Ex-googler goes from cable guy to catching camera thieves - Trevor Sehrer, Lenstag
Bootstrapped
Trevor Sehrer founded Lenstag in 2013 to fight camera theft and he’s been recovering camera equipment ever since. His childhood was tough to put it lightly. He dropped out of high school and college and eventually ended up as a site reliability engineer at Google. He moved from his hometown Corvallis, Oregon to Silicon Valley. Trevor embodies the spirit of this show as he’s extremely humble, relentless and entrepreneurial. His ability to keep showing up despite adversity pushing back against him is why he’s successful. The takeaway from this episode is, keep showing up. Keep trying and...
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Relationships, work & living in Mexico - Robert Graham, GrahamComm Speaker Training
Bootstrapped
Until around the age of 30, Robert Graham was wandering around the world in search of answers to life’s two big questions, relationship and work. In this episode we go through Robert’s journey and his strategy for finding those answers. Robert Graham is the founder of GrahamComm, presentation, sales and communication skills training. He’s fully optimized his life to maximize his happiness. He lives with his wife and daughters six months of the year in Mexico and and the other six months in Oakland. The takeaway from this episode is that you should create a vision for what you want your...
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How Sam Parr, CEO of The Hustle met Tim Ferris
Bootstrapped
Sam’s one of those people who’s a born entrepreneur and from an early age he was starting companies and selling things. Having two parents who were entrepreneurs he thought that’s just how people get jobs, you start a business. We go through his businesses, personal finance strategy that supports his entrepreneur lifestyle, mental health strategy and what led to putting Tim Ferriss in the four hour headlock: https://www.instagram.com/p/BQj-vGHhzhL/ The takeaway from this episode is that you should whole ass one thing instead of half assing many things. Quotes from the episode...
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Bankruptcy at age 30 - Failure isn't permanent - Gary Nealon, RTA Cabinet Store
Bootstrapped
Gary Nealon went through bankruptcy at 30 years old after buying a business 1 year earlier. By many measures he’s your average guy who grew up in a lower-middle class family in America. By many other measures he’s quite far from average as he runs an 8 figure online cabinet sales business, a consulting business and more recently a social exploration and discovery wine app. I hope this episode gives you the confidence to take risks knowing that even if you hit rock bottom and file for bankruptcy at age 30, you can fight back and build a 10 million dollar plus business. The takeaway from...
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Crying after work, rich by 40 - Bryce Huett, Distributor Wire & Cable
Bootstrapped
Bryce Huett is an entrepreneur who describes his life as fantastic. He is one of the few people who loves his job. In this episode we cover Bryce getting laughed at when he registered his business without an idea, his love of customers, company culture strategy, the value of trusting people and much more. The takeaway from this episode is the value Bryce puts on health. He's been described by employees as the fittest person in his 50 person office. Even in the darkest days of his current business, which almost died several times, he worked out almost every day and always maintained a healthy...
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Would you go to your own funeral? Kamaljit Bains, Impeccable Bookkeeping
Bootstrapped
Kamaljit Bains has lived five different lives. In one of her lives she was considering attending her own funeral. In another she traveled the world for 9 months. She doesn’t see obstacles, she goes after what she wants. If the context of life isn’t making her happy, she changes it. People around Kamaljit are drawn to her infectious energy. She’s made piles of money in high paying corporate jobs but that didn’t satisfy her. Kamaljit has been on her own since the age of 16 which forced her to figure it out on her own. This is what made her who she is today. She currently owns her second...
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Sushi Empire - Tonny Soesanto, Kikka Sushi
Bootstrapped
Tonny Soesanto is the relentlessly optimistic President of Kikka Sushi. Tonny’s sushi empire started 30 years ago with just a few employees. The company is now 2,000 employees and supplies a significant amount of sushi to Whole Foods and other top grocery stores across the United States. Tonny is an extremely happy person. He was laughing and smiling throughout my visit to Kikka HQ in LA. This episode will teach you a lot about optimizing for happiness and how to run a business. The takeaway from this episode is that there’s always a way when you work hard with persistence and optimism....
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Pioneer of outdoor bootcamp - Keith Wohlwend, BootCampSF
Bootstrapped
Keith started BootCampSF in 2000. He is constantly experimenting and seeking adventure. His experiments include starting his business and learning to roll a kayak once capsized in his neighbor’s pool (). Keith is not concerned with the world’s judgement, his concern is his next adventure. He’s been one of the most encouraging and inspirational people I’ve come across. The takeaway from this episode is that everything in life is an experiment. There’s no failing, only finding things out. People often avoid taking the necessary risks to reach happiness due to fear of failure. Keith’s...
info_outlineThe takeaway from this episode is that there’s always a way when you work hard with persistence and optimism. Every time Tonny encounters a problem or an opportunity, he finds a way to make it happen. His strategy is to say yes first and figure out execution second. This strategy led to Kikka Sushi becoming one of the first to-go sushi suppliers in grocery and to being one of the first to use brown rice in sushi. Kikka’s yes first approach is why they are still growing today. When competitors said no and died, Tonny said yes and thrived.
Quotes from the episode
“I’m very persistent, I don’t want to lose” - Tonny Soesanto
“It’s not the money that I want, it’s the challenge” - Tonny Soesanto
“I learn from my experience in life so the best you can do is teach your children or my employees to do the same...You need to view your life as glass half full, never half empty.” - Tonny Soesanto
“I sleep on a stainless steel table but that’s fun” - Tonny Soesanto
Business contact Info
431 S. Isis Avenue
Inglewood, California 90301
(310) 410-1151
Email us at [email protected]