First Class Founders: Creators | Solopreneurs | Personal HoldCo

Yong-Soo Chung

The next generation of successful entrepreneurs will be both founders & creators, leveraging their own audience to launch, build, and scale multiple companies into millions based on their own personal hobbies & passions.
This is the 'Personal Holding Company' philosophy. It's a lifestyle business on steroids: no venture capital investors, work whenever & wherever you want, turning your hobbies into businesses.
First Class Founders explores this PHC philosophy with tactical tips & strategies from today's top content creators and world-class company operators who are pioneers in this new wave of entrepreneurship.
The future of entrepreneurship is here. Listen & Follow!

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Top 10 First Class Founders: Creators | Solopreneurs | Personal HoldCo Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best First Class Founders: Creators | Solopreneurs | Personal HoldCo episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to First Class Founders: Creators | Solopreneurs | Personal HoldCo for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite First Class Founders: Creators | Solopreneurs | Personal HoldCo episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

How to Turn Your Passion Into a Business

First Class Founders: Creators | Solopreneurs | Personal HoldCo

11/02/22 • 13 min

E1: How do you turn your passion into a business? Today, we discuss frameworks that might help you identify your passion and turn it into your next side hustle. And who knows? Maybe it might grow into something much bigger than you imagined.
***
TOPICS:
Concept of Time & Money (0:49)
Time and money are the two most influential forces in our daily lives. Changing our perspectives on these two concepts can stretch our minds and reevaluate what we're doing on a daily basis.
Reframing Money (2:30)
Someone mysteriously wires you a cool $10 million. How would this change your life?
Reframing Time (3:31)
There's been a major scientific breakthrough and now anyone can live forever. How would this change the way you live? How would you be spending your time?
How Urban EDC Started (5:41)
I pulled out my credit card statements from the past 30, 60, 90 days and looked through to see if there were any patterns. I noticed that I loved spending my hard earned cash on small, pocketable, well-made goods such as leather wallets, fancy bottle openers, titanium pens, even desktop toys like spinning coins. This gave me a clue into what niche and community I could get into.
Exercises for Identifying Your Passion (6:19)
Jot down any trends or spending categories that you notice going over your credit card statements. How are you spending your time? You can audit your own time and see if there's overlapping interests between your spending habits and how you're spending your time.
The Hedgehog Concept (7:48)
This concept is from Jim Collins, arguably one of the most impactful business thinkers today. Draw three circles overlapping one another: Your Passions, Your Strengths, Your Economic Engine. Once you find yourself in the middle of all 3 circles, you're golden.
Real World Examples Using Hedgehog Concept (11:18)
You're a big wine lover. If you enjoy writing and have a knack for great writing, you can become a wine critic and start reviewing different wineries. You're a Fantasy Sports fanatic. You could create an app or start a podcast.
Using Hedgehog Concept for Employees (12:15)
Ensure that each one of your employees is in a position they're good at, in an industry or company that they're passionate about, and the role should make sense financially for the company.

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CONNECT W/ YONG-SOO:
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First Class Founders is a show for indie hackers, bootstrapped founders, CEOs, solopreneurs, content creators, startup entrepreneurs, and SaaS startups covering topics like build in public, audience growth, product marketing, scaling up, side hustles, holding company, etc.
Past guests include Arvid Kahl, Tyler Denk, Noah Kagan, Clint Murphy, Jay Abraham, Andrew Gazdecki, Matt McGarry, Nick Huber, Khe Hy, and more.
Episode you might like:
Future of Newsletters with Tyler Denk, Founder & CEO at Beehiiv
From Zero to 100K Subscribers: How to Grow Your Newsletter like a Pro with Newsletter Growth Expert Matt McGarry
...

The Pros and Cons of Bootstrapping vs. Fundraising

First Class Founders: Creators | Solopreneurs | Personal HoldCo

11/16/22 • 11 min

E5: When does it make sense for you to bootstrap your business? And when should you raise funding? We're talking about the classic question of bootstrapping vs. fundraising. After making this important decision myself, these are the main considerations that you need to know and they may not be what you think.
***
TOPICS:
Stakeholders Deciding Your Company's Future (1:22)
Who are the decision-makers in your business? If you want full control over the future direction of your company, bootstrapping is the way to go.
Ty Haney & Outdoor Voices (2:46)
Outdoor Voices, an athleisure apparel brand, was one of the hottest direct-to-consumer startups at one point. At one point, Outdoor Voices had 130 employees with 11 brick-and-mortar stores nationwide. Outdoor Voices had raised more than $60 million in VC funding. Mickey Drexler, famous for building both the Gap and J. Crew into retail icons, invested in the company and served as chairman of its Board of Directors. Haney and Drexler had conflicting views on the company's future. Eventually, this divide drove Haney out of her own company.
Lifestyle Business (5:05)
If you're bootstrapped, you decide how you want to design your own life and how your business fits within it. As the primary decision maker, you choose how fast you want to grow.
Type of Business You Are Building (7:03)
If you are starting a company in a market that’s already well-established, it's better to bootstrap. If your company is changing or completely reshaping an industry, you may need to raise VC funding so that you can deploy as much leverage as possible.
Blitzscaling (8:42)
According to Reid Hoffman, Co-Founder of LinkedIn and Partner at venture capital firm Greylock, blitzscaling is what you do when you need to grow quickly.
Optimizing for Money vs. Time (9:05)
A bootstrapped company needs to prioritize cash flow and preserve capital above everything else. A venture-backed company’s top priority is growing as fast as possible at all costs in a race to become the industry leader.
***
LINKS:
Episode 1 - How to Turn Your Passion Into a Business
Episode 3 - Secrets of Compounding

Rag to Riches: How I Built a Successful Business from Scratch

First Class Founders: Creators | Solopreneurs | Personal HoldCo

01/11/23 • 32 min

E13: I'm taking you on a personal journey of how I moved to the Bay Area 11 years ago with just one suitcase. I had no job and no place to live. So how did I bootstrap my business to where it is today?
***
TOPICS:
First Side Hustle (2:46)
My first side hustle was in freelance writing. I wrote for a popular personal finance blog. I was paid $25 per article.
One Way Ticket to San Francisco (8:59)
I landed in San Francisco with just 1 suitcase. I slept on the floor in my friend's tiny apartment. My back hurt after 2 weeks. I had no choice.
Partying with Coolio (10:15)
I attended SXSW in Austin, Texas. Coolio was performing at one of the parties hosted by our company and he needed a place to stay so he stayed with us. It was out-of-this-world.
Crazy Bootcamp (12:06)
For 12 weeks straight, I studied from Mon-Sat, 8am-9pm. At the end of those 12 weeks, I was fluent in Javascript. I was seeing code in my sleep.
Working at Ripple (14:56)
Ripple hired me as an early employee in early 2014. I worked with some of the smartest people I've ever met. The technology was advanced for its time. I knew I was working on something that could be huge one day.
Crypto to Knives (17:01)
Blockchain Engineer to Online Knife Seller. My colleagues thought I was crazy. I worked tirelessly day in and day out and launched on October 9th, 2015 to crickets. Not a single sale for the first 3 days.
Celebrity French Bulldog (22:20)
We took home a French bulldog named Humphrey. His videos went viral. He quickly gained more than 100k followers on Instagram.
Launching Dog Boutique (22:56)
My wife quit her job and launched Spotted By Humphrey, a dog boutique selling playfully curated dog accessories and apparel with Humphrey as our Chief Marketing Officer.
Launching a 3PL (23:56)
Our colleagues kept asking us to help with their fulfillment. We started taking on clients. Before we knew it, we had paying clients for a company we hadn't even named.
***
LINKS:
Episode 1
Episode 5
Spotted Humphrey IG
Spotted Humphrey TikTok

Collaborate To Dominate: Effective Strategies to Grow Your Business

First Class Founders: Creators | Solopreneurs | Personal HoldCo

02/08/23 • 18 min

E17: We're talking about a growth strategy that not a lot of creators are taking advantage of to help you grow. I'll tell you what it is and how you can do it effectively to grow your audience and increase your authority at the same time. This is a powerful tactic that I'm using personally in my own e-commerce business to supercharge our growth. By the end of this episode, you'll be well-equipped with a new tool for taking your business to the next level.
***
TOPICS:
What is Collaboration? (2:30)

How to Collaborate Successfully (2:41)

Collaborating on Distribution (6:25)

Collaborating on Product (6:57)

Ask Me Anything (15:12)
***
LINKS:
The Success Journey Show

Building an Unforgettable Brand Identity: Sandy Chung of Spotted By Humphrey

First Class Founders: Creators | Solopreneurs | Personal HoldCo

01/25/23 • 19 min

E15: Sandy is the Founder of Spotted By Humphrey, a dog boutique curating playful dog goods for good dogs. The shop has grown tremendously since its launch in 2018. Sandy and Humphrey were even invited down to Los Angeles for a segment on Shopify's YouTube channel. This was a professional studio set with camera crew, backstage make-up artists, and real actors and actresses on the set. Sandy's secret to growth has been building a strong brand identity. She built an audience over 150k followers across all social media channels and today, she's going to share her framework for building a successful brand.
***
TOPICS:
Definition of Brand (2:38)
A brand is a feeling that consumers get when they're interacting with you. So it's something that's not definable by the company to the extent that a brand is defined by the relationship between the company and its customers.
Framework for Creating a Strong Brand (4:32)
Step 1: Identify your values.
Step 2: Live your values consistently.
Step 3: Be open to adapting your brand values.
Identify Your Brand Values (5:56)
Start with yourself. Think about how you see yourself as a brand, what values you live by, or simply just how your friends might describe you.
Stay Consistent with Your Brand Values (8:53)
Every touchpoint in the customer experience should embody these values. Think of the colors on your website, the tone of your social media posts, or the way that your emails look. So the more consistent they are, the more effective you'll be at reinforcing those values.
Evolve Your Brand Values (13:28)
It's only natural that a brand changes and evolves over time like humans do. It doesn't have to be drastic as a complete rebrand. It's really important to continuously observe the trends within your industry and assess what kind of changes feel appropriate to your brand.
Audit Your Brand Values (17:48)
If you have a business, when was the last time you did an audit on your brand values? Visit them now and update them.
***
LINKS:
instagram.com/SpottedHumphrey
tiktok.com/@SpottedHumphrey
SpottedByHumphrey.com

How to Increase Customer Lifetime Value with Discovery and Trust Engines

First Class Founders: Creators | Solopreneurs | Personal HoldCo

03/08/23 • 21 min

E21: Having an audience doesn't necessarily translate into building your business. So how do you find your audience, then nurture them into paying customers? What about enhancing your offers to your existing customers to increase customer lifetime value? Today, we're talking about your your discovery engine, your trust engine, and last but not least, your offer value ladder: what it is, why it's so important, and how you can segment your customers with offers they simply can't refuse.
By the end of this episode, you'll have a much better understanding of how to attract, nurture, and increase the lifetime value of your customers.
***
TOPICS:
Your First Steps After Launching Your Business (1:13)
What is a Discovery Engine? (2:38)
Examples of Discovery Engines (3:10)
What Is a Trust Engine? (6:48)
Lesson Learned: Getting Banned on Facebook (8:20)
Why You Need to Get Your Audience Off Social Media (9:07)
Example: Urban EDC's Trust Engine (11:06)
Alternative Trust Engines: Webinars & Trade Shows (12:44)
Build Trust, Familiarity, and Authority (13:51)
Creating Your Value Ladder (14:12)
Ask Me Anything (18:36)
***
LINKS:
Episode 12 - How to Find, Nurture, and Grow Your Audience in 2023

How to Build a Million Dollar Audience with Podcast Legend David Hooper of Big Podcast

First Class Founders: Creators | Solopreneurs | Personal HoldCo

06/07/23 • 35 min

E34: Today's episode is a masterclass in audience building by none other than podcast legend David Hooper. He's worked with big clients including AT&T, RunDMC, Victoria's Secret, and Fedex.
David and I spoke at length about how his career shaped up over the years and discussed several things, such as how living and growing up in the Music City influenced his career, the long journey from a college radio host to podcast marketing consultant, ideas and strategies to grow a big audience, which he picked up from his years in the radio and podcasting business, as well as several anecdotes from his interactions with celebrities in the music business.
Let's get down to business!

***
SPONSOR:

I love using Riverside.fm to record all guest interviews like this one with David Hooper. Try it out 100% free here and when you're ready, use the code FIRSTCLASS to get 20% off any paid plan.
***
EXCERPTS:
Building a Smaller But More Engaged Audience: "You can be more successful having a smaller operation. So that's kind of the counterintuitive thing for podcasting that I think people miss."

— David Hooper (27:55)
The Power of Niche Podcasting: "But I will tell you that I've gone with the production that I've done as niched down as a per neighborhood podcast only for this neighborhood. And we have made more money CPM cost per thousand out of any other thing I've ever been involved with."
— David Hooper (28:38)
***

TOPICS:
[00:07:03] David Hooper: From American Bandstand Fan to Radio Jock
[00:08:35] People Don't Care About Your Stuff As Much As You Do
[00:11:12] From Radio to Music Conference to Podcasting
[00:15:49] Lessons for Founders: Pivoting for Audience Engagement
[00:17:40] Be Open and Flexible in Your Creative Journey
[00:21:40] Winning by Twinning: Be Relatable, yet Aspirational
[00:27:12] How to Increase Your Sponsorship CPM by Niching Down
***

LINKS:

BigPodcast.com
Justin Gordon's Episode

Secret Recipe for a Successful Content Creator: 7 Key Lessons with Clint Murphy

First Class Founders: Creators | Solopreneurs | Personal HoldCo

06/21/23 • 39 min

E36: What's it like to go from 0 to 300k+ followers in 2 years? Clint Murphy, the host and creator of The Growth Guide podcast and newsletter, did exactly that. Clint is the Chief Financial Officer at Mosaic Homes, a Real Estate Development company. But, what I’m most impressed by is Clint’s audience growth, which has skyrocketed over the past 2-3 years. Clint is a master at audience growth and lucky for you, I invited him on to this podcast to tell us all about it. This is a masterclass in personal brand growth. This is one episode you don't want to miss.
Let's get down to business!
***
SPONSOR:

I love using Riverside.fm to record all guest interviews like this one with Clint Murphy. Try it out 100% free here and when you're ready, use the code FIRSTCLASS to get 20% off any paid plan.
***
EXCERPTS:
Audience Building Flywheel: "And so the flywheel is, as we grow the social media, the access to guests increases. As we have larger and larger guests, the threads that we write on social media to promote the episode get more eyeballs because people wanna learn lessons from those people that you had on the show...Until they're both growing bigger and bigger."
— Clint Murphy (8:32)
Viral Networking: "And so what you do is you create a network of friends. I'm gonna share your stuff. You're gonna share my stuff. We share each other's stuff. We lift each other up. We get it in front of more eyeballs."
— Clint Murphy (12:00)
***
TOPICS:
[00:05:27] Reverse Engineering Goals for Success
[00:08:32] Creating a Flywheel to Grow Your Audience
[00:10:52] Mindset: Be Willing to Suck For a While
[00:20:11] Differences Between LinkedIn vs. Twitter
[00:21:55] How to Choose the Right Platform For Your Content
[00:25:33] Focus on the Long Game for Growth
[00:26:15] Focus on Process, Not Results - Your Inner Scorecard
[00:34:56] 7 Lessons for Successful Content Creation
***
LINKS:
Jeremy Enns - Episode 28
Sam Browne - Episode 32

$250 Million Dollars in Sales: Colin Chung's Copywriting Secrets Revealed

First Class Founders: Creators | Solopreneurs | Personal HoldCo

07/12/23 • 38 min

E39: Imagine your work has contributed to a quarter billion dollars in sales. You read that right. Quarter of a billion dollars. That’s $250 million.
Today, we’re joined by Colin Chung, a copywriter who not only knows how to write amazing direct response copy, but he knows how to get the largest clients in the business.
Over the last 15 years, Colin’s clients include: Agora, Jim Kwik, John Carlton, Brian Tracy, and Ava Jane’s Kitchen. He’s the unsung hero behind many of YOUR favorite brands. So, what are the key ingredients for amazing copywriting? And perhaps more importantly, HOW did he exactly land these big time clients?
I speak to Colin about:

Getting Into the Right Rooms
Why Funnels Aren’t Great for Freelancers
Why Harnessing a Growth Mindset Is So Critical
His 3-Step Framework to Write Copy That Converts

This episode is a gold mine for not learning to become a better writer, but how to grow your business.
***
SPONSOR:

Big thanks to Growth Tribe for sponsoring this episode! I highly recommend this free weekly newsletter for anyone looking to start, grow, and monetize a one-person business.
***
EXCERPTS:
Funnels for Freelancers: "If you're a direct response copywriter and you're looking to land those 8, 9, 10-figure clients in the direct response world, they're not reading your blog. They're not reading your Twitter. They're not reading your email newsletter. Like, there's no reason for you to be building a funnel." — Colin Chung (18:42)
Getting Into the Right Rooms: "It's not who you know. It's who knows you." — Colin Chung (22:37)
***
TOPICS:
[00:05:37] How Colin Got Laid Off and Chose Copywriting
[00:12:16] How to Find the 'Right Room' to Grow Your Business
[00:18:42] Funnels Aren't Necessary For All Freelancers
[00:26:19] 3-Step Framework for Great Copywriting
[00:32:23] Why Harnessing a Growth Mindset Is Key
***
LINKS:
Colin Chung's Website
Follow Colin on Twitter
Episode 28 - EAR$ Framework and Monet

Don't Make These Design Mistakes: How to Build Your Brand Identity with Nate Kadlac

First Class Founders: Creators | Solopreneurs | Personal HoldCo

02/14/24 • 41 min

E71: How do you design a personal brand that truly reflects you, stands out, and captivates your audience?
Do you find yourself lost in the sea of design choices? Not sure how to align your website elements with your personal brand values?
Today, host Yong-Soo (@YongSooChung) is joined by talented designer, Nate Kadlac (@kadlac). Nate will guide us through the crucial elements of your personal brand identity: Logo, Font, Color, Elements & Motifs, and Visual Layout. Nate will also tell us how to make key design decisions that align with our brand values for each of these elements.

On today’s episode, you’ll learn:
- The Four Key Elements
- The G.E.O.S. Framework
- How to Make Key Design Decisions
- How to Design a Great Personal Brand Website
Let's get down to business!
***
SPONSORS:
Riverside - If you have a podcast, do yourself a favor and check out Riverside. It's 100% free to start. Get 20% off using code FIRSTCLASS.

Spotted by Humphrey - If you have a dog, sniff out the DEAL$ and wag-worthy finds at Spotted by Humphrey. Use code FIRSTCLASS15 to get 15% off your next order.
***
EXCERPTS:
Choosing Fonts for Personal Branding: "They don't have to be the same. I think it's it's really about what appeals to you, what speaks to you. It's just one thing to kind of know about these things that people will feel a certain way. Not that you need to make a choice based on what people feel." — Nate Kadlac (19:04)
Design Tips from Experts: "A designer's secret is that most of us never use pure black or pure white. Our eyes read better like text that's just slightly off that black end is is a little bit more readable because it's not high contrast. High contrast tires our eyes out and we want to use it for design to kind of like grab attention." — Nate Kadlac (28:31)
***
LINKS:
Don't Make The Same Mistakes I Did — What I Wish I Knew About Content Creation and Personal Branding
ApproachableDesign.

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FAQ

How many episodes does First Class Founders: Creators | Solopreneurs | Personal HoldCo have?

First Class Founders: Creators | Solopreneurs | Personal HoldCo currently has 76 episodes available.

What topics does First Class Founders: Creators | Solopreneurs | Personal HoldCo cover?

The podcast is about E-Commerce, Marketing, Niche, Entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, Startups, Podcasts and Business.

What is the most popular episode on First Class Founders: Creators | Solopreneurs | Personal HoldCo?

The episode title 'How to Turn Your Passion Into a Business' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on First Class Founders: Creators | Solopreneurs | Personal HoldCo?

The average episode length on First Class Founders: Creators | Solopreneurs | Personal HoldCo is 30 minutes.

How often are episodes of First Class Founders: Creators | Solopreneurs | Personal HoldCo released?

Episodes of First Class Founders: Creators | Solopreneurs | Personal HoldCo are typically released every 7 days.

When was the first episode of First Class Founders: Creators | Solopreneurs | Personal HoldCo?

The first episode of First Class Founders: Creators | Solopreneurs | Personal HoldCo was released on Nov 2, 2022.

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First Class Founders: Creators | Solopreneurs | Personal HoldCo

Yong-Soo Chung

Top 10 First Class Founders: Creators | Solopreneurs | Personal HoldCo Episodes

FAQ

How many episodes does First Class Founders: Creators | Solopreneurs | Personal HoldCo have?

What topics does First Class Founders: Creators | Solopreneurs | Personal HoldCo cover?

What is the most popular episode on First Class Founders: Creators | Solopreneurs | Personal HoldCo?

What is the average episode length on First Class Founders: Creators | Solopreneurs | Personal HoldCo?

How often are episodes of First Class Founders: Creators | Solopreneurs | Personal HoldCo released?

When was the first episode of First Class Founders: Creators | Solopreneurs | Personal HoldCo?

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