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What I learned from Ben Sze (Founder at Edrolo) and David Fastuca (Founder at Ambisie)

Kym Huynh —  October 5, 2020 — Leave a comment

“Start tracking your time and see where you are spending your time. You don’t need to do it in a complex way. Just start by bucketing it. Email, admin, bookkeeping, just bucket it and see where time is going. Do it for 1-2 weeks and don’t give up; even if it’s difficult.” – Ben Sze

“Taking the leap into my own business was very daunting because I didn’t want to give up the paycheck or a potential career in finance that I enjoyed. I recommend you keep a full-time job if you can, and moonlight on your startup so you can get it started. Doing this also has the benefit of not stressing your cash flow situation. We had a period where we were not paying ourselves and it was very tough.” – Ben Sze

“Are we going to give this another crack or are we going go get full-time jobs, work half as much, and most likely earn more? What is the worst-case scenario in anything that we do; what is the worst that can happen? We are very fortunate here in this beautiful country in that we can easily take a chance. And if all fails you can go back and get a job. So the take a chance to go and pursue a passion and to pursue a dream. It’s a privilege that we all have. If you’ve got a dream or you’ve got a burning desire, take that chance because the worst-case scenario ain’t that bad.” – David Fastuca

“Surround yourself with people that had been there and done that, and can help guide the way. You will still make a hundred mistakes; we made plenty. I remember in a year, we almost shut shop over 5 times. Then there were moments where is was Sunday, and payroll was Tuesday. Business causes a lot of stress. One of our proudest things throughout the whole Locomote journey was that we were able to fund the company, pay everyone, and never miss a payment even when things were dark. For us, Locomote was our opportunity, we didn’t know if we are going to get this opportunity again, we were not going to let it go.” – David Fastuca

“Think of all these lateral sort of ways on how you can get financing. For example you don’t need $5M from day dot; you can start small to begin with until you get to that. Try and think laterally. If you have a gun to your head and couldn’t spend that sort of money, how would you do it? This is important because there will be times when you don’t have that money and you need to think like that.” – Dave Fastuca

“Having mentors is important. We have mentors now, and had coffee with one of ours the other day. In that coffee we said, “We want to be cash flow positive in X amount of time,” to which he replied, “Be patient. If you can hold out in the long run and be patient, you can build something a lot bigger and better. It is good you have your goals and want to hit those milestones–we all want that hockey stick curve on that growth graph–but just make sure you have patience because then you can really build something great as well.” – Dave Fastuca

“Go out and talk to your potential customers and pretend that you are going to sell them something. Get confidence that way. There’s no harm in speaking to potential customers. Maybe, don’t go speak to your premium, gold clients; go speak to your middle tier clients, and cut your teeth on figuring out how to pitch your business, and figure out if people will actually pay for the product or service you offer.” – Ben Sze

With thanks to

Ben Sze is a Co-Founder of Edrolo, an educational tech company that is creating better outcomes for students. Ben points out several key things that fresh founders should keep an eye on – not least of which is time. There’s a time management practice here that you’ll find invaluable.

David Fastuca is a Co-Founder of Ambisie, a business putting entrepreneurs in front of school students to broaden their horizons. David founded his first business at the age of 14 and it has had many different incarnations since then. He says we live in a lucky country where if all else fails, we can just go get a job – so have a crack at founding your own business.

About Masters Series by WeTeachMe

Masters Series is a show about inspiring entrepreneurs, creative thinkers, and visionary dreamers, and the stories behind how they built their companies.

Subscribe to show

Show brought to you by

Masters Series is presented by WeTeachMe.

Our strategic alliance partners: MYOB, SitePoint, and Entrepreneur’s Organization.

Our media partners: Startup Victoria and Digital Marketers Australia.

Our content partners: Written & Recorded.

The views expressed by the contributors on this show are linked websites that are not necessarily endorsed by the publisher.

Question of the day

What was your favourite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

In Acquisition, Active Listening, Coaches, Courage, Customer Development, Mentors, Self-Awareness, Self-Belief, What I Learned From..
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What I learned from Jeffrey Gore And Mia Klitsas (Founders at Moxie) and Tom Harley (Founder at Harley & Sons Roofing)

Kym Huynh —  September 25, 2020 — Leave a comment

“Revenue sounds great but being profitable is a lot more difficult. You’ve got to understand the details and the reality is that if you are in a business, or starting a business, you really need to understand the backend of things. It can’t just be just about turning over a lot of revenue and thinking, “I turned over $4M and that means I’m great.” No, it’s not like that at all.” – Jeffrey Gore

“People have fantastic brand ideas or business idea, but don’t put in a lot of commercial thinking. This is where people get caught out; they’re in that fun phase of launching an idea and seeing it come to life, but then quickly discover that they have to think about cash flow. We’re the first to admit that we fell into that trap.” – Mia Klitsas

“You need to understand the things you’re not good at and the things that you don’t know, then don’t try to do those things. Find people who know that stuff and talk to them the best way you can, or hire them if you can. It took us a long time to figure out. There are certain things that we are not good at yet we try to do them because we’re the boss and we try to do everything. However, it’s not our core skill set and it is better to pay someone to do it.” – Jeffrey Gore

“As a tradesman, you don’t know anything about online marketing or websites. Once I reached out to a company to build for the business a website. We burned $90,000 that year and it nearly sent the business bankrupt.” – Tom Harley

“Sometimes you just have to go out and learn things. Now I know more about digital marketing now than most people and now have an in-house digital marketing team.” – Tom Harley

“Doors started to open once I reached out to other people; people who have their own businesses; accountants and friends whom I went to school with. What we need to know is not in here, it’s out there.” – Tom Harley

“It was once just three of us; my dad, my brother and myself. Once I started collecting knowledge from others, doors started to open. After my first business coaching class, I went home and sat in front of the computer and just wrote for three hours. Twelve months later we have 15 staff and are doubling year-on-year.” – Tom Harley

“I use to throw $5,000 at a marketing initiative and would sit back and hope that it worked. But testing and measuring is smarter. If you put $200 on something and the leads come in, you must log where the leads are coming in from and find out what the leads cost. What does it cost to acquire a customer? Once you get good at testing and measuring, everything opens because you know with certainty which customer acquisition channels work.” – Tom Harley

“I started as a student and I really knew nothing. Arguably now, 13 years in, I still know nothing. I’m good with that because it means that I am constantly pushing myself and challenging myself. I don’t for a second think that I know everything because the minute that you get into that headspace, disruptors come in.” – Mia Klitsas

“I am always learning and believe that you can learn from anyone and everyone. Just be open because learning is everywhere.” – Mia Klitsas

With thanks to

Mia Klitsas & Jeff Gore are co-founders of the feminine hygiene brand Moxie. While they have solved the problems of tampons getting lost in handbags, they have created a few challenges for themselves that have been difficult to overcome. Mia and Jeff point out the importance of profit over revenue and focus on what’s important.

Tom Harley is the co-founder of Harley & Sons Roofing. After rounding up his plumbing brothers to work with his dad, Tom has led the way in developing a business that is doubling in size each year. Tom says if you don’t know something you have to get out there and learn it.

About Masters Series by WeTeachMe

Masters Series is a show about inspiring entrepreneurs, creative thinkers, and visionary dreamers, and the stories behind how they built their companies.

Subscribe to show

Show brought to you by

Masters Series is presented by WeTeachMe.

Our strategic alliance partners: MYOB, SitePoint, and Entrepreneur’s Organization.

Our media partners: Startup Victoria and Digital Marketers Australia.

Our content partners: Written & Recorded.

The views expressed by the contributors on this show are linked websites that are not necessarily endorsed by the publisher.

Question of the day

What was your favourite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

In A/B Testing, Advice, Blog, Community, Customer Acquisition, Data, Growth, Growth Hacking, Learning, Mentors, Network, Numbers, Online Marketing, Revenue, Self-Awareness, Strengths, Weaknesses, What I Learned From.., Women in Business
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What I learned from Georgina Laidlaw (Copywriting Specialist) and Hannah Kallady (Digital Strategist with Ntegrity)

Kym Huynh —  September 18, 2020 — Leave a comment

“Don’t let your calls-to-action fall apart. Calls-to-action are a great place to use conversational language because it makes people feel like they want to respond and interact.” – Georgina Laidlaw

“You need to dig deeper to communicate unique benefits, or to position the value you are presenting in a different way. You cannot get around this by “adding words” because it puts people off.” – Georgina Laidlaw

“Think of copywriting as storytelling. That might sound a bit lame because you might think that you’re “just selling a product”, but, it is really is a story that you are communicating with somebody.” – Hannah Kallady

“It’s very easy, especially in new businesses, to just want to create lots of content. But that’s not strategic and it’s not helpful. It’s important to have a strategy behind all the content you create.” – Hannah Kallady

“What’s that overarching story that you want to tell your users that’s also grounded in what matters to them, what they’re thinking about, and the stuff that keeps them up night, or the stuff that makes a their day hard and frustrating? Have you considered their dreams and the things that they want to achieve? Start there and figure out what that story is, then break it up, and figure out how it plays out across a range of channels.” – Hannah Kallady

“Even though we’re in a highly digital space, word-of-mouth is still one of the most important drivers for marketing. So you got to think about how can you can get your customers to tell other people about their experiences with you.” – Hannah Kallady

“It’s all about tailoring the story to what the user is really thinking and how they make decisions. What we’ll do is we’ll sit with our clients and map out that process. Customer journey mapping is one way of arriving at specific story that you should be telling.” – Hannah Kallady

“Scott Rosenberg from Intel  said that when you have a different tone of voice or a different brand across all your touchpoints, it makes for this semi-schizophrenic brand experience. The reason why it’s important you don’t do that is because consistency is the thing that builds trust.” – Hannah Kallady

“You can’t just assume people know what your tone of voice is. I’ve seen organizations, especially startups, think that “people get it; they know what our tone of voice is”. They don’t because your version is going to be very different to someone else’s. Making sure you actually document your tone-of-voice is important. Otherwise you can’t guarantee that you’re all on the same page.” – Hannah Kallady

“Think about how you describe things. Split test that as well. For example: “jobs” or “careers”? What happens if you change those words? What happens if you target different segments with slightly different language? Testing this as well is valuable.” – Georgina Laidlaw

With thanks to

Georgina Laidlaw is a copywriting specialist with the experience (and pedantry!) of an English teacher. Georgina works with brands like REA, Aconex and CyRise to help them express themselves clearly. She warns that the written word has no tone of voice which leaves it open to misunderstanding.

Hannah Kallady is a Digital Strategist with Ntegrity where she works with brands to get their words in the right place through communication strategies. Hannah believes strongly in the power of the story to connect and even stimulate our minds in ways we don’t quite understand.

About Masters Series by WeTeachMe

Masters Series is a show about inspiring entrepreneurs, creative thinkers, and visionary dreamers, and the stories behind how they built their companies.

Subscribe to show

Show brought to you by

Masters Series is presented by WeTeachMe.

Our strategic alliance partners: MYOB, SitePoint, and Entrepreneur’s Organization.

Our media partners: Startup Victoria and Digital Marketers Australia.

Our content partners: Written & Recorded.

The views expressed by the contributors on this show are linked websites that are not necessarily endorsed by the publisher.

Question of the day

What was your favourite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

In Advice, Branding, Content, Content Marketing, Copywriting, Customer Journey Mapping, Split Testing, Storytelling, Strategy, Tone-of-Voice, Trust, What I Learned From.., Women in Business
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What I learned from Ben Trinh (Founder at Life Ready Physio & Pilates) and Demi Markogiannaki (Founder at WeTeachMe)

Kym Huynh —  September 12, 2020 — Leave a comment

“I need to create space in my life for self-actualisation, to: (1) reflect; (2) define my core values; and (3) define the boundaries where I play.” – Ben Trinh

“Your values are what you believe about the world. Your values are the boundaries and the ethical convictions that you consider true in your world. They are not going to be true for everyone and don’t expect them to be as such; they are just true for you. These are the lines you won’t cross no matter how big your business gets.” – Ben Trinh

“What are the relationships immediately around you? Who do you bounce off and get energy from? Who do you share your problems with and do they deeply listen? These people are good first employees. They’re good for your first five employees because these people are the early doctors in your business. Our bookkeeper is a great example. When she came in through our doors she had never been a bookkeeper; she was a restaurant manager. But she said to me that she connected with our values, and wanted to be our bookkeeper. She was so clear in her vision that we hired her because you can train competencies but you cannot train character. Well.. you can.. it’s just a lot harder.” – Ben Trinh

“You will need hope and vision because you will need both resilience and grit when things get tough. It will give meaning to those moments when you feel like giving up and so I’d encourage you to piece together and deeply understand your vision, your passion, and your strengths. Have a tangible, descriptive picture of what the world looks like when the problem you’re solving is solved. It should be inspiring. It should be something that gets you out of bed every day. This is what will get you through the tough times.” – Ben Trinh

“Your business is your team; your clients; the people you surround with. A person by themselves do not make a business. Create a team around you that is based on your values and principles. When you say thank-you to the members of your team, anchor it in your values.” – Demi Markogiannaki

“Listen. Always listen. Identify what are the actual problems are that people have. Draw on their feedback and create a solution that will solve their issue. When we did that at WeTeachMe, I knew we were on the right path because people were willing to give money for the solution that I created.” – Demi Markogiannaki

“It’s never a good time and it’s never the right time. A lot of people approach me and tell me that they have an idea. Everyone has an idea. However, the person that wins is the person that executes the idea. In contrast, the person who over analyzes will one day turn 50 and they will still be analysing.” – Demi Markogiannaki

“It doesn’t matter how many books you read, or how much you think, or how many notebooks you fill with bullet points about the things you plan to do. The important thing is that you actually do something.” – Demi Markogiannaki

“In business, suffering is actually good. It’s what brings out the gems, it’s what builds character, it’s where you get your learnings, and it’s the way you humble yourself. So, I’d say in addition to hope, it’s about reframing our thinking around suffering.” – Ben Trinh

“I love what Demi said about listening and being an active listener. How can I listen better so that I draw out the key insights? And how do I fail and get through this as fast as I can, so that I can get the learning gems?” – Ben Trinh

“Jess and I were new graduates when we started the business and as new graduates, you know nothing. You have no shame asking for help because you come from a university environment where everyone needs to help each other so we had no shame asking for help and really latching on to feedback. We spent a lot of time reflecting and deepening our sense of self-awareness. You need the humility to be open-minded to other things and you also need to be an action person. It’s all great to be a philosopher and sit there and learn about the world, and how you’re terrible person or how you can be better, but if you don’t make your reflections a a tangibility in your life, then you’re not going be on that journey towards self-actualization.”  – Ben Trinh

With thanks to

Ben Trinh is the founder of Life Ready Physio & Pilates. Fresh out of university, Ben realised there was a fundamental problem in the physiotherapist’s business model. His solution has grown to 30 locations and over 300 employees in less than a decade.

Demi Markogiannaki is one of the founders of WeTeachMe. Demi worked with her co-founders to create a solution to help teachers find their students – but that wasn’t the solution they were looking for. After listening to their customers, WeTeachMe grew to become the go-to marketplace offering hundreds of classes to thousands of students.

About Masters Series by WeTeachMe

Masters Series is a show about inspiring entrepreneurs, creative thinkers, and visionary dreamers, and the stories behind how they built their companies.

Subscribe to show

Show brought to you by

Masters Series is presented by WeTeachMe.

Our strategic alliance partners: MYOB, SitePoint, and Entrepreneur’s Organization.

Our media partners: Startup Victoria and Digital Marketers Australia.

Our content partners: Written & Recorded.

The views expressed by the contributors on this show are linked websites that are not necessarily endorsed by the publisher.

Question of the day

What was your favourite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

In Active Listening, Advice, Character, Energy, Execution, Growth, Hope, Motivation, Relationships, Self-Actualisation, Self-Awareness, Values, Visioning, What I Learned From.., Women in Business
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What I learned from Kristen Holden (Startup Manager at MYOB)

Kym Huynh —  September 8, 2020 — Leave a comment

“People need to stop overthinking. People come to me and have this big 12-month project that they have been working on and I think, “Why not try the market with a scrappy version, or why not build a basic website so you can test the idea?” People just get caught up in this bullshit idea that it’s got to be perfect before the world sees it.” – Kristen Holden

“Just get out there and do something! Don’t think about it too much. Build small versions you can and test out, start a Meetup group, get 20 people to give you feedback. Just test something and learn something.” – Kristen Holden

“The most important lessons I’ve learned come from things I’ve screwed up.” – Kristen Holden

“Own up to your mistakes. Admit that you screwed up. Put your hand up and say, “That was me.” Don’t be depressed or down about it; people screw up; it happens. No matter how big the failure is, it doesn’t matter. Just tell someone and have someone to talk to about it like a mentor, your partner, or your parents to talk it through. You’re not alone.” – Kristen Holden

With thanks to

Kristen Holden is the Startup Manager at MYOB where he helps founders to skill-up before they scale-up. He cut his teeth in digital marketing in the late 1990s before spamming was frowned upon and the holder of the most domain names controlled web traffic. Kristen explains the mistakes he made in his early career and describes his hopes for a new wave of startups.

About Masters Series by WeTeachMe

Masters Series is a show about inspiring entrepreneurs, creative thinkers, and visionary dreamers, and the stories behind how they built their companies.

Subscribe to show

Show brought to you by

Masters Series is presented by WeTeachMe.

Our strategic alliance partners: MYOB, SitePoint, and Entrepreneur’s Organization.

Our media partners: Startup Victoria and Digital Marketers Australia.

Our content partners: Written & Recorded.

The views expressed by the contributors on this show are linked websites that are not necessarily endorsed by the publisher.

Question of the day

What was your favourite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

In Advice, Customer Development, Failure, Fear, Perspective, Reality, What I Learned From..
 permalink