1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:03,000 Speaker 1: Welcome to Had a Money. I'm Joel and I am 2 00:00:03,160 --> 00:00:08,840 Speaker 1: Mad and today we're talking family first entrepreneurship with Steve Chu. 3 00:00:26,520 --> 00:00:30,680 Speaker 2: Yeah, our guest today. He might be considered a serial entrepreneur, right, so. 4 00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:33,560 Speaker 2: Fed up with his traditional lane of five, Steve launched 5 00:00:33,560 --> 00:00:36,559 Speaker 2: an e commerce site after he saw some success with 6 00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:39,760 Speaker 2: selling on eBay, and then the success of that site 7 00:00:39,840 --> 00:00:42,200 Speaker 2: led to a blog, and then once that was making 8 00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:45,680 Speaker 2: some serious money, he created an online course, and then 9 00:00:45,720 --> 00:00:48,159 Speaker 2: the success of that led to a podcast and a conference, 10 00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:50,479 Speaker 2: and I think today he's in the process of launching 11 00:00:50,520 --> 00:00:53,960 Speaker 2: a couple more businesses. I will be honest, this sounds 12 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:57,480 Speaker 2: a bit overwhelming to me personally, but what is important 13 00:00:57,480 --> 00:01:00,640 Speaker 2: to note is that Steve Cho's goal isn't to simply 14 00:01:00,720 --> 00:01:04,600 Speaker 2: grow to scale to maximize the revenue. Instead, he is 15 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:08,440 Speaker 2: interested in businesses that allow him to achieve his goals, 16 00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:12,040 Speaker 2: and in his case, to create businesses that are family first. 17 00:01:12,440 --> 00:01:14,840 Speaker 2: And even though that is the name of his book, 18 00:01:15,120 --> 00:01:18,720 Speaker 2: Family First Entrepreneurship, Steve is really just writing about how 19 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:22,399 Speaker 2: regular folks can achieve financial freedom without sacrificing what matters 20 00:01:22,440 --> 00:01:24,720 Speaker 2: the most to them. So we're gonna be talking about 21 00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:26,800 Speaker 2: that today. And we're gonna discuss why everyone out there 22 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:30,959 Speaker 2: should consider entrepreneurship, how to figure out what kind of business, 23 00:01:30,959 --> 00:01:33,160 Speaker 2: to start marketing that business, and you know the things 24 00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:35,120 Speaker 2: that whole book's back. We're gonna be talking about all 25 00:01:35,160 --> 00:01:38,000 Speaker 2: that plus plenty more today, Steve, thank you for joining 26 00:01:38,080 --> 00:01:38,880 Speaker 2: us on the podcast. 27 00:01:39,360 --> 00:01:40,280 Speaker 3: I am happy to be here. 28 00:01:40,319 --> 00:01:42,440 Speaker 4: You know what's funny is I don't actually consider myself 29 00:01:42,480 --> 00:01:43,560 Speaker 4: a serial entrepreneur. 30 00:01:43,680 --> 00:01:44,240 Speaker 1: No, okay. 31 00:01:44,280 --> 00:01:46,400 Speaker 4: I basically have two things. I got the online store 32 00:01:46,440 --> 00:01:48,040 Speaker 4: and I got the content side of the business. 33 00:01:48,200 --> 00:01:50,920 Speaker 1: Okay, that's exactly what a serial entrepreneur would say, Steve, 34 00:01:50,920 --> 00:01:53,600 Speaker 1: if they would downplay all their endeavors. So I'm gonna 35 00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:56,360 Speaker 1: think you protest too much, but will get into specifics. 36 00:01:56,480 --> 00:01:58,080 Speaker 1: The first question, though, we ask, I don't have a 37 00:01:58,120 --> 00:02:02,480 Speaker 1: problem right exactly any time about one. That's just your perception, Okay, okay, man. 38 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:05,400 Speaker 1: But the first question we ask everyone who comes on 39 00:02:05,440 --> 00:02:07,480 Speaker 1: the show, Matt and I. We splurge on craft beer 40 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:10,480 Speaker 1: while still saving and investing for the future, trying to 41 00:02:10,480 --> 00:02:12,560 Speaker 1: be smart on both ends, living life in the here 42 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:15,160 Speaker 1: and now while also thinking about tomorrow. What's that for you? 43 00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:18,360 Speaker 1: What do you Splurgeohn currently that some people might think 44 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:19,320 Speaker 1: it's a little bit crazy. 45 00:02:19,880 --> 00:02:23,400 Speaker 4: The only thing I splurge on really is NBA finals games, 46 00:02:23,520 --> 00:02:25,880 Speaker 4: and I've just been lucky, like the Warriors have just 47 00:02:25,919 --> 00:02:28,320 Speaker 4: been really good for these past I don't know, seven 48 00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:30,359 Speaker 4: or eight years. So I've heard that I go to 49 00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:32,480 Speaker 4: the playoffs, I go to the finals, and I spend 50 00:02:32,760 --> 00:02:33,640 Speaker 4: a lot of money. 51 00:02:33,840 --> 00:02:35,800 Speaker 3: Like my friends are like, what are you crazy? But 52 00:02:35,919 --> 00:02:37,560 Speaker 3: you know it's fun. It's my only splurge. 53 00:02:37,600 --> 00:02:39,400 Speaker 1: Your a man named Stephen Curry, who I hear is 54 00:02:39,520 --> 00:02:40,519 Speaker 1: very good with the basketball. 55 00:02:41,400 --> 00:02:42,000 Speaker 3: That's my brother. 56 00:02:42,120 --> 00:02:46,239 Speaker 2: So I know nothing about basketball, but I do see 57 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:49,360 Speaker 2: celebrities and the fancy folks sitting court side. Is that 58 00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:51,160 Speaker 2: you like, can you are you feeling the sebt? Are 59 00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:52,079 Speaker 2: they falling into your lap? 60 00:02:52,080 --> 00:02:52,639 Speaker 1: That kind of thing. 61 00:02:52,840 --> 00:02:55,480 Speaker 4: So that's beyond my budget. So those court side seats 62 00:02:55,520 --> 00:02:59,480 Speaker 4: are like thirty grand. I usually invest around seven, which 63 00:02:59,520 --> 00:03:02,160 Speaker 4: is usually good for like the fourth or fifth row. 64 00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:04,760 Speaker 2: Okay, well, i's still really doting close though, fourth or 65 00:03:04,760 --> 00:03:05,160 Speaker 2: fifth row. 66 00:03:05,320 --> 00:03:07,320 Speaker 1: I will say. Maggot Matt and I we both we 67 00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:10,320 Speaker 1: splurged on an MLS final game. But it's such an 68 00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:12,480 Speaker 1: inferior sport that you can get tickets to that for 69 00:03:12,520 --> 00:03:15,160 Speaker 1: one hundred and eighty bucks. I think, so it's just 70 00:03:15,200 --> 00:03:17,120 Speaker 1: a big difference in quality and that's I think that's 71 00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:20,000 Speaker 1: why it's so much cheaper. Well, Steve, can you, I'm 72 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:22,639 Speaker 1: curious about your your humble origins. One time I heard 73 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:25,760 Speaker 1: you say that when you were referring to your childhood, 74 00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:28,320 Speaker 1: that you started studying for the SAT in fourth grade. 75 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:32,560 Speaker 1: So I feel like that's indicative maybe of just something 76 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:35,240 Speaker 1: interesting going on behind the scenes in childhood. Why are 77 00:03:35,320 --> 00:03:38,080 Speaker 1: you studying for this? Like most kids don't even study, 78 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:39,320 Speaker 1: they just show up and take it. So why are 79 00:03:39,320 --> 00:03:40,960 Speaker 1: you studying in elementary school? 80 00:03:41,200 --> 00:03:42,600 Speaker 3: I mean, it wasn't by choice. 81 00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:45,640 Speaker 1: You're not that much of a go getter. 82 00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:48,960 Speaker 4: No, No, my parents actually made me do that. And 83 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:52,520 Speaker 4: the problem I had was my brother. He's pretty much 84 00:03:52,520 --> 00:03:56,160 Speaker 4: a genius. He took the SATs, I believe in sixth 85 00:03:56,240 --> 00:03:58,040 Speaker 4: grade and I think his first score that he got 86 00:03:58,120 --> 00:03:59,240 Speaker 4: was like thirteen something. 87 00:03:59,320 --> 00:04:01,320 Speaker 1: Oh my god, go goodness, and then. 88 00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:05,200 Speaker 3: He eventually got fifteen fifty. And yeah, I don't know. 89 00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:07,760 Speaker 4: My parents just wanted me to study for it because 90 00:04:07,880 --> 00:04:10,440 Speaker 4: back in the day it mattered a lot more for college. Sure, 91 00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:12,760 Speaker 4: And oh, here's the real reason why I started so early. 92 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:15,960 Speaker 4: It's because they wanted me to qualify for this nerd Camp. 93 00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:19,400 Speaker 4: And in order to qualify for that, you had to 94 00:04:19,400 --> 00:04:21,440 Speaker 4: break a thousand I believe in sixth grade. 95 00:04:21,720 --> 00:04:24,640 Speaker 2: Okay, all right, well I like that there is a 96 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:28,599 Speaker 2: more immediate goal than for you to progressively get better 97 00:04:28,640 --> 00:04:30,440 Speaker 2: and better at the set every single year. 98 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:32,640 Speaker 1: Did you end up going to nerd Camp? And if so, 99 00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:33,000 Speaker 1: how was it? 100 00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:34,520 Speaker 3: I did? Ye, I went to nerds Camp. 101 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:36,239 Speaker 2: To nerd Camp, Come. 102 00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:39,840 Speaker 4: On, guys, come on, No, It ended up being a 103 00:04:39,880 --> 00:04:42,760 Speaker 4: great experience because I got to say, like I was 104 00:04:42,839 --> 00:04:45,320 Speaker 4: kind of cocky as a kid, you know, because you know, 105 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:47,000 Speaker 4: because of my parents, I was always way ahead of 106 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:49,559 Speaker 4: everyone else. But that NERD Camp was like the first 107 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:51,720 Speaker 4: time where I was like probably the dumbest person at 108 00:04:51,720 --> 00:04:52,159 Speaker 4: that camp. 109 00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:54,680 Speaker 2: So Steve, let's kind of I mean, we're going to 110 00:04:54,760 --> 00:04:58,520 Speaker 2: be discussing entrepreneurship this entire episode, but just kind of 111 00:04:58,600 --> 00:05:01,720 Speaker 2: quickly here, like what is the biggest point of entrepreneurship? 112 00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:03,800 Speaker 2: You know, like if you were talking to someone who 113 00:05:03,960 --> 00:05:06,840 Speaker 2: just have the like a standard normal W two job, 114 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:09,800 Speaker 2: what would you say to convince them to consider at 115 00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:10,960 Speaker 2: least starting their own thing? 116 00:05:11,920 --> 00:05:15,640 Speaker 4: I mean, really, people start businesses for freedom. You know 117 00:05:15,680 --> 00:05:17,760 Speaker 4: what's funny, when I was in college. You know, when 118 00:05:17,800 --> 00:05:19,599 Speaker 4: you when you're in college, you have the best life. 119 00:05:19,600 --> 00:05:21,599 Speaker 4: You have no responsibilities, you just have to study, do 120 00:05:21,640 --> 00:05:23,520 Speaker 4: whatever you want. And I remember when I was about 121 00:05:23,560 --> 00:05:25,680 Speaker 4: to graduate, I was like, wait, so now I got 122 00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:29,000 Speaker 4: to go into this office forty hours a week. Yeah, 123 00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:32,520 Speaker 4: and then they only get weekends off. And I think 124 00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:34,760 Speaker 4: most people just don't want to be working forty hours 125 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:36,600 Speaker 4: a week. They want they want to have options, and 126 00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:38,560 Speaker 4: really that's the appeal of entrepreneurship. 127 00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:41,680 Speaker 1: Yeah. No, I think you're right, And it's interesting people 128 00:05:41,760 --> 00:05:43,800 Speaker 1: have different reasons for different things. I was listening to 129 00:05:43,920 --> 00:05:47,200 Speaker 1: Walter Isaacson being interviewed. He wrote the new Elon Musk biography, 130 00:05:47,400 --> 00:05:49,000 Speaker 1: and he's talking about the thing that helps you to 131 00:05:49,040 --> 00:05:52,800 Speaker 1: succeed in Elon Musk world is just it is not 132 00:05:52,839 --> 00:05:56,680 Speaker 1: having other priorities life, basically, not wanting balance, not wanting freedom, 133 00:05:56,800 --> 00:06:00,200 Speaker 1: just wanting to put you know, being inner planet, Harry 134 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:02,600 Speaker 1: species and put people on Mars. And so you're saying, well, 135 00:06:02,640 --> 00:06:05,240 Speaker 1: the reason there are some people who are that dedicated 136 00:06:05,279 --> 00:06:07,719 Speaker 1: to their work. But if you want balance, if you 137 00:06:07,760 --> 00:06:10,720 Speaker 1: want freedom, then entrepreneurship is is there out to go? 138 00:06:11,880 --> 00:06:14,240 Speaker 4: I mean, there's no such thing as balance. I don't 139 00:06:14,240 --> 00:06:15,640 Speaker 4: know how far you guys got in my book, but 140 00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:18,560 Speaker 4: I talk about the four burners theory, which states that 141 00:06:18,640 --> 00:06:22,120 Speaker 4: your life is basically dictated by four burners. So you 142 00:06:22,200 --> 00:06:27,480 Speaker 4: got family, you got health, you got business, and friends. Right, 143 00:06:27,560 --> 00:06:29,080 Speaker 4: in order to do one thing well, you got to 144 00:06:29,080 --> 00:06:31,200 Speaker 4: turn off at least one of those burners. In order 145 00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:33,039 Speaker 4: to do something really well, you turn off too. And 146 00:06:33,080 --> 00:06:34,880 Speaker 4: if you're like Elawn Musk, you turn off all of 147 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:37,440 Speaker 4: them except for the work burner. That's right, right, So, 148 00:06:37,480 --> 00:06:37,880 Speaker 4: I mean. 149 00:06:37,720 --> 00:06:40,480 Speaker 3: So basically the theory is about priorities. 150 00:06:40,720 --> 00:06:42,840 Speaker 4: You can't do it all, so you really got to 151 00:06:42,880 --> 00:06:44,040 Speaker 4: choose what you want to be good at. 152 00:06:44,320 --> 00:06:44,640 Speaker 1: Well. 153 00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:48,320 Speaker 2: As much of a proponent of starting your own business 154 00:06:48,360 --> 00:06:51,160 Speaker 2: as you are an entrepreneur, you talk about the lies 155 00:06:51,160 --> 00:06:53,080 Speaker 2: of hustle in your book, right, Like, there's a lot 156 00:06:53,080 --> 00:06:54,760 Speaker 2: of folks out there and they're like, you got to 157 00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:57,240 Speaker 2: get after, you got to grind, and a lot of 158 00:06:57,279 --> 00:06:59,839 Speaker 2: folks kind of wear it almost as a badge of honor. 159 00:06:59,839 --> 00:07:02,240 Speaker 2: But that's kind of the opposite approach of how it 160 00:07:02,360 --> 00:07:05,480 Speaker 2: is that you like to approach entrepreneurship. 161 00:07:06,279 --> 00:07:07,720 Speaker 3: You know. The thing is, and this is one of 162 00:07:07,720 --> 00:07:08,839 Speaker 3: the reasons why I wrote the book. 163 00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:11,400 Speaker 4: It's because if you look at all the business books 164 00:07:11,400 --> 00:07:13,000 Speaker 4: out there, and maybe all the videos that you see 165 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:17,840 Speaker 4: about entrepreneurship, they're all written by single dudes, right, I 166 00:07:17,840 --> 00:07:20,000 Speaker 4: mean to be frank, I mean, they can work sixty 167 00:07:20,040 --> 00:07:21,600 Speaker 4: hours a week. But I got a family. You guys 168 00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:24,040 Speaker 4: got lots of kids. I actually want to see my wife. 169 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:26,920 Speaker 4: I actually want to see my kids. So there had 170 00:07:26,960 --> 00:07:29,120 Speaker 4: to be a different way. And that's the way basically 171 00:07:29,160 --> 00:07:31,040 Speaker 4: I run my businesses. And I can't tell you how 172 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:33,520 Speaker 4: many people that I've interviewed on my podcast that have 173 00:07:33,560 --> 00:07:35,000 Speaker 4: gotten divorced over their business. 174 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:36,480 Speaker 3: And it's hard, right, yeah. 175 00:07:36,760 --> 00:07:38,920 Speaker 4: And I think the problem is, and this happened to 176 00:07:38,960 --> 00:07:41,760 Speaker 4: me actually too, when you start making money that you're 177 00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:45,480 Speaker 4: not used to making, you start getting this fever and 178 00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:47,760 Speaker 4: you just start wanting to make more and more money. 179 00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:51,440 Speaker 4: And I was setting these ridiculous goals for our business 180 00:07:51,520 --> 00:07:53,800 Speaker 4: where we try to grow like fifty percent, and then 181 00:07:53,960 --> 00:07:56,400 Speaker 4: once we hit that goal, I'd moved the gold posts again, 182 00:07:56,520 --> 00:08:00,320 Speaker 4: and pretty soon I was driving my wife crazy. And 183 00:08:00,320 --> 00:08:02,120 Speaker 4: then one day she came to me and she broke down. 184 00:08:02,200 --> 00:08:04,640 Speaker 4: She said, Hey, why are we doing all this? I mean, 185 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:06,640 Speaker 4: we don't even spend a fraction of what we make. 186 00:08:06,680 --> 00:08:10,040 Speaker 4: Why are we killing ourselves to meet this ridiculous goal 187 00:08:10,080 --> 00:08:12,400 Speaker 4: that you've been setting. And that's when I came to 188 00:08:12,440 --> 00:08:15,160 Speaker 4: the revelation and kind of got out of that fever 189 00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:17,400 Speaker 4: and realized why we started our businesses in the first 190 00:08:17,440 --> 00:08:19,720 Speaker 4: place was which was to hang out with the kids. 191 00:08:20,080 --> 00:08:22,320 Speaker 1: Oh man, isn't that the thing? Like that rudder can 192 00:08:22,320 --> 00:08:25,440 Speaker 1: get off slightly and over, you know, a few months 193 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:28,440 Speaker 1: or a few years, even you just you're aiming for 194 00:08:28,440 --> 00:08:31,400 Speaker 1: the wrong thing. And that sounds like a yeah, a conversation. 195 00:08:31,760 --> 00:08:33,720 Speaker 1: It sounds like I'm glad you responded that way, because 196 00:08:33,720 --> 00:08:35,920 Speaker 1: there's a lot of people would say to make more money, duh. 197 00:08:35,960 --> 00:08:38,800 Speaker 1: But yeah, when your target, when your aim is off, 198 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:40,640 Speaker 1: you're going to be moving in the wrong directions. And 199 00:08:40,640 --> 00:08:42,560 Speaker 1: I want to dive just a little bit deeper on 200 00:08:42,559 --> 00:08:44,600 Speaker 1: the four burners thing, because you talk about that and 201 00:08:44,640 --> 00:08:47,760 Speaker 1: it is so interesting. There's like, how do you suggest 202 00:08:47,760 --> 00:08:50,839 Speaker 1: people then if you're like, you see how successful somebody 203 00:08:50,840 --> 00:08:53,400 Speaker 1: like Elon Musk is, but most people don't realize and 204 00:08:53,440 --> 00:08:57,360 Speaker 1: don't see the effort, the grind, the lack of like 205 00:08:57,440 --> 00:09:00,960 Speaker 1: interpersonal relationships that someone has to go through to reach 206 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:04,080 Speaker 1: those heights. So how have you thought about which burners 207 00:09:04,280 --> 00:09:06,400 Speaker 1: to turn on and turn off? And are you constantly 208 00:09:06,440 --> 00:09:08,840 Speaker 1: adjusting those? Like what does that look like in your life? 209 00:09:09,040 --> 00:09:12,000 Speaker 4: I mean, realistically, all the burners are constantly being adjusted. 210 00:09:12,120 --> 00:09:13,680 Speaker 4: I mean, if you think back to when we first 211 00:09:13,679 --> 00:09:15,880 Speaker 4: started our first e commerce store, which is over at 212 00:09:15,920 --> 00:09:19,280 Speaker 4: Bumbleby Linen's, we basically turn off the friend and the 213 00:09:19,280 --> 00:09:22,800 Speaker 4: health burner to get up and running pretty quick. We 214 00:09:23,120 --> 00:09:25,640 Speaker 4: weren't hanging out and then I was eating like crap. 215 00:09:25,679 --> 00:09:27,920 Speaker 4: I was really out of shape. But hey, you know, 216 00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:29,520 Speaker 4: we were spending all of our time on the business 217 00:09:29,559 --> 00:09:31,400 Speaker 4: and that's why I did so well on that first year, 218 00:09:31,480 --> 00:09:33,920 Speaker 4: and that's why it eventually became a seven figure business. 219 00:09:34,640 --> 00:09:36,680 Speaker 4: Here's the other thing about the burners that they're all 220 00:09:36,760 --> 00:09:40,280 Speaker 4: not quite independent. Like if your health burners up, then 221 00:09:40,320 --> 00:09:42,320 Speaker 4: you got a lot more energy to devote to the 222 00:09:42,360 --> 00:09:42,959 Speaker 4: other burners. 223 00:09:43,040 --> 00:09:44,800 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, you talked about that in your book. 224 00:09:44,840 --> 00:09:47,319 Speaker 2: Can you, yeah, talk more about how in your mind, 225 00:09:47,440 --> 00:09:49,640 Speaker 2: Like you basically said that the health burner is almost 226 00:09:49,679 --> 00:09:52,520 Speaker 2: like a like a foundation in order to succeed like 227 00:09:52,559 --> 00:09:53,800 Speaker 2: a turbo booster for the others. 228 00:09:53,840 --> 00:09:54,320 Speaker 1: Huh. 229 00:09:54,400 --> 00:09:54,720 Speaker 3: Yeah. 230 00:09:54,760 --> 00:09:57,640 Speaker 4: I didn't discover this until much much later, in fact, 231 00:09:57,880 --> 00:10:02,040 Speaker 4: So I went low carb in twenty fourteen. I lost 232 00:10:02,080 --> 00:10:05,120 Speaker 4: about thirty five forty pounds, got a six pack, and 233 00:10:05,160 --> 00:10:08,480 Speaker 4: all of a sudden, like I don't get tired anymore, 234 00:10:09,040 --> 00:10:11,080 Speaker 4: like I have energy to go the entire day. 235 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:12,920 Speaker 1: I thought they were gonna say, that's when you started 236 00:10:12,920 --> 00:10:13,559 Speaker 1: mail modeling. 237 00:10:15,160 --> 00:10:17,080 Speaker 4: No, okay, so I don't have the six pack anymore. 238 00:10:17,840 --> 00:10:19,960 Speaker 4: It's impossible to maintain that thing. Let me tell you. 239 00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:22,240 Speaker 4: It was purely a vanity thing that I just wanted 240 00:10:22,240 --> 00:10:24,480 Speaker 4: to say. I had took a couple photos and that 241 00:10:24,600 --> 00:10:29,280 Speaker 4: was that. But I still, you know, eat correctly, and 242 00:10:29,320 --> 00:10:31,520 Speaker 4: I make sure I exercised two to three times a week, 243 00:10:31,520 --> 00:10:34,200 Speaker 4: and I feel great, never had food coma or anything 244 00:10:34,240 --> 00:10:34,520 Speaker 4: like that. 245 00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:35,600 Speaker 1: I love it. Yeah. 246 00:10:35,640 --> 00:10:37,839 Speaker 2: Okay, so let's let's rewind the clock a little bit too. 247 00:10:37,840 --> 00:10:40,480 Speaker 2: So you kind of jumped to where you got to 248 00:10:40,520 --> 00:10:42,959 Speaker 2: a breaking point with you and your wife with the 249 00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:46,280 Speaker 2: business bumblebe linens. But take us back in time a 250 00:10:46,320 --> 00:10:48,440 Speaker 2: little bit. Took us to when it was that you 251 00:10:48,520 --> 00:10:51,360 Speaker 2: decided to kind of launch into that I mean you 252 00:10:51,400 --> 00:10:54,079 Speaker 2: basically discussed it was again, it's sort of your your 253 00:10:54,080 --> 00:10:56,480 Speaker 2: wife having a moment where she said she didn't she 254 00:10:56,520 --> 00:10:58,600 Speaker 2: didn't want to keep her job anymore, and she had 255 00:10:58,720 --> 00:11:02,320 Speaker 2: a pretty size income. Can you talk about that event 256 00:11:02,360 --> 00:11:04,440 Speaker 2: and how that led you down the path of entrepreneurship. 257 00:11:04,800 --> 00:11:08,680 Speaker 4: Yeah, so that was back in two thousand and six. 258 00:11:08,760 --> 00:11:11,880 Speaker 4: I want to say, and you know, here's the thing. 259 00:11:11,960 --> 00:11:14,120 Speaker 4: Like I grew up my parents are first generation. Her 260 00:11:14,160 --> 00:11:16,760 Speaker 4: parents are first generation. We didn't see our parents much. 261 00:11:17,000 --> 00:11:20,319 Speaker 4: My parents basically came here with nothing. So I used 262 00:11:20,320 --> 00:11:22,520 Speaker 4: to play club volleyball. I used to play volleyball for 263 00:11:22,559 --> 00:11:24,960 Speaker 4: the school and guess what, my parents were never really 264 00:11:24,960 --> 00:11:28,120 Speaker 4: there on the sidelines watching me and my friend's parents were, 265 00:11:28,400 --> 00:11:30,880 Speaker 4: and I you know, you know, I didn't blame them, 266 00:11:31,200 --> 00:11:32,880 Speaker 4: but I always wish that they were there. And so 267 00:11:33,480 --> 00:11:34,960 Speaker 4: when my wife told me she was going to quit, 268 00:11:35,120 --> 00:11:37,200 Speaker 4: and was like, okay, I'm full, fully on board with 269 00:11:37,240 --> 00:11:38,960 Speaker 4: that decision because I think we need to be more 270 00:11:38,960 --> 00:11:42,480 Speaker 4: present in our kids' lives. And where we live in 271 00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:45,600 Speaker 4: the Silicon Valley, it is expensive. You pretty much need 272 00:11:45,679 --> 00:11:47,599 Speaker 4: two incomes in order to get a good house in 273 00:11:47,640 --> 00:11:50,079 Speaker 4: a good school district. And if she was going to quit. 274 00:11:50,120 --> 00:11:52,040 Speaker 4: She was making six figures at the time working for 275 00:11:52,040 --> 00:11:55,360 Speaker 4: a fortune five hundred company. We basically needed another income 276 00:11:55,400 --> 00:11:58,439 Speaker 4: and so that's basically how this whole thing got started. 277 00:11:59,040 --> 00:12:03,400 Speaker 1: Okay, so you're like, it's basically this, Hey, my wife 278 00:12:03,400 --> 00:12:05,040 Speaker 1: wants to stay home. I got to figure out a 279 00:12:05,080 --> 00:12:08,560 Speaker 1: way to pull this off. And then how did that 280 00:12:08,559 --> 00:12:11,360 Speaker 1: translate to starting a linen's company to jail? Like a 281 00:12:11,480 --> 00:12:14,160 Speaker 1: history in you know in that space, did you have 282 00:12:14,240 --> 00:12:17,600 Speaker 1: like some proprietary knowledge or what was like, Oh, yeah, 283 00:12:17,640 --> 00:12:19,440 Speaker 1: this is this is the small business to start. 284 00:12:20,640 --> 00:12:23,480 Speaker 4: So the only history we had was when my wife 285 00:12:23,520 --> 00:12:26,040 Speaker 4: and I got married in two thousand and three. You 286 00:12:26,080 --> 00:12:28,000 Speaker 4: got to understand this about my wife. She's a crier, 287 00:12:29,720 --> 00:12:32,400 Speaker 4: and usually it's tears of joy. Sometimes a maker cry 288 00:12:32,440 --> 00:12:35,760 Speaker 4: for non joy reasons, but at our wedding, she knew 289 00:12:35,800 --> 00:12:37,960 Speaker 4: she was going to cry. We spent all this money 290 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:40,200 Speaker 4: on photography, like I think the whole wedding industry is 291 00:12:40,200 --> 00:12:43,560 Speaker 4: just way overpriced, and she didn't want to be seen 292 00:12:43,600 --> 00:12:46,559 Speaker 4: in the photos drying her tears, you know, with a tissue. 293 00:12:46,600 --> 00:12:49,280 Speaker 4: She wanted to be classy with a handkerchief, and so 294 00:12:49,320 --> 00:12:50,880 Speaker 4: we looked all over the place in the US, couldn't 295 00:12:50,880 --> 00:12:53,480 Speaker 4: find any. Finally found this place in China that it 296 00:12:53,520 --> 00:12:56,320 Speaker 4: was a factory essentially, and we had to buy a bunch. 297 00:12:56,320 --> 00:12:58,440 Speaker 4: So we bought a couple hundred, which was the minimum 298 00:12:58,520 --> 00:13:01,480 Speaker 4: order quantity, and we use maybe a handful of them 299 00:13:01,800 --> 00:13:03,760 Speaker 4: and then just listed the rest on eBay and they 300 00:13:03,840 --> 00:13:06,920 Speaker 4: sold like hotcakes. So when it came time to start 301 00:13:06,920 --> 00:13:09,160 Speaker 4: that business, you know, in two thousand and six, two 302 00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:11,400 Speaker 4: thousand and seven, we got back in touch with that factory. 303 00:13:11,920 --> 00:13:12,199 Speaker 1: Nice. 304 00:13:12,320 --> 00:13:15,520 Speaker 2: Yeah, So that kicked it all off, and we're going 305 00:13:15,600 --> 00:13:17,959 Speaker 2: to spend more of the episode talking about how folks 306 00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:21,240 Speaker 2: can essentially launch their own businesses. But you know, this 307 00:13:21,280 --> 00:13:22,160 Speaker 2: is the one that y'all started. 308 00:13:22,160 --> 00:13:23,960 Speaker 1: It sounds so serendipitous, by the way, when you say 309 00:13:23,960 --> 00:13:26,600 Speaker 1: it that way just kind of happens. Yeah, it sounds 310 00:13:26,640 --> 00:13:28,320 Speaker 1: some extras and oh wow, what a great business. 311 00:13:28,800 --> 00:13:30,480 Speaker 4: Well there's more to that. I mean, that wasn't like 312 00:13:30,520 --> 00:13:34,199 Speaker 4: our first choice. Actually, our first choice was actually starting 313 00:13:34,200 --> 00:13:36,680 Speaker 4: a coumon. Do you guys have Kumans over in in Georgia? 314 00:13:36,760 --> 00:13:39,080 Speaker 1: Yeah, the ar Learning Center. Yeah, yeah, because. 315 00:13:38,840 --> 00:13:41,719 Speaker 3: That's right up my alley right, SAT's fourth grade. Yeah, 316 00:13:41,720 --> 00:13:42,440 Speaker 3: I can drink. 317 00:13:42,840 --> 00:13:45,240 Speaker 1: It's like your own proprietary nerd camp for. 318 00:13:45,280 --> 00:13:46,760 Speaker 3: Kids, exactly. 319 00:13:47,880 --> 00:13:49,880 Speaker 4: But it turns out it would have cost us about 320 00:13:50,120 --> 00:13:52,160 Speaker 4: three hundred and fifty to four hundred thousand to open 321 00:13:52,200 --> 00:13:55,200 Speaker 4: one of those. And then we looked at like other 322 00:13:55,280 --> 00:13:58,160 Speaker 4: things like boba stores and whatnot, and it just required 323 00:13:58,200 --> 00:14:01,240 Speaker 4: so much capital, whereas with our store really only we 324 00:14:01,320 --> 00:14:04,560 Speaker 4: invested six hundred and thirty dollars to start that thing exactly. 325 00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:06,520 Speaker 2: Well, and that's one of the things you addressed in 326 00:14:06,520 --> 00:14:09,760 Speaker 2: your book. You talk about how truly like a lot 327 00:14:09,800 --> 00:14:12,160 Speaker 2: of folks when they think about entrepreneurs, they think, oh, 328 00:14:12,280 --> 00:14:13,839 Speaker 2: I've got to bet the farm, I've got to go 329 00:14:13,880 --> 00:14:16,280 Speaker 2: big or go home. You know, you quit your day job, 330 00:14:16,400 --> 00:14:18,559 Speaker 2: you go all in on a new idea. But talk 331 00:14:18,559 --> 00:14:21,800 Speaker 2: to us about how you were able to gradually cut 332 00:14:21,880 --> 00:14:24,040 Speaker 2: back at your nine to five as you were able 333 00:14:24,040 --> 00:14:27,800 Speaker 2: to ramp up your online e commerce site, because that 334 00:14:27,880 --> 00:14:29,080 Speaker 2: was one of the ways that you were able to 335 00:14:29,160 --> 00:14:30,880 Speaker 2: mitigate that some of that risk. 336 00:14:31,520 --> 00:14:33,440 Speaker 4: I mean to be honest with you, it's even easier today. 337 00:14:34,640 --> 00:14:36,440 Speaker 4: You don't need a lot of money to start any 338 00:14:36,480 --> 00:14:39,400 Speaker 4: business today thanks to the Internet, all right, and thanks 339 00:14:39,440 --> 00:14:42,040 Speaker 4: to AI now actually even more. That's like the next generation. 340 00:14:42,840 --> 00:14:45,880 Speaker 4: So we started everything. Like back in the beginning, we 341 00:14:45,920 --> 00:14:49,040 Speaker 4: could have run our business for like maybe thirty dollars 342 00:14:49,120 --> 00:14:52,320 Speaker 4: a month. There's zero risk, and we just went in 343 00:14:52,320 --> 00:14:54,360 Speaker 4: with the attitude like, hey, let's just give this try. 344 00:14:54,400 --> 00:14:57,120 Speaker 4: If it works great, If not, you can always go 345 00:14:57,200 --> 00:14:59,400 Speaker 4: back to work in case things get really bad, and 346 00:14:59,400 --> 00:15:02,080 Speaker 4: I'm going to keep my job. And what ended up 347 00:15:02,120 --> 00:15:05,000 Speaker 4: happening is the business started taking off, and then I 348 00:15:05,080 --> 00:15:08,640 Speaker 4: launched my wife quitter Job, which is basically a journal 349 00:15:08,680 --> 00:15:11,240 Speaker 4: of our business. I launched that in two thousand and nine. 350 00:15:11,280 --> 00:15:15,360 Speaker 4: That started making money I think around twenty eleven, and 351 00:15:15,400 --> 00:15:17,360 Speaker 4: then I started thinking to myself, Hey, you know, I 352 00:15:17,400 --> 00:15:18,280 Speaker 4: really liked my job. 353 00:15:18,320 --> 00:15:19,200 Speaker 3: That was the difference. 354 00:15:19,400 --> 00:15:21,800 Speaker 4: Like I was an engineer, It's pretty much what I 355 00:15:21,840 --> 00:15:24,400 Speaker 4: wanted to be all my life. And I had my 356 00:15:24,480 --> 00:15:28,000 Speaker 4: dream job designing microprocessors alongside of a whole bunch of 357 00:15:28,040 --> 00:15:30,160 Speaker 4: really smart people. So I actually didn't want to leave 358 00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:33,400 Speaker 4: my job. But at some point we were making so 359 00:15:33,480 --> 00:15:36,240 Speaker 4: much money with the businesses that it didn't really make 360 00:15:36,320 --> 00:15:38,160 Speaker 4: sense for me to be there five days a week, 361 00:15:38,240 --> 00:15:40,000 Speaker 4: Like I wanted to be there with the kids too, 362 00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:43,520 Speaker 4: so I dropped down to four days. I dropped down, 363 00:15:43,560 --> 00:15:46,280 Speaker 4: the three days dropped down to two days, and then 364 00:15:46,280 --> 00:15:47,560 Speaker 4: finally I was just there once. 365 00:15:47,400 --> 00:15:49,480 Speaker 1: A week and I had the sounds like the dream. 366 00:15:50,760 --> 00:15:52,840 Speaker 4: Well it was because I still got to hang out. 367 00:15:52,960 --> 00:15:56,280 Speaker 4: But the only reason I had that luxury was because 368 00:15:56,320 --> 00:15:59,360 Speaker 4: I was one of three people that designed the main 369 00:15:59,400 --> 00:16:01,160 Speaker 4: product that was making the bulk of the money for 370 00:16:01,200 --> 00:16:04,440 Speaker 4: the company. So I was essentially there as an insurance policy. 371 00:16:04,960 --> 00:16:08,000 Speaker 4: The problem is is my big boss eventually left, a 372 00:16:08,040 --> 00:16:10,240 Speaker 4: new boss came in, brought me into their office and 373 00:16:10,320 --> 00:16:13,720 Speaker 4: was like, Hey, what exactly do you do here? One 374 00:16:13,800 --> 00:16:14,320 Speaker 4: day a week? 375 00:16:14,640 --> 00:16:17,560 Speaker 2: You had an office space moment where the yeah, I 376 00:16:17,560 --> 00:16:19,280 Speaker 2: boost the morale of everyone around me come. 377 00:16:19,200 --> 00:16:22,040 Speaker 4: On and I was like, I'm going to be stripped 378 00:16:22,040 --> 00:16:25,480 Speaker 4: with you. I don't do anything, but you know, I'm 379 00:16:25,480 --> 00:16:28,560 Speaker 4: here in case anything breaks, or to attend meetings and advise. 380 00:16:28,800 --> 00:16:31,840 Speaker 4: And then you know, he was like, Hey, either work 381 00:16:31,880 --> 00:16:33,840 Speaker 4: here for at least three or four days or you're out, 382 00:16:33,920 --> 00:16:35,000 Speaker 4: and so I left. 383 00:16:36,040 --> 00:16:38,560 Speaker 1: And sometimes it gets to that kind of ultimatum point 384 00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:41,440 Speaker 1: in the process. And that's the goal, right, is for 385 00:16:41,640 --> 00:16:44,120 Speaker 1: the ramp up, for the line to keep going up 386 00:16:44,120 --> 00:16:46,120 Speaker 1: into the right when it comes to the revenue that 387 00:16:46,160 --> 00:16:49,120 Speaker 1: your business is generating so that you can eventually like 388 00:16:49,280 --> 00:16:51,080 Speaker 1: take off and go do that full time. We want 389 00:16:51,080 --> 00:16:53,520 Speaker 1: to talk to you more, Steve about specifically like which 390 00:16:53,520 --> 00:16:55,880 Speaker 1: business ideas to bet on and how to get started. 391 00:16:56,040 --> 00:16:58,440 Speaker 1: So we've got some more questions for you on that front. 392 00:16:58,520 --> 00:16:59,640 Speaker 1: We'll get to those right after this. 393 00:17:09,040 --> 00:17:11,400 Speaker 2: All right, we are back from the break talking with 394 00:17:11,480 --> 00:17:14,159 Speaker 2: Steve Chu and Steve, we're gonna get a little you know, 395 00:17:14,160 --> 00:17:15,800 Speaker 2: we kind of talk through your story kind of how 396 00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:17,920 Speaker 2: it is you view entrepreneurship at a high level, but 397 00:17:17,920 --> 00:17:21,280 Speaker 2: we're gonna get maybe a little more practical and hopefully 398 00:17:21,280 --> 00:17:23,600 Speaker 2: we can leave a lot of listeners out there with 399 00:17:23,720 --> 00:17:26,639 Speaker 2: some ideas, maybe with some takeaways. And I think a 400 00:17:26,640 --> 00:17:29,040 Speaker 2: lot of folks might be wondering how outside of the 401 00:17:29,080 --> 00:17:33,000 Speaker 2: box that they could potentially get with a business idea, 402 00:17:33,080 --> 00:17:36,040 Speaker 2: right because it feels like the sky might be the 403 00:17:36,119 --> 00:17:38,160 Speaker 2: limit when it comes to just some of the different 404 00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:39,960 Speaker 2: brainstorming that they might do. But how do you know 405 00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:43,119 Speaker 2: if there's someone out there in there listening and they're like, man, 406 00:17:43,280 --> 00:17:46,040 Speaker 2: this is a good idea or this is a weird, 407 00:17:46,280 --> 00:17:49,239 Speaker 2: crazy idea, Like is there a way that you help 408 00:17:49,280 --> 00:17:52,399 Speaker 2: folks to distinguish whether an idea is just crazy or 409 00:17:52,440 --> 00:17:54,240 Speaker 2: if it's just crazy good. 410 00:17:53,920 --> 00:17:55,879 Speaker 4: I mean, are we talking about physical products here or 411 00:17:56,000 --> 00:17:57,760 Speaker 4: content dealer's choice? 412 00:17:57,880 --> 00:17:58,159 Speaker 3: All right? 413 00:17:58,200 --> 00:18:00,359 Speaker 4: All right, well let's just start with physical product because 414 00:18:00,359 --> 00:18:02,639 Speaker 4: that's something easy to understand, right, You sell something, you 415 00:18:02,680 --> 00:18:05,800 Speaker 4: get money for it, all right, So these days you 416 00:18:05,800 --> 00:18:08,919 Speaker 4: can pretty much tell what anything sells for and how 417 00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:12,399 Speaker 4: much they're making. There are tools such as jungle Scout 418 00:18:12,800 --> 00:18:15,200 Speaker 4: that will literally tell you how much every single listing 419 00:18:15,240 --> 00:18:18,600 Speaker 4: on Amazon is making. Right, so there's really very few 420 00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:21,080 Speaker 4: there's very few mysteries now in terms of how much 421 00:18:21,119 --> 00:18:23,159 Speaker 4: you could potentially make given a product. Just look it 422 00:18:23,240 --> 00:18:25,000 Speaker 4: up on Amazon, use jungle Scout. 423 00:18:25,040 --> 00:18:27,119 Speaker 3: It'll tell you. Now. 424 00:18:27,320 --> 00:18:30,280 Speaker 4: The other thing is I got students in my class 425 00:18:30,400 --> 00:18:32,560 Speaker 4: that sometimes they tell me they're going to launch something 426 00:18:32,600 --> 00:18:35,240 Speaker 4: and I'm like, dude, that's really saturated. It's going to 427 00:18:35,240 --> 00:18:38,719 Speaker 4: be a very hard road. But then they succeed. And 428 00:18:38,760 --> 00:18:42,840 Speaker 4: the thing to realize here is that if you're good 429 00:18:42,840 --> 00:18:45,879 Speaker 4: at selling something, you can pretty much sell anything. And 430 00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:48,760 Speaker 4: you got to realize this. When you're selling anything online, 431 00:18:49,200 --> 00:18:52,160 Speaker 4: chances are it's already a commodity. Like there's very few 432 00:18:52,160 --> 00:18:55,479 Speaker 4: inventions being sold, Like, hey, we sell handkerchiefs, we sell towels, 433 00:18:55,520 --> 00:18:59,160 Speaker 4: we sell linens. Right, No one's really invented that anything 434 00:18:59,320 --> 00:19:02,000 Speaker 4: in that industry for a very long time. So what 435 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:04,199 Speaker 4: you got to realize is, if you're trying to sell something, 436 00:19:04,560 --> 00:19:08,280 Speaker 4: it's really about the emotions that you can evoke in 437 00:19:08,320 --> 00:19:11,359 Speaker 4: a customer to get them to buy. Do you guys, 438 00:19:11,680 --> 00:19:13,480 Speaker 4: have you ever heard of doctor Squatch? No? 439 00:19:13,880 --> 00:19:15,200 Speaker 1: Is that a soap? 440 00:19:15,640 --> 00:19:18,320 Speaker 4: Yes, okay, men's soap. And I don't know about you guys, 441 00:19:18,320 --> 00:19:20,439 Speaker 4: but I don't care about soap. I just use whatever's 442 00:19:20,440 --> 00:19:23,080 Speaker 4: in the bathroom. So it's really hard to sell soap 443 00:19:23,119 --> 00:19:26,560 Speaker 4: to a guy's market. But if you watch their commercials, 444 00:19:27,080 --> 00:19:30,320 Speaker 4: you'll notice that there's always a female in the picture 445 00:19:30,640 --> 00:19:33,199 Speaker 4: and she's always like smelling the guy, going, oh my god, 446 00:19:33,440 --> 00:19:35,560 Speaker 4: you smell so good. I want to jump you right now. 447 00:19:36,040 --> 00:19:38,520 Speaker 4: So they're not really selling the soap what essentially, they're 448 00:19:38,560 --> 00:19:41,600 Speaker 4: selling sex, and that's why they became this one hundred 449 00:19:41,640 --> 00:19:44,520 Speaker 4: million dollar company. It's about the emotions that you evoke, 450 00:19:44,560 --> 00:19:46,239 Speaker 4: and there's a whole bunch of emotions that you can 451 00:19:46,280 --> 00:19:48,240 Speaker 4: evoke to get someone to buy something, and sex just 452 00:19:48,280 --> 00:19:49,920 Speaker 4: happens to be one of them. 453 00:19:50,000 --> 00:19:52,920 Speaker 1: Yeah, talk about the other emotions, because there are other 454 00:19:53,000 --> 00:19:56,440 Speaker 1: ways which you can you can make a product stand apart, 455 00:19:56,520 --> 00:19:58,760 Speaker 1: not necessarily, and that's what Coke's doing, right, Coca Cola. 456 00:19:59,040 --> 00:20:01,040 Speaker 1: It's the response from the sip of coke in the 457 00:20:01,040 --> 00:20:03,720 Speaker 1: commercial and you're like, yeah, that does look refreshing, but 458 00:20:03,800 --> 00:20:06,000 Speaker 1: clearly it's not like quenching your thirst. That's not what 459 00:20:06,040 --> 00:20:09,240 Speaker 1: Coke's there to do. But they're selling kind of a lifestyle, 460 00:20:09,320 --> 00:20:11,159 Speaker 1: a way of being, and that's what a lot of 461 00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:12,520 Speaker 1: the most successful brands do. Right. 462 00:20:12,840 --> 00:20:15,360 Speaker 2: Technically this is it's called the Life Force eight, which 463 00:20:15,400 --> 00:20:19,200 Speaker 2: by the way, sounds like some indie band, but yeah, 464 00:20:19,359 --> 00:20:21,040 Speaker 2: it's some of these different ways that you're able to 465 00:20:21,200 --> 00:20:21,840 Speaker 2: appeal to folks. 466 00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:26,200 Speaker 4: Yeah, anything that shows that you're enjoying life, or you're 467 00:20:26,280 --> 00:20:29,080 Speaker 4: keeping up with the joneses like your high class, or 468 00:20:29,200 --> 00:20:31,959 Speaker 4: anything that helps you protect your loved ones. I mean, 469 00:20:31,960 --> 00:20:34,480 Speaker 4: there's a number of different emotions that you can evoke, 470 00:20:34,520 --> 00:20:37,160 Speaker 4: and if you can do that, you can make someone 471 00:20:37,200 --> 00:20:37,760 Speaker 4: buy anything. 472 00:20:38,080 --> 00:20:40,960 Speaker 1: Makes me think, like my daughter recently bought used her 473 00:20:41,000 --> 00:20:43,800 Speaker 1: own money to buy a really expensive water bottle, a 474 00:20:43,880 --> 00:20:46,639 Speaker 1: Stanley water bottle, and I didn't realize these were things 475 00:20:46,720 --> 00:20:48,480 Speaker 1: bladed watercut and now I look around and I see 476 00:20:48,520 --> 00:20:50,520 Speaker 1: like all the ladies around here drinking out of Stanley 477 00:20:50,560 --> 00:20:53,600 Speaker 1: water bottles. They're forty five dollars apiece, and it's like 478 00:20:53,800 --> 00:20:57,159 Speaker 1: you get a water bottle for a dollar fifty. But 479 00:20:57,400 --> 00:21:01,280 Speaker 1: for some reason, these evoke something and they've somehow in 480 00:21:01,320 --> 00:21:06,200 Speaker 1: their marketing, they've gotten enough people in on the expensive 481 00:21:06,200 --> 00:21:08,680 Speaker 1: water bottle game that it's it's kind of starting to 482 00:21:08,680 --> 00:21:10,960 Speaker 1: trickle down into other places. It's almost like selling itself. 483 00:21:11,359 --> 00:21:14,360 Speaker 4: I mean, just look at the iPhone. I'm an Android guy, 484 00:21:14,520 --> 00:21:16,080 Speaker 4: and so whatever. I look at the iPhone, I'm like, 485 00:21:16,119 --> 00:21:18,200 Speaker 4: this is just way overpriced for what you get. They're 486 00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:21,040 Speaker 4: always behind in terms of technology, but they do these 487 00:21:21,080 --> 00:21:24,240 Speaker 4: little things like when my front and iPhone messages me 488 00:21:24,320 --> 00:21:27,040 Speaker 4: it's not green or whatever call it, you know, and 489 00:21:27,119 --> 00:21:30,159 Speaker 4: so I'm like this outcast paria. 490 00:21:30,640 --> 00:21:32,120 Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly right. 491 00:21:32,200 --> 00:21:34,280 Speaker 4: And so these are just things that Apple Apples like 492 00:21:34,320 --> 00:21:37,440 Speaker 4: phenomenal at marketing. I remember when they released the iPad 493 00:21:37,960 --> 00:21:40,680 Speaker 4: and then Google released their tablet. Google was touting features 494 00:21:40,720 --> 00:21:43,440 Speaker 4: like processor speed and battery. 495 00:21:43,080 --> 00:21:43,959 Speaker 3: Life and all this stuff. 496 00:21:44,359 --> 00:21:47,040 Speaker 4: Apple comes out with this commercial where like these little 497 00:21:47,160 --> 00:21:48,879 Speaker 4: kids create this video for. 498 00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:50,440 Speaker 3: Grandpa, and. 499 00:21:51,800 --> 00:21:54,199 Speaker 4: Yeah, Grandma had passed away and they put together this 500 00:21:54,240 --> 00:21:56,280 Speaker 4: really good skit and you know a lot of people 501 00:21:56,359 --> 00:21:57,960 Speaker 4: start tearing up at the end of that video. 502 00:21:58,200 --> 00:22:00,560 Speaker 1: Well, it's like Public's commercials during the holidays, they like 503 00:22:00,840 --> 00:22:03,480 Speaker 1: they make you cry. It's not about hey, look we 504 00:22:03,520 --> 00:22:05,320 Speaker 1: got the best selection at the lowest prices. It's all 505 00:22:05,359 --> 00:22:07,760 Speaker 1: about shopping is a pleasure and it's just a different 506 00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:10,000 Speaker 1: way of selling a product in the way. 507 00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:12,680 Speaker 2: To market it, way to stand out. Steve so as 508 00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:15,800 Speaker 2: folks are kind of brainstorm and thinking through what it is. 509 00:22:15,840 --> 00:22:17,879 Speaker 2: Like You've got an individual and maybe they're not thinking products, 510 00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:19,280 Speaker 2: they're just thinking about, like, I just want to do 511 00:22:19,320 --> 00:22:23,200 Speaker 2: something for myself. You in your book you warned against 512 00:22:23,480 --> 00:22:27,280 Speaker 2: chasing things, chasing businesses that we think are going to 513 00:22:27,280 --> 00:22:30,760 Speaker 2: make us happy. What role do you think passion should 514 00:22:30,760 --> 00:22:33,400 Speaker 2: play when it comes to starting up a side business. 515 00:22:34,640 --> 00:22:36,480 Speaker 4: I mean, I'm a practical guy, and when I think 516 00:22:36,480 --> 00:22:39,560 Speaker 4: of the word passion, I think of like, you know, 517 00:22:39,560 --> 00:22:42,440 Speaker 4: when you first start dating and you know you're really 518 00:22:42,520 --> 00:22:44,840 Speaker 4: interested in this girl or whatnot, but you know that 519 00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:48,199 Speaker 4: might fade after a while. But if you have some 520 00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:51,720 Speaker 4: sort of special skill or knowledge or advantage, you should 521 00:22:51,720 --> 00:22:55,080 Speaker 4: always take advantage of that first when it comes to business, right, 522 00:22:55,520 --> 00:22:57,600 Speaker 4: I mean I have students in my class they're having 523 00:22:57,640 --> 00:23:00,359 Speaker 4: problems figuring out what to sell, and then you know, 524 00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:04,160 Speaker 4: in casual conversation, it'll come up, Oh, by the way, 525 00:23:04,200 --> 00:23:05,960 Speaker 4: did I mention that my wife. 526 00:23:05,720 --> 00:23:07,280 Speaker 3: Is a chiropractor? 527 00:23:07,480 --> 00:23:10,600 Speaker 4: Like this guy wanted to sell back pillows and I'm like, dude, 528 00:23:10,640 --> 00:23:13,199 Speaker 4: that's really competitive and whatnot. And then he mentions his 529 00:23:13,200 --> 00:23:15,760 Speaker 4: wife's a chiropractor and like she's known for this. I'm like, 530 00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:17,480 Speaker 4: oh my god, yeah, totally. 531 00:23:17,400 --> 00:23:20,680 Speaker 2: That this is your unfair advantage that you exactly exactly. 532 00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:23,439 Speaker 1: Yeah. So, like different businesses makes sense for different folks 533 00:23:23,480 --> 00:23:27,119 Speaker 1: based on kind of their life experience, their expertise, their passion. 534 00:23:27,200 --> 00:23:30,000 Speaker 1: Like it's it's a combination of all of those different things, right, 535 00:23:30,040 --> 00:23:31,840 Speaker 1: and you have to kind of, what would you say, 536 00:23:31,880 --> 00:23:34,120 Speaker 1: put all those together to figure out maybe the best 537 00:23:34,359 --> 00:23:35,119 Speaker 1: route forward for you. 538 00:23:35,840 --> 00:23:39,040 Speaker 4: I mean, passion fades. I think that's the problem. I mean, 539 00:23:39,080 --> 00:23:43,080 Speaker 4: you look at us. We sell handkerchiefs. Definitely not my 540 00:23:43,080 --> 00:23:45,920 Speaker 4: first choice. I'm not really in the hankies. But over 541 00:23:45,960 --> 00:23:49,320 Speaker 4: the years, I've actually come to know the industry really well, 542 00:23:49,400 --> 00:23:52,080 Speaker 4: and I'm very passionate about the business because once you 543 00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:55,240 Speaker 4: start making money, you'll get all excited over, you know, 544 00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:56,440 Speaker 4: just the business aspects. 545 00:23:57,160 --> 00:23:59,320 Speaker 2: A lot of times you call these side bets, right, 546 00:23:59,400 --> 00:24:02,120 Speaker 2: it's something that you are working on while you are 547 00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:04,080 Speaker 2: maintaining your nine to five in order to pay the bills. 548 00:24:04,080 --> 00:24:08,720 Speaker 2: But you are exploring, you're following your curiosities, and essentially 549 00:24:09,040 --> 00:24:11,960 Speaker 2: you talk about how folks oftentimes will end up falling 550 00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:15,200 Speaker 2: into whatever side business that they happen to start and 551 00:24:15,359 --> 00:24:18,080 Speaker 2: ends up being successful. I guess I'm thinking of specifically. 552 00:24:18,160 --> 00:24:21,760 Speaker 2: You mentioned a gamer and he's just like, man, all 553 00:24:21,800 --> 00:24:24,359 Speaker 2: I do is I work, I come home, I eat, 554 00:24:24,600 --> 00:24:26,920 Speaker 2: I play video games for a few hours, and then 555 00:24:27,119 --> 00:24:29,640 Speaker 2: I'm not good at anything. And then you just start 556 00:24:29,640 --> 00:24:33,400 Speaker 2: asking him questions about his gaming specifically. Can you share 557 00:24:33,400 --> 00:24:34,560 Speaker 2: that story? 558 00:24:34,680 --> 00:24:37,200 Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean essentially, I mean I deal with a 559 00:24:37,240 --> 00:24:39,680 Speaker 4: lot of people who are stuck deciding what they want 560 00:24:39,720 --> 00:24:42,200 Speaker 4: to do, and sometimes it's just right under your nose. 561 00:24:42,280 --> 00:24:44,679 Speaker 4: So yeah, just like you said, I asked him what 562 00:24:44,720 --> 00:24:46,639 Speaker 4: he did during the day, what he was good at, 563 00:24:46,640 --> 00:24:47,800 Speaker 4: and he's like, I'm not good at anything. 564 00:24:47,960 --> 00:24:50,040 Speaker 3: Yeah, that's impossible, man, that's impossible. 565 00:24:50,920 --> 00:24:53,680 Speaker 4: And so when we got to this game that he played, 566 00:24:54,160 --> 00:24:56,200 Speaker 4: because I know I game a little bit, so I 567 00:24:56,240 --> 00:24:57,959 Speaker 4: asked him when he was playing, and he got all 568 00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:01,080 Speaker 4: excited and animated. I'm like, okay, what you got to 569 00:25:01,119 --> 00:25:03,880 Speaker 4: do is just just document like your excitement for the game. 570 00:25:05,040 --> 00:25:07,639 Speaker 4: And he ended up creating this YouTube channel and the 571 00:25:07,720 --> 00:25:10,719 Speaker 4: last time I checked, it had thousands of subscribers, and 572 00:25:10,800 --> 00:25:13,480 Speaker 4: you know, instantly, that's that's like how Twitch got started, right, 573 00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:16,080 Speaker 4: People wanted to follow gamers and watch them play, and 574 00:25:16,119 --> 00:25:17,600 Speaker 4: so there's a totally a market for this. 575 00:25:17,560 --> 00:25:20,960 Speaker 1: Stuff, all right. So sometimes we talked about like physical 576 00:25:20,960 --> 00:25:23,400 Speaker 1: products a lot. What about you mentioned creating other things 577 00:25:23,400 --> 00:25:26,760 Speaker 1: that You've started a blog as well, and there people 578 00:25:26,760 --> 00:25:31,919 Speaker 1: have made businesses specifically launched on social media, you know, 579 00:25:32,080 --> 00:25:34,960 Speaker 1: sites like Instagram, TikTok, whatever. You can have a fully 580 00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:39,600 Speaker 1: fledged business literally most of it based all around social media. 581 00:25:39,680 --> 00:25:41,520 Speaker 1: So what are your thoughts, like, how how do you 582 00:25:41,520 --> 00:25:43,239 Speaker 1: help people think about whether or not they should be 583 00:25:43,320 --> 00:25:46,160 Speaker 1: getting into the physical product game or getting into kind 584 00:25:46,200 --> 00:25:47,440 Speaker 1: of the online content game. 585 00:25:47,920 --> 00:25:52,040 Speaker 4: Yeah, So when someone asked me that question, I always say, hey, 586 00:25:52,080 --> 00:25:54,520 Speaker 4: you know, it really just depends on your time frame 587 00:25:54,640 --> 00:25:57,160 Speaker 4: for making money, Like if you want to make money 588 00:25:57,240 --> 00:25:59,840 Speaker 4: sooner rather than later, it's always easier to sell if 589 00:25:59,840 --> 00:26:02,600 Speaker 4: as product, because you know, the product kind of stands 590 00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:04,200 Speaker 4: on its own right. So I would say, if you 591 00:26:04,200 --> 00:26:06,800 Speaker 4: want to make money within a year, physical products is 592 00:26:06,840 --> 00:26:11,200 Speaker 4: probably good. If you don't have the budget for physical products, 593 00:26:11,640 --> 00:26:14,440 Speaker 4: then content is great. If you have a runway of 594 00:26:14,520 --> 00:26:17,520 Speaker 4: let's say two or three years, Nothing I ever did 595 00:26:17,560 --> 00:26:20,720 Speaker 4: in the content space made me money less than I 596 00:26:20,760 --> 00:26:22,680 Speaker 4: would say two years, because it takes time to build 597 00:26:22,680 --> 00:26:25,919 Speaker 4: an audience. But once you do build that audience, and 598 00:26:25,960 --> 00:26:28,040 Speaker 4: you guys can probably attest to this for your podcast, 599 00:26:28,440 --> 00:26:31,160 Speaker 4: the money just goes exponential after a while. So e 600 00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:34,760 Speaker 4: commerce ramps up pretty quickly, but you know, it kind 601 00:26:34,800 --> 00:26:37,320 Speaker 4: of goes up into the right, but content is like 602 00:26:37,480 --> 00:26:39,560 Speaker 4: flat and then all of a sudden hockey sticks up 603 00:26:39,840 --> 00:26:40,840 Speaker 4: in terms of revenue. 604 00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:43,800 Speaker 1: So like back in your early blogging days, you were 605 00:26:44,400 --> 00:26:47,000 Speaker 1: writing writing, not seeing much in return from like a 606 00:26:47,040 --> 00:26:49,760 Speaker 1: monetary perspective, What was it like and how did you 607 00:26:49,840 --> 00:26:53,080 Speaker 1: turn on kind of the cash flows bigot from that website? 608 00:26:53,320 --> 00:26:55,400 Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, honestly, I don't think I made any 609 00:26:55,480 --> 00:27:00,280 Speaker 4: money for two years or anything significant. And the way 610 00:27:00,320 --> 00:27:02,840 Speaker 4: you got to view content is you got to grind 611 00:27:02,880 --> 00:27:05,040 Speaker 4: through it. Like I just put myself on a schedule 612 00:27:05,080 --> 00:27:07,800 Speaker 4: where I just wrote one blog post a week and 613 00:27:08,240 --> 00:27:12,160 Speaker 4: after a while, you'll know when it's time. Because when 614 00:27:12,160 --> 00:27:14,800 Speaker 4: I started writing about my e commerce store, everyone started 615 00:27:14,840 --> 00:27:17,440 Speaker 4: asking me for a class, right and I didn't want 616 00:27:17,440 --> 00:27:20,119 Speaker 4: to do a class, but people just kept asking for 617 00:27:20,280 --> 00:27:22,520 Speaker 4: and asking for it, and finally I said, Okay, fine, 618 00:27:22,840 --> 00:27:25,159 Speaker 4: I don't have any content right now, but if you 619 00:27:25,160 --> 00:27:27,920 Speaker 4: guys pay me three hundred bucks and if I sign 620 00:27:28,040 --> 00:27:31,639 Speaker 4: up you know ten people, I'll launch this class. And 621 00:27:31,640 --> 00:27:33,720 Speaker 4: then thirty five people signed up, and I was like, 622 00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:36,359 Speaker 4: oh man, okay, I guess I got to start this class. 623 00:27:37,480 --> 00:27:39,440 Speaker 4: And I've been running it now for over a decade 624 00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:41,800 Speaker 4: and it's been very lucrative for me. I'm very happy 625 00:27:41,840 --> 00:27:43,679 Speaker 4: that I did it. So that was one way that 626 00:27:43,760 --> 00:27:46,840 Speaker 4: I monetized. A different way was, you know, I use 627 00:27:46,880 --> 00:27:49,720 Speaker 4: a whole bunch of products in my store, and almost 628 00:27:49,760 --> 00:27:52,440 Speaker 4: all these products they have an affiliate program, and I'm 629 00:27:52,440 --> 00:27:54,960 Speaker 4: just recommending out the existing products that I used to 630 00:27:55,040 --> 00:27:56,920 Speaker 4: run my online store, and so it's a win win. 631 00:27:57,240 --> 00:27:59,159 Speaker 1: And one of the things you did there that you 632 00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:01,040 Speaker 1: mentioned was the fact that you kind of asked your 633 00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:02,840 Speaker 1: audience what they wanted and they were telling you what 634 00:28:02,880 --> 00:28:05,160 Speaker 1: they wanted, and then you had to deliver on that. 635 00:28:05,560 --> 00:28:11,280 Speaker 1: And just like you were assessing the demand before you 636 00:28:11,480 --> 00:28:13,679 Speaker 1: went through the trouble of creating the product. Is that 637 00:28:13,760 --> 00:28:15,520 Speaker 1: kind of a recipe that others can follow, whether we're 638 00:28:15,560 --> 00:28:18,680 Speaker 1: talking about physical products or whether we're talking about how 639 00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:20,760 Speaker 1: to interact with your audience, to kind of get that 640 00:28:21,680 --> 00:28:24,160 Speaker 1: idea of how much demand there is in the marketplace 641 00:28:24,200 --> 00:28:26,120 Speaker 1: before you go through the trouble of creating the thing. 642 00:28:26,520 --> 00:28:29,280 Speaker 4: I mean, you always want to validate. So we already 643 00:28:29,280 --> 00:28:30,879 Speaker 4: talked about how I did it for my class, and 644 00:28:30,960 --> 00:28:32,560 Speaker 4: in fact, I didn't even ask them what they wanted. 645 00:28:32,600 --> 00:28:34,119 Speaker 4: They just kept telling me what they wanted. It was 646 00:28:34,160 --> 00:28:38,800 Speaker 4: driving me nuts. On the physical product side, there's things 647 00:28:38,800 --> 00:28:40,840 Speaker 4: that you can do. So we already mentioned Jungle Scout. 648 00:28:40,880 --> 00:28:43,160 Speaker 4: You can see, you know how much every listing on 649 00:28:43,200 --> 00:28:45,880 Speaker 4: Amazon is making. But if you're still a little bit 650 00:28:45,920 --> 00:28:49,080 Speaker 4: squeamish about launching a product, there are these services where 651 00:28:49,080 --> 00:28:52,560 Speaker 4: you can literally just create a product photo of potentially 652 00:28:52,560 --> 00:28:55,239 Speaker 4: what you want to sell, and then pit it up 653 00:28:55,280 --> 00:29:00,080 Speaker 4: against existing Amazon listings, send out a poll of just 654 00:29:00,240 --> 00:29:03,000 Speaker 4: random Amazon shoppers and they'll tell you which one they 655 00:29:03,040 --> 00:29:06,120 Speaker 4: would buy out of those different images and product descriptions, 656 00:29:06,600 --> 00:29:08,120 Speaker 4: so you can get a pretty good idea of whether 657 00:29:08,120 --> 00:29:10,320 Speaker 4: you're going to succeed before you even get started. 658 00:29:10,600 --> 00:29:13,880 Speaker 2: That's great specifically from a product standpoint, but as I guess, 659 00:29:13,880 --> 00:29:17,560 Speaker 2: as you're thinking about services and maybe content, Like some 660 00:29:17,600 --> 00:29:19,800 Speaker 2: folks they specifically start a business because they're able to 661 00:29:20,040 --> 00:29:22,600 Speaker 2: just simply identify a problem and then they are able 662 00:29:22,640 --> 00:29:24,840 Speaker 2: to provide a solution. But like what you're talking about 663 00:29:24,840 --> 00:29:28,400 Speaker 2: here is niching down and oftentimes you can focus on 664 00:29:28,440 --> 00:29:31,560 Speaker 2: a like a specific customer base figuring and then figure 665 00:29:31,560 --> 00:29:34,680 Speaker 2: out what it is that they need. Like, are those 666 00:29:34,720 --> 00:29:36,680 Speaker 2: two approaches at odds with each other? Because on one 667 00:29:36,720 --> 00:29:38,880 Speaker 2: hand it seems like you're starting with the problem, but 668 00:29:38,920 --> 00:29:40,680 Speaker 2: then with the other approach, it sounds like you are 669 00:29:40,720 --> 00:29:42,840 Speaker 2: starting with a customer base. 670 00:29:43,160 --> 00:29:44,160 Speaker 1: So are are those at odds? 671 00:29:44,280 --> 00:29:46,720 Speaker 2: Or are they essentially kind of different sides of the 672 00:29:46,760 --> 00:29:47,360 Speaker 2: same coin. 673 00:29:48,080 --> 00:29:51,560 Speaker 4: I really just think it depends on which marketplace. So 674 00:29:51,640 --> 00:29:55,360 Speaker 4: everything I mentioned on the physical product side was regarding 675 00:29:55,480 --> 00:29:58,480 Speaker 4: Jungle Scott, that's just for like the Amazon marketplace, because 676 00:29:58,520 --> 00:30:01,920 Speaker 4: you can't really you know, there's no real content involved 677 00:30:01,920 --> 00:30:04,880 Speaker 4: with Amazon and pretty much the picture sells, right If 678 00:30:04,920 --> 00:30:07,640 Speaker 4: this is your own website. However, then yes, what you 679 00:30:07,800 --> 00:30:10,720 Speaker 4: have said is absolutely true. You need to find a 680 00:30:10,760 --> 00:30:13,080 Speaker 4: group of people, a small group of people that'll be 681 00:30:13,120 --> 00:30:15,760 Speaker 4: interested in your products, and then market that product to 682 00:30:15,760 --> 00:30:19,440 Speaker 4: that particular individual. So I guess the strategy just changes 683 00:30:19,480 --> 00:30:22,280 Speaker 4: depending on where you're selling and what you're trying to do. 684 00:30:22,800 --> 00:30:25,680 Speaker 1: Talk to me about pricing, because when you're creating an 685 00:30:25,680 --> 00:30:28,160 Speaker 1: online course, for instance, you said, what three hundred bucks 686 00:30:28,160 --> 00:30:29,560 Speaker 1: I think is what you were going to charge, and 687 00:30:29,560 --> 00:30:31,960 Speaker 1: then thirty five people signed up? How'd you come up 688 00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:34,480 Speaker 1: with that number? And physical products it might even be 689 00:30:34,480 --> 00:30:36,320 Speaker 1: a little bit easier you can see your competition, But 690 00:30:36,360 --> 00:30:38,680 Speaker 1: even in that realm, right, no one thought that one 691 00:30:38,720 --> 00:30:41,719 Speaker 1: hundred and fifty dollars leggings from Lululemon. People were going 692 00:30:41,760 --> 00:30:43,480 Speaker 1: to buy those things because hey, I can get something 693 00:30:43,520 --> 00:30:46,840 Speaker 1: really similar a knockoff on Amazon for twenty So how 694 00:30:46,840 --> 00:30:50,959 Speaker 1: do you think through pricing of your product or your service? 695 00:30:51,320 --> 00:30:53,920 Speaker 4: Yeah, so when it comes to products, I always say 696 00:30:54,040 --> 00:30:58,480 Speaker 4: just target the high end because just running the business 697 00:30:58,640 --> 00:31:01,000 Speaker 4: is so much easier. These days, you pretty much have 698 00:31:01,080 --> 00:31:04,320 Speaker 4: to have your own brand because of Amazon, Like a 699 00:31:04,360 --> 00:31:06,760 Speaker 4: whole bunch of these manufacturers are just throw up stuff 700 00:31:06,800 --> 00:31:09,320 Speaker 4: on Amazon. Everything looks the same over there. Yeah, So 701 00:31:09,360 --> 00:31:10,760 Speaker 4: you got to have your own brand, You got to 702 00:31:10,800 --> 00:31:13,720 Speaker 4: have a strong value prop. And if you can target 703 00:31:13,720 --> 00:31:16,240 Speaker 4: the high end, that just makes everything easier customer service, 704 00:31:16,280 --> 00:31:18,400 Speaker 4: it makes advertising easier and whatnot. 705 00:31:18,680 --> 00:31:21,200 Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, yeah, if you're going for the cheapest 706 00:31:21,400 --> 00:31:23,360 Speaker 2: absolute price, I mean, that's the race to the bottom. 707 00:31:23,520 --> 00:31:26,080 Speaker 2: And you, I mean, you're virtually never going to win 708 00:31:26,160 --> 00:31:27,600 Speaker 2: when it comes to scale against some. 709 00:31:27,560 --> 00:31:29,800 Speaker 1: Of these larger even if you do, when you lose 710 00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:31,200 Speaker 1: by winning, yeah, I. 711 00:31:31,200 --> 00:31:32,880 Speaker 4: Mean you might make a little bit of money in 712 00:31:32,920 --> 00:31:36,000 Speaker 4: the beginning, but eventually other competitors will hop on and 713 00:31:36,160 --> 00:31:37,680 Speaker 4: just a race to the bottom unless you have a 714 00:31:37,720 --> 00:31:41,520 Speaker 4: brand and a and a value prop, right, And a 715 00:31:41,560 --> 00:31:44,320 Speaker 4: brand isn't established overnight. I mean the way you establish 716 00:31:44,360 --> 00:31:47,280 Speaker 4: a brand is you bring people back to your content 717 00:31:47,400 --> 00:31:49,920 Speaker 4: over and over and over again until you become kind 718 00:31:49,920 --> 00:31:52,200 Speaker 4: of ingrained in their mind. There's a lot of brands 719 00:31:52,200 --> 00:31:54,920 Speaker 4: that that I follow and and I'll just buy no 720 00:31:54,960 --> 00:31:58,640 Speaker 4: matter what. So for example, Tide laundry Detrogent, I'll buy 721 00:31:58,680 --> 00:32:01,160 Speaker 4: Tide even though there's like this urgent at the supermarket 722 00:32:01,200 --> 00:32:02,360 Speaker 4: that's like one third the price. 723 00:32:03,440 --> 00:32:06,000 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's just because you have an affinity for the brand. 724 00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:09,200 Speaker 2: The story that they've told over time is essentially you 725 00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:12,000 Speaker 2: just have an allegiance to that brand essentially. 726 00:32:12,120 --> 00:32:16,000 Speaker 4: Yeah, because I mean, why experiment when I already have 727 00:32:16,120 --> 00:32:16,840 Speaker 4: something that I like. 728 00:32:17,120 --> 00:32:20,000 Speaker 1: Well, it's funny because I've developed something similar to like 729 00:32:20,080 --> 00:32:23,080 Speaker 1: a men's clothing seller online. It's like, man, you get 730 00:32:23,120 --> 00:32:25,440 Speaker 1: men's clothes anywhere, but there's this one place and they 731 00:32:25,520 --> 00:32:29,240 Speaker 1: just curate so well and so like, I really that's 732 00:32:29,360 --> 00:32:32,200 Speaker 1: my one stop shop now for when I'm getting something 733 00:32:32,240 --> 00:32:37,240 Speaker 1: new in my closet. But their stuff is definitely it's pricier. 734 00:32:37,480 --> 00:32:40,840 Speaker 1: I'm looking for sales, but it's interesting how that can 735 00:32:40,880 --> 00:32:42,920 Speaker 1: be the case. They're also like, you could go buy 736 00:32:42,960 --> 00:32:46,680 Speaker 1: these clothes at the individual product maker sites, but I 737 00:32:46,720 --> 00:32:48,760 Speaker 1: always find myself going back to this one website because 738 00:32:48,760 --> 00:32:50,520 Speaker 1: they're doing such a good job curating everything. 739 00:32:50,920 --> 00:32:53,440 Speaker 4: Yeah, and a lot of times the personality and this 740 00:32:53,600 --> 00:32:55,640 Speaker 4: might not be the case for you, but sometimes it's 741 00:32:55,640 --> 00:32:57,880 Speaker 4: the personality of the curator that matters too. 742 00:32:58,040 --> 00:32:58,280 Speaker 1: Sure. 743 00:32:58,360 --> 00:33:00,160 Speaker 4: Yeah, there are these guys I follow on you to 744 00:33:00,320 --> 00:33:02,560 Speaker 4: pretendis because it's a sport I really like, and I 745 00:33:02,600 --> 00:33:04,440 Speaker 4: basically follow all their recommendations. 746 00:33:04,840 --> 00:33:06,520 Speaker 2: A lot of times, I think it's it's almost like 747 00:33:06,560 --> 00:33:09,080 Speaker 2: a combination of both things, right, Like I guess, so 748 00:33:09,120 --> 00:33:12,479 Speaker 2: far we've been talking about creating a product or creating content, 749 00:33:12,520 --> 00:33:14,560 Speaker 2: But as I think about it, you're kind of talking 750 00:33:14,560 --> 00:33:17,600 Speaker 2: about Tide or Jill, You're talking about the Men's site. 751 00:33:17,840 --> 00:33:20,480 Speaker 2: Like I can think of a couple brands where the 752 00:33:20,600 --> 00:33:23,160 Speaker 2: reason that I think and I kind of know that 753 00:33:23,200 --> 00:33:24,800 Speaker 2: they're the best is because of the fact that they 754 00:33:24,800 --> 00:33:28,360 Speaker 2: are also creating content to kind of go alongside the product, 755 00:33:28,400 --> 00:33:30,280 Speaker 2: and so they like that's just a part of their 756 00:33:30,280 --> 00:33:32,400 Speaker 2: marketing story, but it truly is content. Like I am 757 00:33:32,480 --> 00:33:34,720 Speaker 2: learning things and it just so happens that they have 758 00:33:34,760 --> 00:33:36,720 Speaker 2: products that helped me to solve the problems that they 759 00:33:36,760 --> 00:33:40,240 Speaker 2: are present that they're presenting. But Steve, we have a 760 00:33:40,280 --> 00:33:42,120 Speaker 2: couple more questions that we're going to get to here 761 00:33:42,160 --> 00:33:44,320 Speaker 2: right after the break. We're gonna, I guess, discuss some 762 00:33:44,320 --> 00:33:48,080 Speaker 2: of the things that hold folks back as entrepreneurs. And 763 00:33:48,280 --> 00:33:50,320 Speaker 2: we also want to know what keeps you going even 764 00:33:50,360 --> 00:33:52,840 Speaker 2: though you have found such an amazing success. 765 00:33:52,840 --> 00:33:54,520 Speaker 1: We'll get to all that more right after this. 766 00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:04,480 Speaker 2: I we're back. 767 00:34:04,480 --> 00:34:07,920 Speaker 1: We're still talking with Steve Chu. We're talking about entrepreneurship, 768 00:34:07,960 --> 00:34:09,719 Speaker 1: but doing it in a way that allows you to 769 00:34:09,760 --> 00:34:13,520 Speaker 1: keep the family first, not going overboard and you know, 770 00:34:13,560 --> 00:34:16,280 Speaker 1: sinking your whole ship, turning off all those other burners 771 00:34:16,800 --> 00:34:20,040 Speaker 1: so that you can, yeah, actually enjoy the reason you 772 00:34:20,040 --> 00:34:22,279 Speaker 1: started the business in the first place. And Steve, you've 773 00:34:22,280 --> 00:34:25,040 Speaker 1: given a lot of great tips already. But even when 774 00:34:25,080 --> 00:34:26,719 Speaker 1: folks know the right things to do in order to 775 00:34:26,760 --> 00:34:30,440 Speaker 1: launch a successful business, they can fail taking that first step. 776 00:34:30,560 --> 00:34:33,440 Speaker 1: So how how would you suggest people get over get 777 00:34:33,480 --> 00:34:36,600 Speaker 1: over the fear of oh what if I'm not successful? 778 00:34:36,640 --> 00:34:38,879 Speaker 1: Oh what if I'm you know, putting five hundred bucks 779 00:34:38,920 --> 00:34:40,839 Speaker 1: into this thing and it falls flat on the face, 780 00:34:40,920 --> 00:34:43,480 Speaker 1: or I spent six months even maybe working towards this 781 00:34:43,560 --> 00:34:45,520 Speaker 1: goal and it doesn't go anywhere. 782 00:34:46,600 --> 00:34:50,279 Speaker 4: I mean, for most cases, the failure is entirely an 783 00:34:50,320 --> 00:34:54,000 Speaker 4: ego thing, right, because it really is so cheap to 784 00:34:54,040 --> 00:34:56,840 Speaker 4: launch something these days, I can't imagine it's about the 785 00:34:56,880 --> 00:34:58,120 Speaker 4: money for most people. 786 00:34:58,160 --> 00:34:59,920 Speaker 3: I should say, it's really about your e. 787 00:35:00,080 --> 00:35:02,880 Speaker 4: Go right, Like when we were starting the handkerchief business, 788 00:35:02,920 --> 00:35:04,480 Speaker 4: we had a lot of people going, oh, you know, 789 00:35:04,680 --> 00:35:07,799 Speaker 4: how's your business doing, kind of like in a derogatory manner. 790 00:35:07,800 --> 00:35:10,439 Speaker 2: And basically making fun of you by asking how things 791 00:35:10,440 --> 00:35:11,040 Speaker 2: are going. 792 00:35:11,040 --> 00:35:12,960 Speaker 4: Exactly, And I knew that if I failed, you know, 793 00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:16,680 Speaker 4: this would hurt my ego. I mean, I guess the 794 00:35:17,480 --> 00:35:19,640 Speaker 4: easiest thing to do is just to play the what's 795 00:35:19,640 --> 00:35:23,400 Speaker 4: the worst that can happen gameh So, if our business failed, 796 00:35:24,239 --> 00:35:26,560 Speaker 4: I mean, my wife would just go back to work, right, 797 00:35:27,160 --> 00:35:29,200 Speaker 4: I would keep my job, and that's the worst thing 798 00:35:29,239 --> 00:35:32,040 Speaker 4: that could happen. Let's say we both lost our jobs. 799 00:35:32,040 --> 00:35:34,320 Speaker 4: Worst case scenario, I'd boom back in with my parents. 800 00:35:34,600 --> 00:35:37,080 Speaker 4: I mean, that'd be really bad. But you know, it's 801 00:35:37,120 --> 00:35:40,239 Speaker 4: not like I'm in danger of anything. And I think 802 00:35:40,280 --> 00:35:42,680 Speaker 4: if most people play that game, they'll find that none 803 00:35:42,719 --> 00:35:43,440 Speaker 4: of this stuff. 804 00:35:43,239 --> 00:35:44,040 Speaker 3: Is really drastic. 805 00:35:44,719 --> 00:35:47,560 Speaker 4: I think the hardest part for people not starting is 806 00:35:47,640 --> 00:35:51,680 Speaker 4: really analysis prolysis. And whenever an engineer signs up for 807 00:35:51,760 --> 00:35:53,480 Speaker 4: my course, I'm always like, oh. 808 00:35:53,320 --> 00:35:56,720 Speaker 3: Man, yeah, it's gonna be tough. It's gonna be tough. 809 00:35:56,560 --> 00:36:02,080 Speaker 2: Because wanting to analyze everything, they dissect every possible scenario. 810 00:36:02,480 --> 00:36:05,640 Speaker 4: Yeah, they want to know all the answers, whether it's 811 00:36:05,760 --> 00:36:09,439 Speaker 4: guaranteed to be profitable and all that stuff, And that's 812 00:36:09,560 --> 00:36:12,040 Speaker 4: kind of not the way it works. You know, you 813 00:36:12,120 --> 00:36:14,520 Speaker 4: got to take a small leap of faith, a small risk, 814 00:36:14,680 --> 00:36:17,480 Speaker 4: and it's just a matter of probabilities, and you know, 815 00:36:17,480 --> 00:36:19,399 Speaker 4: if something doesn't work, you try something else. 816 00:36:19,760 --> 00:36:20,040 Speaker 1: Yeah. 817 00:36:20,080 --> 00:36:21,520 Speaker 2: One of the things you're getting out here too, or 818 00:36:21,560 --> 00:36:23,840 Speaker 2: I wanted to touch on, was you tell folks that 819 00:36:23,880 --> 00:36:26,240 Speaker 2: they need to go ahead and start before they actually 820 00:36:26,239 --> 00:36:29,200 Speaker 2: feel ready, because there are always going to be different 821 00:36:29,800 --> 00:36:34,840 Speaker 2: obstacles that crop up, excuses, other things that you can analyze. 822 00:36:34,840 --> 00:36:35,680 Speaker 1: And it's real things. 823 00:36:35,680 --> 00:36:38,560 Speaker 2: It's things that yes, technically could happen, but the likelihood 824 00:36:38,920 --> 00:36:41,600 Speaker 2: of those things happening who knows. But I think a 825 00:36:41,600 --> 00:36:44,160 Speaker 2: lot of folks might find themselves in that position where 826 00:36:44,200 --> 00:36:46,399 Speaker 2: they're thinking, oh, I am interested in pursuing this. Oh, 827 00:36:46,440 --> 00:36:48,680 Speaker 2: this is something I want to I do want to 828 00:36:48,680 --> 00:36:49,640 Speaker 2: hang my own shingle. 829 00:36:49,680 --> 00:36:52,799 Speaker 1: But they, yeah, that fear. I think it does hold 830 00:36:52,840 --> 00:36:53,520 Speaker 1: them back a little bit. 831 00:36:53,960 --> 00:36:56,000 Speaker 4: Here's a common one that I get all the time. 832 00:36:56,040 --> 00:36:59,240 Speaker 4: They're like, hey, you know what happens if someone knocks 833 00:36:59,280 --> 00:37:01,840 Speaker 4: me off? Spent all this money a lawyer to protect this, 834 00:37:01,920 --> 00:37:04,440 Speaker 4: And I'm like, if you're getting knocked off, that's a 835 00:37:04,440 --> 00:37:06,439 Speaker 4: good thing. That means you're selling a lot that someone 836 00:37:06,480 --> 00:37:07,920 Speaker 4: wants to knock you off, and by then you'll have 837 00:37:08,080 --> 00:37:09,160 Speaker 4: enough money to take care of this. 838 00:37:09,600 --> 00:37:12,600 Speaker 1: No, that's good stuff. Okay, So how do we define success? Then? 839 00:37:12,760 --> 00:37:15,920 Speaker 1: Part of you the way you define success is by 840 00:37:16,160 --> 00:37:19,160 Speaker 1: being able to not let the business take over your life. 841 00:37:19,280 --> 00:37:20,920 Speaker 1: But it can also be difficult to know whether a 842 00:37:20,960 --> 00:37:23,040 Speaker 1: business is successful or not. It's like, oh, well, it 843 00:37:23,080 --> 00:37:26,359 Speaker 1: feels mediocre success right like that, That's where I feel 844 00:37:26,400 --> 00:37:29,719 Speaker 1: like I'm at right now, And so I'm just not sure, like, 845 00:37:29,840 --> 00:37:32,840 Speaker 1: am I on the right track? Is this something that 846 00:37:32,880 --> 00:37:35,239 Speaker 1: I need to keep leaning into yet? Or not? All right? 847 00:37:35,280 --> 00:37:37,920 Speaker 4: So I always ask myself a couple questions when that happens. 848 00:37:38,760 --> 00:37:41,239 Speaker 4: First one, and probably the most important one, is am 849 00:37:41,280 --> 00:37:42,120 Speaker 4: I still learning? 850 00:37:42,960 --> 00:37:43,120 Speaker 3: Right? 851 00:37:43,360 --> 00:37:46,279 Speaker 4: If I'm still learning and picking up skills, I'll probably. 852 00:37:45,960 --> 00:37:46,799 Speaker 3: Continue to do it. 853 00:37:47,680 --> 00:37:49,920 Speaker 4: The other thing is, you know, do I hate doing it? 854 00:37:50,200 --> 00:37:52,959 Speaker 4: If I have that attitude, then I'm probably going to quit. 855 00:37:53,400 --> 00:37:57,360 Speaker 4: Everyone's going to have different parameters, you know, for certain 856 00:37:57,400 --> 00:37:59,560 Speaker 4: things like if I feel like I'm actually doing good 857 00:37:59,640 --> 00:38:02,400 Speaker 4: and helping people, that might be enough for me to 858 00:38:02,440 --> 00:38:03,719 Speaker 4: continue doing something. 859 00:38:03,480 --> 00:38:05,400 Speaker 1: All right. So we talked about this right before we 860 00:38:05,440 --> 00:38:08,239 Speaker 1: started recording. And you live in a really high cost 861 00:38:08,280 --> 00:38:11,719 Speaker 1: of living area, and even though you don't necessarily and 862 00:38:11,760 --> 00:38:14,120 Speaker 1: it's Silicon Valley, right, So it's one of those places where, yeah, 863 00:38:14,280 --> 00:38:16,239 Speaker 1: that's what the high paying jobs are for people in 864 00:38:17,000 --> 00:38:19,400 Speaker 1: your former industry. So it makes sense that you were 865 00:38:19,400 --> 00:38:21,239 Speaker 1: there in the beginning. But when your wife says, I 866 00:38:21,280 --> 00:38:24,000 Speaker 1: want to quit my job and you're thinking, and especially 867 00:38:24,080 --> 00:38:26,800 Speaker 1: once you get to the point where the new boss 868 00:38:26,800 --> 00:38:29,200 Speaker 1: comes in and he says, Steve, we don't need you anymore. 869 00:38:29,200 --> 00:38:31,480 Speaker 1: If you're not gonna if you're not more committed, and 870 00:38:31,960 --> 00:38:34,920 Speaker 1: you peace out, you could totally save so much money 871 00:38:35,360 --> 00:38:38,360 Speaker 1: by moving elsewhere. What is it that kept you in 872 00:38:38,400 --> 00:38:41,920 Speaker 1: a really high cost of living area. Do you have 873 00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:45,440 Speaker 1: to be there for your businesses that you operate solo 874 00:38:45,560 --> 00:38:48,560 Speaker 1: now or is it just because family friends like what 875 00:38:48,640 --> 00:38:49,480 Speaker 1: keeps you rooted there? 876 00:38:49,719 --> 00:38:52,920 Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean it's the businesses can be run anywhere, right, 877 00:38:52,960 --> 00:38:56,520 Speaker 4: that's not the problem. It's mainly family and friends and 878 00:38:56,560 --> 00:38:59,640 Speaker 4: then plus you know, worst case scenario, this is back 879 00:38:59,640 --> 00:39:01,400 Speaker 4: in the day and when we first started our businesses, 880 00:39:01,520 --> 00:39:03,440 Speaker 4: I could have just gone back to work as an engineer. 881 00:39:03,800 --> 00:39:05,680 Speaker 4: I had a lot of contacts. My wife could have 882 00:39:05,719 --> 00:39:07,360 Speaker 4: gotten easily gotten a job also. 883 00:39:07,239 --> 00:39:09,160 Speaker 1: So it was a strategic move in that sense. 884 00:39:09,239 --> 00:39:12,800 Speaker 4: Right close by and then you know, I've talked to 885 00:39:12,840 --> 00:39:14,799 Speaker 4: a lot of friends about this over the years, and 886 00:39:14,840 --> 00:39:18,200 Speaker 4: they're always like, Hey, you should never move just because 887 00:39:18,239 --> 00:39:20,879 Speaker 4: of the money, right, if you enjoy where you live. 888 00:39:20,960 --> 00:39:23,200 Speaker 4: You like the weather, I mean, the weather here is fantastic. 889 00:39:23,400 --> 00:39:25,200 Speaker 4: You guys are living through thunderstorms right now. 890 00:39:25,120 --> 00:39:27,880 Speaker 1: Right the rumbles that you're hearing on our end exactly. 891 00:39:28,280 --> 00:39:29,439 Speaker 3: And I'm a pretty cheap guy. 892 00:39:29,520 --> 00:39:32,239 Speaker 4: I don't spend that much money, so I don't I mean, 893 00:39:32,400 --> 00:39:34,239 Speaker 4: I could save a lot of money, but I'm not 894 00:39:34,280 --> 00:39:37,160 Speaker 4: even really spending my money right now, So why not 895 00:39:37,400 --> 00:39:38,640 Speaker 4: just enjoy where I'm at? 896 00:39:38,840 --> 00:39:41,600 Speaker 1: Okay? I love that. What keeps you going then, because 897 00:39:41,640 --> 00:39:44,239 Speaker 1: at this point, you make you've talked about this way 898 00:39:44,280 --> 00:39:47,000 Speaker 1: more money than you could spend. You haven't really necessarily 899 00:39:47,000 --> 00:39:49,600 Speaker 1: moved the goalposts where you're like, I just really want 900 00:39:49,640 --> 00:39:54,520 Speaker 1: a Bugatti, or I want three different second homes so that 901 00:39:54,480 --> 00:39:56,160 Speaker 1: I can go to on my private jet. You don't 902 00:39:56,160 --> 00:39:58,040 Speaker 1: seem to care about that stuff. So what is it 903 00:39:58,080 --> 00:40:00,440 Speaker 1: that keeps you grinding with the business is that you 904 00:40:00,440 --> 00:40:04,400 Speaker 1: have which are multiple even though you're basically financially independent. 905 00:40:04,760 --> 00:40:06,920 Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, just the way my mind works, I 906 00:40:06,920 --> 00:40:09,960 Speaker 4: always have to be working on something, which is basically 907 00:40:09,960 --> 00:40:12,280 Speaker 4: why I tell everyone I'm never going to retire because 908 00:40:12,480 --> 00:40:15,600 Speaker 4: that sounds boring to me. Right, Whenever we go on vacation, 909 00:40:15,719 --> 00:40:18,040 Speaker 4: my wife actually likes lying by the beach or lying 910 00:40:18,080 --> 00:40:20,160 Speaker 4: by the pool. I can actually only do that for 911 00:40:20,200 --> 00:40:23,240 Speaker 4: like two hours and then I got to go do something. 912 00:40:23,280 --> 00:40:26,080 Speaker 4: And so you know what's nice now is I have 913 00:40:26,160 --> 00:40:29,279 Speaker 4: the opportunity to choose what I want to do. So 914 00:40:29,520 --> 00:40:31,040 Speaker 4: you know, one year, I might want to just do 915 00:40:31,120 --> 00:40:34,279 Speaker 4: YouTube because I like making videos, or ion wanting to 916 00:40:34,719 --> 00:40:38,680 Speaker 4: explore the TikTok platform. I love podcasting. I wouldn't give 917 00:40:38,719 --> 00:40:40,720 Speaker 4: that up for anything because I get to meet someone 918 00:40:40,800 --> 00:40:44,400 Speaker 4: new every single week. Right, So the freedom I have 919 00:40:44,480 --> 00:40:47,239 Speaker 4: now basically allows me to pick and choose what interests me. 920 00:40:47,800 --> 00:40:51,319 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's obviously an awesome place to be in, right 921 00:40:51,360 --> 00:40:54,760 Speaker 2: where Essentially, like all these different aspects of your business 922 00:40:54,920 --> 00:40:56,080 Speaker 2: is kind of like a It's like playing in a 923 00:40:56,120 --> 00:40:58,400 Speaker 2: sandbox and you're like, oh, I think I want to 924 00:40:58,400 --> 00:41:00,560 Speaker 2: go over here now kind of craft work on this, 925 00:41:00,680 --> 00:41:03,799 Speaker 2: learn something along the way, meet somebody interesting, and that's 926 00:41:03,880 --> 00:41:06,239 Speaker 2: I mean, that's one of the massive benefits of being 927 00:41:06,280 --> 00:41:08,640 Speaker 2: an entrepreneur is the ability to kind of focus on 928 00:41:08,680 --> 00:41:11,680 Speaker 2: some of the different areas, not only that you are skilled, 929 00:41:11,719 --> 00:41:13,400 Speaker 2: but the different areas that interest you. 930 00:41:13,640 --> 00:41:13,920 Speaker 1: Steve. 931 00:41:14,000 --> 00:41:15,680 Speaker 2: Okay, So I've got one last question I guess for 932 00:41:15,719 --> 00:41:17,959 Speaker 2: you because you talk about so you shared a little 933 00:41:17,960 --> 00:41:20,400 Speaker 2: bit with I guess your story early on with your 934 00:41:20,440 --> 00:41:23,480 Speaker 2: folks being first gen but essentially you didn't see a 935 00:41:23,480 --> 00:41:25,720 Speaker 2: ton of them. But now I'm assuming your kids see 936 00:41:26,200 --> 00:41:28,120 Speaker 2: a ton of you, right Like you talk about how 937 00:41:28,160 --> 00:41:30,320 Speaker 2: you don't miss any games, any games at all period. 938 00:41:30,360 --> 00:41:33,319 Speaker 2: I think that your kids might have Joel, Like, We've 939 00:41:33,320 --> 00:41:35,799 Speaker 2: talked with a friend of ours, and I'm curious your 940 00:41:35,840 --> 00:41:39,239 Speaker 2: thoughts on this, because he was saying that he thinks 941 00:41:39,280 --> 00:41:43,040 Speaker 2: it's really important for his kids to see him working 942 00:41:43,160 --> 00:41:45,640 Speaker 2: right like him in his case, pursuing something he's really 943 00:41:45,640 --> 00:41:49,719 Speaker 2: excited about. And obviously, I'm sure your kids know that 944 00:41:49,800 --> 00:41:53,000 Speaker 2: you have businesses and this is something that you find fulfilling. 945 00:41:53,040 --> 00:41:55,200 Speaker 2: But I guess do you think it's possible for some 946 00:41:55,200 --> 00:41:59,960 Speaker 2: folks out there to maybe overly focus on family essentially 947 00:42:00,239 --> 00:42:03,400 Speaker 2: to the dutchment of maybe your own personal development or 948 00:42:04,000 --> 00:42:06,839 Speaker 2: in the case of your ability to really chase after 949 00:42:06,840 --> 00:42:08,200 Speaker 2: something and find fulfillment that way. 950 00:42:08,680 --> 00:42:12,000 Speaker 4: Yeah, I've questioned whether like all the time we spend 951 00:42:12,000 --> 00:42:16,880 Speaker 4: together is like you know, is harming them. But on 952 00:42:16,880 --> 00:42:20,040 Speaker 4: the flip side, I still have like my my parents' 953 00:42:20,040 --> 00:42:23,120 Speaker 4: Asian blood in me, and so like they've started businesses. 954 00:42:23,640 --> 00:42:26,239 Speaker 4: You know, we've my daughter's working on a course right 955 00:42:26,280 --> 00:42:28,400 Speaker 4: now on how to selln Etsy, and so we're filming 956 00:42:28,440 --> 00:42:29,120 Speaker 4: and all that stuff. 957 00:42:29,160 --> 00:42:30,320 Speaker 3: So they're working. 958 00:42:30,480 --> 00:42:30,960 Speaker 1: That's awesome. 959 00:42:31,000 --> 00:42:34,600 Speaker 4: They see me work, and then they're they're doing their 960 00:42:34,640 --> 00:42:35,080 Speaker 4: own thing. 961 00:42:35,520 --> 00:42:37,480 Speaker 1: Well it sounds like they're following in your footsteps too, 962 00:42:37,880 --> 00:42:39,440 Speaker 1: and they're doing it in a way in which you 963 00:42:39,440 --> 00:42:42,000 Speaker 1: get to work alongside them, which sounds really cool. Not 964 00:42:42,280 --> 00:42:44,560 Speaker 1: just you know, playing board games together, which is fun, 965 00:42:44,600 --> 00:42:46,279 Speaker 1: which is fun. I love that part of it, but 966 00:42:46,360 --> 00:42:48,680 Speaker 1: also like, hey, let's you know, let's go down this 967 00:42:48,760 --> 00:42:51,120 Speaker 1: path and and let's see if the things that I 968 00:42:51,200 --> 00:42:53,720 Speaker 1: enjoy if you enjoy those things too. So well, Steve, 969 00:42:53,960 --> 00:42:55,919 Speaker 1: thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today. 970 00:42:55,920 --> 00:42:58,160 Speaker 1: Where can our listeners? Where can people and have the 971 00:42:58,200 --> 00:42:59,560 Speaker 1: money land to find out more about you and what 972 00:42:59,600 --> 00:43:01,759 Speaker 1: you'rre upot and obviously about your book too. 973 00:43:02,360 --> 00:43:04,840 Speaker 4: Yeah, if you guys are interested in learning about e commerce, 974 00:43:05,160 --> 00:43:07,160 Speaker 4: the easiest way is just sign up for my free 975 00:43:07,239 --> 00:43:10,600 Speaker 4: mini course over at my wife Quitterjob dot com. If 976 00:43:10,640 --> 00:43:12,839 Speaker 4: you guys are interested in checking out the book, that 977 00:43:12,880 --> 00:43:16,400 Speaker 4: can be found over at the Family First Entrepreneur dot com. 978 00:43:16,680 --> 00:43:19,120 Speaker 4: I'm actually still giving out over six hundred and ninety 979 00:43:19,120 --> 00:43:22,000 Speaker 4: dollars in free bonuses. You'll get a free workshop on 980 00:43:22,040 --> 00:43:24,239 Speaker 4: how to get started in e commerce and a free 981 00:43:24,280 --> 00:43:27,000 Speaker 4: two day workshop on how to get started making money 982 00:43:27,000 --> 00:43:32,520 Speaker 4: with content. I also run an annual e commerce conference 983 00:43:32,640 --> 00:43:34,440 Speaker 4: called the Seller Summit if you guys ever want to 984 00:43:34,440 --> 00:43:37,160 Speaker 4: hang out in person. I also run a top twenty 985 00:43:37,200 --> 00:43:40,040 Speaker 4: five podcast called My Wife Quitter Job. You should be 986 00:43:40,080 --> 00:43:42,399 Speaker 4: able to find it on iTunes or wherever you listen 987 00:43:42,440 --> 00:43:45,120 Speaker 4: to a podcast, and I'm also on YouTube and the 988 00:43:45,200 --> 00:43:47,479 Speaker 4: channels called My Wife Quitter Job as well. 989 00:43:47,880 --> 00:43:50,120 Speaker 1: So many irons in the fire. Steve, I love it. 990 00:43:50,239 --> 00:43:52,440 Speaker 1: We will make sure to link to all of that. Steve. 991 00:43:52,440 --> 00:43:54,360 Speaker 1: We really appreciate you joining us today. 992 00:43:54,520 --> 00:43:55,280 Speaker 3: Thanks a lot of guys. 993 00:43:55,520 --> 00:43:57,760 Speaker 1: All right, man, that was super fun talking with Steve. 994 00:43:57,840 --> 00:44:00,520 Speaker 1: Who Yeah, you heard it at the end, what's up? 995 00:44:00,640 --> 00:44:02,839 Speaker 1: He also does a lot of things. He has done 996 00:44:02,840 --> 00:44:05,239 Speaker 1: a lot of things, which just shows how interested he 997 00:44:05,400 --> 00:44:08,400 Speaker 1: is in a whole lot of different sorts of pursuits, 998 00:44:08,560 --> 00:44:10,400 Speaker 1: but he's also done well in a bunch of those pursuits. 999 00:44:10,400 --> 00:44:15,440 Speaker 2: So it's like, I'm not a serial entrepreneur, right exactly. 1000 00:44:16,560 --> 00:44:20,040 Speaker 1: We totally believe you, but yeah, it's and I love 1001 00:44:20,120 --> 00:44:22,719 Speaker 1: that he also says, you know what, this is fun 1002 00:44:22,800 --> 00:44:24,839 Speaker 1: to build these businesses, but it's not the end all 1003 00:44:24,880 --> 00:44:26,239 Speaker 1: be all. So I don't know what was your big 1004 00:44:26,280 --> 00:44:27,200 Speaker 1: takeaway from this combo. 1005 00:44:27,960 --> 00:44:31,200 Speaker 2: I like when he touched on ego, and I think 1006 00:44:31,239 --> 00:44:32,799 Speaker 2: for a lot of folks out there, I think there 1007 00:44:32,680 --> 00:44:34,320 Speaker 2: are there are a lot of folks in the position 1008 00:44:34,480 --> 00:44:37,400 Speaker 2: where they're thinking, I really want to kind of go 1009 00:44:37,440 --> 00:44:39,319 Speaker 2: do my own thing, but there, you know, there's that 1010 00:44:39,360 --> 00:44:40,319 Speaker 2: fear that's holding them. 1011 00:44:40,200 --> 00:44:41,400 Speaker 1: Back and what if I screw it up? 1012 00:44:41,400 --> 00:44:44,600 Speaker 2: When I screwed up? And I do think that oftentimes. 1013 00:44:44,640 --> 00:44:47,600 Speaker 2: I think when you have gotten pretty good at your job, 1014 00:44:48,480 --> 00:44:51,960 Speaker 2: maybe you're middle management or maybe you're even higher up 1015 00:44:51,960 --> 00:44:54,520 Speaker 2: on the on the food chain, you don't want to 1016 00:44:54,520 --> 00:44:57,120 Speaker 2: be perceived as a failure. And honestly, the more successful 1017 00:44:57,280 --> 00:44:58,880 Speaker 2: you get at your nine to five, I think the 1018 00:44:58,920 --> 00:45:01,319 Speaker 2: harder it is to be able to step back from 1019 00:45:01,360 --> 00:45:04,600 Speaker 2: that and to pursue something else that yes, might actually fail. 1020 00:45:04,360 --> 00:45:06,360 Speaker 1: Like you're only used to success, and so now failure 1021 00:45:06,360 --> 00:45:07,160 Speaker 1: feels even worse. 1022 00:45:07,320 --> 00:45:09,680 Speaker 2: Exactly as opposed to Like I guess, for me, I 1023 00:45:10,080 --> 00:45:12,239 Speaker 2: think back to when Kate and I started our photography 1024 00:45:12,280 --> 00:45:16,399 Speaker 2: company and we had very little success up until that point, 1025 00:45:16,480 --> 00:45:18,480 Speaker 2: and now I realize, I guess we kind of knew 1026 00:45:18,480 --> 00:45:19,680 Speaker 2: that at the time, Like that's one of the things 1027 00:45:19,680 --> 00:45:22,120 Speaker 2: I remember that we're telling each other. We said that 1028 00:45:22,280 --> 00:45:23,640 Speaker 2: what have we got to lose, Like this is the 1029 00:45:23,680 --> 00:45:25,400 Speaker 2: time to do it. We were renting, we didn't have 1030 00:45:25,440 --> 00:45:27,359 Speaker 2: any debt, we didn't have any kids, we didn't even 1031 00:45:27,400 --> 00:45:30,840 Speaker 2: have any pets, very few possessions, and so there was 1032 00:45:31,000 --> 00:45:33,399 Speaker 2: very little that was actually holding us holding us back. 1033 00:45:33,400 --> 00:45:35,840 Speaker 2: But I guess hearing him talk about it helped me 1034 00:45:35,840 --> 00:45:38,360 Speaker 2: to realize how much of a blessing that is. But 1035 00:45:38,680 --> 00:45:40,360 Speaker 2: I like that he mentioned ego as well, because that 1036 00:45:40,600 --> 00:45:42,399 Speaker 2: he mentions that in his book and we didn't touch 1037 00:45:42,400 --> 00:45:44,400 Speaker 2: on it, but I wanted to share real quick and 1038 00:45:44,520 --> 00:45:48,839 Speaker 2: how when it comes to an individual's desire to grow 1039 00:45:48,880 --> 00:45:53,560 Speaker 2: a business to scale it that oftentimes folks call that impact, 1040 00:45:54,000 --> 00:45:57,399 Speaker 2: but how truly what that is is ego disguised. It's 1041 00:45:57,560 --> 00:45:59,719 Speaker 2: the desire for you as an individual to kind of 1042 00:45:59,719 --> 00:46:00,759 Speaker 2: like prove yourself that like. 1043 00:46:00,760 --> 00:46:01,760 Speaker 1: Oh, I've got what it takes. 1044 00:46:01,840 --> 00:46:04,680 Speaker 2: Oh, we're a business that that rakes in a million 1045 00:46:04,719 --> 00:46:08,200 Speaker 2: dollars plus every year and then eventually maybe it turns 1046 00:46:08,239 --> 00:46:10,759 Speaker 2: into ten million, because now you've got to essentially raise 1047 00:46:10,840 --> 00:46:14,080 Speaker 2: the bar. And how at the core of that oftentimes 1048 00:46:14,239 --> 00:46:14,720 Speaker 2: is ego. 1049 00:46:14,960 --> 00:46:16,880 Speaker 1: And you know a lot of people in social media 1050 00:46:16,920 --> 00:46:19,600 Speaker 1: tooting that horror. Now I've got to seven figure business 1051 00:46:19,680 --> 00:46:22,320 Speaker 1: and it sounds so sexy, and you're like, oh, I'm man, 1052 00:46:22,400 --> 00:46:24,800 Speaker 1: I'm not as cool as they are. Yeah, but you know, 1053 00:46:24,880 --> 00:46:30,080 Speaker 1: behind that facade, I guess it might not be exactly 1054 00:46:30,080 --> 00:46:32,000 Speaker 1: as they're making it appear. Sure, And that I mean 1055 00:46:32,000 --> 00:46:34,480 Speaker 1: that's in that the problem with social media in general, 1056 00:46:34,680 --> 00:46:35,120 Speaker 1: of course. 1057 00:46:35,680 --> 00:46:38,320 Speaker 2: Yeah, And I think for us it's it's kind of 1058 00:46:38,360 --> 00:46:39,680 Speaker 2: like getting to the point to where you just don't 1059 00:46:39,680 --> 00:46:42,840 Speaker 2: care anymore, right like, And oftentimes, and this is why 1060 00:46:42,960 --> 00:46:47,080 Speaker 2: it's family first entrepreneurs, Like that's Steve's book, but I 1061 00:46:47,120 --> 00:46:49,080 Speaker 2: think a lot of times parents are able to identify 1062 00:46:49,120 --> 00:46:50,560 Speaker 2: that could you get to a point to where a 1063 00:46:50,600 --> 00:46:52,960 Speaker 2: lot of that ego doesn't matter, You're just trying to 1064 00:46:53,000 --> 00:46:55,960 Speaker 2: successfully create more like raise this human being to be 1065 00:46:56,040 --> 00:46:58,840 Speaker 2: a fully functioning adult, like Lacy Langford said in the 1066 00:46:58,840 --> 00:47:03,279 Speaker 2: previous episode, and it's difficult to essentially to kill that 1067 00:47:03,360 --> 00:47:06,240 Speaker 2: ego and to tell yourself that it doesn't matter anymore. 1068 00:47:06,280 --> 00:47:08,439 Speaker 2: But yeah, what was your big takeaway? I think mine 1069 00:47:08,520 --> 00:47:10,840 Speaker 2: was when he said that more money can create this 1070 00:47:10,960 --> 00:47:13,319 Speaker 2: like fever. And that's where he was when his wife 1071 00:47:13,320 --> 00:47:16,640 Speaker 2: came to him with that conversation, saying like, Hey, so 1072 00:47:16,719 --> 00:47:19,640 Speaker 2: we're doing great revenue wise, like we're making money. We've 1073 00:47:19,640 --> 00:47:22,360 Speaker 2: actually surpassed the goals that we had of making sixty 1074 00:47:22,440 --> 00:47:24,920 Speaker 2: K a year and then surpassing my income so that 1075 00:47:24,960 --> 00:47:27,719 Speaker 2: I could stay at home. So why are we like 1076 00:47:27,920 --> 00:47:30,160 Speaker 2: but I hate this, Yeah, because like literally she was 1077 00:47:30,239 --> 00:47:32,280 Speaker 2: just like she did not want to do it anymore. 1078 00:47:32,320 --> 00:47:34,000 Speaker 1: And we live pretty frugally, so why in the world 1079 00:47:34,040 --> 00:47:36,480 Speaker 1: are we going this hard? Steve? And that was the 1080 00:47:36,560 --> 00:47:39,440 Speaker 1: light bulb moment for him that, like family first, entrepreneurship 1081 00:47:39,480 --> 00:47:41,359 Speaker 1: was the way forward. And I think it's true that 1082 00:47:41,600 --> 00:47:43,520 Speaker 1: as our income grows, as we're able to do more 1083 00:47:43,520 --> 00:47:47,279 Speaker 1: things with our money, more more smart things, even right, 1084 00:47:47,640 --> 00:47:50,200 Speaker 1: it can create sort of like a fever in us 1085 00:47:50,520 --> 00:47:52,640 Speaker 1: where it starts to feel like money is the goal 1086 00:47:53,040 --> 00:47:55,120 Speaker 1: rather than the tool. So that's something we talk about 1087 00:47:55,160 --> 00:47:57,560 Speaker 1: a whole lot on the show because we want money. 1088 00:47:57,840 --> 00:47:59,680 Speaker 1: More money is a goal in some ways, right, But 1089 00:48:00,360 --> 00:48:02,319 Speaker 1: money is just a tool to allow you to do 1090 00:48:02,760 --> 00:48:04,239 Speaker 1: so much of what you actually want to be doing 1091 00:48:04,320 --> 00:48:06,880 Speaker 1: with your life. And so it's always smart to go 1092 00:48:06,960 --> 00:48:09,560 Speaker 1: back to the drawing board, especially as let's say you 1093 00:48:09,600 --> 00:48:11,719 Speaker 1: have a much better year this year financially than you 1094 00:48:11,800 --> 00:48:14,600 Speaker 1: had in the prior two years or something like that. Well, 1095 00:48:14,760 --> 00:48:17,719 Speaker 1: don't let that feed this desire to continue to grow 1096 00:48:17,760 --> 00:48:21,040 Speaker 1: and grow and scale if that's not necessarily you know, 1097 00:48:21,040 --> 00:48:24,120 Speaker 1: the underlying desire that you have, if family first entrepreneurship 1098 00:48:24,160 --> 00:48:26,279 Speaker 1: is actually what you want, or living a balanced life 1099 00:48:26,360 --> 00:48:28,560 Speaker 1: right where you work thirty thirty five hours a week 1100 00:48:28,680 --> 00:48:30,760 Speaker 1: and you actually make a little bit less money on purpose, 1101 00:48:30,760 --> 00:48:34,120 Speaker 1: if that's what you want, because that creates the lifestyle 1102 00:48:34,120 --> 00:48:36,520 Speaker 1: you're looking for. It kind of goes back to the 1103 00:48:36,800 --> 00:48:38,719 Speaker 1: for burners theory as well, too, like you can turn 1104 00:48:38,760 --> 00:48:40,719 Speaker 1: all those other ones off and be a really unhappy, 1105 00:48:41,080 --> 00:48:44,759 Speaker 1: highly successful entrepreneur, but that's not what most people are after. 1106 00:48:44,920 --> 00:48:45,520 Speaker 1: That's right, man. 1107 00:48:45,800 --> 00:48:47,560 Speaker 2: Let's get to our beer that you and I enjoyed 1108 00:48:47,680 --> 00:48:50,839 Speaker 2: during this episode. This was an ubu Ale. Let's see, 1109 00:48:50,840 --> 00:48:53,840 Speaker 2: this is brood right here in Lake Placid. So I 1110 00:48:53,920 --> 00:48:56,120 Speaker 2: say that because that's what's written on the notes that 1111 00:48:56,480 --> 00:48:59,480 Speaker 2: Rebecca and Dylan sent our way. That is we're not 1112 00:48:59,520 --> 00:49:02,640 Speaker 2: broadcast from no no, yeah, yeah, that's this is their 1113 00:49:02,680 --> 00:49:04,439 Speaker 2: their think you note. So we had them on the show. 1114 00:49:04,440 --> 00:49:07,400 Speaker 2: They are the rab coaches where we talked about couples 1115 00:49:07,640 --> 00:49:09,879 Speaker 2: and money, and they were kind enough to send us 1116 00:49:09,920 --> 00:49:12,400 Speaker 2: a beer, so ubu Ale. This is by Lake Placid 1117 00:49:12,480 --> 00:49:16,520 Speaker 2: Craft Brewing Company. It doesn't say what style this beer is, Joel, 1118 00:49:16,520 --> 00:49:18,440 Speaker 2: but I wanted him to know, did you dig it? 1119 00:49:18,440 --> 00:49:19,920 Speaker 2: It's kind of like it's kind of like a porter. 1120 00:49:20,040 --> 00:49:22,359 Speaker 2: It's like an Yeah, it's got porter vibes. It's more 1121 00:49:22,400 --> 00:49:24,480 Speaker 2: it's actually an English strong that's how they classify it. 1122 00:49:24,520 --> 00:49:27,759 Speaker 2: But this one was like roasty notes, toffee vibes going on, 1123 00:49:27,800 --> 00:49:29,520 Speaker 2: some fig notes going on in their two almost like 1124 00:49:29,560 --> 00:49:31,759 Speaker 2: a little bit of a barleywine quality, almost like a 1125 00:49:31,760 --> 00:49:34,759 Speaker 2: barleywine mixed with a porter. So this one was interesting, good, 1126 00:49:34,880 --> 00:49:37,520 Speaker 2: good flavor. And this is definitely more of like a 1127 00:49:37,560 --> 00:49:40,799 Speaker 2: fall beer getting into fall time. And so yeah, I 1128 00:49:40,880 --> 00:49:43,560 Speaker 2: enjoyed this one big thanks to Rebecca and Dylan for 1129 00:49:43,600 --> 00:49:46,360 Speaker 2: sending it our way. Yes, thank you to the rab Coaches. 1130 00:49:46,400 --> 00:49:48,880 Speaker 2: But Joel, that's gonna be for this episode. We'll make 1131 00:49:48,880 --> 00:49:51,680 Speaker 2: sure to link to some of the different resources that 1132 00:49:51,760 --> 00:49:54,480 Speaker 2: Steve mentioned. He's got a lot of freebies up there 1133 00:49:54,600 --> 00:49:56,239 Speaker 2: as well, and so yeah, we'll link to all that. 1134 00:49:56,280 --> 00:49:57,839 Speaker 2: You can find those up on the show notes at 1135 00:49:57,840 --> 00:50:00,319 Speaker 2: howdomoney dot com. But Buddy, that's gonna be it. So 1136 00:50:00,400 --> 00:50:03,399 Speaker 2: until next time, best Friends Out and best Friends Out.