Startup Corps Episode 10: Ethan Babil, Founder of 103st

[00:00:00] This podcast is brought to you by, again and forever, and by Vizzer.ai. As far back as I can remember, I have wanted to be an entrepreneur. Now, I am here to guide you through the intricate paths of building your business, embracing emerging technologies and navigating the startup world.

[00:00:25] I am Saul Tarazona, and this is Startup Corps, your go-to podcast for entrepreneurial insights and tech-driven success. Hello, everyone, to another episode of this podcast made for you, the entrepreneurs in the world that are looking to change the world for a better place. Here we have Ethan Babil. I hope you're pronouncing well your name. Please introduce yourself. Tell us who you are. Yeah, I would love to.

[00:00:52] Firstly, I appreciate you taking the time to having me on the podcast. I definitely look forward to learning a little bit more about you and having a fantastic conversation. Now, as for myself, I am Ethan Babil. I'm from Miami, Florida. I'm 20 years old. I've been an entrepreneur since I probably popped out of the womb.

[00:01:18] I'm constantly looking for problems, looking for things to innovate on. And, you know, time could tell on really what I've started. Fantastic. So tell me a little bit about what you study, where you're coming from, a little bit about your roots. Yeah. Yeah, I'd love to. I mean, I would be nothing without my parents. So firstly, it's completely on them.

[00:01:46] Growing up in Miami has definitely played a role in the mindset that I have. I think being around so much opportunity in such an innovative city that has played a role on my entrepreneurial self. My parents are also very entrepreneurial as well.

[00:02:08] So from a young age, they were super encouraging from one idea that I had to the next, to the next, and ultimately to where I am today. And they are still my number one fan. So I couldn't do anything without them. So that's my, my route at, that's my strongest route. And everything from there is just extra. So tell us a little bit about your parents.

[00:02:35] So what they were, their entrepreneur, what was the bug that put them into the entrepreneurship? Hmm. Well, I have a father that has been an entrepreneur since I probably was born.

[00:02:56] He definitely inspires the, the ideation of things, the, the excitement of starting new things and solving problems. So that's definitely on that, on that side of things. And then my mom on the other hand was corporate for a long time and ended up, well, just for a little background on that. She is in the event space.

[00:03:25] So, uh, worked corporate for a while, learns, learns, learned for over three decades, and then took the leap of starting her own event company and is doing really, really well. So, uh, on both my dad's side and my mom's side, it almost was inevitable that I would follow my own trajectory into that entrepreneurial space. Fantastic.

[00:03:52] So why don't you tell us a little bit about what you're doing with one third street or one third or one hundredth street? How do you say? Yeah. 103rd street. Um, so I think this ties actually perfectly with, with what we're talking about, uh, on how I was raised because 103rd street was the street that I was raised on. Um, it was, uh, my childhood home and the original idea here.

[00:04:22] And now I'm kind of going back to it, which we'll get into in a second, but the original idea is to help businesses raise capital through investors. So just like I was raised on 103rd street, I'd be helping businesses raise funds. Um, but this story wouldn't be, uh, really clear if I didn't take you backwards. So let's start at, uh, again, I'm, I'm 20.

[00:04:50] So five years ago when I was 15, um, I been a hustler since I was 12, 13, but 15 was my really foundational business that I started. Uh, and that was a wakeboard brand. It was called Omni boards. Uh, I started a wakeboard brand because I was semi-professional and just like every egotistical 15 year old, uh, winning competitions does is start their own brand. So that's exactly what I did.

[00:05:19] Uh, and I had a theory of what would differentiate my boards X, Y, Z, but the boards didn't sell. It was my swimwear and apparel that did. So that really got my foot in the door of, uh, inventory management, sales, customer service, the, the foundation of what a good business should hold.

[00:05:41] And I did that for a couple of years, then went out to college and continued trying to sell swimwear in Denver. And if you don't know, Denver gets awfully cold. Uh, so I was going door to door knocking on students, uh, like, uh, dorm rooms, trying to sell them bathing suits and swimwear when it was snowing outside. So I, I, yeah, as you could tell, probably not the best, uh, market fit.

[00:06:11] And I had to make a decision to either continue with Omni or pivot. And I pivoted to a laundry wash dry fold service called water laundry. I did that for a year and three months, uh, before inevitably selling it for parts. And I had a unique framework around that. It was a laundry economic system is what I call it. So I think the Uber for laundry.

[00:06:36] And what we did is subbed out the laundry to upperclassmen. So what that means is freshmen and sophomores have to live on campus, juniors and seniors could live off of campus. And as you know, if he lives in a dorm, uh, the, the laundry facilities are horrible.

[00:07:00] Uh, so not to, to completely put a roast on a university of Denver, but they were, they were God awful and still are. And, uh, I created a service where freshmen and sophomore could call their laundry and ultimately have juniors and senior pick them up to the laundry, drop it off all within 24 hours. That was a big point of my life.

[00:07:24] Um, and it's taught me a lot on the business side of things and ultimately opened up the door for what VC angel investing kind of lied for my future. And I became obsessed with it. I was reading every book I could find, listening to every podcast, watching every YouTube video. I did exactly what every single really just inspired, just wanting to just learn, learn, learn, learn as much as I can.

[00:07:50] And, uh, that then brought me to walking into VC's, uh, offices and introducing myself to general partners. And if I didn't get a middle finger or no reply at all, uh, I learned that, uh, perseverance really works its magic because I sat down with the general partner ended up being able to ask him questions and ultimately learn that there's a lack.

[00:08:17] Or sorry, there's a, there's a gap in the media side of things of venture capital. So that is where my thesis really stems from. And that's why I started 103rd street to feed VCs, angel investors, a steady and unique deal flow.

[00:08:41] So I started doing that about, uh, give or take four months ago and just trying to meet as many founders as possible. Talk to as many investors as possible to build this network around the 103rd street to cultivate deal flow, cultivate a. Inspiring space for founders to feature them, their stories and investors to.

[00:09:11] Interact with that. And, and, uh, and that's where I'm on. That's what I'm working on right now. And it's just a matter of time till it starts to flourish. Okay. So let me, let me ask you a few questions. So how was this meeting with the general partner? How you end up in there? What was the process? So that, that would be a lesson for the people that listen to us or watch us on YouTube. Yeah. Tell us that story.

[00:09:41] How much work you put into it? How did you find it? Please tell us. Yeah, totally. So the person that I sat down with, uh, or the general partner is of Stout street. Um, he's probably gonna kill me if I was watching this and I can't remember his name off the top of my head. No worries. No need. Um, um, put me on the spot here besides the point. Uh, yeah.

[00:10:07] So I, in that, in that period of starting 103rd street and finishing water laundry, I was just trying to learn as much as possible in that, in the venture space. And my education then led me to first-hand experience. I think that that's like the best way to learn. And the way to do that is by asking questions. Who do you ask questions? The people that already know.

[00:10:31] So I started walking into, uh, a number of firms, like headquarters in the Denver Metro area. And this, you can only, only imagine, like, I think it was one of my last stops. And I was just so burnt out that day. Um, and I'm like, you know what? We're here. We're just gonna walk in and, and help. And the office space is on top of a, a, uh, like a salon. Yeah.

[00:11:01] Like, uh, yeah, the salon. And I was like, I am I in the right space? I ended up walking down this office and there's this closed door and there's a plaque that says Stout Street. I'm like, okay. I guess it's so I go to open up the door. It's like locked. I'm like, so I'll knock. And then I knock on the door and I hear that someone's on the phone and I stood outside of that door for maybe 45 minutes. And I would, I would knock on the door maybe every 15 minutes or so, because I hear someone in there. He's on the phone.

[00:11:31] I want him to know that I'm out here. Ultimately opens up the door and I'm like, all right, it's on. Nice to meet you. My name is Ethan. I have, I know I had short period of time to catch it. I'm like, can I just grab 60 seconds of your time? Seen very busy. He's like, okay, I got a call and literally five minutes. You got 60 seconds. I'm like, did my quick elevator pitch. I'm trying to learn. I will literally do anything. If I had to pick up your kids at daycare, I don't even care. I just want to take you out to a cup of coffee. And he's like, all right, sure.

[00:12:00] Here's my email. Send me. So two weeks later, we ended up sitting down for coffee and I just wanted to go to town on questions about what is VC to what problems are you facing in your day to what trends are coming, just everything. And it's was super successful as the lesson that he gave me at the, at the end of it.

[00:12:29] And besides, you know, all the wisdom, which I don't like a venture capital and just basic terminology, which we can get into if you're curious. But the, the path that he told me was to interview log in some way and create a relationship with 100 business owners.

[00:12:57] And once you do that, shoot me an email. So I said, okay, I have direction now. This is where I'm going to start. So that was really, really cool. And it definitely got me super ambitious. And I'm like, I'm going to do this in six months. I'm going to send him an email in four saying that I got the hundred. In short, I got to 70 by the end of the summer.

[00:13:24] And I'm still yet to, to send him that email. So it's not easy. It's not easy. And, but what he meant with building relationships, it wasn't only, Hey, I got your details and I sent you an email with my pitch. No. Well, maybe the relationship is more like, Hey, Mr. So-and-so, this is who I am. Tell me about you. What are you looking for? And then start adding value. That will help a lot building up your relationship.

[00:13:54] Even not even sell. I always have things to sell. Of course, that's, that's what I do for living. And they say probably the same for you. Instead of selling what you have, see what you can help them and try to add value. If you go on LinkedIn and you see they're finding somebody to fill a position. Maybe you can go look in your LinkedIn and find somebody kind of like that recommend, Hey, they're hiring for this position.

[00:14:21] And you will be able to add value to that other person. And that's the, the core relationship of having a, a very big network that allows me a lot. And LinkedIn is very, very good for me because it helped me picking up people from my university and connecting with the other guy that is struggling with something. Solving problems is what I do best as an engineer, of course.

[00:14:49] And that maybe that will help you as well to build relationships. The other thing is like, I, I, I had to know about art, for example. Right. And I ended up meeting somebody that is super passionate about art and he was trying to sell some kind of big kind of pieces. Like I'm in the worst position to sell art. I'm not an artist. I have no clue about art. Maybe a little bit about music, but no, no more than paints and stuff like that.

[00:15:19] And then I, I happen to find somebody that is as passionate about art as him. I connect them and hopefully something will come like that. So that's some, some ideas for you to open up your network. And the other thing that I think you're doing it pretty well on LinkedIn is that you're making surveys. So tell us about that survey with that, that you put recently. I think that's great.

[00:15:48] Well, that's funny how you, how you picked up on that. I like that. Observe it. So I couldn't agree with you more that LinkedIn is a driver for anything in business success. Um, and I was anti LinkedIn because as a founder beforehand, and now as more of a connector where literally my, my day to day tasks consist of connecting one person with another.

[00:16:13] The founder side of me is like, I'm never going to download LinkedIn because, uh, I am going to make millions of dollars. And then I'm going to post a LinkedIn and be like, just like real, real, like, like, I don't know if you looked at Mark Cuban's LinkedIn. It's just like the epitome of just like entrepreneur. Like I'm going to do that. Okay.

[00:17:10] So I'll, I'll backtrack a little bit. LinkedIn is great. And consistently posting on LinkedIn is also very good. And what you would see typically on LinkedIn are, um, here's a picture of me graduating today. I graduated X, Y, Z. I feel X and my business endeavor is going to take it. It's, it's, it's, it's BS.

[00:17:38] And it, and it, you could just, it's not, it's not authentic. And there's, there's nothing really compelling about that. And you'll see that throughout all of LinkedIn. So when you start to reframe it and look at what content is and where it's going, I think that you should start to go that way.

[00:18:00] So if you were to take a link, look at my LinkedIn, anyone who's looking at this, I'm going at it with more of a, uh, engaging point of view. And that is through a lot of reels, a lot of catchy hooks.

[00:18:17] My, my number one driver is, is quality storytelling because that is what humans have, have used to, to, to bring people together is, is with storytelling. I mean, you look at religion, you look at books, you look at scrolls that, that go back to the, the, the just history of time. So that's really where my mind has been at.

[00:18:46] And through that, I believe that, uh, you should also diversify and try new things. So that's when I started using polls and talking in group chats. I think that if you know your niche, whatever your business is, uh, for example, I'm going after tech and sustainability. I find group chats that are around tech and sustainability. I'll join them.

[00:19:11] I'll open up a poll and just ask basic questions and questions that really, uh, express, express, uh, you could say engagement, or you could say interest. And through that, you're going to get a lot of feedback and a lot of interaction on that post. And, and ultimately those people will all come check you out and it'll lead to your success.

[00:19:40] So Ethan, so, um, this is coming from not only your experience, but your background, because you have a bachelor in communications from the university of Denver. And then for me, the most interesting university is, is the one in Italy, which is the Institute Lorenzo de Medici. Please tell us a little bit about that fantastic university, which should have so much stories. I can wait to see how it looks.

[00:20:10] Uh, yeah. Anything in specific, the education, the experience, what I feel about Italy. I'm, I'm, I'm a geek about Leonardo da Vinci and his story. So I don't know if there's anything with that, but, but anything, please tell us what was your experience? So why did you study communications? What did you really learn from experience? Sure. Sure.

[00:20:35] So I am primarily studying at the university of Denver and as most do their junior year, they go study abroad. And there was a number of places that you could, you could study abroad. And, uh, my number one was Australia.

[00:20:58] And now as a, uh, as someone that's very close to their family and someone that, I mean, my mom knows me better than I do. So when I, when I proposed Australia, I said, yeah, I'm going to Australia. She's like, no, it's just not going to stimulate you. I'm like, what do you, what do you mean? And I'm like, she's like, it's just not going to stimulate you. You're not going to get what you want out of it. I'm like, okay, mom. Like, sure.

[00:21:28] We're I'll, I'll relook into things. And she then proposed like Italy and particularly Florence, um, for a number of, number of reasons. Uh, one being I family, very family oriented, if you can't tell that that come to Florence quite often. Uh, and secondly, she said that it's just, it's going to stimulate you. So I was like, okay, I'll go to Italy.

[00:21:54] I didn't know what that meant until me actually now being here for three months. I think the innovation, uh, the whole Renaissance period, it really builds character onto who you are and studying that and looking into it. Uh, I also had an opportunity to meet local entrepreneurial Italians. I think that my vibration kind of brought that towards me.

[00:22:23] Uh, I'll, I'll give you a fun story. I was at a bar. Typically when you're at a bar at my age, you're, you're looking for two things, a quick fix. So whether through alcohol or some drug, or if you're a guy, women, if you're a girl, men, maybe vice versa. If, if you swing that way. Um, but, uh, yeah. And, and just so happened this bar led me to the one entrepreneur, probably in the whole entire city of Florence.

[00:22:52] That, you know, that that's my age and actually going into that, that service space. And we, we ended up talking, same as Filippo. He's phenomenal. Uh, he is going after quite a big market and disrupting that. But that what I'm, what I'm trying to get at is, is that I, as an entrepreneur have this frequency.

[00:23:16] And I think we, as, as founders and we, as innovators have this just energy that attracts others that are like us. And it's really cool to see that stepping out of the U S and going into Italy and attracting like-minded individuals. And again, my, my letters led me to another handful of, uh, Italian innovators.

[00:23:41] And I learned through them that, like, if you could think of anything that, that has changed the world in some way. It like in innovation, there's always an Italian mind behind it. And I think that that is a cool way of thinking and, uh, definitely something that I should be thinking about, uh, partnering with in my, in my endeavors to come. Yeah. No, fantastic. Fantastic story. I really like it. Um, so let's go back a little bit.

[00:24:09] So for, for the young generation, like you are in the twenties and LinkedIn didn't seem to be like the platform that they would like to use, but for business, this is for business. I believe it's the greatest tool so far, hopefully somebody will come up with a better one, but so far, this is the best. Totally. Next. So challenge you into places that, that you didn't think at the beginning.

[00:24:37] I mean, you're coming from Denver, you already there and I read the university that your mother telling you, why don't you go to Italy? Yeah. Yeah. Kind of interesting choice. It could have been in the middle of India. It could be, could be in the middle of Africa, but Italy sounds pretty advanced and pretty interesting with, especially because the story line. The entrepreneurs in Europe, which I, I happen to know some, they, they are on a, on a whole different level.

[00:25:06] I don't know if you know what I mean, but they, they envy Silicon Valley, they envy us, but they really shouldn't. They have their own investments there. They have a thriving ecosystem where you have all the capital, the technology, even the governments are way easier to get approached by Europeans.

[00:25:34] And I find it that it's very interesting that they always digress greener. That happens everywhere, but I don't mind it at all. The ecosystem in Europe at all. What do you think about that? I, I completely agree with you and using two of my buddies and I'll shout them out real quick. They're the founders of dip sway, uh, Florida and Luca.

[00:26:00] And we went from not existent to very, very close friends in a matter of two and a half months.

[00:26:10] And I think that when you were, you were mentioning, you know, the grass is greener on the other side, the, the Europeans wanting to go to America, uh, or European entrepreneurs wanting to go to America to experience with Silicon Valley and experience with these big booms consist of is not always true.

[00:26:31] And yes, it might lead you to a good amount of networking connections, a good amount of maybe investment opportunities, but it's, it's also here. And I've learned, and I've learned that, uh, there are tens of venture capital firms in every city in Europe. There are, uh, accelerators.

[00:26:59] There are programs that try to bring these entrepreneurs together in Europe, which is the same as in the U S maybe the U S might be on a larger scale as that's kind of what we do, uh, at heart. But I didn't really know that until coming out here. And, and I mean, I don't really have a perspective on it because I've been here too short to, to really, really, uh, interpret what it is.

[00:27:29] And if I were to give it a shot in this moment, I think it would, it wouldn't be truly authentic to, to my own beliefs, but I agree with you. And I agree that the grass is not greener on the other side. And I feel that if you're in Europe and you are an entrepreneur, it would be cool to maybe take a little, a little day trip over to the U S but I would stay true.

[00:27:55] And I would say central to where you grew up and where your roots are from. Um, and in the other side, I have tried to apply to certain investment funds and other things in Europe. And they don't allow me unless I am from there or I have an office or a company. So they actually close doors to people outside to take the people from the inside and grow them.

[00:28:22] So I, I, I don't like it as an interpreter here in the U S but I, I, I feel what they're doing. I, I like it honestly. So let me go back a little bit about all you learning experience. Uh, you talk about some books, maybe some, some entrepreneurs that you follow. So tell me a little bit about that. Anything about that. Yeah.

[00:28:49] Uh, people that might stand out. Okay. I will give you some ideas. For example, on me, I, I really liked Patrick Vindavid. Hmm. Uh, he already sold his company. He started from scratch, uh, insurance company. Yeah. He moved to Miami. He moved to Miami recently.

[00:29:18] 20 something that there's, we're running out of mansions here. So he managed to do, to get one. So, so that, that, that, that's one person that I follow a lot, best sales guys. I love sales. Of course, if you're an entrepreneur, you need to learn how to sell them. Which one would, which one would you think is a good sales guy to follow? Yeah.

[00:29:46] I, on sales, I mean, I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll keep this short and then I'll tell you a little bit about kind of who my, uh, I have a couple of people that I look up to and I'll go into that. Sales short, uh, Alex Hormozy. You don't know him. You know him. If you do know him, you follow his YouTube. So he is just an absolute legend.

[00:30:08] I think that he's pushing out some phenomenal content and is, is, is truly someone to look up to now. Someone that I, I particularly follow. Um, I'll take it a couple of, of routes on the business side of things. Entrepreneurial Tom bill you.

[00:30:25] Uh, he is a YouTuber podcast that podcaster that originally, uh, kind of found him through just, uh, the guests that he featured were, were really engaging. But I learned that he is the founder of quest, you know, quest protein bars. Yeah. And his story is, is, is crazy.

[00:30:51] I mean, going from nothing literally he was, he was in, in like just a mental physical, uh, just empty and filling his soul with just an actual drive towards something, which is quest protein bars. If you don't know it, it's sold for a billion dollars. Kind of crazy. You got a partner of two is stories wild.

[00:31:18] I would look into it after you look into a story, watch his podcasts. He's doing some really, really great work. Um, now following that another person that I look up to is, uh, is Matthew McConaughey. And I'll take it back, back to what I was talking about storytelling at the end of the day, humans love storytelling. I love storytelling.

[00:31:43] It's just, it's, it's, it's in our blood and he does such a good job at storytelling and has this attitude and look on life. That's, that's just really unique and really special. So I love Matthew McConaughey. Uh, and lastly, I think on a philosophical level.

[00:32:07] And again, I read, I don't know if you read Marcus, uh, meditations. Yeah. No, no. Okay. Um, he, I'll leave it at that. I think that I'll, I'll open up his book every once in a while. I kind of regret that I left it at home. I was like the one book I brought like six books with me to, to.

[00:32:30] Uh, Florence and I'm like, all right, I didn't, I didn't bring the meditations with me, but it's a really good, like philosophical level on what a man should be and how a man should look at life. And, uh, I think skimming through a lot of just nonsense because it was just about his, uh, his moral beliefs. Uh, if you almost look at it, he was just journaling at the end of the day. So some days he hit some days.

[00:32:56] So some days he hit some days he didn't, um, there's a lot of good stuff in there and you could extract that and kind of inject it into your own self. Very good. Very good. Let's talk about a little bit about the, the, uh, meditation. So do you do meditation? Do you think it's important? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I was talking about Marcus Aurelius' meditations, which is like his journal.

[00:33:24] Uh, but on the side of meditation, I think it's foundational. I think that everyone should find their own state of flow, which is different than meditation. Flow could be found surfing. Flow could be found, uh, snowboarding. Flow could be found writing. Flow could be found, uh, driving.

[00:33:46] I mean, there's so many outlets and I think that those are all forms of meditation rather than physically sitting there with your eyes closed and like just breathing. Uh, you know, I don't know if you agree with me on this and I'd love to hear your interpretation. Do you have a hard time kind of stepping outside of your startup, stepping outside of your work and just relaxing and finding what that flow would be?

[00:34:16] Yeah, that's, that sounds hard because whenever you create something is embedded in you. It is like taking your lung out or, or your stomach or your, your nose.

[00:34:29] I mean, it's something within you that you created on inside you and that comes back to the energies and maybe the, the connections we have with entrepreneurs is because we, we thrive and suffer doing the kind of things that we believe are the best in the world that are our creations. So with that being said, it's very hard. It's very hard to step outside and try to look things.

[00:34:57] Well, if we do that, we probably will going to be more successful because now we're going to find that we're making a mistake or maybe we should look at things in a different perspective or maybe with a different lenses. So yes, very hard. Isn't that crazy. Isn't that crazy. Isn't that a crazy thought? The less you do, the more you could accomplish.

[00:35:19] And it's, uh, it's, it's something that we could all avoid by stepping out of the trap of productivity debt where you're like, I have to do this. I have to finish this. I have to do this, where you completely forget about the actual thing that you're trying to accomplish on a large scale.

[00:35:38] And the only way to minimizing the, the debts that you're going into is by actually just stopping reassessing and evaluating. And that is, that's so hard to me. And I think that going, going back to when you, when you talked about if I meditate, I mean, everyone should have their own outlet that takes them outside of the business world. And especially as us founders, it's our life.

[00:36:08] I mean, we enjoy it. We love it. It's pat, we're passionate about it, but I like to look at, look at it as a game. I mean, you could, you could live in the, in the, the reality of that, or you could, you could play that game so much before you ultimately are just numb to it. And you're just playing just to play. And sometimes you got to turn the game off and grab a cup of water or something, or grab a bite to eat.

[00:36:36] To the friend, like get outside of the game. And when you come back in, it's just going to be so much more enjoyable. Yeah. I, I believe there's something that, that some entrepreneurs do great and some don't, or don't even consider is to create a strategy. When you create this, if I do these strategy sessions, I create what's the, the mission, vision, and the values. And that will always give you some guidance.

[00:37:05] So just to, to give some light into that is the vision and the mission is, is like when you are trying to get into a mountain, you know, that you're going to pick that mountain. You're going to be that point, hopefully in that amount of time. And what you carry with you are the tools that you have as an entrepreneur. So, you know, a little bit about sales, you know, a lot about communications.

[00:37:30] The other one knows about technology and that's all the tools that we carry to get to that place. So if you look at that, at some point, when you are tired, when you don't know, when you get lost, when you work so hard, when you are tired, when you are hungry, when you, when you fail to do something and you go work so hard to walk two steps ahead,

[00:37:56] and then you go back 10 steps and you feel frustrated. Don't forget about your mission and your vision. That's, that's what you need to have on mind. That is something greater than you alone as an entrepreneur. Always good to have some, some co-founders, some people that help you in the process. Do you have that in, in your startup right now? Do I have someone to, to follow that? Part of your team.

[00:38:24] You know, I think I, I wanted to ask you this when you were talking because you mentioned structure. And it's, it's important. I mean, I, before I answer that, I would love to hear what your perspective is on, on what does a successful frontline look like? Or even what does a successful fortress look like?

[00:38:51] Cause you need the frontline, you need your walls and you need your, your men in power, men and women in power. How do you, how do you structure your business? And how do you look at that and go about that? I always think about two different people that are not so they, do you know, you got these friends that you have nothing in common, but you connect very well on conversations on, on different things.

[00:39:20] So there's always needs to be the CEO type. CEO needs to focus in three things. Maybe you don't have a team. So forget about the team side, but sales. Yeah. And the strategy, which is the mission and vision that I was talking about. That person is essential, of course, but that person may or may not have the idea or the technological background or the discovery that the other person.

[00:39:46] So one person, usually the very, very, very smart people are not so social. Yeah. They don't care about the rest of the world. They're embarrassing themselves. They're very smart. They create something unique, a new technology, a new approach, a new business model, new something. So sometimes these people are not the best salespeople.

[00:40:08] The sales, if you don't bring capital to your startup, it's very hard that you will succeed. Yeah. That's a fact. And if you are in one side and you don't have the other side, go and find it. You can find, you can go back and find entrepreneur looking for another entrepreneur or a CEO type of founder looking for a CEO.

[00:40:37] I find that very often. They find me and I find them. So it's a connection there. I find that these two people are, are, are important. And usually one has a different brain than the other. They complement each other. What do you think? I couldn't agree with you more. I could not. And I have the opportunity to speak with tens of founders a week.

[00:41:06] And you can really pick up on, on what these founder relations are. And that, that beat being co-founder and co-founder. Stop wasting your time on manually editing your videos. The secret AI tool will do the work for you. One of the best thing about it is that it gives your video the potential to go viral. Visit this page, sign in, create a project by clicking on this button.

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[00:42:09] It's powerful when it works. And it's disruptive when it doesn't. So I completely agree with you. I completely agree with you. And, and it's, it's definitely made me be a little bit more introspective on how I should frame my own business and how I should frame 103rd street. Because whereas for the beginning to currently, again, that's a four month period, very short.

[00:42:40] I am still in early stage business. And the framework that I have is going to be completely different than what it's going to be going into the new year. And as a newsletter, which is what I primarily was going for. And that was my primary business model featuring founders and, and ultimately leading to investors. I, I could have done that alone.

[00:43:06] And I had, I had two employees that I was paying and that was completely fine with me. That worked. But going into the new year, I now have an influx of, of businesses coming through my pipeline. And there's opportunity here with relations with investors. And if you could only imagine the next step would be a brokerage and you can't have a brokerage without a team.

[00:43:35] And at least a successful brokerage to the point that I want to get it to without a team. So for the next two months now, that is my primary focus. And it's, it's going back. It's, it's saying, okay, how can I limit the things that look productive? The things that might, might seem like, you know, like the word like driving, like, like just getting work done.

[00:44:04] Like just doing like the, the grind day in and day out and just kind of minimizing that and taking a step backwards and looking at that big picture. And that big picture will not be possible if I don't have my army. And that's what I'm focusing on. So short answer, I don't have that right now. And I, I, I really am going to a long answer is exactly how I, how I put it.

[00:44:31] I like something to, to double click on something that you mentioned. So you have two employees. One thing that I see entrepreneurs failing is yes. You, you start bringing out a team, you start paying them. You're burning great increases. You probably not having any income yet because you're very early unless you're very lucky that you already have subscribers or whatever your business model is. So please tell me about that later.

[00:44:57] So whatever efforts of those two employees, whatever they're doing on a daily basis, make sure that adds value to your end client. Because you might be distracted because there's shiny things like, oh, we need to create a TikTok channel. We need to create content for this. Yes, but it's at the end. That's not going to bring value to your client. It is only a marketing tool for people to click in.

[00:45:25] But once they click in, in your website or your app, whatever you have, they find no value. They're just going to go away. So think about that. That's all I have seen that so many times. I, I, I help buy some few startups that fail miserably. Yeah. On that, the shifting there for some things that don't add value.

[00:45:48] Just always think what your client wants and try to add value somehow on what they really want to find now, not later. Because you kind of have one chance, right? They're going to find you. They're going to go into whatever you are offering. And if they don't like it, bye-bye. You don't see them again. You have one chance. Let me ask you a question on value. Go ahead.

[00:46:13] What are, what are the key indicators that people move towards when trying to perceive value in your business or your product or service? What are the key metrics? Yeah. I can tell you from, from mine.

[00:46:43] I don't know enough about yours. I wouldn't dare to do that. Again, this is your perspective. On like a, on a large scale. So when, for example, let's do fundraising example. Okay. Fundraising is sales. I need to approach a hundred people for 10 to pick up my email, my note, my message for them to reply. And one of them is going to invest something.

[00:47:11] So my key performance indicator is that I need to get to my numbers. So I know that if my campaign is successful, I'm getting no 10, but maybe 20 out of a hundred. So I always measure success with numbers because math is perfect. And I love math. And the numbers is something, it's a clear factual indicator that you can show success or not.

[00:47:36] It's not that perception of success that some entrepreneurs got that, oh, we just knock, or we just, what was that? Oh, last time, last month we got a hundred people checking out our website. Yes, but maybe they were lost. Maybe they were just going click through other things.

[00:48:01] Maybe they're fake because there's click sellers, you know, there's anything in the market for that. So those are not clear indicators that you're doing something good or people that stayed in your website for 30 seconds or one minute. Great. But why they didn't stay longer? So those are clear indicators that tell you that if you're adding value or not.

[00:48:29] Is that, I think I answered your question. Yeah. I mean, what I wanted to avoid in the question of the framework was not using the word manipulator, because that's kind of where I was thinking. And a lot of value, at least perceived value is in manipulating the viewer or the user.

[00:48:54] So what truly is valuable when these users kind of go to your website, they go to your app, they go to your service without it. I mean, it's perception at the end of the day, you know, like they perceive. I just always find that so interesting. I'll like, I'll go backwards on a little story. I would, two summers ago, I would walk the beach of Miami with my camera.

[00:49:24] I love cinematography. This is like my baby, Sony FX 30. And it primarily shoots video, but it also has a great photo feature. And tourists in Miami love, love getting their photos taken. So I would just walk the beach of Miami and take photos of tourists on the beach. I'm like, you know, I had my, my value proposition, which was just a perception of why they need a photo today.

[00:49:54] And, uh, I was making upwards of 150, $180 an hour. And again, that's at 16. So that's really good money for a young person. That's just taking photos. I mean, we could all do it. Um, and I always found it fascinating and I never really understood it. And I still don't understand it. Still trying to learn it of what is that value prop?

[00:50:21] Like how, like, how does someone else look at this? And why do they think that this is valuable? Even though I'm saying it's valuable, why do they, they, why do they believe me? It's a weird thought. And it's something that I can't truly grasp yet. I don't think I have enough experience. I don't think I have enough wisdom to understand that. So that's kind of why I, I want to just pick your brain about that for a minute.

[00:50:50] Um, it's, it's just, it's fascinating to me. It is, it is definitely, uh, once you find these value proposition that you were talking about, that's such a, a bright moment when you feel, oh, this is what I was meant to find. What I embrace this journey. That that's very important. That's very important. So look, we'll let's, let's double click on a few things. So any book that would you recommend any lessons learned from books?

[00:51:20] Yeah. I mean, I love how you mentioned Patrick, Beth, David, what is it like the next five steps, the, the next, uh, five steps in yeah. Something like that. That's how he sounded. Yeah. Yeah. That's a really good one. Um, I think it's next five steps in business strategy, something like that. Um, but he, he, he covers it. And, um, another one would be, I recently picked this one up.

[00:51:44] That's probably why it's resurfacing so soon as, uh, the art of war by, uh, um, wow. I can't remember this, uh, the art of war by sun sun suit. Um, I couldn't tell you what, what year it came out. It's an old, like it, the thing has. It's very, very, very, very old. Yeah. Uh, and that changed my whole perspective on how I'm going to go about my brokerage.

[00:52:14] Um, so that one was really good and it's 99 pages. I mean, you'll read it in a night. You can read it three times over in a week. And every single time. It's the greatest book for the strategy. It gives you great pointers of how you will about perception. Definitely. I like a lot how they manage the perception. Of course it's a, it's a, everything about war. I love that, that kind of subject. So the other thing, the other one that I like about sales, let's talk about sales because

[00:52:44] it's so important. Grant Cardone has an amazing course. Oh yeah. Uh, he's a theater in Fort Lauderdale. I went to, to visit his office. It's really, really fantastic. The energy there. It's really, really something special. It has great books, of course. Hmm. They'll tell me another one. Yeah. I'm pretty sure he has an office in Aventura as well. And, and, and if it's a dead one, but probably. Another good book. He goes half a while over. Yeah.

[00:53:14] You guys, guys, uh, he's an anomaly. Uh, besides the point, another book. Let's think, let's think. Um, trying to like, get out of like the, the basic, you know, when you look up on, on YouTube or something and you're like, Oh, what are like the 10 best books on XYZ? And like, I'm trying to like, get out of like the psychology of money. Like how to win friends and influence people. Like, I'm trying to think like something that I read that really, I mean, I'm going to go back to it.

[00:53:43] I love Matthew McConaughey green lights. It's just such good. It's so good. Tell us more about that one. Tell us, tell us something. Yeah. Yeah. I love the guy. The guy's sick. Um, and he is just, he's an, he's an icon. Um, it's just such a good, it's well-written. Uh, I don't, where is it? I think it's behind me. So I thought we go through one of these, like, you see like these, these like whatever binder notebook

[00:54:13] things probably go through one of those every like three months, four months. And I just write, I write, write, write. And I write my thoughts. I write my good days. I write my bad days. I write my, my ideas. I write my, my deepest. And I write everything. And, and I, I got that from Matthew McConaughey, um, because his book is all around from age 18 to 50.

[00:54:43] He's not 50, like 40, whatever. And, um, he didn't want to open up his journals for the longest time, just because it was, it was a little embarrassing, a little bit, um, a little bit, like, you know, the word, because you don't feel it enough as men. Um, uh, what is it when you like, don't want to share emotions?

[00:55:09] It's, uh, give me, you know, the word, uh, I don't know. Not true. No. Okay. Uh, no, this isn't just blank. It's messing with me. Um, anyways, it's, it didn't feel right. And when he opened up that book and he read what he was feeling and what he was thinking

[00:55:31] when he was 18, 19, 20, 30, it completely brought him back and it made him remember what his roots are, uh, and, and just put this on paper and turn this into something. And that's what inevitably turned into green lights, which talks about his highs. It talks about his lows, talks about his lessons, talks about all the bumper stickers that he found along the way.

[00:56:00] Um, and that was, that was a really good one. Um, yeah, I can't think of any other books off the top of my head. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It's so good. So Ethan, let's, let's, let's close a little bit about your current startup. What are you looking for? What state you are? Um, what value anybody that are listening. There are the listeners can bring to you. Totally.

[00:56:29] Well, I'll shoot with what, what the future looks like and I'll, I'll bring us backwards. So realistically 25 years old, I'll have a venture fund. Uh, ambitiously speaking 23 is when that fund will be raised. Now going into the new year, which is the steps into getting to that point. I am converting 103rd street into a brokerage.

[00:56:56] So it's a newsletter right now, which I will continue doing just because it was almost a passion project when I got into it. And as someone that is extremely passionate about and just interested, I mean, the end of the day, I mean, founder stories are everything. That's probably why you started this podcast. If I had to guess it's, it's, it's inspiring and it, and it grows on, on you as, as a person

[00:57:23] and, and being around that it's everything. It, it, it, it creates so much light and I could go into that, but I'm not, I'm not going to, cause I could just go for hours. Um, but the letter is that to me and the letter brings that to me. So I won't stop doing that. I think it's going to be a forever pursuit. It just so happened to bring me so much feel flow and so many connections. And I am so thankful for that.

[00:57:52] And I hope that the spout doesn't turn off and it, it only continues flowing and going into the new year, I will be, uh, introducing founders to investors. That's at the end of the day. That's what I'm doing. Um, I'll be taking a cut, you know, as most brokerages do, uh, for that. And you know, it's business at the end of the day. Um, that is the general idea.

[00:58:20] Now what I need help with would be putting this team together. Um, the initial ground force is people that are very passionate about venture capital. Uh, maybe even going into that, that route. I'd be more than happy to introduce them to people that I know. Um, if they do work with us or people that I've met along the way, if they do want to

[00:58:49] work with us and ultimately, uh, put them on a team. I need help with, uh, sales and reaching, uh, more investors. I mean, the end of the day, that is who we need to convince on why a hundred and third street has the best founders. I mean, these founders go through a number of different funnels, a number are not funnels.

[00:59:14] I think filters is the better word, uh, to initially get introduced to the right, the right partner. And that is so important because going into, uh, venture now, I mean, the, what if we looked at it, it peaked in 2021. If I remember correctly, it's kind of, if you look at like the trajectory, it's, it's going downwards. Like people aren't taking that route as often.

[00:59:44] Uh, there are so many alternatives to that. A little side note is the, the whole indie movement. I don't know. Have you looked into that? Like independent, uh, I think the term, okay. So the term is independent, um, like indie founders, something like that, where they, you know, if we look at,

[01:00:09] look backwards, all that mattered, or there are two routes, either go corporate or you become a founder. That's trying to disrupt. You know, there's, there's no in between. Now there's a middle ground. There's the indie that, that are okay with just solving a niche, niche, niche business and, uh, providing as much value to that. And just creating, creating, creating, and, uh, making a great living for yourself.

[01:00:40] Creating a solution to a small problem that ultimately drives success. Um, but yeah, other than that, I think that just a small team around me, if you're interested in a hundred and energy, reach out. Um, I don't really have any specific criteria. Um, again, I'm still building my army. So if you have some type of interesting skillset, interesting attribute that you think you could bring to the table. I mean, introduce yourself.

[01:01:09] I think that that's the best way to put it. Ethan, where we can find you, please give us your websites, how we can find you connections, et cetera. Yeah. Uh, you could shoot me an email. Um, do you have a description usually on this? Yes. All right. I'll say it, say it because this is in audio. For sure. It's, uh, Ethan, E-T-H-A-N at 103rd, S-T dot C-O.

[01:01:37] And then again, you can find our website at 103rd street, same spelling as the email dot C-O. Um, or shoot me a message on LinkedIn. Cause it's just all that great. Spell out your, your last name, which is a little bit different. Yeah. Uh, B-A-B-I-L. Babiel. Ethan Babiel. Yeah. Awesome. Thank you so much for making this amazing episode. Ethan, we're going to see you around.

[01:02:05] Thank you so much for your good energy and your advice. I'll see you on the next one. Thank you so much. Thank you so much.