Lifeselfmastery's podcast I Startups I Venture Capital
00:31:25 · Marcus Dantus, Rohit Malhotra
You know that there's only one job, only one that has disappeared? And you know what job that is? Elevator operator. [00:31:34] S1: Yeah. [00:31:36] S2: So, I mean, if you think about it, I don't see the doom yet happening, but I do think we need to hurry and we need to control and regulate and educate people into this technology. [00:31:52] S1: Very interesting because I come from a very small town called Chandigarh in India and I saw an elevator operator and I was surprised that he was asking me which floor do I want to go. So in very small cities in India or Southeast So that [00:32:11] S2: job hasn't even disappeared. True. [00:32:16] S1: You know Marcus if an 18 year old is listening to this podcast and he might be overwhelmed with what he needs to learn when he graduates out. What advice would you give to him on how to prepare well for a job when he graduates in four years' time?
00:32:38 · Marcus Dantus
[00:32:38] S2: So a couple of things. First of all, I think that especially with technology and even more especially with AI, I think that we need to focus more on becoming specialists, specialists at something. So the first advice that I would give them is never stop learning. You know, the world moves super fast and you need to continue learning constantly and continue specializing on something and become an expert at something. And that will make you very valuable. The second thing that I would tell them is be patient. I think that a lot of young people, because of technology, are no longer patient. They think everything happens in seconds because, you know, now you can access all the music catalog of the world with one app in a second or the movies and the series or you can even, you know, find a, you know, a partner in an app just by, you know, clicking a button or swiping left, you know. But I think that the most... The truly important things in life take time, you know, building a reputation, building a family, becoming successful, at least considering yourself successful. And there's a phrase that I love, which is, you know, success, immediate success takes years, no? Yeah. And that that is something that I would recommend them. So so study a lot, become an expert. Look for problems in the world and solve them. Hopefully become an entrepreneur. We need a lot more of those And be patient because things don't happen that quickly.
00:34:39 · Rohit Malhotra, Marcus Dantus
[00:34:39] S1: Got it. And Marcus, you've given more than 200 plus keynotes in the last five years where you've been running funds, being part of boards and a TV career. How do you protect your energy and decide what to say no to? [00:34:56] S2: And decide what? [00:34:57] S1: What do you say no to? [00:35:00] S2: Well, I mean, look. I say no to things that completely saturate my schedule and won't allow me to Yeah. To sleep properly, of course. Yeah. I say no to to to events or or to conferences where they ask me to give some kind of expert talk, and I don't know what I'm talking about, of course. Yeah. Because, you know, I don't know everything. And and, you know, and sometimes I want to rest. So sometimes I say no just because I need the the break. But but in reality, I think that's... Look, it's it's very... I I... I'm very flattered that I found something in which I can leave a legacy in the world by doing what I do, by helping people become entrepreneurs and by helping people create their companies and grow them and generate prosperity through entrepreneurship. And I don't think that many people find what they're gonna leave the world with. And I think I found it and I'm very happy about it. So so so anytime I have an opportunity to give a talk, to help people, to to take a picture with somebody and inspire them or anything like that, I'll do it, you know, providing that I that I can. [00:36:32] S1: Got it. And, you know if you could sit down with the founder who's about to give up, what would you tell them in a short sentence?
00:36:32 · Rohit Malhotra, Marcus Dantus
[00:36:32] S1: Got it. And, you know if you could sit down with the founder who's about to give up, what would you tell them in a short sentence? [00:36:45] S2: Look, a lot of people ask me this question, when do you know when to give up? Yeah. You know, and how do you know if resilience becomes something else, you know, and becomes stubbornness, if you will. [00:37:02] S1: Yeah. [00:37:02] S2: My my suggestion is that I... The way I see it, I think this is a very personal issue, and I think that people have to make this decision on their own. Don't listen to anybody. But my my two cents on it is that usually when you do something, you know, a lot of doors open and some doors close. Eventually, a lot more doors close than they open. And eventually you just get closed doors and that's when things change and nobody else wants what you're doing. And if you recognize that pattern and if you recognize that there's no longer more opportunities but just doors shutting down in your face, that's probably when you either pivot or quit and do something else. That that would be my suggestion. But, again, I think it's a very personal decision. [00:38:00] S1: Got it. Yeah. And absolutely. Marcus, I quickly want to do the top three. What's your favorite business book?
00:38:00 · Rohit Malhotra, Marcus Dantus
[00:38:00] S1: Got it. Yeah. And absolutely. Marcus, I quickly want to do the top three. What's your favorite business book? [00:38:09] S2: Oh, there's several ones. Look. If you're talking about creating companies, you know, of course Yeah. Lean Startup by Eric Ries is super important or From Zero to One by Peter Thiel, you know, those are great books. I I also like a lot of... I mean, look, I think Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey Moore is a great book that, you know, allows you to take technology to the laggards and the late adopters. I think that The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell is a great book. I think that things like the Heath Brothers books on marketing, for example, Made to Stick is a great book. There's a lot of great books. [00:39:00] S1: Got it. No, absolutely. We're gonna put that in the show notes. And Marcus, if you could go back into the time when you started Mexico, what was the one thing you would have focused on or done differently? [00:39:14] S2: Well, look, Startup Mexico started as a social, you know, social impact company. The idea was never to charge entrepreneurs, but to charge government into creating governments, local and regional and national governments into creating an ecosystem, startup ecosystem and incubation. And probably if I would do it again, I would add a component to charge entrepreneurs because those, you know, at the end of the day, they get the benefit. So so it could have probably made it more profitable. So that's probably what I would have changed.
00:39:14 · Marcus Dantus, Rohit Malhotra
[00:39:14] S2: Well, look, Startup Mexico started as a social, you know, social impact company. The idea was never to charge entrepreneurs, but to charge government into creating governments, local and regional and national governments into creating an ecosystem, startup ecosystem and incubation. And probably if I would do it again, I would add a component to charge entrepreneurs because those, you know, at the end of the day, they get the benefit. So so it could have probably made it more profitable. So that's probably what I would have changed. [00:39:53] S1: Got it. Got it. Makes sense. And do you have any favorite online tool, like, for example, Claude, Gmail, ChatGPT? [00:40:01] S2: Oh, man. I have a ton now. Of course, you know, you know, video creators, you know, I I I... At the end of the day, I studied cinema and I wanted to So become a movie now I'm very excited about what you can do online. True. And and playing with it, you know, has become a lot of fun. Of course, you know, chatty PT and clot and perplexity and all these tools are amazing if you know how to use them. I mean, look, everybody forgets about these things, but email or WhatsApp or things like that are still incredibly useful. So, so... I use them every day. So so I guess those are favorite tools as well. [00:40:49] S1: Yeah. Got it. Got it. Makes sense. I'll I'll put that in the show notes. And, Marcus, what's the best way people can reach out to you and know more about Startup Mexico?