Folk Stories

Kevin S Lin
  • 5.0 (4)
  • SOCIETY & CULTURE

This is a podcast about people. Every week, we have an in depth conversation with a person of interest. We'll talk about how they got here, what they're up to and what motivates them. The goals are to highlight people, share their narratives and dive into what they do.

  1. 11/11/2019

    21: Building an esports platform with Grant Farwell

    Grant Farwell is the Chairman and Co-Founder of Matcherino, an esports platform that helps game publishers and tournament organizers run successful esports tournaments. Prior to Matcherino, Grant founded Barc, a social web browsing experience for people browsing the same web sites. This was before the rise of services like discord and slack and offered some of the same functionality. Grant says that while the team had a solid technology base, they struggled with sales and monetization. This led to the eventual shutdown of Barc and the start of Matcherino. In this episode, we talk about the esports industry and challenges tournament organizers face, we talk about doing sales in startups, and we talk about brands and sponsorship in esports. Quote And it was really like an aha moment… All these fans wanted to donate money… and to not just financially, but in so many different ways, contribute to this event that was happening. – Grant Farwell Notes story behind the camel economics, crypto and financial platforms Barc'ing up the wrong tree listening to customers but not taking suggestions literally matcherino and techstars esports, tournaments and payouts sustainability in esports how brands navigate esports present and future of esports Closing inspiration being at esport tournament with fans, seeing communities getting together and helping support it surprising fact life is quite boring at home, mostly working principle treat everyone like how you would want to be treated k- closing notes if you want to engage with esports fans, matcherino can help you reach these audience and drive whatever KPIs you're looking to drive Links Matcherino: Grant's company, esports platform to help game publishers and tournament organizers run successful tournaments Techstars: Startup Accelerator

    1 hr

  2. 10/07/2019

    20: Nick Hughes and Building a Global Community of Entrepreneurs

    Nick Hughes is the founder of Founder's Live, a global entrepreneurial community started by Nick to inspire, educate and entertain entrepreneurs around the world. Prior to starting Founder's Live, Nick had already done multiple startups. It was through the process of recovering from a failed startup that Nick started "Feature Friday", an event for early stage entrepreneurs to pitch their ideas in 99 seconds and network with others in the Seattle community. This event proved extremely popular and led to Nick scaling it out globally with events now in over fifty cities. I know Nick from going to the Seattle Founders Live events. While Nick didn't pay me to say this, I'm happy to say that I've always end up meeting interesting people from the event and come out of it feeling highly motivated about doing my own thing. In today's episode, we talk about Nick's entry into entrepreneurship, lessons from having a startup fail, and Nick's vision with Founder's live and where this is going. Quote Have enough courage to say things aren't going well and I'm feeling down and have you had this before? Most people are gonna say "Oh yeah , I know what you're going through and here's what I did!" – Nick Hughes Notes how Nick got interested in business study habits and business lessons first startup experience and lessons learned marriage aka finding a co-founder founders depression and Nick's experience with it starting Founders Live and expanding globally Nick's world tour and living up to your potential Closing inspiration being at Founders Lives events and seeing early stage founders getting on stage and pitching surprising fact studied kinesiology and human psychology - used to be a strength coach principle Founders Live core values open doors for people closing notes close to announcing something cool around social impact Links The 360 Degree Leader: Developing Your Influence from Anywhere in the Organization Iconoclast: A Neuroscientist Reveals How to Think Differently Founders Live Social Impact Program

    1h 8m

  3. 09/27/2019

    19: Hospitality and Community with Alex Mondau

    Alex Mondau is the Community Ambassador at the Collective. The collective is a co-working space located in Seattle's South Lake Union, and is described by its founders as an urban basecamp for the mind, body + soul. Alex started The Collective Seattle one and a half years ago with business partners Tommy Trause and Scott Barber in order to create a diverse community where people can build genuine relationships as well as find refuge from life outside the walls. Prior to founding The Collective, some of Alex's former roles included selling sustainable real estate and working tables at the Agua Verde Cafe. As a kid, Alex wanted to be an adventurer and spent time in the mountains of Nepal trying to be a mountain guide in the Himalaya. In today's episode, we talk about hospitality and its tight feedback loops, we talk about The Collective and its origins, and we talk about community and ways of fostering it. Quote I fell in love with hospitality industry. You could succeed or fail every five minutes…for hours in a row and your feedback loop was so tight that you really get to know whether you were meeting that customer's expectations. – Alex Mondau Notes childhood growing up in Olympia and wanting to be an adventurer selling sustainable housing and green real estate feedback and the hospitality industry The Collective Seattle and its origin building community at The Collective Seattle lessons and challenges of community building next steps for The Collective Seattle Closing inspiration spontaneously going paddle boating at night to appreciate nature surprising fact good plumber principle look for opportunities to be generous closing notes recognize Native American tribes and communities that stewarded this place figure out to be good stewards of this place Links Agua Verde: Don’t miss out on the new Rockfish Tacos with Mango salsa and the Carnitas now served on house made tortillas The Collective: An urban basecamp for the mind, body and soul wework: Starbucks of co-working spaces

    1h 9m

  4. 07/08/2019

    18: Leaps of Faith with David Mays

    David Mays is Senior Public Relations Manager at Amazon where he oversees multiple high impact initiatives. I actually worked with David in my former life at Amazon but we never had a chance for an extended conversation. But as they say, better late than never and today's conversation makes me wish I'd done this earlier. Turns out we have much in common, besides the common employer and the pathological need to run long distances. Prior to Amazon, David has had an expansive career across multiple industries, including public news, the department of defense, and healthcare. David's father was a Methodist minister and David remembers moving frequently from small town to small town as a kid. He came across a group of runners in one of these towns and insisted on joining them which led to him running his first marathon at the age of 13. This initial catalyst has sparked a lifetime of running, coaching, and the ability to deal with adversity. David has an amazing ability of coaching civilians into champion runners in just about all the places he's worked - this includes coaching his now wife and clinical psychologist Janice Alley who won her age group during her first half marathon race and continues to race competitively today. In today's episode, we talk about David's childhood and how it sowed seeds for his current narrative, we talk about success as it relates to running and mentorship, and we talk (corporate) talk and explore how David has helped some of the world's biggest corporations shape their own narrative. Quote "Running as a discipline has always been something that has prepared me for adversity, for always having two or three option plans when things go wrong , [for] failure and the ability to overcome failure, [and for] the desire and ability to mentor and coach and help others" Notes childhood stories and frequently moving overcoming obesity and running first marathon at age of 13 thoughts on running, mentorship and facing adversity inviting and coaching non-runners into competitive athletes taking leaps of faith and working across different industries (public news, defense department, oil, healthcare, consumer, etc) supporting the CEO of Kaiser Permanente and defining corporate communication strategy making decisions in short and long time frames "davy gravy" and work under Bush administration vision for the future Closing inspiration long distance mentee, captatain in US army, and competitive runner and triathlete suffered medical condition with unsuccessful surgery seeing her handle situation with calmness and resiliency surprising fact used to play the violin principle treat other people the way you want to be treated closing notes kind words about the podcast and interviews within (thank you David) Links K5 News Kaiser Permanente Seattle Marathon

    1h 12m

  5. 05/27/2019

    17: Following the Filmmaker's Journey with Bao Tran

    Bao Tran is a professional filmmaker currently raising money for his first feature film, The Paper Tigers, a "Kung Fu indie feature film about three guys who are one kick away from pulling their hamstrings". Despite knowing that he wanted to do film from watching kung fu movies as a kid, Bao got a degree in computer science as it was the responsible thing to do for someone that is the child of immigrants. This tension between following your dreams and doing what is expected is a theme that is explored both in film and in life for Bao. Outside of The Paper Tigers, Bao's editing credits include CHO LON, one of Southeast Asia’s highest-budgeted action blockbusters, and JACKPOT, a heartfelt comedy selected as Vietnam’s official entry to the 2016 Oscars for Best Foreign Film. In today's episode, we talk about kung fu and the action movie genre, we talk about what its like to fundraise for a film, and we talk about telling a good story and what that might mean. Quote You have a lot of people you might start out with earlier on but they kind of go their separate ways or they go civilian as we say… Its just industry is very tough and its very hard to keep going and continue doing this. – Bao Tran Notes how Bao's love of kung fu films let to a career in film pursuing passion vs fulfilling family expectations marketing and sales for people that would rather do anything else Bao's first feature film - The Paper Tigers film fundraising and kickstarter diversity and shooting with a mixed race cast shooting action movies and telling stories Closing inspiration as artist, always looking for the work that goes behind art that looks effortless, really impressed with Beyoncé's homecoming surprising fact have a background that is not just film (eg. computer science degree) principle the golden rule closing notes always looking for people that could support the film and want to help - if that's you, reach out Contact Bao's website: http://pov-films.com/ Bao's email: bao@pov-films.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tranquocbao/ Socials Twitter: @_thepapertigers Facebook: @ThePaperTigersMovie Instagram: @_thepapertigers Links The Paper Tigers Page The Paper Tigers KickStarter Subscribe for news on auditions and volunteering

    1h 7m

  6. 05/06/2019

    16: Friends, Family and Startups with Robert Sweeney

    Robert Sweeney is CEO of Facet, the premier platform for hiring senior contract software engineers. Before becoming a founder, Robert was a senior software engineer himself at companies such as Netflix and Microsoft. Robert knew from an early age that he wanted to be an entrepreneur from working at his grandpa's grocery shop. Robert left Netflix with a friend to start a software development studio with an initial verbal contract from Western Digital. In 2014, Robert founded Numetric, a SaaS based analytics startup. After working on the company for close to four years, hiring over 40 employees, and raising over $16 million in venture capital, Robert was fired from the very company that he founded. Today, Robert is working full time on Facet and helping other engineers make the leap from full-time work to doing their own thing. In today's episode, we talk about negotiating contracts, hiring and firing friends, and that time Robert's house almost burned down. Quote We had to make the decision that day… That didn't give us enough time to sign the contract. So we quit our jobs on a verbal yes. – Robert Sweeney Closing inspiration being fired from my startup - changed my perspective on startups and venture capital and also provide extra motivation surprising deal with anxiety principal complete transparency anything else successful entrepreneurs out there don't have anything that you don't have Notes working at grandpa's grocery store early years at Microsoft and Netflix first startup and quiting Netflix on a verbal agreement working with western digital and communicating expectations hiring and firing friends that time when the house almost burned down keeping a family together while doing a startup Numetric, working with family, and getting fired from a company that you founded facet, how it came to be and where its going Links Netflix Engineering Blog Numetric Facet Why I Turned Down My YCombinator Interview

    1h 22m

  7. 04/22/2019

    15: Domain Expertise with Jay Westerdal

    Jay Westerdal is a CEO, founder, board member, and investor of a wide multitude of companies. Jay first got interested in technology at an early age after witnessing early demonstrations of the internet in middle school. His first job out of college involved creating systems to help manage domain names, a field that Jay has stuck with ever since. Jay founded his own domain company, DomainTools, in 2001, which provided information about the history and ownership of internet domains. Jay also started the Domain RoundTable, a conference dedicated solely to the topic of domains. Jay later sold DomainTools in 2008 for an eight figure exit and continued to work with domains as well as technology ever since. Today, Jay is CEO of 800.com, .Realty and Top Level Spectrum. 800.com is a company that provides companies with toll-free 800 numbers, .Realty is a domain registrar for real estate professionals, and Top level spectrum manages various top level domains like .feedback and .forum. In today's episode, we talk about what domains are and why they matter, we talk about Jay's current day ventures and where he's going, and we talk about the systems Jay has put in place that lets him focus on so many different priorities. Quote I like to build a rocketship and ride it to the stratosphere but [exit] before it becomes a spaceship just sitting there doing nothing collecting whatever that status quo income is. – Jay Westerdal Notes Jay's initial interest in technology and the internet web domains and domain registration new top level domains and trends in the industry domaintools, what it was and how it was sold organizing a domain conference Jay's current businesses prioritizing tasks what Jay looks for as an investor investing in yourself how to recharge Closing inspiration travel and looking at other people's concepts and ideas surprising fact take vacations seriously principle body is a temple, trying to live healthier and healthier everyday closing notes would love to do more philanthropic stuff in the future, especially addressing homelessness in Seattle Links Blink Tag Jay's website Domaintools Top Level Domains Top Level Spectrum .Realty Registry 800.com

    1h 8m

  8. 04/08/2019

    14: Focusing on the Message with John Lauer

    John Lauer is the CEO of Zipwhip, a Seattle based businesses that enables businesses to text message their customers through software and API solutions. Zipwhip is one of Seattle's fastest growing private companies and was the first business that made it possible for landlines and cellphones to communicate with each other. Prior to Zipwhip, John was already neck deep in entrepreneurship. John started coming up with business ideas ever since he was thirteen. John started his first company, Rootlevel, at the age of 21 - Rootlevel was a web design firm based in Detroit and had included GM and Ford as their clients. John dropped out of college one semester from finishing his computer science degree because he made a commitment early on to never do something that would require a resume. In today's episode, we talk about John's storied history and start in entrepreneurship, we talk about the makings of Zipwhip and the state of texting, and we talk about the focus and people that it takes to start a business. Quote If you contribute to humanity, humanity rewards you back, which gives you more ability to contribute. It sort of pancake layers on top of itself. – John Lauer Notes how John got started with entrepreneurship dropping out of college and commiting to startups Zipwhip, how it got started and where it is today importance of texting to businesses and consumers closed vs open systems predictions about communication platforms going forward finding the right people to start a company with staying focused and deciding what to focus on ways of recharging Closing inspiration week without at Zipwhip - two weeks without office food, raised $5000 to donate to Mary's place surprising fact walk around with smile on face but there's a great amount of simulation happening inside of what might happen at Zipwhip principle do the right thing closing notes Zipwhip will keep plugging forward and texting is adding huge value to peoples lifes, lots of new releases coming out later this year Links Zipwhip Only the Paranoid Survive 2019 State of Texting Report Zipwhip Jobs GeekWire's Deal of the Year Nomination: Zipwhip's been nominated, click here to vote

    44 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

This is a podcast about people. Every week, we have an in depth conversation with a person of interest. We'll talk about how they got here, what they're up to and what motivates them. The goals are to highlight people, share their narratives and dive into what they do.

Information

  • Creator
    Kevin S Lin
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2019
  • Episodes
    21
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2018-2019 Folk Stories
  • Show Website
    Folk Stories