Inspired with Alexa von Tobel
00:43:28 · Michael Brown, Alexa von Tobel
[00:43:28] S0: Have conviction and don't give up. I I think the thing is you have to... Like, don't start a business to make 1,000,000 or 2,000,000 or 3,000,000. Like, just don't do it. Just, like, work at McKinsey or Google or Morgan Stanley. Like, don't do it if that's your goal. There are so many better and easier ways to go and try and create financial independence in starting a company. You need to start a company. Like, you'll just know if you need to start one because it's... It almost... It it should feel, I think, like a bucket list item. And then I think you've gotta wait for the right time. Like, I had it on my bucket list to start a company. And after I started a company, it didn't feel like it was the right company. And so I think that... And that right company became Teamshares. It took many years of trial and error of other things that just didn't work along the way. And so I think that you need to wait for the right time. You need to have real conviction of what you're doing. It has to have fulfillment. I don't love the word passion, but I really like the word fulfillment. That it's it's something that you would do for free anyway. Right? And it's something that you really think is productive for society and not some short term gimmick. I I think that that is the best way to go and sort of build a business. Or, honestly, there are just way easier things to do. There's an expression of startup founders or people that quit a job to sort of work twice the hours. Right? And it's kind of true. So [00:45:00] S1: I'm only smiling because it's just yeah.
00:45:00 · Alexa von Tobel, Michael Brown
[00:45:00] S1: I'm only smiling because it's just yeah. [00:45:03] S0: You Because you're intimately familiar. [00:45:05] S1: Because I just... It's it's so... I always say it's just so emblematic of an inspired founder. It's somebody who is... Wants to change the world for decades, and it has nothing to do with being a CEO. And you are that to your core. Which brings me to my last fun question, which is, what has been the biggest pinch me moment to date for Teamshares? What was the day where you went home and looked at your wife and were like, this happened. Can you believe it? What's one that stands out?
00:45:38 · Michael Brown
[00:45:38] S0: Yeah, there's a couple. I definitely remember we had an on-site. So we built the company start... You know, in COVID, really. So we sort of... We made that decision to be national and and be, you know, distributed. And it's worked out really well because the companies are national. So, I mean, so we sort of have people all over the country and close to the companies, which is great. But then we would do... I think I think I think we sort of... You know, we're inspired from Zapier of doing sort of twice a year in person on sites, for culture building and kind of, you know, business planning. And, yeah, the first couple were pretty small and they were really, really, really fun. I think the first one, everyone gave a toast. It was that small. Right? Actually, the first one, it might have been a lunch. Right? But there was one where we were at a WeWork in Williamsburg or something and there were 80 people in the room. And I think all three of us had this like, how did I get here sort of moment while that was happening. Actually, I will say as sort of cheesy in a way as some of the bell ringing photos are, when I walked into the Nasdaq, we did our Investor Day at the Nasdaq the other day, like, I was kinda welling up walking in there. I was like, wow. Like, I... And I've known this day is coming since the day we started it, and we've started this process sort of last, you know, summer and fall, you know, working working with our advisers, all the stuff, writing a prospectus and getting comments at the SEC, even despite all those activities and planning and that this was always sort of the the the the graduation from college phase. I will say that, like, walking through there and seeing all those bell ringing photos, that was a bit of a pinch me moment like, oh, wow. This is happening hopefully in a couple of weeks.
00:47:11 · Alexa von Tobel, Michael Brown
[00:47:11] S1: Well, I think it's an understatement to say that we are rooting for you. I hope every founder listening to this gets to see truly what a long term thinker you guys are and have been. I know we're an inning one, and I can't wait to see, as your partner in a decade, where we are. And I have a feeling that in a decade, we may say that we're still any one. So You [00:47:39] S0: never know. It's like one of those things where it's similar to, like, the more you learn and the more you know it, the more you realize you don't know. And I think that some people even saw this even though we had a big vision. We had early employees that even saw certain parts of it being even bigger before we caught up and then came to really grapple with, oh, this really is going to be a big, big company. So yeah, it's been an exciting journey. [00:48:01] S1: Well, can't wait. And Michael, thank you for entrusting me on your journey. I've had such a great time. And I can't wait for this next decade. And best of luck. [00:48:10] S0: Yeah, thanks to you and Mark and the entire Inspired team. [00:48:13] S1: We're rooting for you. Let's go. Thank you all so much for tuning in today. If you enjoyed the episode, please rate, review, subscribe. We'll be back again with another episode of Inspired with Alexa von Tobel. Thank you.