Josh Richards: Full Sway Ahead | TikTok, Social Media, and Venture Capital

03/02/21 • 65 min

If social media is a game, Josh Richards would have won it before learning how to drive. He isn't just doing the numbers: on top of 24 million followers on TikTok, Josh co-founded an energy drink company, built a creator house and made his name in venture capital as one of the most watched Gen Z VCs.

But there's much more to his story. Having streamed 4 hours daily for 2 years on a platform that eventually died, Josh grew up knowing the career he chose could end any minute. Though only 19, he has learned his share of life lessons that with a great platform comes great responsibility - despite not having even made it to prom.

In this conversation we talk about moving to LA, breaking into venture, proving his worth as a board member, and helping shape the creators universe. You can find Josh Richards on TikTok, Instagram and Twitter.

🍎 iTunes: https://apple.co/3lU3fZs

🎵 Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3srzJwq

✍️ Newsletter: https://thequestpod.substack.com

🎧 Transcripts (soon): https://justin.quest

🌎 Everything Quest: https://listen.justin.quest

🍎 iTunes: https://apple.co/3lU3fZs

🎵 Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3srzJwq

✍️ Newsletter: https://thequestpod.substack.com

🎧 Transcripts (soon): https://justin.quest

🌎 Everything Quest: https://listen.justin.quest

Previous Episode

Laura Behrens Wu: Into the Valley, at 22 | Shippo, Germany to Silicon Valley, CEO

Born and raised in Germany, Laura Behrens Wu came to Silicon Valley at 22 to intern at a Y Combinator-backed startup. In just 4 years, she decided to 'figure out shipping' and built Shippo, an E-commerce software startup which raised more than $57 million in funding and now serves one-third of businesses exporting from the U.S.

I met Laura in 2017 and witnessed her incredible growth from a YC intern to a WTO speaker alongside Jack Ma. As the CEO of a 170-person company, she’s had big expectations to live up to. Her struggles as an entrepreneur remind me of the early days of Justin.tv, and her story breaking into the Valley as an outsider is a testament to all young founders worldwide hoping to make it big.

🙏 Shoutout to Asian Hustle Network! We live-streamed this interview with our first community partner Asian Hustle Network, a 70K-strong community empowering Asian entrepreneurial voices. You can check out their podcast here.

🎥 Watch this episode with video: https://youtu.be/Ew9bmI5aWLc

🍎 iTunes: https://apple.co/3lU3fZs

🎵 Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3srzJwq

✍️ Newsletter: https://thequestpod.substack.com

🎧 Transcripts (soon): https://justin.quest

🌎 Everything Quest: https://listen.justin.quest

Next Episode

The Quest University #2: The Hedonic Treadmill | Justin Kan's Storytime

I started The Quest to share the stories and lessons that I wish I had heard 15 years ago. Building and selling Twitch was an inflection point for me in the past decade. I worked my ass off, made money, took vacations and felt like I was on top of the world. I blew past the goals I had set for myself in the beginning.

But what was fascinating was that while I felt more accomplished, I wasn’t any happier. I was just holding on to more things. The desire to go bigger and make more nagged constantly at me. After a year and a half at Y Combinator, I left and set out to build another company in the most mercenary way I can think of, then lost millions when it fell apart.

On this episode, I reflect on the trap of the hedonic treadmill. It led me down a dangerous path chasing material possessions and peer approval - things I thought would fulfil me, but only made me feel perpetually dissatisfied.

🎥 Watch The Quest with video: https://www.youtube.com/TheQuestwithJustinKan

🍎 iTunes: https://apple.co/3lU3fZs

🎵 Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3srzJwq

✍️ Newsletter: https://thequestpod.substack.com

🎧 Transcripts (soon): https://justin.quest

🌎 Everything Quest: https://listen.justin.quest