Misfit Entrepreneur May 2019 - 147: A Conversation on Disruption, Entrepreneurship, and What it Means to Think Bigger with Matt Ward

Subscribe and Listen Today!

Inspiring and Actionable Content Weekly from Misfit Entpreneurs

Subscribe on Itunes

Subscribe on Stitcher

Subscribe on RSS

Dave Lukas Chats with Matt Ward

147: A Conversation on Disruption, Entrepreneurship, and What it Means to Think Bigger with Matt Ward

This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Matt Ward. Matt is an angel investor, startup advisor and serial entrepreneur that’s helped thousands build, grow and scale successful startup companies through his efforts with FBA ALLSTARS and The Syndicate podcast.

Thanks to three successful exits of companies he founded, Matt now runs an investment syndicate focused on seed stage tech companies, while also serving as an advisor for several startups.

Matt’s a frequent writer on Medium.com, author of Gods of the Valley – How Today’s Tech Giants Monopolize the Future and has been featured in Mattermark Daily, The Next Web, Inc, VentureBeat, Think Growth, Hackernoon and numerous other publications.

And if that is not enough, he’s also the founder of The Disruptors Podcast, a show that brings together scientists, startups, innovators and thought leaders to have discussions on the direction of humankind. With such a diverse background, there are is a lot we have to talk about in this episode.

www.Disruptors.fm

Get Matt’s Book, Gods of the Valley at https://disruptors.fm/gods-of-valley/

MattWard.io

Don't Miss Even More Resources to Help You Each Week. Click Here and Subscribe to the Misfit Minute!

Show Notes

Matt never really fit into a traditional job type roll and quickly found his way into solo-entrepreneurship. He built a couple of e-commerce companies that failed. Then, he stumble into crowdfunding. He was in southeast Asia and moved to China to start a new e-commerce business from the lessons he learned and have the products manufactured there.

He had designed a laptop case that opens into a standing desk and while he was waiting for his first prototype to be created, he decided to start selling already made products on Amazon and things took off. He ultimately sold the business and then used that money to fund his “phase 2.” He also started his podcasts.

The first phase for him was about making money. He was selling things, but wasn’t really passionate about the products, but knew he needed to do it to get to a point where he had the resources to focus on what actually mattered to him and that is where he is now.

Now, he works with startups as an advisor on growth marketing, scaling, and building their business larger. His big focus is Disruptors.FM looking at the future of technology and the convergence of all the technological progress.
At the 8 min mark, Matt talks about what he is seeing happening in the technology space and why Disruptors is so important.

At the 9:22 mark, Matt explains what it means to “think bigger” and the challenge he gives to us to do so…

Cliché is always cliché until you get it.
It doesn’t take 10 or 100X the effort to attain 10 or 100x the results – it just takes thinking a little bit differently.
Matt uses an example of how he wanted to make a impact by building homes for people. Instead of starting a business, make money and invest in 10 businesses doing it and your leverage is much bigger.
The goal of entrepreneurship is to be the most effective possible and to get to the right finish line.
Part of it is understanding the problem, but solving the right problem.
People fall into the trap as entrepreneurs of just creating a job for themselves and end up hating it.
Think about the way you approach the problem differently to avoid the trap.
Matt gives the example of re-usable rockets from Space X taking the cost of Space travel down by over 90%.

What are the things you teach those your work with when it comes to thinking bigger. How do they do it? Where do they start?

At the 14 min mark, Matt asks me questions and uses Misfit as an example of how we can think bigger…

It’s what matter most…
Then asking the question, “What would have to change to 10x or 100x that metric?"
If you are measuring the right thing, then 10x and 100x become easier…
Things don’t scale the way you think. You have do things differently at each level to get to the next level.
The way that you think about starting something is not the way that you think about growing it and building a lasting organization. It is a different thought process and skillsets.

What are some of the key thing you’ve learned along the way that have helped you succeed?

Outsource everything you can – if it is not a core competency or something you really enjoy doing, offload it, or you will just create a job for yourself.
You need to know the type of person you in terms of how you work and how you lead. Know thyself.
Be honest with yourself.
Balancing having an idea of where you want to be ahead of time with not be afraid to just try things and fail is critical.
If you are doing something and it doesn’t feel right, then it is for good reason. Your gut is almost always right.
It’s either a “hell yes” or no.
Don’t only have business as your driving factor, you must have the health aspect as well. You can and will burn yourself out and will slip over time if you don’t take care of yourself.

If you had to choose one thing, that if you had known it before starting on your entrepreneur path, would have accelerated your success, what would it be?

Spend money for help
Podcasts are such a great way to grow yourself and get help
Being busy isn’t productive – you are better off spending money to achieve results much faster.

Where do you see the state of humanity going? What’s coming?

The biggest problem we have is “short-term thinking”
We live in a world that incentivizes the here and now without regard to the consequences of our actions down the road.
Most don’t focus on the future or think down the road – we are playing finite games and thinking as if it is winnable.
The direction humanity is going is optimistic. Our quality of life and living is going up over time. We may not realize this because the influences such as advertisers and marketers are incentivized to sell us on things being bad and making us feel bad so we “need their solution.”
AI is and will progress much faster than most think – especially in our health.

Where do you see the biggest disruption happening over the next 10-20 years?

AGI moving to ASI will happen. This will transform all areas of our lives.
Automation will have enormous implications.
Yes, some jobs will cease to exist, but new ones will exist and be created.
We will have to consider what life would be like if technology can take on many of the day to day things we do.
The biotech and longevity space will see huge strides and lifespans will grow to allow us to live much longer and better.
Think about this – 13 years ago we didn’t have IPhones and now technology is accelerating even faster than it was then. Where will we be 13 years from now?

At the 46 min mark, Matt talks about other areas that you should look at and keep tabs on.

Best Quote

Tweet This: “If you are doing something and it doesn’t feel right, then it is for good reason. Your gut is almost always right.”

Rule #1 is that there are no rules. Disregard what anyone tells you unless they are further along the life journey you want to have. Otherwise, they are only giving you advice to live their life and their life isn’t yours.

Never stop learning. Don’t get stuck in a rut. Find incredible podcasts and learn.

Focus more on feeling healthy and better. When you are mentally and physically fit, your performance increases. Try things out.

Show Sponsors

When is the last time you thought about investing for your future? Whether it has been a long time or 5 minutes ago, one of the things that can make a huge difference in the amount of money you have in your retirement, is the amount of fees you pay to invest. Your goal should always be to keep fees such as trading costs or expense ratios as low as possible. That is where Webull Financial comes in and why I want you to know about them.

Like me, Webull believes everyone should have the ability to control their financial future and that’s why they created a trading app that is free for you to use. Imagine having all the information the big hedge funds have at your fingertips and the ability to trade for free – that is exactly what the Webull app gives you. By using technology and automation, they have eliminated the inefficiencies in trading platforms and have the cut the costs to zero.
Whether you are a fundamental or technical trader, or just a beginner or novice, Webull is for you. It’s easy to use and has all the education to get you up to speed.

As a special bonus to you as a Misfit, when you join Webull, you will have a chance to receive stock worth up to $300 and if you deposit $100 or more on your first deposit, you have chance to receive up to $1000. There is nothing to lose and everything to gain. So, go to the Appstore or GooglePlay store and download Webull today!

An Elite Group of Entrepreneurs will Spend Four Amazing Days at the Incredible Loews Coronado Bay Resort on Beautiful Coronado Island in San Diego, Ca, Where They Will Walk Away With the Tools they need to Grow to Completely New Levels, and Have a Transformational Life Experience that Will Create Lifelong Breakthroughs and One-of-a-Kind Relationships.

Will You be One of Them?

Grow Thrive Revive was created by Dave Lukas and Evan Money to give 25 entrepreneurs a place to immerse themselves in a focused program designed to help them double their business or more in less than 12 months while enjoying an incredible life experience. The event is being held at the exclusive Loews Coronado Bay Resort Sept 19th - 22nd 2019.

As a member of the Misfit audience, I want to give you $1000 off your registration and the ability to bring a guest for FREE. Just go to www.GrowThriveRevive.com and use the promo code Misfit1000. Hurry, the event will fill fast!