Promising Startup Ideas For 2022, Part 1

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welcome everyone. Welcome to the serial entrepreneur hour. We have Michele Van Tilborg we have Jeffrey Sass, our co-moderator as well. And we have Rachael Lashbrook. Today is the serial entrepreneur hour. And every week we run this show because we’re trying to figure out what it is that serial entrepreneurs do over and over again, to start scale, exit, and repeat that process.

If we can crack that code, we think we can help a lot of entrepreneur. Figure out how to start these businesses successfully. Now, today we’re looking for people to come on stage. Jeff, if you can, uh, give us a little bit more of a, an idea of what we’re talking about today, [00:01:00] but we’re definitely looking for you to come on stage and share ideas for startups for 2020.

Yeah. Thank you, Colin. And thank you everyone for joining us on this Friday afternoon for the serial entrepreneur hour, you know, it’s in, we’re into December already hard to believe, but a new year is coming up fast, 2020. Um, and a lot has changed in the world of entrepreneurship this past year, really two years, when you consider all the changes in people’s thinking and behaviors when, um, the pandemic arrived.

And I think it’s caused a huge surge in interest in self-starting and becoming an entrepreneur and rethinking having a job and what job you have and how you go about your work life. And I think Collin’s going to talk more about that, but that means this more opportunities too, than ever before, to start your own business, to become an entrepreneur, um, to do things a little bit differently.

And today we want to talk about what are your ideas, um, for [00:02:00] 2022, if someone is or wants to become an entrepreneur and start a new business for 2022, where are their great opportunities? Where should they be looking? What should they be thinking about? What are you thinking about? So that’s what we want to talk about today.

Colin, I think you had some, some, uh, an article you read that you thought was. Yeah. I mean, I don’t have it with me right now. I’m going to, I’m seeing if I can find it right now, but that’s sort of was the impetus for this particular show was that, um, I had read an article in the wall street journal and I’ll pull it up in a minute or two, but I read an article in the wall street journal where we had, we’ve seen a vast number of people quitting their jobs and starting their businesses.

And, uh, we’ve seen just a huge amount. So I’m gonna pull that up. Jeff, if, uh, Michelle or, or you want to kick it off with one of your ideas, that would be great. I think Michelle

amazing, you know? [00:03:00] Yeah. I think there have been some micro and macro trends that have been actually heightened, you know, as we’ve been in this pandemic for two years is it’s been an amazing journey. Good and bad, obviously. Um, but we’ve seen some clear trends that I feel are continuing to grow. And in fact, calling I think a good show might be, you know, just kind of predictions, you know, as we move into 2022, but getting back to the subject here is e-commerce like e-commerce was already at a good steady increase, but it’s just like through the roof.

So I feel like there’s a real opportunity still for these apps that really help people get online faster clearly. Um, Shopify then probably go daddy or Wix or Weebly to a lesser degree, you know, are in the space. [00:04:00] But there’s a lot of, you know, gaps here in terms of helping people that just want to offer their products or services online.

So I think you’ll see more platforms that are more vertical specifically. That are enablers to help people get online. So what do I mean by that? So what I’m saying is, is like take the smaller, more localized kind of person. Let’s just say, um, you’re a psychotherapist. Okay. Gosh, years ago, nobody thought you could do psychotherapy, you know, purely just online.

Well, I think you’re going to see a lot of apps that are very specifically catered towards their marketing, their workflow, their privacy needs, their payment needs, their follow-up needs, et cetera. So I just thought of psychotherapy because I’m thinking actually of, [00:05:00] of Jeffrey here in the audience and his fiance she’s, you know, predicting.

Um, therapists never thought, oh my gosh, I’m going to like, be able to do all my work online. It was really important to her to see people and I’m kind of speaking for her Jeffrey, but, um, yeah, I, I just see that there’s a lot of verticals like that, that present platform opportunities, which will then also help the people in those verticals.

And then of course there’s still the, even the bigger place, but those are harder. Um, for me personally, uh, you know, we run an e-commerce store opposite office Shopify called Meow intends.com for cats and cat lovers. Um, you know, I would love to see more offerings to help, you know, my company. You know, do do maybe like the fulfillment piece, not just, you know, there’s a, there are a lot of disparate pieces and it’s hard to get academies of scale because I’m treated just as one soul Wolf kind of speaking.[00:06:00] 

And it would be great if, you know, if I got like, for example, the chronometer scale, it flies a bunch of people, you know, my size were pulled together and got like to, to combine a 40 HQ, you know, shipping container rather than me trying to fill up my one at myself. That’s a lot of risks for me, so, oh my gosh, there’s so many things, but I’m just starting with e-commerce stores.

Um, and I’m finished for now. Uh, I think e-commerce is a huge opportunity for all the reasons you mentioned. Um, the other thing that came to mind too, and I’ve been hearing a lot of people talk about this is. You know, the so-called creator economy, you know, the opportunity to, um, start a business as a creator as your own little media conglomerate of one person, because you talked about the platforms and how the platforms can facilitate, uh, e-commerce very easily, but the platforms now can [00:07:00] also accommodate.

Um, sharing and spreading and monetizing your own personal media. I think I recently read something that, you know, when they asked, you know, high school and junior high school students, um, what they wanted to do, what they wanted to be when they grew up a very large percentage of them said they wanted to be a YouTuber or they wanted to be an influencer of sorts.

And, and the reason they’re able to say that as an aspiration is because there, there are a lots of examples of people, their age and, and young people who are doing that successfully might even be the platforms. Now give you the ability to monitor them. Your audience, if you’re able to build an audience.

So I think they’re, you know, one of the other startup ideas for 2022 is do you have a talent to speak? Do you have a skill to share or teach? Um, do you have knowledge that people would want to subscribe to a newsletter for? Because if you can say yes to any of those things, there are now many platforms [00:08:00] that make it easy to monetize that audience, if you have the capability to build an audience.

So I think that’s another interesting opportunity for, I think, I think it has never been an easier time in history to launch a small business, an e-commerce business, a Shopify it’s virtually free to do, um, platforms like Etsy, allow you to list your products and it costs you almost nothing to do that.

When you launch an e-commerce company, you can come up with a design and outsource those designs. To companies that are in the United States or China or elsewhere around the world. So it’s absolutely one of the easiest times to launch your eCommerce business. And I think that that’s cool. And I think Jeff you’re, you’re talking about expertise, monetizing, and expertise.

If you have an expertise, there are platforms out there. The one that I came across recently is a company called you to me, U D E M Y. I’m not [00:09:00] even certain, if I’m pronouncing it right, where if you have an expertise, you can post a video and they share 33% of the revenue with the creator of that video. So that’s another one that I’ve seen online.

If you’re in the audience today and you have a thought, do you have an idea of what kind of trends for 2022 or what kind of business startup. Uh, you think are good ones to start, please raise your hands and come on stage. Now I do, as promised I do have that one.

the start of the pandemic. Um, that’s the highest total since the financial crisis, year of 2008. It’s interesting how in 2008, they had a big year too. So when the economy or something goes wrong [00:10:00] more often than not, people are either quitting their jobs or they’re laid off and then they’re starting businesses and that’s that opportunity.

Those are the entrepreneurs in these recessions that actually take the initiative to, to, to launch a startup, the total amounts to increase this total amounts to increase of 6% in the cell phone. Uh, in the United States while the us unemployment rate remains nearly at a 3% low bef below the pandemic, um, entrepreneurs applied for a federal tax identification number to register 4.5, 4 million new businesses.

Now here’s the, here’s the kicker from January through October of this year, that’s up 56% from the same period of 2019. That’s the largest number on record since they started tracking it in 2004. Um, so this is what we’re seeing here is a shift. It’s the great quit and the great start-up. And so many people are leaving [00:11:00] their jobs to start businesses and, and what are the businesses that they can start.

And that’s what the show’s all about today.

Well, we have, um, Samantha up on stage. So why don’t we start, um, getting some, uh, feedback and input from our audience members. Samantha, what are your ideas for startups for 20? Hi. Well, thank you so much. And this is, this is a really great inspirational room, and I think that, you know, um, What you just said earlier about being a creator that there’s no better time to do that is, is absolutely dead on and that’s, um, and that’s, uh, where I am headed.

So my name is Samantha Ford and I am the creator of a new series that I’m creating, where I share inspirational stories of women professionals in mid-life, who have started over, um, recreating [00:12:00] their lives and careers. And that started because, um, uh, my executive search practice over the past year, just as the pandemic or just before the pandemic started, was building up my board practice, placing women on corporate boards.

And then when the pandemic hit, it was pretty hard to try and engage, um, companies to engage me. To do a retained search for a board member. I think, you know, they would want to work with someone that they, that they already knew and had a proven track record, like, you know, th th the bigger houses. So I just started connecting with all of these amazing C-suite women from media to beauty, to, uh, health and wellness.

Um, and I just met so many women who had great stories, where, where they were either downsized or let go, or they got cancer, or all of these, you know, these, these, or a crisis [00:13:00] where they left, where they were and they, they started over. And so, um, so that’s what I’m going to be doing. And I have a lot of ways to do that, but I don’t think I’m exactly sure where my demographic is going to be hanging out the most, you know, which are, which are busy professionals in mid-life, who just want to get some inspiration.

And so I’m sort of thinking about doing it on Instagram. Uh, maybe doing a newsletter. I don’t know how effective that is. Maybe I don’t know doing, could I do a documentary? So, um, so that’s what I’m working on. And I would just, I, I would love some of your feedback on where you think a story or these stories would be a good place to land.

And so my name is Samantha. Thank you. I’m done. Thanks Samantha. Thanks for sharing that. Um, it sounds like you have a great vision for where you want to be. And I think the, the areas you mentioned are not mutually exclusive, meaning I don’t think you have to [00:14:00] choose between Instagram or a newsletter because they feed each other and operate differently.

And at the end of the day, you know, you could leverage a more open platform, like an Instagram to build your audience, and then. Move members of that audience who are willing to, into a newsletter, um, that they would then pay for, because there are a number of platforms now like sub stack and some others that make it pretty easy to monetize and create a paid newsletter.

Of course, they, they take their pound of flesh. Um, but if you can build a large enough community where, uh, uh, you know, a substantive percentage of them would pay for your newsletter. So all the things you described, you know, they can feed each other as opposed to thinking, oh, I have to pick one. Um, and focus on that.

Um, that would be my opinion. It is.

I lied to here. I think that that could be a fascinating [00:15:00] show on clubhouse. Um, Michelle, I don’t know if you have any thoughts about that, but it’d be interesting if you, if you, if we somehow could, could. Bring bring you into startup club and get you to do a weekly show on that. I think it’s a very cool topic.

I would love that. And thank you for that offer. And I agree, and I think, I think it’s such an important, important topic right now, especially because, you know, there are so many women who had to leave the workforce and, you know, it’s, it’s scary getting back in. And I think when you hear someone who has been there done that already, um, and while it may not have been, you know, pandemic driven, but, you know, whenever I feel like I see someone doing something that, um, that I’m going through and they did it and got through it, I feel like that gives me the courage to go out into the world and, and, and conquer whatever it is that I need to conquer.

So I love, [00:16:00] you know, one thing that occurs to me too, is. You know, you can position yourself as a subject matter expert is it sounds like, right? Like you’re an expert and what better service to be able to offer people that you’re actually helping them transition and, you know, realize their potential, you know, actualize themselves, all these things that, you know, everyone wants to do, but it’s hard to find somebody to really help you do that.

Right? Lots of people want you to pay them a lot of money to do that, but actually can just help them. You could potentially, you know, get some good press off of that. And I agree. You know, you could do some sessions to help people transitioning in or out of jobs. Like we know that’s like huge numbers are going in that direction right now.

So I think that could be some amazing content. I myself would not start [00:17:00] with a paywall. I think paywalls are very difficult to launch. I would first try to really establish yourself, you know, as that expert. I, I’m not quite sure I understood how you’re earning money in all of this. So maybe you could kind of quickly tell us that.

So I could just kind of understand a little bit better. Is this a, you know, a non-profit type of venture or is this something that you’re looking to monitor? That, that that’s a great idea. I think I’m definitely not starting with a, Hey, write me a check in order to participate in this room or to hear these stories.

Really what I want to start with doing is that, you know, again, I’ve got, I’ve got women out of some of these, some very well known companies who are recognized. Um, and I really just want to start sharing their stories to inspire people. I believe that once I do that, um, I think ultimately I’d love to, I’d love it to turn into a book, um, of, uh, you know, a beautiful coffee [00:18:00] table book, but I can’t do that, I think without a following.

And I think that potentially this is all new to me, how to monetize potentially there are, um, advertisers and my age demographic that are looking to focus on, you know, women in particular who are over 50. Um, so, so I, I don’t know exactly yet. Michelle, thank you for that. Yeah, that’s fantastic. And I love that you said about 50 because you know what, there’s so much, you know, such a wealth of information and experience there.

And I personally am in that category and, you know, I love helping younger folks and older folks. So, you know, we’re with you. And if you’re interested in coming up on some shows on clubhouse, let us know we’ll jump on with you.

Great. Um, the rat beareth, um, you are next, you have some [00:19:00] ideas you want to share for 2022.

Hi. Hi Jeffrey. Can you hear me? Yes, we can hear you. So they just dropped off. Uh, just joined back again. Uh, yes, uh, actually, uh, Uh, creating a club like this. And, uh, this is my first time here. Uh, I could actually totally, uh, um, I mean, so, so, uh, regarding the startup ideas for 2021, what I was observing is the trend of moving.

I mean, people started, uh, moving towards, uh, things like cryptocurrencies and tradings, uh, for due to the pandemic and people have their money in hand and they wanted to invest in, uh, some forms. Uh, so, uh, they are considering an easy way to invest [00:20:00] in companies as stocks and do that a lot of, uh, apps and websites that are, those allows people to, uh, do investments.

I still believe that, uh, the, that is a long way to go for, uh, how people trade in cryptocurrencies and also. Uh, D decent list economy is actually, uh, impacting the businesses as well. So I believe, uh, I actually think that 2021, uh, would make a way for a decent list economy of four there. And, uh, that is, that would be a lot more cryptocurrency apps and a business that will be flowing into, uh, uh, day-to-day lives.

Yeah. I think that the whole crypto space and space, there’s an opportunity here for enterprising individuals who could come up with applications like you say, but that [00:21:00] also involves security. And I think that that’s one of the keys to a lot of this space is being able to generate marketplaces that are secure.

Um, we’ve talked a lot in past we’ve talked, we’ve had shows like this, and we talked a lot about how NFTs, uh, And the opportunities in the NFT world, and I’ve met a number of NFT entrepreneurs. So we’re starting to really see that space grow. I wonder though, if you know, investing in NFTs or, you know, investing in crypto, is that a startup or is that more like an investments and that sort of the, the, you know, the only thought I had there is that, you know, when it comes to that kind of stuff, you really do need to have some money to invest in and make the money, but are there business opportunities in that space where if you don’t have the money, you could actually, um, make money from it.

I think there is. I think if you really understand it well, and you really know how to promote an NFT or how to, uh, [00:22:00] How to take an out of Tito market. I mean, there’s a lot of room for a lot of small businesses in 2022 around that space. Yeah. I think Colin you’re absolutely right. And I think there’s a lot of opportunities adjacent to the crypto world and to the NFT world and, and interesting things that we’ll be cropping up around Dows, you know, um, uh, decentralized autonomous organizations and how they might change, you know, the structure of a business where businesses are run by the members of the Dow as opposed to a CEO or a board, um, and decisions are made by the wisdom of the dowel crowd, so to speak.

So I think that’s interesting. We had one, uh, person joined us a few times, I think, uh, here in another rooms who is using copper, um, to make a physical copy. Wallet for your, um, codes and keywords that, that unlock your crypto wallets because people [00:23:00] have to, um, um, store their information somewhere that’s secure because if anyone has that information, they can have access to their, um, crypto wallets.

And that gets destroyed if it’s, even if it’s at a piece of paper in a safe and it burns you’re you’re in trouble. So he is actually making a physical wallet made out of copper because copper will survive even fires, um, to put a piece of paper with your crypto information on it, so it doesn’t get lost.

So that’s an example of a startup idea he had that was, uh, adjacent to crypto and leveraging needs of the crypto community, but not, not involving him investing in crypto himself calling. No, I know I have a couple thousand dollars of crypto lying around somewhere in my house. A couple of three years ago, I put it on a USB drive and I, and I can’t remember where.

Um, but I know I do have the codes with it too, but, but maybe there’s a business in finding lost Crips. [00:24:00] I even think a layer down. I don’t know if I’m using the right technical terminology, but you know, even blockchain is it’s not nearly been exploded to the level that I think we’re going to see in a few years.

Like, I, I’m just very optimistic about what we’ll see there and what it will add to security. And then, you know, just, just protecting the whole integrity of a, uh, a chain of title or,

yeah, I love, I just, I love the whole blockchain space and I think you’re right there, there are so many applications that we’ve not seen yet that can come from blockchain. I know crypto and NFTs because there’s a lot of money flying around. They get a lot of the attention, but I think. Yeah, and there are applications, you know, Tim Ferriss on his podcast recently has been talking about his interest in NFTs is not so much for [00:25:00] the art aspects of it or the potential investment or appreciation aspects of it.

But what he finds fascinating is the, um, smart contract that could be associated with it that can give something a continuous revenue stream over time. So his vision is, imagine if you’re trying to raise money for a foundation or a fund, um, you know, if you set up something where you start selling some NFTs that have a smart contract, where 10% of the future, um, exchanges of those NFTs, go back to the founder.

And in this case, the founder would be. Charity or foundation or fund, it would be a way for the fund to basically potentially sustain itself in perpetuity because every time one of those digital assets is sold or exchanges, hands, the fund would benefit from that transaction and get more money. So he’s looking at it as a way to [00:26:00] fund potentially some of the charitable research and other things that he’s involved with.

So I thought that was a very interesting use case and something I hadn’t heard much about. Yeah, no, I, I, I think that this is an opportunity for artists to monetize some of their works and artists, as we know, most of the artists we know are starving artists and they do so much incredible work. And this is an opportunity for them to try to monetize some of that work.

We have a fellow Canadian in the house today, Jane. Jane Janeer. We’d love to hear from you. Hi, thanks for having me on stage. How are you doing very well, having a great Friday after. Good me too. Um, the reason why I raised my hand was to, um, also try to connect with Samantha because I’ve spent over 20 years in the career [00:27:00] and recruitment space and, you know, entry-level candidates from right at a university or college all the way to, you know, that mid 50 mark where they are, you know, transitioning into new opportunities because they may have been downsized.

So I thought that possibly used Samantha, you know, you and I could connect and, you know, I can definitely support you, um, in your ambitions to work with. Oh, that’s so great. Jane, thank you so much. I would love that. And I think that there is, um, there’s definitely a wide audience for this because I feel like there are, there are also, which was the case for me.

And this is a story for another time, you know, um, women who are reentering the workforce. I mean, I left the workforce for 10 years when I got married and had my son. Um, and I jumped in, it was probably, you know, I look back now. It’s like the high dive where I can’t believe I did it. I got up to the top and I was terrified to jump down, but too embarrassed to, to walk back [00:28:00] down.

So, um, but I think that there are women like that too, who left the workforce and who are contemplating getting back in and you just don’t know what your value is. So, um, so I think there are just, it resonates on so many levels, but I will, I will reach out to you. Um, and I’d love.

And Jane I, well, you know, I, I mentioned earlier an article in the wall street journal that talked about a record number of, um, employees leaving their work and starting their own businesses. How you’re in the recruiting space, how are you seeing this trends? You know, how is it impacting your business over the last, you know, year or two since the pandemic.

Well, okay. That’s a really big question. Um, all right. So first and foremost, I mean, I, uh, myself, um, did that as well. So I’ve worked for 16 years with one of the largest specialized staffing firms. Robert [00:29:00] half. I was there for 16 years before venturing on my own. I didn’t leave there to start on my own. I, I was really burnt out at the time and really didn’t want to be in this business.

And it just morphed that I did get into it. Um, and the transition has been fairly, you know, uh, I mean, there’s a lot of learning curves in terms of marketing and all that sort of stuff. But, um, because I have the industry experience, it wasn’t too difficult. But to answer your question regarding candidates and how it’s affected my business.

Um, I think what’s happening right now is candidates not so much reluctant to go on their own and become freelancers in their, you know, in their area of specialization, but more so really wanting to not take on opportunities that are 100% in the office. Um, so they’re not quite flexible right now. They really want a remote, uh, 100% remote role.[00:30:00] 

And if they’re a little bit flexible, they’re asking for a hybrid situation, um, or not. So, so open to a hundred percent work environment. So that’s where I’ve seen a shift. So when I’m recruiting for, so just to put in perspective, I work with. Or candidates rather who are looking for opportunities and accounting, finance, it, marketing human resources and, um, supply chain.

So, you know, your buyers and whatnot. Um, and so some of those folks I’m finding or are pumping the brakes and saying, you know what? I, uh, I don’t want to go back into an office a hundred percent, but I wouldn’t say they’re transitioning necessarily into entrepreneurship. I haven’t, I mean, I have, you know, friends and people that I know, but that part of it hasn’t affected my business.

If that answers your question calling well, that’s the great rethink, right? Everyone is rethinking their lives. And, uh, if they’re not happy in that role, um, [00:31:00] they’re, they’re, they’re leaving and they’re leaving in droves and you’re right. They’re not necessarily starting new companies, but they’re looking for things probably that they enjoy more.

And, and money is less important. Am I correct on that? Um, I would say don’t I, what I see right now, if I’m completely honest, what I’m seeing in the market is candidates really playing the system. It’s what I would say. So, um, they will entertain a recruiter, um, and, uh, say, yes, we’re looking for, you know, I’m looking for a new opportunity.

Um, they don’t really want to leave their current opportunity. Um, and what they do is they’ll take an offer, um, to get more money from their current employer. Um, I’ve seen that and heard that from some of my competitors, um, and that has been lost. So if you’re not really in control and understanding really what the scope of what the candidates looking for.

You know, they can take you down a really nice ride [00:32:00] of, um, you believing that they’re looking for something else. Um, you know, I’ve got very strict, um, measures in place to help facilitate that. So that doesn’t happen. But you know, there’s always a human element that you can’t control. Right. But, um, so we’re seeing and hearing that candidates want to stay where they are, but they’re really making, um, some pretty bold moves in terms of salary expectations, you know, coming to the table and saying that, you know, I’m making, you know, 75,000 where they’re really making 60,000 when you do income verification, um, so that they can ask for 85,000.

So that’s sort of, uh, you know, some of the, um, the changes in behavior that, uh, that we’re seeing. Well, if there’s one message that everyone hopefully gets from the show is play the system. I think that’s great. I think that was what. Yeah, but I, Jane I’m sure you see some that are not [00:33:00] playing the system.

Um, we actually have a close friend. She was working for gosh. Um, one of the big three accounting firms, you know, a 200 K plus job that’s quitting her job because she is actually like, I can’t handle being on zoom calls for, you know, eight to 10 hours anymore. Like, and I don’t want to go driving in a meeting.

So I do believe there are some really, you know, sincere, fundamental changes that are occurring in the way people want to live their lives. Like she is, you know, taking a major step down and I’m curious what your thoughts are on that. Yeah, I think there’s a mixed bag. Michelle. I think that there’s a mixed bag of people out there.

Right? So you’re gonna have some that are gonna, you know, lie and cheat the system or try to at least, and then you do have your genuine folks who are, or, or even people that are just really flexible and [00:34:00] honest, right. And say, no, I just want to know a new opportunity. Um, I either want to, you know, stay lateral or go lateral, or I want to, I’m willing to, you know, pivot my career into a different direction because I’m just not getting the work life balance.

So I agree that there it’s. I think some, I can hear my dad saying, you know, there’s some people, you know, in the employment. World or just, you know, they do different things, but I would say, yeah, there’s a mixed bag, I think to Colin’s question how it’s affecting my business. Um, and maybe some of my competitors businesses is that it’s people who are, you know, I work with mostly, probably 90% gainfully employed, um, candidates who are looking to, you know, make that next move.

Um, and it’s typically up, but sometimes it’s lateral. Um, I, I personally just, haven’t seen a lot of the pivot changes into different careers cause I’m pretty niche. Um, and my focus. Yeah. And I think in the example, Michelle is using is, um, she’s actually, [00:35:00] she and her husband have launched a, um, vacation rental service company.

So they manage vacation rentals, which is totally different than what she was doing before. And, uh, and they’re, they’re, we, we we’ve begun to see, you know, we talk about startup ideas for 2022. If you can get a deposit. And you can find the right location, the right space, and you can brand it. The returns on vacation rentals right now are through the roof.

And, uh, you know, we’re seeing businesses do very well. And, and that, in that particular case that Michelle was talking about, she left at 200 K plus a county job to work in a vacation rental business, which almost doesn’t make sense, but there’s a sense of freedom that you get when you launch your own business.

When you make your own money, it is a lot more fun. Like Jane, you left, you left the big firm, you’re making a lot of money and you decide to do it on your own. There’s just something a little bit more fun about doing it and yeah, and I think [00:36:00] when you’re her, you know, driving the results on your terms, right?

So one of the things is, you know, there was a lot of metrics put in place. Um, and you know, I’m very much a cradle to grave, um, person who wants to have relationships from the onset to, you know, these candidates become my clients sometimes. Um, and I don’t want to be governed by a numbers. I really want to understand from my candidates, like what it is that makes them tick and what do they really want and not just push opportunities in front of them.

So now, like you’re saying, I can do it on my own. Um, and create my own rules. So it’s very satisfying. I also say to candidates that there’s no dollar, even if you’re leaving for, you know, things that you’re leaving for an opportunity that may pay you 20, 30, 40, I’ve seen people leave for even 3000. If you really want to understand the work environment that you’re going into.

And if there’s going to be a balance, if there is such a thing, but you know, the balance or what is it that, you know, what is it that you want from, you know, the opportunities that you’re going into, what is your [00:37:00] next employer needs to look like? What is it that you want from them? What are you offering also?

So I think people need to be where they’re happy. I think COVID has taught us that, that, you know, what, there’s more to life than just work. Right. Um, and I think that we’ve, we’ve, we, people are just making those pivots in their mind and they’re making them, you know, with their careers as well.

Yeah. That’s very cool. All right. I think, um, if I’m correct, Jeff m.is up next. I’m sorry. We don’t have a name for you. W w we gotta work on your profile, but a M dot 6 1 4 5.

Yeah, you’re up.

Thanks a lot for having me on the stage and

cryptocurrency, or maybe blockchain, because it’s not under my control. And I prefer to work on something that could be on my [00:38:00] control, and I have an expertise and I will be a proficient in aspects. For example, being a teacher of English, because lots of people here in this country that I’ve been living for a lot of my life here in Iran, it could be a better business for me, and I would be able to develop it and make a progress in this field because lots of people in the whole of the world are searching in internet, especially in YouTube for a teacher of English language.

And I think I would be able to.

Yeah, we’re, we’re losing your way. I think we got the just, um, I think we got the, just where you’re going, you’re coming in and out. Um, but I think your point about taking your expertise teaching and turning that into a business, if you’re, if you are a teacher making a business out of that, I mean, that sounds like a great idea.

And, uh, but you are coming in and out. So we’re going to jump, just calling, just to add, I want to just add to something else and brought up that I [00:39:00] thought was interesting. And so we don’t gloss over it. He mentioned that, you know, while crypto and blockchain is interesting, He wanted to do something that he was in complete control of.

So using that expertise, as you were saying, call it is something that you could be in control of. And I think that that is a trend we may start to see because it falls in line with the great resignation and the things that Jane was talking about. People wanting to change the quality of their life and the style of their life.

So I think people are going to trend maybe in 20, 22 to want some type of a job or a business or a startup where they have more control where they’re, where they’re in control of their own destiny, as opposed to, um, letting someone else or some other circumstances. I think we’ve all faced what happens when circumstances out of our control step up like the pandemic.

And I think that might push people like em, to look for opportunities where they can be in complete control. So I thought that was an interesting point, but it’s [00:40:00] triggering something to Jeff. You said education, like there’s been massive changes and an industry that has not changed as far as I can tell for ever, you know, or at least decades.

So I think education, there is a lot of opportunity and remote learning, you know, the tools, the systems to track the homework, just, you know, how do you interactively learn? So I think there are a lot of opportunities probably for folks that work with students on those platforms, as well as platform place.

I think you’re both exactly right. Um, I read recently yesterday, even that the number one way to make money on in 2022 online is by offering courses and. [00:41:00] Can you wait, we’re having trouble hearing you rage. Oh, okay. It’s just slow. Maybe it’s the mic. Yeah. I turned the volume on the mic. Okay. Sorry. Yeah. So I read recently yesterday or so that the number one way to make money online in 2022 is going to be offering courses and like masterclasses and I can’t help, but also see this parallel with the pandemic and the way education has been going, uh, teachers going out of the classroom going online, offering their courses.

And also I’ve seen a lot, uh, recently in various clubhouse rooms, like the clubhouse tech spotlight, you know, recruiting, a lot of educators are stepping out of the classroom to get into ed tech and especially in learning and development and developing those softwares or applications or platforms for.

Education and [00:42:00] learning. How interesting would it be for, to come full circle? You know, I’ve seen also yesterday I was in a, in a room here with art Basel coming. Um, last year we didn’t have our basil because of the pandemic. And so this year, a lot of artists are electing to not show, but having their rooms or having their work showcased in a virtual gallery where you can offer NFT exchange and blockchain and cryptocurrency.

So there’s a lot going on on the digital platform in technology and art. And when we keep talking about this and it’s very fascinating to me.

Yeah. I, I, I think you’re right about masterclass. I mentioned you to me earlier on, I was working with a, um, an incubator program and there’s a gentleman there who started a, um, an app it’s not live yet. It’s going live in about 30 days. And, uh, [00:43:00] his app is allows you, like, if you’re, if you’re in clubhouse, it’s very hard to monetize, but with his app, what they, what people do is they book your time.

You set up your time, I’m available for two hours this day, you set it up on the app and then someone can look up an expertise, say, oh, I need someone to talk to right now about this particular expertise. And you’re charging them a hundred, $150 per hour. So this whole idea of taking something you’re really good at and expertise, whether it’s teaching, whatever it is and being able to monetize it through apps on the internet, that’s definitely a 20, 22 thing.

Colin, do you have the name of that? That’s fascinating to me because I think I’m working on it. Right. I know it’s called owl. All right. But there’s so many hours, Jeff and I were talking about that earlier. There’s so many owl apps called owl. Um, but I’m working on that right now. All have the name.

Great. Well, thank you. Uh, yeah, we’ll look forward to [00:44:00] that, Collin and Rachel, thank you for, thank you for those thoughts. Yeah. A lot of opportunities for 2022 Mesos Sparrow. Um, what are your thoughts on startup opportunities for 20? Hi, uh, good afternoon guys. Uh, um, uh, I live in Houston. Um, my background is in tech and maths mathematics.

So, um, the pandemic or the aspect of, you know, a business and I thought I started trading now. Um, someone who, um, things have to be analytical. Things have to make sense to me too familiar, indulge in it. Like I never traded all my life because. I was like, if this is so easy to make money, why do people lose the most money from it?

It doesn’t make sense to me. [00:45:00] So I started trading, I made my mistakes and I learned, and now we’re working on developing. And that, that translates technical analysis to numbers that you don’t have to reach out because I think people get overwhelmed, you know, not knowing the right indicators to choose not knowing, you know, it’s hard to get to mix being overwhelmed with this claim of trading the mindset.

Now you have a lot of these called groups and a lot of, you know, trading gurus, giving out plays on what people should buy or what they should trade, but they people subscribe to the flash ignoring the key elements, which is the Rick’s management. Now. So one could come tell you he made six figures on it.

But you don’t know how much he wreaks to make that kind of money. All you see is a trade. And if you go into a trade with a wrong sense, or with a wrong reef management, [00:46:00] you will lose more times than you’re going to win. So, um, my team and I will walk in on an app where people can take their strategies and convert to a mathematical formula that when you introduce a data sets of any stock, it could give you, uh, a rational comparison for your risks to your reward.

So if you have a smaller account of 500 to a thousand dollars, you know what exactly you’re getting into. And I feel this pandemic really brought out a lot of opportunities for people to work from home, like on their own. And it’s quite impressive. And I’m happy to be in this group. I think, I think that’s absolutely amazing this notion of managing risk, not just profits, because you are 100%, right?

I mean, you can, you could throw money at something and make a killing at it, but you took a lot of risk in doing [00:47:00] it. And so, especially if you have a balanced portfolio, you know, could this risk management tool, um, be something that, uh, that can help a trader. I think there’s something to that. It’d be interesting to see if you could get some partners or distribution through, you know, companies like E-Trade or some of the big brokerage companies.

Cause I think that’s, that’s how you could really take that thing to the next level. Oh, I wanted to share the name too. Um, the name is owl O w w L l.com. They’re doing on demand, uh, for paid for expert, um, connections. Um, and there’s other companies out there too. So, um, I don’t know that, that, that specialize in this area, we talked about you to me, we talked to.

Masterclass there’s other, other companies out there that I just don’t have the names in front of me right now that if you have the expertise you can monetize, I know clubhouse is all about give, give, give, and you know, hopefully one day you get something back. Uh, and it’s a lot of fun, but you know, some of us have to make a living as [00:48:00] well.

So there are those websites and platforms out there that do that. So Collin, you said it was owed w O O w w L l.com. I told you it was owl. I told you it’s owl. We need them to show up for the name game on Wednesday night and discuss that name. What time is that? I’ll tell him Wednesday, it’s six. Please have your owl guy show up for the name game Wednesday night at 6:00 PM.

And we’ll discuss that name in greater detail. Now he’s, he’s, he’s done a great job in putting that. As well as a spiral, I think you also touched on this trend where trading now is becoming democratized and not just for, um, wealthy people with lots of money to invest, but for younger people, um, with less discretion and income who are still very interested in, in playing the market and obviously the success of Robin hood, um, is indicative of that.

So I think, you know, you’re onto a good trend and those are the kinds of people who may [00:49:00] need the kind of, um, risk management, um, you’re talking about, right. Because they can risk. Yeah. Yeah. Very interesting. Great. Well, let, let’s keep moving on because we’re coming up, we’ve got 11 minutes left. We try to keep the show to about an hour, but thank you for everyone for all these great ideas from 2022, let’s get on to Shana.

Shana, what are your startup?

Hi. So I’m currently actually a student and I’m pretty new to the whole startup idea. I did try starting, um, during COVID, um, a small jewelry company, which obviously is an over flooded. Meesh not at all a good idea. Um, but looking into investing, marketing and health platforms for, um, mental health care, which is something that I’m passionate about and studying.

And I also volunteer as a crisis counselor. Um, so I was really curious how to gain more really expertise in any [00:50:00] area, especially, um, alongside computer sciences, to be able to develop something that could be useful and benefit so many people and also be able to monetize off that. So I’ve got a basis, but I’ve never really been able to, um, gain expertise.

And the learning curve has been really hard in regards to computer sciences. And I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions or ideas around.

Well, I think that the flip side of what Colin brought up, you know, the fact that there are all these platforms for people to share their knowledge. The flip side is all those platforms need quality. Its members need people to want to gain that knowledge. And I think there are a tremendous number of online resources courses, um, in things revolving around computer science.

So, and some of them are not, not very costly. There’s even one. The name escapes me, but, but they they’re doing, um, where they’ll pay full tuition. It’s like a full-blown school for computer programming [00:51:00] and it’s tuition free, but you give up a small percentage. As long as you get, when you graduate, you’re guaranteed to get like a job of 50 K or above, and then they take a small percentage of that.

Income for a few years until they recoup the, what would have been the tuition for that school? Um, very interesting concept, but there’s a lot of online resources for you to, to gain.

Hopefully that was helpful. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. And we’d love to see your profile picture when you get it up. You know, when you put up a picture of, I’m going to follow you right now, just as a commitment, but you gotta promise me, you’ll do a profile picture. Cause we don’t only bring people up on the stage unless you have the photo.

I just recently made this account actually two days ago, typically for those listening. Yeah. Typically we don’t bring people up that don’t have any information in there. Um, profile or profile picture in your case, Shana, I [00:52:00] brought you up cause I did see some information in. Profile. So you did, you got it halfway there, but Collin is right.

You should have the, uh, the picture in the profile. Um, with that, let’s go on to . What are your ideas?

Uh, hello everyone. Thank you for letting me speaking. Um, actually, uh, listening to you guys, um, I, I’m not, I can’t hear this, the word problem solving and, uh, being, uh, e-commerce seller. So I’m online seller have Shopify stores. I’m sending an Amazon, uh, actually, so 2021 brought so many problems into our everyday life.

So once we got so many sales, once everybody started shopping online, uh, we actually, um, faced the problem with fulfillment and still, uh, today there is [00:53:00] no solution for that. And, um, I think that only by solving the problem, um, the real star top can, can be successful. So. Even small problem, like, um, you know, um, I’m in Tel Aviv now and, uh, I work in a co-working space and I actually talked to high-tech guys and I, I couldn’t explain.

So I couldn’t understand what product we actually need. So I was talking and complaining, so I have to do this and that. And when I showed exactly the thing that I have to do every day, I have to copy paste my oldest from Amazon and to paste it into the Google sheet and then write an email to the warehouse.

So they would fulfill my order. And it’s everyday. The amount of volume of orders that just growing it’s Christmas. And, uh, so there are no, actually the easy automations in fulfillment. Um, and, [00:54:00] uh, so we have to deal with so many warehouses around the world because we sell, you know, worldwide. There is a big problem with, uh, China fulfillment.

It’s very long. You know, we have only Alibaba and Ali express that actually do it well. So, and if I want to sell products from Turkey, because the quality is much better, there is no solution for shipping products from Turkey. And, uh, actually, um, my idea and I have this idea two years ago, and I think it was, it would be great if somebody could make it, uh, you know, to have lots of automation and connection between warehouses around the world and having them, you know, like in one app and allowing me as a seller, for example, a non Amazon, to be able to, to, to have my stock, to have my oldest, everything in front of me without any Google pages and the.[00:55:00] 

Even if a warehouse is they have their own inventory software, you know, managing, uh, they’re so complicated, they are not user friendly at all. So it takes me a month to learn how to use it. And, um, so I wish that somebody would solve that problem in 2022. Yeah. I, I think you’ve hit probably the number one issue in 2021, which was the supply chain and that’s been hampering, a lot of companies, Michelle, I know you have been challenged with this one and be Arlington.

So maybe you could share a little bit and what you did. Interesting. What you did recently is as you drove to Miami and worked with a local, um, designer, I thought that was pretty, I’m curious because it’s that Lorna said fulfillment. I didn’t hear her say supply chain. So are you talking specifically about.

Manufacturing [00:56:00] or buying already pre-made goods and getting them to your warehouse, or are you speaking of getting the products from warehouse to customer? Which part of that equation are you speaking about?

Um, the thing is that, uh, with this with COVID, um, Amazon stopped accepting a stock to FBA warehouses. So we were limited in sending our stock for fulfillment. Uh, you know, like we have prime and therefore the problem is that we have already stock in the U S for example, and it’s already at the prep center, the warehouse, and we have to fulfill orders that we have on Amazon, but as a seller fulfilled orders, and there is no actually good automation and Amazon is very, um, you know, But we cannot make mistakes.

The order should be [00:57:00] shipped fast, so it should reach the customer. So there should be great customer service. Otherwise we get then. Right. So, so this, this is the issue of do sticks, um, inventory, um, you know, um, how you said management. Um, yeah, so it’s not about supply. No, it’s easy to find the supplier today.

So there are so many manufacturers, so you can find that easily. The problem is with fulfilling your orders on time fast and, and manage your inventory. Well without Thomas on FBA. Yeah. Yeah. I hear what you’re saying. My, my, actually my problem has actually been more on the supply chain side, getting goods from China to the U S because I refuse to pay $20,000 for a 40 HQ container that I just paid four or $5,000 for.

A year ago. So there are, so there [00:58:00] are problems on both sides. Um, my suggestion, you know, take it for what it, you know, if it applies to you or not, is we actually use, you know, I’ll just go ahead and say who it is. Although it’s not Amazon, we use Rakuten and for us, yeah. We’ve had to very closely monitor and change things.

W we’ve been pretty fortunate, uh, that the delays that we’ve had have been minor, what I’ve personally found is we really try to over-communicate with the customer. They don’t always want to hear it, but we are routinely telling them that it’s, you know, there’s there’s issues there that there’s, we have no control over.

We can’t make the post office go faster. In fact, we were using something called like Sherpa posts, because it was a little cheaper. You know, cost more, more effective. And I actually had to take it on our side [00:59:00] and upgrade it to like priority, you know, United States, postal mail. I also, I don’t want to say there was another international mail people we had to drop.

So for us, we’re just always really, really closely monitoring what’s going on with those delivery services. We try very hard to follow them and it is automated for us coming right out of our warehouse. Our warehouse tries to ship all orders the same day, that’s in the U S and they also try to ship internationally the same day.

Um, but I agree with you at slow. Um, but just over communicate because the fact is you, you cannot do anything about it. And then we’ve had to, in cases, eliminate certain classes of mail. Um, even though it costs a little bit more and it has impacted us, it absolutely has because we’ve had to, you know, increase shipping rates.

I had to increase my free [01:00:00] ship from 50 to $75. Like I can’t lose money on every order here. You know, we tried to be equitable, but I hear your pain. Um, I would recommend that you go with somebody like a Rakuten. I know they don’t do Amazon. Um, we have stayed away from Amazon FBA. I know you have to ship directly into their warehouse as I understand, but it seems like they should be able to manage that problem.

That is Amazon. If you’re in their warehouses. And I personally. Um, I don’t think I would do Amazon without being product in their warehouse because I want to be prime. And I also, like you said, I don’t want all those headaches and complaints and you know, it just hurts you in the end, but, um, you know, that’s, that’s what I’ve experienced.

I know Jeff has some experience there too, Jeff, like it sounds like slip on is specifically talking about Amazon here. Yeah. But I think, um, w we’re [01:01:00] we’re at the top of the hour and I want to make sure I’m, it gets time. But what I will say is, aside from the, um, logistics and supply chain discussion sped, Lana said something very important at the beginning when she first spoke.

And she’s absolutely right. She said, we hadn’t talked about. Problem solving. And when you think about what are the great startup ideas for 2020, that’s a great starting point. Like, what are the problems that you have experienced with just like she had with her e-commerce business, but what are the problems that you face that you understand are real problems that you can potentially start a business to solve?

Because most of the great entrepreneurial stories and most of the great startups, including many current unicorns like Uber and like Airbnb and others started because the founders were trying to solve a problem that they faced. Right. Um, so, uh, solving problems is really an important part of entrepreneurship and startups.

So I wanted to just highlight that and thanks for Atlanta for bringing that [01:02:00] up. Um, let’s go to Ahmed as our last, um, contributor this afternoon. Ahmed, what are your startup ideas for 20. Hello everyone. I’m Ahmed from Egypt, two projects, mostly related with an NFTM meter verse, but, uh, about, uh, old Egypt, ancient Egypt.

And if these will be attached with a trip to Egypt and with our applicants for Egypt

and games that related to the NFC will give us a lot of, uh, mix of products that we can introduce. Uh, um, and I hope, and what I’m looking for is co-founder technical, technical co-founders because, uh, there is no professional developers or technicals here [01:03:00] in Egypt. So I want to advise co-found. And technical co-founder to help us in this project.

Thank you. All right. And, uh, you know, there may not be an Egypt, but there on clubhouse, let me assure you of that. We have a number of friends, um, like paid chow and others who are working to launch NFTs, uh, with clients like yourself. So I love that the fact that you brought up a boat traveling to Egypt as well.

I wonder, you know, with the pandemic starting to subside, at least we think it is if 2022 would be a year where we see travel, come back and, and people begin to experience those travels. Um, we are going to run this show, the same topic next Friday, two o’clock Eastern startup ideas for 2022. So we know there was a lot of interest in this topic.

We’re going to run it again next week. I’m very excited about that. I won’t be here personally next week, but I know Jeff and Michelle. [01:04:00] We’ll be in Rachel, um, spend a, it w today was a very special show because what we saw again, was the power of the community, the power of the start-up club community coming together and sharing their ideas and helping inspire all of us as to what types of ideas we can launch in 2022, if you haven’t already done.

So please go to Startup.Club, sign up to that email list. We have a top author coming on in January. You’re not going to know the date. You’re not going to have the time. You’re not going to know the name, unless you sign up to that email list. Second, we are also going to be doing a live show from CES, with our friends at P& G ventures.

 And that’s going to occur as well. But if, again, if you’re not on the email list, you’re just not going to know that these events are coming up. So if you get a chance, go to Startup.Club and sign up to that list and check out the recordings. We have about 40 recordings, almost about nine, 10 months of recordings of a serial entrepreneur hour every Friday at two o’clock Eastern.

And I’m telling you this, [01:05:00] if you listen to every one of those recording, you’ll get an MBA in entrepreneurship, better than you can get from anywhere else, because the power of the community, what the, what everyone here has shared is incredible. And that will help you with your entrepreneur and your startup.

Thank you everyone