Founder's Chronicles 1Q 2023: Health, VC Education, Video Show, and Startup Studio Ambitions

This is an experiment where I've chosen to share my personal and professional updates, insights, plans, and thoughts from the past three months.?

1. How Overwork and Sleepless Nights Motivated Me to Change My Lifestyle and Develop Healthier Habits ??

In March, I found a new sense of discipline and structure in my life. It all started with a significant amount of work stress, FOMO, new ideas, and plans, which led to two nights of insomnia. After this, I decided to change my approach to life and work and focus more on my health.

During the last sleepless night, I created a list of new actions, including:

• Avoid playing 2-hour evening football because, for the last six months, it resulted in one bad sleep night every week due to overtraining.
• Cancel some planned video podcast interviews with guests to reduce the amount of work and stress, cancel some not-so-necessary calls, and decline a planned podcast where I was invited as a guest.
• The next day, visit a clinic to undergo analyses I had postponed for months and consult my doctor.
• Buy and read a 100-page report about modern scientific approaches to cardiovascular health, which inspired me to eat less sugar, less salt, and more natural food and do more sport.
• Begin training daily – run 1-2 km, do several exercises on a girder, and walk home from the waterfront (1 km uphill with a 60m elevation).
• Start walking more – each day after taking my son to school, stroll for about an hour in the park while planning the day and completing some tasks on the go. Also, go for a walk after dinner.
• Stop working at 6 pm and refrain from working on weekends.
• Plan vacation days, aiming for a week of vacation every quarter. I already took three days off last week (besides weekends) – it was good, even though I worked during these days (less than usual, but my wife still laughs at my experience of a probably first vacation, which was a working vacation). I worked differently - willingly and with a sense of freedom. During those three days, I went for a massage, read a lot, and rented bicycles with my family.

I still love this lifestyle and hope it will continue, maintaining my mental state, sleep, and overall health. I bought an Apple Watch to track my activity – it motivates me. I remember when, several years ago, I tracked my every day, twice-a-day meditation & yoga practices, with a 2.5-year record without missing any meditation – in a Google spreadsheet – it provided extra motivation. Now I see that, on average, my daily activity has tripled regarding walk+run distance. It's now about 9 km per day.

It's fascinating to know how high above sea level I am and what mountains I'm climbing. As a result, I enjoy better sleep and a great mood.

2. Studying VC Courses. Should I bet $25K on a Two-Week Silicon Valley Program?

I recently completed an online VC analyst course by Denis Kalyshkin (VC Ask), which strengthened my understanding of how VC funds operate and how startups are evaluated. For the final exam, I pitched an investment memo as if I were at Bessemer Venture Partners in 2011, deciding to invest in Fiverr when its pre-money valuation was $14M. The memo can be found here: https://www.bvp.com/memos/fiverr. Bessemer has published dozens of memos, providing valuable insights into the risks and opportunities they saw in companies that later became industry leaders.

Last week, I began a new course by TechStars called Venture Deals. At this point, I feel quite knowledgeable about the VC world. However, it seems I may have reached the peak of "Mount Stupid" on the Dunning-Kruger Effect graph ??.

In Silicon Valley, starting August 21st, there's an educational program called "VC Unlocked: Silicon Valley" for emerging leaders looking to shape the future of the venture capital industry. Hosted at Stanford University by 500 Global, the program costs $25K. I'm unsure if it's worth the investment for someone like me who plans to create a startup studio rather than a traditional VC fund. Will it help me build a network and find partners, or not?

Thanks to Violetta Chekan ? VC who nominated me yesterday for the VC Unlocked program. Today in the morning, I've sent the application to participate.

3. Recording Interviews with Inspiring Founders & Investors: Post-Production Challenges

I named my video show "Max Pog Builds a Startup Studio" to make it clear who I am and what my #1 business priority is. I invite investors, founders, and other startup/VC professionals to join me for live video shows or remote video podcasts.

Preparing for and conducting interviews is time-consuming, and post-production takes even longer.

So far, only a few interviews have been published, while five more are awaiting post-production. These interviews cover topics such as structuring startup studios, taxation in the US, the Portuguese VC/startup ecosystem, support programs for VC funds and startup founders, and more. We're working on streamlining the post-production process, and I hope the time between recording and publishing will decrease.

Although I am just starting out as a blogger, I feel that it is helping me to expand my network with interesting and successful people from whom I can learn a lot. Definitely worth moving forward ??.

I've been inviting guests in both Russian and English but plan to focus more on English content soon. I'm proud of myself for connecting with interesting people, creating content, and, most importantly, conducting interviews in English.

4. Pursuing US Visas, Impostor Syndrome about O1, and Navigating Tax Complexity

We're awaiting an interview in Lisbon with the US consulate to obtain B1/B2 visas for a trip to Silicon Valley and potentially other US locations this August/September. While the trip may not have a business component (e.g., the two-week VC Unlocked educational program), we're planning it primarily for travel purposes.

I consulted with an immigration lawyer about the criteria for O1 or EB-1 visas and felt a sense of impostor syndrome afterward. Now, I have a vague plan for obtaining such a visa, but a two-year timeframe seems reasonable for deciding and potentially becoming extraordinary in the field of startup studios. We're enjoying our time in Portugal, so even if we don't move to the US, there are still significant benefits.

I hope this trip will provide opportunities to invite interesting guests for live video interviews in the US for my video project. There's still time to think and prepare for it.

I've also had three consultations with US and Portuguese tax lawyers regarding taxes for LLCs in the US and Portugal, focusing on US/non-US income sources and ECI (effectively connected income) versus non-ECI. GPT-4 has helped me fill in the gaps from these consultations, and I believe it's more accurate than some of the contradictory advice I've received from lawyers.

5. Replacing Google with GPT-4 for Daily Work and Life

I'm very excited about GPT-4, as are many others. I've had around 100 conversations with GPT-4 on various topics, and it has become my go-to resource for answering questions.

Here are just a few examples of how GPT-4 has saved me time:

• Improved understanding of taxes and laws, offering better, faster, and more affordable advice than many consultants.
• Quickly evaluating and discarding a business idea after GPT-4 provided information about similar failed startups.
• Creating interview question lists for guests based on their profiles and my interests.
• Creating tables, like a cost of living comparison between Monte Estoril (Portugal) and Silicon Valley, and a comparison of myopia laser correction technologies.
• Quickly assessing the credibility of sources, such as distinguishing between scientific data and pseudoscientific claims in a friend's post.
• Writing a letter to the Portuguese president about a 6+ months awaiting for changing driver's license (still unanswered).
• Generating personalized jokes and having fun.
• Evaluating my chances of creating a billion-dollar startup studio, as described in my previous post (25-30%, not bad ??).

My wife uses GPT-4 for cosmetics advice and calls it her best friend for discussing makeup topics ??.

AI tools' development has a profoundly positive impact on humanity. Goldman Sachs predicts that AI will increase annual global GDP by 7% over a 10-year period, and two-thirds of jobs in the US and Europe will benefit from some degree of AI automation.

6. Launching a BDR Online Course to Help People in Developing Countries Secure Remote Jobs with US Companies

We're gearing up to launch an online course aimed at training BDRs (Business Development Representatives) for B2B SaaS in the US market. This course targets international students from various countries in LatAm and Europe (and possibly Africa and Asia later), allowing them to secure online jobs and earn 3-4 times more than the average wage in their home country, while still being 2-3 times less expensive than US-based employees.

BDRs are professionals who find and research new customers for a company's products or services. They often spend days learning about potential clients to craft personalized, irresistible outreach messages. The gap between native and non-native English speakers is narrowing thanks to AI tools that improve writing quality. Our graduates, who will be more skilled than junior BDRs in the US, will not close deals immediately but will prepare leads for account executives. After two years of experience, they'll be ready to close deals themselves.

Our course lead and expert has over 15 years of experience in enterprise sales and ABM, with hundreds of millions in closed deals. Heads of Sales who have reviewed our program are eager to hire our graduates, as finding qualified BDRs with the necessary skills and experience is challenging.

7. Choosing a Focus for a Startup Studio or a Studio of Startup Studios?

A startup studio (venture builder or venture studio) is an organization that generates and validates ideas, creates new products, recruits co-founders for new companies, and raises internal and external funds for these startups. Startup studios often hold around 30% equity in the startups they help create from scratch.

I've spoken with several startup studio co-founders, read Venture Studios Demystified, watched YouTube videos, and consulted GPT about startup studios. The more I learn, the more compelled I feel to act.

I'm considering three potential focuses for the startup studio, listed in order of preference:

1. AI Startup Studio: AI has the potential to reshape various industries over the next decade. Riding this market trend could make it easier to build industry-leading companies and secure funding.
2. EdTech Startup Studio: Leveraging my experience and understanding of the education business, an EdTech startup studio could be an appealing option. This sector offers relatively quick cash flow and reduced reliance on external capital.
3. Agnostic Startup Studio: I have numerous ideas across different industries (FinTech, AI, EdTech, B2B SaaS, Marketplaces, etc.), and an agnostic startup studio would provide more freedom to explore them. While a focused studio offers the advantage of compounded expertise, network, and audience development, an agnostic studio allows for greater creativity.

I'm also considering partnering with US-based co-founders for the startup studio itself. Currently, I have three potential profiles in mind (if consider AI Startup Studio):

1. CTO/co-founder of a recently exited AI/ML startup
2. VC with experience of fundraising and managing of an accelerator (especially understanding AI trends).
3. Serial Entrepreneur.

I could be in the role of entrepreneur inside of a startup studio. But what I want even more – become an expert in startup studios and gather partners (three roles above) for startup studios with different theses, not being involved in operational management. I have 3-5 values I can add to those studios. This is my dream –?to have a studio of startup studios.

As a side project, we're conducting research to understand angel and VC investors' perspectives on the pros and cons of investing in startup studios. We'll share our findings later.

I've recorded a video podcast with a US lawyer discussing startup studio structuring and tax planning in the US for studio founders. I'll be posting it on my page soon.

8. Key Insights I want to Embrace in Life

• Integrate new habits into your daily routine to make them stick: It's much easier to maintain new habits by incorporating them into established routines, such as waking up, starting work, and returning home. For example, I now meditate and practice breath control for just five minutes after waking up and before going to sleep. While running, I listen to podcasts or online courses. During lunch, I read. As I walk home, I often talk to myself about priorities and important principles (sometimes even recording my thoughts on video not be seemed like a madman, which is not bad actually).
• Explore and invest in new experiences, services, and approaches: This leads to a broader perspective, an understanding of trends and people, and the discovery of new ideas for business growth and life improvement. Growing up, I was taught to save on everything, which became deeply ingrained in me. Now, I'm trying to break this habit.
• Don't be swayed by the urge to rush and make hasty decisions to change fields or activities. My plans changed several times last year, but I believe I made the right choices (video show, startup studio, US). I often come up with new ideas and want to drop everything to pursue them. It's helpful to ask myself whether I would still be interested in that idea in three years. If not, it's too late to start now. According to GPT-4:

This cognitive mistake, known as "Shiny Object Syndrome," occurs when an individual is easily distracted by new ideas or opportunities, frequently switching from one project to another without fully committing to or completing any one of them. This can result in a lack of focus and long-term progress, along with the constant pursuit of the "next big thing."

To overcome Shiny Object Syndrome, develop a clear vision of your goals and prioritize them. Evaluate the long-term viability and importance of new ideas or opportunities before committing. Doing so ensures that you invest your time and energy in activities aligned with your long-term objectives, leading to greater success and fulfillment.

• Boost productivity with pomo-timers: Over the past three years, I've occasionally used the Get Things Done technique and other productivity methods. Now, I'm working on developing a habit of using pomo-timers, where I select a task from my list, set a timer for 10 or 25 minutes, and focus solely on that task without getting distracted by other thoughts or activities.

If you find this valuable, please let me know, and I will continue to share my updates.

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