Startup Newsletter - Innovators Can Laugh
From BCG TO Startup Founder
Taking calculated risks can often lead to great rewards if done correctly. In this chat with Alexandru Anghel, co-founder of Solo, Alexandru shares his journey from management consultant to startup founder.
To begin, Alex quit his job as a management consultant and joined an incubator ran by an experienced entrepreneur who became the first investor of Solo. From this experience, he learned how to hire, manage money, build a product that people love to use, and bootstrap for as long as possible before seeking out investors.
Solo solves a problem for customers by providing them with an easy way to manage their finances and investments. It provides an automated system with transparent information on income, taxes, and paperwork filing that is easy to access and understand.
What I love about this conversation is that Alex shares wonderful advice when seeking fundraising for the first time, his approach to creating a winning culture, and why bootstrapping for as long as you can has its advantages.
🎙️ catch the show on Apple, Spotify, or other player here.
Show highlights:
0:50 – when was the first time you got your first taste of entrepreneurship?
2:35 – you didn’t think of another profession like being a lock picker?
6:33 – is there a lock picking community in Romania? 🔐
7:00 – what was your experience like living in Austria?
9:58 – what do customers get excited about when they discover Solo?
13:05 – who was the first investor and what was that experience like?
14:40 – what advice would you give to anyone who wants to launch a startup?
19:58 – what is something that you do that has contributed to your success?
21: 40 – a favorite tv show that you can watch again and again?
23:05 – instead of stock options, you give your new employees ____________ 😆
Funny Clip
Funny how Dragos Duce from Synaptiq shares his strengths as a CEO. See clip.
Overheard on LinkedIn
🗨️ Casey Hill - How ChatGPT can give you instant authority from influencers around nearly any issue you are posting about.
👂 James Gerber - Want a quick and dirty framework to make a story or speech you’re writing better?
🗣️ Michael Pedersen - The idea of aging doesn’t have to be a negative outlook. We just need to make a mindset shift.
🌪️ Jay Clouse - How to leverage a viral post on social media.
Some Funny Quotes
“Gun control? We need bullet control! I think every bullet should cost 5,000 dollars. Because if a bullet cost five thousand dollars, we wouldn’t have any innocent bystanders.”
“If a woman tells you she’s twenty and looks sixteen, she’s twelve. If she tells you she’s twenty-six and looks twenty-six, she’s damn near forty.”
😅 Chris Rock
Funny Cartoon
The End
Hi Everyone. This week has been interesting as it was Martisor yesterday. It’s a tradition celebrated at the beginning of spring. Boys give girls an object made from two intertwined red and white strings with hanging tassel. So, we had to buy such gifts for my kids’ teachers and all the girls in my son’s class. I guess its a cute thing. Kind of similar to Valentine’s Day in the States.
Aside from all the never ending holidays and celebrations (I hear there is another one next week with womens’ day), we’ve been looking for another apartment to move into. We have an *hole for a landlord who doesn’t like to fix anything and is a big penny pincher. So, if you know a good realtor in the Bucharest, please let me know.
Have a great weekend!
Eric M.
