What if there’s a world where YOU can hang out with The Smurfs, chill with Snoop Dogg, become a Rollercoaster Tycoon, AND fight off The Walking Dead? A world where you can build anything you want, play games, build games, and at the same time... make money?

Today we’ll be chatting with the Co-Founder of The Sandbox, Sebastien Borget, who’s building a blockchain-based gaming world alongside some incredible partners. Even Adidas recently bought land in The Sandbox and will begin to build their own experience within the metaverse. 

How did they start, and where are they headed? Let's explore Sebastien's startup journey!

Check out The Sandbox here:

https://www.sandbox.game/

Interested in learning more about NFTs? Check out our previous video with the Founder of The Metakey NFT Project: https://youtu.be/coNFcDmhZWg

Magic Portal:

(00:00) – Intro

(00:49) – Sandbox & Spending $10,000+ on virtual land?

(06:24) – Becoming an entrepreneur

(09:43) – How did you get started?

(11:52) – Hardest challenges along your journey

(13:07) – What does the future look like?

(17:22) – Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs

(19:30) – This or That!

(20:58) – Learn more about NFTs!

If you’re a student like me who's interested in startups, you might have this question… What do I do after graduation? 

Should I start my own company right away, or get some experience at a larger company? Or maybe I should work at a startup? 

Well, today we’ll be chatting with Allan Chow. Allan has worked at a large corporation – Boeing, was at Grubhub when it was transitioning to a public company, and was also one of the first few employees at Chowbus. 

Now, Allan is the CTO at Bucket Listers. I hope that through exploring his journey, you can derive some insights as to what you might wish to do with your career!

Watch this episode on YouTube

For highlights & takeaways, check out our Instagram!

Magic Portal:

(00:52) – Deciding on a career path fresh out of college

(03:40) – Making websites for restaurants in exchange for food

(05:18) – Scaling making websites into a venture?

(06:05) – Joining Grubhub

(06:51) – Joining Chowbus & Launching it in St. Louis

(08:12) – Challenging moments at a startup

(10:03) – Work at a Corporate vs. Startup?

(12:58) – What attracts you to a company?

(15:33) – Goal in 5-10 years

(17:09) – This or That!

(20:44) – Best Advice Ever Received

(22:24) – Takeaways

NFTs? The Metaverse? MILLION-dollar sales of ape pictures??  

You've probably wondered... WHY? Are these people crazy??  

Well, today we’ll be chatting with the founder of a popular NFT project – Matty, also known as DCL Blogger, and hopefully our conversation will answer some of your questions.  

Matty is the Founder of The Metakey, an NFT project that gives you the key to the metaverse. The Metakey is ONE token that can be used across multiple platforms to transform into avatars, game items, exclusive game perks, course material, virtual land access, activate discounts, and much more!

Check out this episode on YouTube to see what the keys look like! 

For more explanation on what the metaverse is, follow our Instagram!

Magic Portal:

(01:00) – What are NFTs??

(02:30) – Why are people spending millions on ape pictures?

(04:20) – Crypto to the moon & crashing back – Matty's venture into NFTs

(06:58) – What is The Metakey?

(09:06) – Conception of The Metakey

(11:17) – From Civil Engineering to Building the Metaverse

(13:15) – Lessons from starting The Metakey

(15:04) – Building a following

(16:31) – How do you identify good NFT projects?

(18:17) – Where are we headed? The future of NFTs

(20:01) – Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs

(21:38) – This or That?

One of the hardest things to do is to create something from nothing. To go from zero to one.

Today we’ll be chatting with someone who has done that SIX times – Jeff Solomon. Jeff is a 6-time serial entrepreneur with 3 exits, the most notable one being the selling of his SaaS CRM company Velocify in 2017 for $128M. Jeff also Co-Founded the accelerator Amplify.La, and he is also a high school entrepreneurship teacher! 

Okay, that's making entrepreneurship sound too easy... it's not! Jeff's first venture actually crashed and burned! Let’s explore his startup journey!

Magic Portal:

(00:38) – Have you always known you wanted to become an entrepreneur?

(01:41) – Failing Macroeconomics & Switching to English Major??

(03:23) – The first venture (crashed and burned)

(06:07) – After that failure... what did you do next?

(07:14) – What motivates you?

(08:44) – When do you decide to exit your company?

(10:45) – Most challenging part about entrepreneurship

(12:50) – Common qualities between successful entrepreneurs

(14:15) – Common mistakes entrepreneurs make

(16:14) – Advice for students interested in startups

(18:29) – This or That!

Learn more about Jeff and his companies below!

Personal Website: https://bak.me

Markup Hero: https://markuphero.com

If you'd like our weekly episodes summarized in one-minute startup droplets, subscribe at https://www.seedstartupjourney.com/

Why is it that every time we chat with a 16-year-old, their stories just get crazier and crazier?

At 16, Calix Huang has already started... and SOLD TWO of his companies. How did he do that? Let’s find out!

If you'd like our weekly episodes summarized in one-minute startup droplets, subscribe at https://www.seedstartupjourney.com/

Magic Portal:

(00:00) – Intro

(00:46) – Calix – an Entrepreneur?

(01:12) – Homeschooling

(02:18) – Tennis, Ethical Hacking & Entrepreneurship

(05:34) – Origin Story of Hours

(07:52) – Growth Hacking Hours

(10:39) – Acquisition of Hours

(15:21) – Thoughts on Entrepreneurship after Acquisition

(16:47) – Advice to Aspiring Entrepreneurs

(18:38) – Next Steps

(19:14) – This or That!

(21:14) – Takeaway

Did you know that the person who founded the “Y Combinator” of Taiwan is also the youngest telecom President?

Today we’ll be chatting with Jamie Lin, a serial entrepreneur, investor, and father. Jamie is the founder of AppWorks – an accelerator, VC, and school, built By Founders, For Founders. AppWorks has currently helped over 400 startups valued in total at over $17.4B!!

Oh, and did I mention Jamie is also the President of Taiwan Mobile?

This is a startup journey you don't want to miss!

If you'd like our weekly episodes summarized in one-minute startup droplets, subscribe at https://www.seedstartupjourney.com/

Magic Portal:

(00:00) – Intro

(00:49) – Becoming an Entrepreneur 

(02:10) – Leaving the US for Taiwan?

(04:24) – What is AppWorks?

(06:44) – Mastermind since 2009?

(08:45) – Failures & Challenges

(11:31) – It's not the clock that wakes me up, it's my dream

(13:05) – Traits for successful entrepreneurs? 3H & Delta

(14:37) – What would you be doing if you didn't start AppWorks?

(16:11) – Time travel – what would you say to the young Jamie?

(16:35) – Managing Stress

(18:48) – Recommendation to 100x your learning

(20:16) – This or That!

(21:19) – Takeaways

Starting a company is like going on a roller coaster ride. According to Forbes, 72% of entrepreneurs are affected by mental health issues, and even if you’re not a founder, that number is still close to 50%. So… How do we deal with stress? 

Today, we’ll be chatting with Lynette Seow, the COO of Safe Space – a mental health startup in Singapore that’s providing online and offline counseling, and creating a safe space to process, understand, and heal.

For our weekly episodes summarized in one-minute droplets delivered to your inbox, head over to https://www.seedstartupjourney.com/ and subscribe to our Startup Droplets!

Magic Portal:

(00:00) – Intro

(00:49) – Lynette & Safe Space

(01:35) – Corporate to startup

(04:00) – Common mental health challenges entrepreneurs face

(05:45) – Imposter Syndrome

(06:50) – Does being an entrepreneur in the mental health space make it easier to deal with the challenges?

(08:08) – Drink & Chill to deal with stress?

(09:33) – Calm/Headspace or Therapy?

(11:16) – COVID & Remote Therapy

(13:03) – Where are you now along your startup journey?

(14:42) – Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs

(17:28) – This or That!

(18:16) – Takeaways

Imagine switching high school five times (one of which is a school for pregnant teenagers), and getting into NONE of the colleges you wanted to go to...  

What do you do next?  

Today, we'll be chatting with James Graham, Founder and CEO of Community Phone. This is probably one of the best conversations on The Seed so far. Not just because James used to charge people to see molding raspberries in his locker, but because of his amazing journey going from what most people would consider a failure, to now a founder who’s gone through both the Thiel Fellowship and Y Combinator, both of which have a lower acceptance rate than Harvard.  

Magic Portal:

(00:00) – Intro

(00:44) – Molding Raspberries

(01:19) – Have you always known that you were going to be an entrepreneur?

(03:03) – Clearing the confusion

(05:02) – Community Phone

(06:25) – Why this idea?

(09:33) – Thiel Fellowship & Y Combinator

(13:36) – Darkest moments

(16:40) – Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs

(19:49) – Underrated vs Overrated

(21:40) – Takeaways

If you want our weekly episodes summarized in one-minute droplets, delivered to your inbox, head over to https://www.seedstartupjourney.com/ and subscribe to our Startup Droplet!

How did Alan turn T-Mobile from bankruptcy to a $52 BILLION exit? 

What makes a great entrepreneur? 

If Alan could go back in time and give a piece of advice to the 20-year-old Alan, what would he say? 

For more takeaways, check out our Instagram and subscribe to our Startup Droplets!

T-Mobile went from 5 people in the early 90s, to now over 75,000 employees, with a market cap of over $180B dollars... But did you know that it once had to file for bankruptcy, and its Co-Founder had to wait in a freezing room for weeks, begging their vendors for money?  

Today we'll be chatting with the Co-Founder of T-Mobile USA – Alan Bender. This is one of the coolest startup journeys so far, and not only would Alan share his success and how he got there, he also talks about some of his darkest moments, as well as advice to aspiring entrepreneurs!

Magic Portal:

(00:00) – Intro

(00:55) – Have you always known you were going to start a business?

(01:34) – Origin story of T-Mobile

(03:12) – Finding the right Co-Founders

(04:37) – Darkest (and coldest) moments

(07:18) – What kept you going?

(08:48) – The $52 Billion Acquisition

(13:25) – What makes a great entrepreneur?

(17:14) – What advice would you give to the 20-year-old Alan?

(20:10) – This or That 

(21:21) – Takeaways

If you want our weekly episodes summarized in one-minute droplets, delivered to your inbox, head over to https://www.seedstartupjourney.com/ and subscribe to our Startup Droplet!