Question of the Week
Building A Business From Bootstrap To $1M
Happy Friday, all!
I got a great MDB episode for you today this week. I chatted with Yong-Soo Chung, a serial entrepreneur who founded three e-commerce companies in seven years. With his latest venture, the podcast First Class Founders, Yong-Soo aims to impact entrepreneurs by sharing his lessons on building sustainable businesses from bootstrap to earning more than $1 million in annual revenue.
In the episode, Yong-Soo shares his three pillars for a successful business and fulfilling life. He also discusses the importance of listening to your intuition and taking advantage of the opportunities that come your way.
Episode Highlights
Mission-driven businesses do more than make money.
Yong-Soo defines a mission-driven business as one with an intention or purpose beyond making money. Whether helping a community or donating a percentage of profits to a cause, mission-driven businesses do activities for a bigger purpose.
“The way I like to put it is when you’re living, money is like oxygen, so you need money to survive,” Yong-Soo explained. “But it’s not like you’re living your life to breathe, right? That’s the kind of way that I like to look at it.”
Root yourself in a city that supports your growth.
Before becoming a serial entrepreneur, Yong-Soo worked in finance in New York City. Then, following his intuition, Yong-Soo decided to take his life in a new direction by moving to San Francisco and pursuing his own business.
“What I was doing didn’t feel like something that would fulfill me 5 or 10 years down the line,” Yong-Soo said. “I knew that it was like a bandage that just needed to be ripped off, and I just needed to essentially start over in a new area.”
The move was difficult but allowed him to meet people with similar goals and discover opportunities he would have never known existed. His personal values and vision for the future were pivotal in deciding which city to live in and which opportunities to pursue.
“New York City is obviously a fantastic city for opportunities, but it didn’t serve what I wanted to do 5 to 10 years down the line,” Yong-Soo said. “Being rooted in an area that you want to compound yourself in all areas of your life is really the key.”
Three steps to live your best life.
Yong-Soo lists three simple but impactful actions to live your best life:
- Focus on what you can control.
- Focus on what you do have.
- Do not dwell on the past.
Quote of the Week
“The chances of an app succeeding in a big way was very small, but it’s more about the learning process and the lessons you’re going to learn along the way. That’s where the gems and the valuable lessons come from.” Yong-Soo Chung
Task of the Week
Don’t miss this episode. And you can find out more about Yong-Soo and his businesses at the links below.
- First Class Founders: Website, Podcast
- Spotted by Humphrey: Website, Instagram
- Urban EDC: Website, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok
- Growth Jet: Website, Instagram
- Yong-Soo’s Social Media: Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok