Three years ago I got my first sweet taste of entrepreneurship. I was a 4th year undergraduate at UCLA, and I had successfully established Bruin Consulting and the first Undergraduate Case Competition. There is no high like startup success.
Two years ago I got my first bitter taste of entrepreneurship. We were 1 year out of college and watched our startup FD Career fall to pieces because of a lack of funding, no designer, and no clear cut business model. There is no low like startup failure.
“Entrepreneurship is not a career, it’s a way of life”
Entrepreneurship is anything but glamorous. For the past two and a half years I have been in the trenches pushing my company forward. At times I’ve had to go on a pure $5 subway diet for a month just to conserve clash flow; other times the executive board has yelled at each other and torn each other to pieces because of a disagreement in company direction. Each day, the roller coaster ride of entrepreneurship presents a new challenge that has to be overcome.
If this sounds scary to you, I’m not surprised. Entrepreneurship is NOT for the majority of people.
If this sounds exciting to you, then you’re one of the few people that may have what it takes to build a successful company. This series is your insight into the successes and failures I’ve had as an entrepreneur. I hope that the knowledge I pass on to you will allow you to bypass my failures and become a better, more versatile entrepreneur.
What you can expect from this series
For the corporate professional trapped in the 8am-6pm cubicle…
I know how you feel. My friends and I graduated and became Investment Bankers, Consultants, and Accountants. I was so proud to get an offer from a top-tier consulting firm that I thought I was going to work for the rest of my life up the corporate ladder.
The first month of work slapped me right in the face. A first year analyst must literally succumb to grunt work in order to move up the corporate ladder: building binders, making copies, and creating power-point presentations.
I left the corporate world and successfully built my own company. This series will show you how to leave your job, build your startup, and survive long enough until you make it or ultimately fail.
For the undergraduate or professional who has no idea what she wants to do with her life…
Don’t worry, it’s perfectly natural to feel this way. Many times I’ve found myself staring in the mirror, asking myself what the hell am I doing with my life. Let me repeat, this is perfectly natural – we’ve all been there.
The true measure of a man (or woman) is how you respond when life gives you s—. This year I was thousands of dollars in debt from student loans, my company lost its lead developer, my Mom lost her house so I had to find a way to help her pay the mortgage, and my girlfriend had it up to here with my startup ambitions. Yes I panicked and felt stressed beyond belief, but I managed to make it out of that dire situation better than I ever was before.
This series will show you how to build a startup that you’re proud of and deeply passionate about.
For the person who wants to start a company but has no idea where to start…
This is your home. This series will get you from idea to realization.
Sure I can refer you to E-Myth Mastery by Michael Gerber or The 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss. I’ve read both of these books and they’re incredible for the young entrepreneur. But there was always something missing when I read these books – I just couldn’t relate to the authors.
They’re much older than we are and have already accomplished so many great things that they make entrepreneurship sound so easy.
I, on the other hand, have not had a successful exit yet. I’m 24 years old and have struggled to get to where I am today. I’m no where close to ‘making it’ yet, but I’ve sure come a long way:
- Built and launches FD Career and Viralogy
- Built and ran an internship program for young undergraduates
- Received funding for Viralogy
- Built a social media marketing agency that generates $1.2 million in revenue per year
- Written for Mashable and Personal Branding Blog
- Spoken at Social Media Strategies, YPulse Young Entrepreneur, and Web 2.0 San Francisco conferences
This series will cover every hurdle that I’ve jumped through and every strategy that I’ve employed to build an internet startup.
Check out all of the posts in the series here: Young Successful Entrepreneur Guide
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Thank you so much for joining me on the startup journey and I hope to learn and grow from each other in many posts to come.
Your blog sounds interesting! I always like reading fellow entrepreneur’s stories, I’m an Entrepreneur and have been one for 1 year so far, hell at least you had the subway diet have you had the spaghetti diet! LOL! Nothing but spaghetti for lunch and dinner 6 days a week possibly 7! LOL! The first year is rough (and a lot of entrepreneurs don’t realize this) so here’s to a better 2nd year! I hope to learn something from the blog!
Well im selling for two companies aswell so I’m spread kinda thin. I’ve joined two chambers of
commerce localy and will be sending out a mailing with something catchy. Along with cold calling and networking I really haven’t thought to much into what else I can do. I’m Still learning my boundries, and every day I find they exist less and less. You don’t have to be formal, I was very intimidated at first. As long as you have a solution to someones problem you just have to present results.
I just stumbled across your blog and I can’t wait for you to post more. I am 23 and find myself in An amazing situation. I’m taking some time off from school to work in the family business. I have complete control of every aspect of the marketing with the safety net from my father. But skys the limit of where to take it. It will be nice to hear what other people my age are learning from trial and error. If anyone is curious my company is http://www.ewaycorp.com. I’m hooked keep posting!
Hey Matt, glad you’re taking the plunge!
What are your marketing plans for your company? Perhaps I can lend some advice
Ohh exciting! looking forward to the series. Your track record is very impressive.
I have just moved from cubical (well open office) to entrepreneur. Perfect timing!
Hi Jun, really looking forward to learning from this series. I know only too well how easy entrepreneurship sounds from those who have made it.
thanks,
Saj
Jun, I find your series and knowledge of entrepreneurship very relevant also to the young professional that wants to be entrepreneurial within a corporation as well. The cubical is only a “prison” if you let it become so. There are companies out there that value people with traits you have and reward them accordingly.
Looking forward to the series.
Most definitely Daniel! “The cubical is only a prison if you let it become one” Love that quote.
My next post really talks about this topic.
Thanks
It is absolutely amazing how fast the lifestyle design scene and “be your own boss” attitude has expanded. One year ago, hardly anyone was talking about these things and today..this thing is HUGE! And it’s getting bigger day by day.
Damn..it would have been so awesome if this lifestyle was more exposed in 2003 when I first time “worked for myself”. After that I got that “nice and cozy corporate job” and been on that road ever since. But something has been missing ever since. I’ve felt it the whole time, but because that was the thing “everyone did” (went to a corporate job, become a doctors, layers, all that), I thought that was my future. Boy was I wrong..
After reading Tim’s book (4HWW) last year, my mindset has gone through a biggest change I could ever have imagined. The concept of career has totally flipped upside down and and now I feel I’ve found the thing..the mindset, I’ve been missing ever since I took that regular career path. Like many of you guys, I’m just in the very beginning of my own entrepreneurship adventure. I’m 29 years old now and I feel this is the moment and the mindset I’ve been searching for. It would be great if untemplater would have been put online 5-6 years ago, but hell..better late than never!
Being an entrepreneur is not easy. I know it ain’t gonna be dancing on the roses, it will get tough, you will have to put up with a lot of shit and disappointments but hey, in the end if it’s your passion, you can make a decent living out of it, and you know that is the thing you REALLY want to do – GO FOR IT! It’s a hell of a better alternative than being that “The fat bald man in the red BMW convertible” (one of my favorite phrases coined by Timothy Ferriss) and suffering your whole life doing something you loathe!
All the best to you Jun and to everyone else in Untemplater! Let’s kick some major ass this year!
Thanks so much Juha. The funny thing is that I was graduating High School in 2003! How time flies…
It’s definitely not easy, and this series will show the brutality of it all. With that said, it has been the most rewarding experience of my life.
To taking over 2010 together!!!
Jun, looking forward to the series. I’m reading a bunch of Michael Gerber right now and I’m loving his philosophy. Let me know when you come out East!
I always love to hear stories about the career adventures of other people. This one is particularly interesting to me now that I’m a few weeks in to owning my own business. Looking forward to it!
You rock, and I can’t wait to chat soon 🙂
Awesome stuff, I think I will especially like reading this info from such a young perspective, since I definitely think it will be easier to relate to.
This is a breath of fresh air, Jun. As I am set to graduate here in the Spring and have no freaking idea what I want to do yet. I know I do not want to go to the corporate 9 to 5 jib job. I look forward to implementing this series.
Good thing is, I have almost 6 months before I graduate, so I can get something up and running before then!
To be honest, I feel that everyone at least needs to experience the corporate world at least once. You do learn a lot and understand the concept of systems and operations.
Well, in either case, the series will show you how to build these systems for yourself.
Get ready for something big!
Hey Jun,
Damn, this is some mindblowing stuff. And I’m not even out of high school yet, man. Whereas all my peers are busy trying to determine which template they want to fit into with their careers and the like, I’m looking at everything presented to me and thinking, “Yeah, I kinda like this – but I’m worried it’ll steal my soul.” It’s hard when I know I could fit into any template and “do really well” – sell my soul for a high income – but that doesn’t appeal to me. I, obviously, want to create my own lifestyle, but it’s gonna take some time and a lot of experimentation to find out just what that’s going to be like.
Luckily, I’ve got quite a chunk of time to figure that out. Looks like I’ll be able to take this Untemplater stuff and put it to use, eh?
Wow, way to get ahead in life!
When I was in high school, I was chasing around girls like a chicken with its head cut off. It wasn’t until my last year at UCLA that I finally came to my senses and “broke the template.”
Looking forward to chatting with you throughout the seires
Good stuff Jun! I’ll make sure to tune in every Tuesday! It’s gonna be great to learn from someone my age who is doing it. You’ve accomplished a lot and it’s inspiring to see.
I totally understand you about being a first-year analyst. All my friend went to i-banking, consulting, hedge funds, PE, etc. Working more than 120 hours in a week is not a lifestyle. I was lucky enough to be in charge of my own schedule in my first job and use 80/20 principles. I did quit though when I was offered the big promotion in Toronto to work on the biggest national account, where I wouldn’t have been able to get out of 12-14 hours day at the office.
Good luck on the blog, it’s a great idea and I’ll make sure I share it with everyone I know!
Yea, corporate live is awesome, huh!
To be honest, I learned a lot in the corporate world and actually feel I left too soon. I will be writing about this a lot in posts that follow up.
You still working 12-14 hour days?
… me too 🙂
Congrats on the launch Jun!
Looking forward to reading up on the Untemplar posts!
Best wishes!
DAVE
Wow. Very powerful article. I’m very excited about the whole untemplar project and blog, but your post probably hit it home the most, for me. I am just starting my own company (outsourced the logo design to 99Designs) and am very happy to be a part of this movement of Generation Y’ers taking the reins of our destinies and making something more out of our lives.
Just like Dave above pointed out, it will be great to read about the trials that others have gone through. Even though I am just starting and haven’t hit any rough patches (knock on wood) this whole series is going to motivate the hell out of us all.
Keep up the great work!
Rich Riley
Oops…that should be untemplater, not untemplar (perhaps I was thinking of Dan Brown?).
Hey Rich, great to have you on the site. Trust me, you will hit a lot of bumps and barriers along the way, but it’ll be your ability to persevere and push through that will ultimately lead to success.
Good luck and feel free to ask me any questions along the way
Jun –
I am very excited to follow this series. I plan on commenting throughout the length of this series.
Regards,
Craig Gonzales
I’m very excited that you will be following!
Just checked out your blog. Nice theme design! Looking forward to reading great content from you
Not only am I excited about the launch of Untemplater, but your series as well Jun.
It will be great to hear from someone who understand the trials and tribulations of “making it” in this world.
David Damron
LifeExcursion
Thanks Dave, there will be a lot of honesty in this series and I hope that every young entrepreneur learns and grows from it!
well, I am only 1 yr younger than you, but I look forward to the series and hope to learn a lot from it!