An Entrepreneurial Journey with Ethan - Part One | Ep. #8
08/06/20 • 45 min
On the eighth episode of Candid Creative, Antonio speaks with Ethan David, an entrepreneur from Ireland with a background in physics. Ethan begins by sharing his disdain for the word ‘entrepreneur’ and how it’s been overused and it's meaning distorted. A true entrepreneur solves problems in exchange for value. Unfortunately, lots of people who enter business don’t understand this and in turn, have the wrong approach.
For the last 8 years, Ethan has been learning firsthand, starting lots of companies and failing more than he’s succeeded. Currently, he’s documenting the process online as a way to help others grow and change their strategy. One of his strengths, Ethan believes, is his background in physics. It’s given him the ability to consider the deeper implications of a problem and discover how everything flows together in a practical way.
Antonio and Ethan discuss the pitfalls of the current business school model. Too many students lack the ability to solve problems and aren’t given the chance to work things out while they’re still young and optimistically ignorant. This leads them into the trap of thinking that overnight success is possible without perseverance and hard work. Very few people succeed in ‘easy’ unless they get ‘lucky.’ Businesses must be seen as a skill set that is learned over time. It’s the experience that provides the value.
Ethan shares how this mindset got him trapped in the ‘spirit of replication.’ Instead of focusing on what worked for him, he spent too much time and energy trying to grow his Instagram page and build relationships. Eventually, valueism may give way to commercialism. Right now, it’s most important to consider the best outlet for your product and prioritize activities that scale, not necessarily what’s most popular at the time.
Follow Antonio on IG: https://www.instagram.com/imantonioruiz |
Follow Ethan on IG: https://www.instagram.com/ethan.talk | and for Ethan's YouTube visit: https://m.youtube.com/ethantalk?uid=ih-1haX7so5ouZVcNdU30g
Become a Patron
https://www.patreon.com/imantonioruiz
On the eighth episode of Candid Creative, Antonio speaks with Ethan David, an entrepreneur from Ireland with a background in physics. Ethan begins by sharing his disdain for the word ‘entrepreneur’ and how it’s been overused and it's meaning distorted. A true entrepreneur solves problems in exchange for value. Unfortunately, lots of people who enter business don’t understand this and in turn, have the wrong approach.
For the last 8 years, Ethan has been learning firsthand, starting lots of companies and failing more than he’s succeeded. Currently, he’s documenting the process online as a way to help others grow and change their strategy. One of his strengths, Ethan believes, is his background in physics. It’s given him the ability to consider the deeper implications of a problem and discover how everything flows together in a practical way.
Antonio and Ethan discuss the pitfalls of the current business school model. Too many students lack the ability to solve problems and aren’t given the chance to work things out while they’re still young and optimistically ignorant. This leads them into the trap of thinking that overnight success is possible without perseverance and hard work. Very few people succeed in ‘easy’ unless they get ‘lucky.’ Businesses must be seen as a skill set that is learned over time. It’s the experience that provides the value.
Ethan shares how this mindset got him trapped in the ‘spirit of replication.’ Instead of focusing on what worked for him, he spent too much time and energy trying to grow his Instagram page and build relationships. Eventually, valueism may give way to commercialism. Right now, it’s most important to consider the best outlet for your product and prioritize activities that scale, not necessarily what’s most popular at the time.
Follow Antonio on IG: https://www.instagram.com/imantonioruiz |
Follow Ethan on IG: https://www.instagram.com/ethan.talk | and for Ethan's YouTube visit: https://m.youtube.com/ethantalk?uid=ih-1haX7so5ouZVcNdU30g
Become a Patron
https://www.patreon.com/imantonioruiz
Previous Episode
Digital Landscape: Marketing & Sales with David Ramos | Ep. #7
On the seventh episode of Candid Creative, Antonio speaks with David Ramos, founder of Xurge Digital Media, a digital marketing agency in the Philippines. David begins by discussing the importance of understanding the specific objective of your client. Whether it’s a business or a personal brand, this knowledge is essential to identifying resources and deciding how to move forward. Both parties must remember that marketing is a journey. Testing what type of content your audience is willing to consume will eventually lead to success.
David emphasized that all businesses have different situations. The best agencies show that they value their partners by outsourcing campaigns in industries they don’t focus on, and only accepting work for what it’s worth.
Ultimately, marketing cannot be effective unless it recognizes the psychology and behavior behind its audience. Companies such as Apple and Starbucks understand how to ‘price the experience,’ and have created products that are discount-proof, life-defining status symbols. They are no longer marketing or selling in the traditional sense.
Despite their best intentions, organizations can still misconstrue the relationship between these two roles. David describes them in this way – “Sales is flirting, marketing is dating.” The difference can also be seen as lead generation (marketing) versus lead conversion (sales). At Xurge Digital Media, David is hands-on with both areas because he wants to know how they can work together to meet the needs of their clients.
To close, David relates the role of marketing to a personal brand. It’s not always important to have a business to sell because YOU are your business. Stand out above the noise by sharing how your approach is unique. Make your value proposition count.
Follow Antonio on IG: https://www.instagram.com/imantonioruiz
Updated David Ramos IG: https://www.instagram.com/iamdavidramos
Follow Xurge Digital Media on IG: https://www.instagram.com/xurgedigitalmedia | same applies for Facebook and LinkedIn
Become a Patron
https://www.patreon.com/imantonioruiz
Next Episode
An Entrepreneurial Journey with Ethan - Part Two | Ep. #9
On the ninth episode of Candid Creative, Antonio continues the conversation with Ethan about sales, social media, and branding strategy.
- People are so protective of their own ideas. An idea by itself is frankly useless. It’s the action behind the idea that creates the value.
- Emotion drives everything. People are not logical in any regard.
- If you haven’t won people with emotion, you will never win them with logic.
- Tricking people into why something has value is probably not the best sales tactic.
- Do not compromise your integrity in order to make a sale.
- Understand where you fit against your competition.
- Find out what people actually care about.
Three Pillars of the Brand Strategy:
- Figure out the “Why.”
- Know your audience and what they want to believe in—figure that out.
- Find space within the market.
- Advertisement is somewhat easy to understand.
- Strangely, people attach a story in their heads that doesn’t always line up with reality.
- Stick to your guns with whatever story it is you’re trying to tell.
- The value of Instagram is surface-level.
- “How are you supposed to communicate anything of value on TikTok?”
- The better it looks the better it will perform (on Instagram).
- It’s hard to explain the value of a brand without their attention.
Follow Ethan on IG https://www.instagram.com/ethan.talk
Follow Ethan on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCih-1haX7so5ouZVcNdU30g
Follow Antonio on IG @imantonioruiz
The Candid Creative - An Entrepreneurial Journey with Ethan - Part One | Ep. #8
Transcript
Welcome to the candid creative show made for creators, creatives and entrepreneurs. Whether you're starting out, growing or establish, this is the show for you.
Unknown SpeakerHello, and welcome to episode eight of candid creative. As always, my name is Antonio and I am your host. Today I have a very special guest. His name is Ethan, and our conversation, believe it or not went for around almost
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