What is your favorite career failure?
My favorite career failure is with Friendly, the first company I started. We never achieved product market fit and ended up selling to Facebook as a talent acquisition. Despite not being the outcome I was originally looking for, I learned so much in that experience, which has helped me become better equipped to build successful companies. Transcript: "Great question, Mike. I think my favorite career failure would probably be what happened at Friendly, which was the first company I started. Where we never fully achieved product Market fit and as a result ended up selling the company to Facebook, not because the company was successful. But more as what they call a talent acquisition basically a way for Facebook, to acquire our team. And, you know, I guess that's not obviously not a complete. Earlier, but it was not a homerun success, and not the outcome. I was originally looking for when I started the company, but what I have to say is, I learned so much in those next several years at Facebook. And then after that, a tuber working at other successful startups, just kind of seen how to build a company, which there was just, there was so much. I didn't know back when I was starting friendly. So, you know, I still have a lot to learn. Everyone always does. But I feel like I'm in a much better place now, because of what I learned working at those other companies."
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What is your favorite career failure?
My favorite career failure is with Friendly, the first company I started. We never achieved product market fit and ended up selling to Facebook as a talent acquisition. Despite not being the outcome I was originally looking for, I learned so much in that experience, which has helped me become better equipped to build successful companies.
What business did you get asked to invest in, that you didn’t, but wished you had?
I introduced Ben Silbermann to Kevin Hart for his seed round of Pinterest and I recommended Jeremy Liu from Lightspeed Venture Partners to Evan Spiegel for his seed round of Snapchat.
Who are some of your mentors and how have they helped you?
My mentors have been people from my first startup's Advisory Board, such as Stan Chudnovsky, Joe Greenstein, Alex Rampell, Greg Tseng and Johann Schleier-Smith. Additionally, Jeremy Liew from Lightspeed, our company counsel Ted Wang, Javier Olivan from Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg and Travis Kalanick from Uber have all been mentors for me. I have learned a lot from each of them about being an entrepreneur, founding a company, growing a company, finding product market fit, fundraising, and the ups and downs of running a business.
How did you improve so fast on the bike in just 3 years? What was your starting point?
I improved my FTP from 250W to 400W over the past five years by having an endurance background, running, and spending time on the rowing machine.
How have your experiences as an athlete shaped the way you approach business and investing?
My experiences as an athlete have shaped the way I approach business and investing by reminding myself that it's a marathon not a sprint, having a champion's mindset, and recognizing that competition is necessary to be successful.
I’d like to pitch you an idea. Where can I reach you for a business inquiry?
I'm open to hearing your new idea and can discuss it with you if you'd like. Just let me know if you'd prefer to keep it confidential.