>know that cheating is bad, particularly someone has cheated us.

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<v Speaker 1>It's something we think everyone should avoid. But the author

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<v Speaker 1>of a new book has a different spin on it,

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<v Speaker 1>and his book, The Cheat Code, explains why it's one

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<v Speaker 1>of the reasons certain people seem to get ahead just

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<v Speaker 1>a bit faster than everyone else. And of course he's

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<v Speaker 1>a good example. Uh. He graduated from college by age eighteen,

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<v Speaker 1>he raised four million adventure capital, started company before he

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<v Speaker 1>turned five, and then grew that company into a global

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<v Speaker 1>mobile advertising in just four years with the cheat Code.

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<v Speaker 1>Brian Wong, Welcome to the show. Thanks for having me on. Okay,

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<v Speaker 1>what's the cheat Code? Yes, I mean the title is, yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>a bit controversial on purpose, but the whole point of

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<v Speaker 1>it was, you remember back in the day with playing

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<v Speaker 1>video games, you have these cheat codes you could use

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<v Speaker 1>to get ahead, right, And the whole premise of this was,

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<v Speaker 1>what if there are cheat codes for real life? And

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<v Speaker 1>so there's so many one of these cheat codes embedded

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<v Speaker 1>in the book, and as an entrepreneur for the past

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<v Speaker 1>six years as I built my company, I figured, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>there might be something that we could do that our

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<v Speaker 1>actionable tips and tricks that you can actually do in

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<v Speaker 1>the next ten minutes, that or even tomorrow, that could

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<v Speaker 1>help you get in the habit of getting ahead. I

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<v Speaker 1>feel like a lot of self help things that are

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<v Speaker 1>trying to get you to be motivated, or a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of really kind of generic advice like follow your passion

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<v Speaker 1>and all these things we've all heard that it's more

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<v Speaker 1>what can I do tomorrow? And that is what I

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<v Speaker 1>wanted to get folks that were entrepreneurial in their mindset

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<v Speaker 1>to be able to do right away. All right, So

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<v Speaker 1>why don't you offer some of the tidbits of advice

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<v Speaker 1>and some of the experience that leads you to it. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>So one of my favorites is the cheat, uh know,

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<v Speaker 1>your superpower, which is basically on the point that as

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<v Speaker 1>you get older, you kind of had a point where

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<v Speaker 1>you stopped focusing on fixing your weaknesses and really focusing

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<v Speaker 1>on just your strengths. And you know, when we're in school,

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<v Speaker 1>get bs and cs and you get tutors to fix

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<v Speaker 1>all that, and it's you know, why not just go

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<v Speaker 1>to the things you already know you're gonna be good

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<v Speaker 1>at and highlight that as your superpower. For example, my superpowers.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm very good at getting people really excited about stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>and that's what I do every day with investors, customers,

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<v Speaker 1>you name it, and I folks that are complementary and

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<v Speaker 1>their superpowers that have superpowers that I don't have, like

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<v Speaker 1>in math and anything quantitative, they'll have that covered. So

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<v Speaker 1>that's one. The second is actually tapping into the power

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<v Speaker 1>of email. One of my personal favorites cold email. Adding

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<v Speaker 1>a cold emailing cold LinkedIn adding are two ways to

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<v Speaker 1>basically get whatever you want in business. Now, of course

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<v Speaker 1>I'm being half serious, half kidding, but the whole point

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<v Speaker 1>is if you're able to ask, get to people, get

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<v Speaker 1>network to use the power of technology, you have the

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<v Speaker 1>ability to get ahold of anyone you want to potentially

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<v Speaker 1>work with in business. So I know who's the boss?

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<v Speaker 1>What does that? What part of the cheak code is

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<v Speaker 1>that it's really understanding that everyone has someone they're essentially

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<v Speaker 1>responsible to, even the top of the top, right the

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<v Speaker 1>president being the American people you know for us, uh,

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<v Speaker 1>I think what happens is when you're pitching, when you're

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<v Speaker 1>going into a meeting, it's really important understand what the

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<v Speaker 1>power structures are. And for me, I had a political

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<v Speaker 1>science background, so it's really important to understand power structures

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<v Speaker 1>and I figured that that would be something that would

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<v Speaker 1>be worth analyzing when you go into these scenarios. I

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<v Speaker 1>was gonna say, get a haircut, but that is in

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<v Speaker 1>the book, isn't it Get a trademark haircut. It's one

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<v Speaker 1>of my favorites. It's really about it's representing personal branding,

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<v Speaker 1>and you know, it's, I guess kind of appropriate trump that,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, people who seem to have the best personal brands,

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<v Speaker 1>the best being the most memorable, happen to seem to

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<v Speaker 1>have trademark haircuts, um facial hair. I mean, it's crazy,

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<v Speaker 1>isn't it. But the point is, when you're out there

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<v Speaker 1>in the world of business, it's important to develop your

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<v Speaker 1>own brand, whether it be the personality you convey, the

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<v Speaker 1>way you communicate, visuals a part of it. It's all

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<v Speaker 1>part of the package. Now I want to hear more

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<v Speaker 1>about you. You grew up in British Columbia. You graduated

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<v Speaker 1>from college very early, so tell us what is it

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<v Speaker 1>about your background? Is it your parents you mentioned tutors.

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<v Speaker 1>Did they just pound you into getting good grades? Where

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<v Speaker 1>you sort of did you just you know, jump into

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<v Speaker 1>the world born like this crazy little toddler that that

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<v Speaker 1>ran around and never stopped and met people on the street.

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<v Speaker 1>I get told I have a lot of energy, but

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<v Speaker 1>I feel like I don't think my for example, i

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<v Speaker 1>Q levels or intelligence were necessarily higher than anyone else's.

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<v Speaker 1>I think that it was just my perseverance, as cliche

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<v Speaker 1>as it sounds, just there's a lot of things that

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<v Speaker 1>don't actually take a lot of skill, like not giving up,

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<v Speaker 1>not taking no for an answer, these types of things,

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<v Speaker 1>and I think I just I had this itch. I

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<v Speaker 1>felt like I needed to do things a bit faster,

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<v Speaker 1>mainly because I realized now even looking back with technology,

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of timelines that we used to always think

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<v Speaker 1>would take a certain amount of time have compressed. And

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<v Speaker 1>this is to get promoted and work to getting head

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<v Speaker 1>in school. A lot of things were built in an

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<v Speaker 1>era or just processes and structures and things that they're

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<v Speaker 1>sort of normal or the status quo came from an

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<v Speaker 1>era where not necessarily the access to technology and knowledge

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<v Speaker 1>that we have today existed. So what also, I advocated

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<v Speaker 1>in the book is you can learn almost anything online today. Anything.

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<v Speaker 1>In fact, there's like this Olympic pole vaulter or something

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<v Speaker 1>I think learned how to do it on YouTube, right,

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<v Speaker 1>so that you have no excuse now to not learn

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<v Speaker 1>these things. Pick it up. They say, the next Bill

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<v Speaker 1>Gates is probably gonna be a little girl in rule

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<v Speaker 1>India if she's got an Internet connection in a tablet.

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<v Speaker 1>That's why you have no excuse now to not learn

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<v Speaker 1>these things and try to get ahead faster, Bryan. The

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<v Speaker 1>book is filled with things that you should do. Tell

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<v Speaker 1>us some of the things you should not do. So

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<v Speaker 1>actually one of them in there, and I think on

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<v Speaker 1>on sort of a business angle is uh, don't treat

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<v Speaker 1>your investors like God or anyone that has money or

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<v Speaker 1>seems to represent money. One of the reasons why I

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<v Speaker 1>describe that is because a lot of entrepreneurs they'll pitch

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<v Speaker 1>a vc uh and then they'll get feedback, and then

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<v Speaker 1>they'll like change everything and try to appease that person.

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<v Speaker 1>And I try to remind them you were the one

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<v Speaker 1>that came up with this idea. You're the one who

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<v Speaker 1>knows it the best. Someone who's designed to be mild, wide,

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<v Speaker 1>inch deep isn't necessarily going to have the best advice

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<v Speaker 1>for you, and you're supposed to be as confident and

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<v Speaker 1>secure that as possible, so essentially represents don't you know,

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<v Speaker 1>take all this advice at face value and make sure

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<v Speaker 1>you understand where their motivations come from. Well, don thank

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<v Speaker 1>you very much for your motivation. Appreciated. Brian wat He

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<v Speaker 1>is the chief executive and the co founder of Keep,

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<v Speaker 1>a mobile advertising network, and his book is called The

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<v Speaker 1>Cheap Code, Getting Off Script to get more, go faster,

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<v Speaker 1>and shortcut your way to success. Thanks for listening to

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<v Speaker 1>taking stockhim pim Fox my co host Kathleen Hayes. This

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