A Product Market Fit Show | Startup Podcast for Founders
00:35:24 · Pablo Srugo, Jack Kuveke
[00:35:24] S1: How old ? How [00:35:25] S0: 23 <laugh> . And I asked him, I was like, grandpa, that sounds crazy. What are you talking about? He's like, well, I couldn't afford to go out to restaurants. I grew up in the Bronx, Jack, I just, I ate at either my house or if I was lucky, a friend would have me over to dinner. And these were not, these were not like, they were, they were, you know, lower middle class , but they weren't like poverty line poor. But he was like, yeah, what are you talking about? I didn't , I didn't go out to eat. I , I couldn't do that. I literally could not afford to, so I just didn't. And he walked to college. He walked to college , Iona College. He was the first one in his family to go. He walked in nine miles to college every day and then would just hitchhike if he was lucky or walk nine miles one way to get to college.
00:36:09 · Pablo Srugo
[00:36:09] S1: I think these days, like you should , you , you're like, anything you want, you should have, you know, and also it's so much in your face that everybody, what everybody else has, like you said, that you just like, are constantly reinforced, like, man, I should be like, you see other people traveling, like I should also be able to travel like I deserve it. And <laugh> , you know, Klarna comes in, let's you travel, so you do it. Meanwhile, I met this founder the other day who's really, really smart dude, like engineer type and first company did work out , starts a second company like four years ago. Um, raises like 200 k. And I was just like, and still like, it's a hardware startup, so it's a bunch of tech work, RD whatever, still not really sharing revenue. I'm just like, dude, how are you like living? And he is like, man, it's not, he's in Toronto, like downtown Toronto by the way. He's like, it's not that hard when you , um, just make it a point <laugh> to like live cheaply. So, you know, I , I can't say that I'm doing that, but my point is, there is extremes out there of what's, of what's possible. I mean, he must be making like 40, 50 KA year, you know, just, you just do the math on it. So somehow he's making it happen.
00:37:15 · Jack Kuveke
[00:37:15] S0: I have a couple friends that don't have jobs right now and like, I have to scold them 'cause they go out, they're still going out like three or four nights a week. We live, I live in New York. It's a fun place to party. It's a fun place to go out to bars or whatever. And like , uh, my advice to him is like, whenever I'm in a tough time, I try and make myself earn things. Like I go out way less. If I go out, it's because I did something that I felt like I deserve to treat myself. But like, I have to live that way, otherwise I'll just literally dress like a rapper party, like I'm 50 cent and like go absolutely out of my mind and just spend like a complete maniac. But like this whole idea that you deserve things when you have done nothing to actually earn it is, is really unhealthy and it's a slippery slope because everyone's doing it. And most of my friends just assume people are richer than they are. And it's just like growing up, my dad would like, well , we , we , I lived in a pretty affluent area and he would point out , he's like, see them? I'm like, they have a nice house. He'd be like, yeah, dad, that's a really nice house. He's like, we make way more money than them. All right . They live in a $6 million house. They've got four cards . One of them drives a Porsche. He's like, they make half of what we make with a six time more expensive house because it's just all debt. They're in crippling debt , Jack . And he would be like, live beneath your means . Yes. Don't get into debt. <laugh>. And I , it , it scared the out of me. And then I realized just growing up that like all of my friends, for the most part, not all of them, but a lot of people I know are just in debt. They look like they're way richer than they are, but they're just broke as. And it's scary because you have no idea from the outside. Everyone seems like they have it figured out and almost no one has anything figured out. Perfect.
00:38:57 · Pablo Srugo, Jack Kuveke
[00:38:57] S1: Well, let's , uh, let's stop there. I think in conclusion, what we learned this month is if you're struggling, if you're, if you're feeling like you need to use Klarna to buy , uh, Ben and Jerry's ice cream, the best thing you can do is go work at a 16 z, become a vc, because that's the final thing that's gonna be extinct. And , uh, if you can't do that deal is hiring spies because there's just quit. So that's another option for everybody to double your income. [00:39:19] S0: Beautiful takeaway, well said, Pablo . [00:39:22] S1: You remember like the first person who told you about Bitcoin, the first person who told you about Uber. You want to be that person because being first is cool. So be a cool person and tell your founder friends, set it to them on WhatsApp. Put it in a WhatsApp group, put it on a Slack channel. Let people know about the show. Let people know about this episode. Don't let somebody else beat you to the punch and share it with your founder friends. First, remember what Ricky Bobby said. If you ain't first, you're last.