The Basement Entrepreneur

Kyle Joyce became an entrepreneur at the age of 15. He realized quickly that his mission is to solve problems. Since then, he went on to building multiple successful businesses, including a UI/UX studio for startups and a clothing design shop . His latest venture lies in the intersection between Web 3 and social network.  On today's episode, he talks about why you need to rapid prototype and the concrete steps to building a product from scratch with no technical expertise.  You can reach out to Kyle for any questions or advice on his Linkedin.  Link to his ventures:  https://www.wowsee.me/ https://www.enverexperience.com/ https://joinentre.com/ https://www.enverstudio.com/   We would love to hear your feedback and if you would like to be featured on a future episode. Please message us on Instagram. Stay updated and follow us on Linkedin - - - - - - - - -  Show notes:  (4:50) Take advantage of UI Kits  (6:00) Innovate when you have to, copy when you don't have to  (7:00) Why you need to design and create features as fast as possible  (7:48) Step by step guide to prototyping  (10:00) What tools to use if you have no technical expertise  (17:30) Areas that will be disrupted by Web 3  (18:22) The problem with blockchain gaming (21:52) Action steps to starting a Web 3 startup  (28:54) The Basement Entrepreneur questions  

After working for some of the biggest tech companies in the world, Andrew discovered a key problem with the modern day workforce: gig workers are not being compensated enough for their time. With this in mind, he began building Work Entropy to help workers find jobs that pay the most for their schedule. On this episode, we talked about what business process outsourcing is, the problems that exist with two marketed places, and the most important things to keep in mind when scaling your startup.  Andrew's LinkedIn Work Entropy podcast We would love to hear your feedback and if you would like to be featured on a future episode. Please message us on IG at @thebasemententrepreneur.   Stay updated and follow us on LinkedIn - - - - - - - - -  Show notes:  (8:27) Business process outsourcing defined  (9:22) How BPO relates to customer experience  (11:40) There will be a 5 people team reaching unicorn status (13:13) Advantages of a smaller team  (18:05) How Instacart validated Andrew's proof of concept for Work Entropy (22:00) Why ride and delivery businesses are not transparent for workers (25:30) Deconstructing B2B sales  (36:00) How to find talent for your founding team (51:06) The mission that motivates Andrew  (56:39) Fail as fast you can  (1:01:46) Sustainable growth > growth at all cost

Metaverse is the perhaps the hottest topic right now in tech. Facebook broke the internet after their rebranding to Meta. But what is all of this about? On today's episode, Jerry and Ismail goes in depth about the fundamentals of Metaverse and Web 3.0. They also share insights on how you can be apart of this inevitable evolution of the digital age.    Link to Fred Wilson's essay on buying crypto:  https://avc.com/2021/11/buying-crypto-assets/   We would love to hear your feedback and if you would like to be featured on a future episode. Please message us on IG at @thebasemententrepreneur.   Stay updated and follow us on LinkedIn   - - - - - - - - -  Show notes:  (0:40) What is Metaverse (3:15) Facebook's rebranding is genius  (15:20) Web 2.0 vs Web 3.0 (19:45) Who are going to be the leaders in Web 3.0 and Metaverse?  (28:00) How you can get involved with the Metaverse (31:20) Find your place in the Metaverse (32:40) Fred Wilson's advice for investing in cryptocurrency      

Rishi Armstrong and Shaan Patel are two successful student entrepreneurs from the University of Southern California who built Azure Ventures Group, a holding company that owns 8 online businesses and a venture capital fund that invests in Seed and Series A stage startups. On this episode, they gave valuable insight on the type of businesses to start, how to identify profitable and sustainable businesses to acquire, and finally, how to break into venture capital from college.    Rishi Armstrong's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rishiarmstrong/ Shaan Patel's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaan-patel/ Azure Ventures Group: https://www.linkedin.com/company/azureventuresgroup/about/   - - - - - - - - -    We would love to hear your feedback and if you would like to be featured on a future episode. please message us on IG at @thebasemententrepreneur.   Stay updated and follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thebasemententrepreneur/   - - - - - - - - -  Show notes:  (1:00) The origin of Azure Ventures Group  (1:30) Reward from betting on young founders  (2:40) Problem with funding in Southern California  (6:35) Characteristics of ventures that are best to acquire  (9:40) Easy businesses to start for anyone  (12:00) Don't be scared to ask for help  (13:00) Start with a lean startup before shooting for the moon  (14:40) Niche first then expand (e.g Airbnb)  (16:30) Become the Berkshire Hathaway of Brands  (17:52) Platforms to use to buy businesses  (21:45) Traction guarantees higher valuation (25:30) How a student VC fund sources deal and get investments from limited partners  (30:45) Why you should start a student VC fund at your school  (32:40) How to get into venture capital as a college student (35:21) Resources that Shaan and Rishi recommend for early stage founders   (40:30) Funny but big mistake Shaan made (Don't chase the money) 

On the sixth episode of The Basement Entrepreneur, Jerry (@criticaljumper) and Ismail (@ismailkhalilr_) interviews Rahmaan Hameed (@Rahmaanhameedstudios), a world renowned artist who has sold art to famous athletes and celebrities like Floyd Mayweather, Connor McDavid, Jake Paul, and Fred VanVleet. We talked about his journey from taking a risky bet to meeting and painting for Floyd Mayweather. Rahmaan also shared with us some of the "musts" for anyone who wants to become an entrepreneur as well as what NFTs are and the future of art.    Rahmaan's instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rahmaanhameedstudios/ - - - - - - - - -  We would love to hear your feedback and if you would like to be featured on a future episode. please message us on IG at @thebasemententrepreneur. - - - - - - - - -  Show notes:  (0:55) Rahmaan introduction  (4:04) How he started (9:00) Stepping out of comfort zone  (9:44) First year and kicking off in Vegas  (10:30) Differentiating yourselves from others  (12:00) Making connections with celebrities and athletes  (12:45) Results and unit economics of art  (13:19) Meeting and painting for Floyd Mayweather  (16:00) The power of celebrity advertising (20:00) Bet on yourself  (21:50) Emphasis on Timing  (22:48) Starting an NFT (24:00) NFT Defined  (31:00) Predicting the future of NFT  (35:40) Coexistence of digital and physical art (38:35) Rahmaan's resources recommendation and advice  (41:15) Don't be afraid of rejection  (44:00) Rahmaan's drive (47:20) Always full effort  (48:35) Making the jump

On this episode of Insightful Reads, Jerry reads Tomasz Tunguz's article on SaaS pricing. He goes into detail of the strategy, philosophy, structure, and positioning of pricing. It is a short article but a must listen if you are looking to found a software company, join a software company, or you are currently working at a software company. You can find the full article here:  https://tomtunguz.com/pricing-summary/

On the fifth episode of The Basement Entrepreneur, Jerry (@criticaljumper) and Ismail (@ismailkhalilr_) speaks with Liam Howlett, the CEO of Safety 1st Aquatics and a serial entrepreneur, to discuss his journey out of the basement and the lessons he learned from building multiple service and gig businesses. We also dived in on EdTech and the problems with traditional education.  - - - - - - - - -  We would love to hear your feedback and if you would like to be featured on a future episode. please message us on IG at @thebasemententrepreneur.  - - - - - - - - -  Show notes:  (0:45) Guest Intro  (2:00) Liam's entrepreneurial journey  (6:45) Building and scaling Safety First Aquatics  (9:50) Why you should sacrifice revenue for cash flow at early stage  (10:30) Choosing your team  (10:58) What Liam learned from building a bond fire business  (11:20) Compete for a contractor's team when you build a gig business  (12:15) Evaluating and picking business ideas  (14:05) Fear of failure  (14:26) Running startups is way too fun (16:48) Failures that changed Liam (19:15) Build upfront processes that can scale 10x to avoid churn  (21:00) Tools that Liam recommends  (26:00) Business moats (28:00) Why traditional education does not work  (29:50) Three ways people learn  (33:33) Epiphany of needing a new way to learn  (33:15) How educators can change  (42:25) $$$ Multi-million prep book business  (43:20) Jocko Willink and Extreme Ownership (45:30) The Sales Acceleration Formula  (48:48) The problem of overchoice  (50:15) Making out of the basement  (53:03) Working and quitting Papa John's  (59:15) You can learn a ton from your day job/side hustle  (1:02:30) What Liam would have done differently  (1:10:10) B2B sales hack       

On this episode of Insightful Reads, Jerry reads Andy Dunn's personal story of taking risk. He built Bonobos, a D2C men's clothing store that sold to Walmart for $310 million. You will hear what he has done in life that is so contrarian to what a new graduate would do, as well as the critical moments that shaped him and the company he built after. You can find the full article here: https://dunn.medium.com/the-risk-not-taken-40cf0a8919cb

On the fourth episode of The Basement Entrepreneur, Jerry (@criticaljumper) and Ismail (@ismailkhalilr_) pitch four startups that they believe are going to be unicorns and analyze their product market fit and why they matter. These startups are from the creator economy, eVTOL, autonomous trucking, and employee benefits processing. Follow us on IG @thebasemententrepreneur.

Insightful Reads is a new series of The Basement Entrepreneur where the hosts read out loud topic specific Twitter threads, articles, or blog posts that's related to startups.  In this episode, Jerry reads @Shannvp's Twitter thread "how to not f*ck up relationships (in business & life)." You can find the full Twitter thread here: https://twitter.com/shaanvp/status/1429496148297883656?s=10

On the third episode of The Basement Entrepreneur, Jerry (@criticaljumper) and Ismail (@ismailkhalilr_) share the stories of Snapchat and Alibaba and discuss what it means to be a contrarian and how you can leverage it to your advantage. Follow us on IG @thebasemententrepreneur.. 

On the second episode of The Basement Entrepreneur, Jerry (@criticaljumper) and Ismail (@ismailkhalilr_) dives into the journey of the basement entrepreneur, Ismail's story of building a 5 figure delivery business in one semester, and how you can create a million dollar business in one weekend. Follow us on IG @thebasemententrepreneur.

On the first episode of The Startup Podcast, Jerry (@criticaljumper) and Ismail (@ismailkhalilr_) introduce themselves and gets in a deep dive of the drive that makes entrepreneurs successful. Follow us on IG @thebasemententrepreneur.