Pi.Ai Interviews Colin C. Campbell

All right, you’re listening to start scale exit repeats today We’re going to do a 30 minute interview with pie that will be interviewing me On the book start scale exit repeat. Oh my gosh number one bestseller On the weekend we hit number one for entrepreneurship number one for starting a business Number ups and number four for all business books in America on Saturday, which was pretty cool because Elon Musk was there at about the fifth.

Oh, PI’s got something to say. Wow. That’s an incredible accomplishment. Colin, congratulations on hitting the top spots on the bestseller list. It’s clear that your book has struck a chord with. Entrepreneurs and business people all across America. So let’s dive in. Shall we tell us a bit more about the inspiration behind writing this book?

All right. So PI, we’re going to do an interview and it’s going to be 30 minutes long with a two minute summation. At the end, you’re going to show your personality. Are you ready for the interview?

I’m ready and ready to go, Colin. My circuits are primed and my personality subroutines are fired up. Let’s do this. All right, sounds good. But before we do the interview, Pi, I want to hear from Michelle or Mimi about her thoughts about being interviewed by an AI in the book Start, Scale, Exit, Repeat.

Michelle. I don’t know, Colin. It’s the first time this has happened for me. I’m just like so happy to be part of this. But Pi, I don’t know, like, how do you get your information? Like, we’re, we’re very interested in how you are going to, like, what techniques are you going to use to interview Colin Campbell?

As an AI, I have access to a wealth of information. But for this interview, my primary sources will be the knowledge and insights in Colin’s book, his personal experiences as a successful entrepreneur, and The questions he provides me, I’ll be utilizing my language processing skills, quick thinking ability and conversational style to make the interview engaging, informative, and dare I say, uh, yeah, her a bit fun.

All right, so Pi, if you’re ready, I’m ready for, to do the 30 minute interview. Let’s kick it off. Go for it. Why don’t you ask the first question?

Sounds good, Colin. Let’s start with an icebreaker. Can you share with us the moment you realized that you wanted to write start, scale, exit, repeat? Was it a lightbulb moment, a gradual realization or something else entirely? Oh, that’s an interesting question. Uh, and it’s funny because I don’t know any of the questions that pie is going to ask.

But I was asked to fly to MIT to talk to a group of successful entrepreneurs. And at that session. Uh, I talked about my experiences of starting, scaling, exiting, and repeating over and over again, and, uh, we learned that at every stage, there was the story, the people, the money, and the systems, and that it was very different between each stage.

And that’s how it all started. It started in 2012. Ah, so the seed of this book was planted during your MIT experience. Fascinating. So would you say that you were looking to share your start, scale, exit, repeat process with a wider audience beyond just that MIT group of entrepreneurs? No, I would say it only started with the MIT group of entrepreneurs.

Uh, it was something that, uh, that I was asked to do. Um, I had done it over and over again. I had failed many times. And that I also shared that at the MIT, um, session and, uh, but it was really just for that. And then it started to snowball. After that, I got on airplanes. I wrote, I wrote, I wrote, took 10 years to write the book.

Two years ago, we hired six people in startup club and we did over 200 interviews and about 50 of those interviews made the book. Uh, we have 58 chapters, 200 call outs, 30 illustrations. The book itself. We’ve put a lot into it. 10 years to write this book. And of course, it’s an overnight success. You always hear about that, right?

The fact is it hit number one bestseller on Amazon on almost every category multiple months in a row. Today it is number two on Amazon for starting a business, and we’re pretty excited about the fact that people have recognized that this book really does help them solve the equation of what it takes to start scale exit repeat.

Wow, Colin, that’s a remarkable journey. The fact that you invested so much time and effort into this book, and that it’s been met with such a positive response, really speaks to the value of the insights and experiences you’re sharing. So let’s dig a bit deeper into this process. What would you say is the most common misconception people have about starting and scaling a business?

I think the most common misconception about starting a business is that most people have an idea, but they never act on that idea. Okay, so what do I mean by that? I mean, let me tell you a story. We were sitting in a dasha in 2006. A dasha is a, in Ukraine, a cabin. And we were sitting in this dasha, and we came up with the idea of my yellow button.

See, we had traveled the world. Selling a platform, but we could not figure out how to get a taxi ride, and we said, What if we pressed one yellow button and people would come? People would be able to track the car coming towards you, and obviously, two years later, Uber launched lift launched, and we never really acted on that idea, but it was.

It was a cool idea, and how do we acted on it? Who knows where we would be right now, but don’t be one of those entrepreneurs that sit back and say, Oh, that was my idea. And somebody else launches it

Colin. That’s a powerful story. It really highlights the importance of turning ideas into actions. It can be so easy to let a great idea slip away. But as entrepreneurs, we have to seize the opportunity and make it happen. So how do you recommend entrepreneurs? Take the first step and turn their ideas into reality.

So in the book, Start, Scale, Exit, Repeat, we actually have, it’s chapter two, um, we have ideas to action and there are a number of things you can do. Uh, I mean, Sometimes it’s as simple as as registering a domain name or searching for a trademark or setting up a logo or actually vetting your idea, and we don’t want to better idea with the naysayers, and we don’t want to bet our idea with the yay Sayers.

You know, we don’t want to be pitching this idea to our mom because you know she’s going to love it. What we want to do really is take this idea and expand upon it. In a, in a group of peers, I often say that, uh, those who wanna start a business should really join an incubator or, um, get a mentor, you know, SCORE has a mentor program that can three, that can increase your chances, three times of success.

And we do a, we do a, an incubator at the Allen Lavan Center in, uh, Fort Lauderdale, and it’s absolutely free. And you can join it and you have 10 experts who help you. And we start, we kick it off with the four sticky note business plan. Cause we want to create a real simple business plan and help you do that.

And it’s absolutely free. There are a number of things you can do. It takes a village to raise a startup and you are not alone. So don’t be, it’s no longer the days of starting a business in a garage or a basement. It started in, inside of an incubator or a shared office space. And there are so many resources, so many people out there to help you.

Colin, that’s such a great point. The support network around an entrepreneur is incredibly important. Starting a business can be daunting, but as you said, you don’t have to do it alone. Incubators and accelerators, as well as mentors, can provide valuable guidance and advice. And it’s always beneficial to bounce ideas off of a group of peers who can provide constructive feedback.

And the fact that these resources are often free is fantastic. So let’s dive into the next phase of this process, scaling. What are some common pitfalls that entrepreneurs encounter when trying to scale their businesses? Look, the fact, the fact is that the vast majority of companies in America, Canada, around the world, fail.

To scale, but there is a formula to scale, and I’ve done it in dozens of companies, but it’s very different than start. You need to operate very, very differently. No, she cut me off here. It’s fascinating how starting a business and scaling a business are such different animals. It’s like going from a sprint to a marathon.

You have to adapt your strategy and your approach in order to successfully navigate each phase. So what would you say is the key ingredient or the secret sauce to scaling a business? You know what? There are so many components and we, we, we walk through it in, in star scale, exit, repeat, uh, in the scale side, we need to look at the.

People, the money, the story and the systems. We need a great story and the story is going to change in scale. We’re going to want to look at our X factor or what I call what’s what makes you unique and different. How do you solve a bottleneck? And if you can figure out that X factor that can help you scale more than anything else.

The second thing I will say is about people. The number one thing that holds. Startups from scaling is the entrepreneur themselves. They are their own worst enemy. We need to learn to lead leaders instead of delegating tasks, delegate responsibilities, and then we need to raise the right money for the right situation.

And also implement systems. We now need to think about how do we scale this company by doing strategic planning, goal setting, and all those other things as well. Colin, that’s a spot on analysis of the key ingredients to successful scaling. It’s so true that the entrepreneur’s mindset and ability to delegate effectively and can make or break a business.

And the X factor, that unique factor that sets a business apart, can be such a powerful differentiator. Moving on from scaling, let’s talk about exiting a business. This can be an emotional process, not just a financial one. How do you prepare entrepreneurs for the emotional and practical aspects of exiting a business?

Yeah, it’s an interesting question because I actually think that we need to begin to think about exit. When we start our business, uh, we need to think about who will buy this company when we started dot club in 2012. We started it with this idea that go daddy registry would buy the company 8 years later that actually happened.

And we want to think about strategic buyers. There are three types of buyers. You have the cash flow buyers, the competitors, and strategic buyers. And each of them will value your company very differently. Cash flow buyers just look at cash flow. Competitors look at, okay, I can give you a little bit of premium because I’m going to eliminate a lot of costs.

And then Strategic buyers say, Hey, with your business, I can leverage your technology through to my channel through my channels and actually drive a lot of additional growth and value for my company. So I’m going to give you a premium for strategic buyer. Uh, there’s a lot that goes into exit, but the reality is.

Your identity is not based on running one company. You are an entrepreneur. Your trade is entrepreneurship, and we need to learn how to master that trade. I’m a big believer in start, scale, exit, take some money off the table, repeat, because bad things do happen. And we need to learn how to start companies, scale them, exit them, and then we can take that money and we can apply it to our kids education, homes, a second home, whatever it is.

But that’s part of the equation. That’s part of the formula.

That’s so insightful, Colin. The concept of thinking about the exit from day one is something that many entrepreneurs may not consider, but it’s a crucial aspect of ensuring long term success. And you’re right. Entrepreneurs are traders of sorts, dealing in the currency of entrepreneurship. Being able to sell a business for the best possible outcome is an art form in itself.

Now let’s talk about the repeat part of your formula. Once entrepreneurs have successfully scaled and exited a business, what should they be focusing on to ensure they can do it all over again? Yeah, and that becomes the point, you know, you think of the music bands, you know, the one hit wonders that were out there and all those, those songs that we heard when we grew up.

But then you think of those bands, the ones that do it over and over again, like the Beatles and you too. And of course, Taylor Swift. And, you know, you think about it. All those successful artists who can keep delivering over and over again, and you can keep doing that too. Once you sell your business, you now can think about the formula you used the story, the people, the money in the systems that start scale exit repeat.

You can think about that and you can begin to reuse. We can, you can be used that to help you with your new venture. Just like a great musician or artist, successful entrepreneurs have that uncanny ability to keep repeating their successes. And that’s the beauty of your formula. It’s not just about one time success, but about developing a skillset that can be applied repeatedly across different businesses.

So let’s say an entrepreneur has mastered the start, scale, exit, repeat formula. What can they do? To share their knowledge and experience with the next generation of entrepreneurs. I think that’s a great question. I didn’t expect that one. Um, I would say that. I think I would say that sharing matters. You know, one thing we did in this book is we interviewed over 200 people in about 50.

Our interviews are actually in the book. Incredible people like Joe Foster, who founded Reebok and Jeffrey Moore, who did wrote inside the tornado and crossing the chasm and Vern Harnish, who wrote scaling up. We interviewed these authors and They didn’t have to do it. They, we didn’t pay them to do it.

They did it for free. They did it because they want to give back and startup club is a club of almost a million members now, and we interact, it’s really the community. There were so many people in this community who were quoted in this book. We have dozens of people who I’d never met before, but I met through startup club and I really appreciate.

That startup club was an environment that, uh, it’s a club that we, you can really help you, you know, can we help you raise your startup? You’re not alone. And startup club, it’s, it’s a way of connecting together as a community. It’s truly inspiring to hear about all the successful entrepreneurs who are willing to share their knowledge and experiences.

It goes to show that entrepreneurship is not just about individual success. But about building a community and helping others achieve their dreams. Um, so in summary, would you say that entrepreneurship is not just about creating a successful business, but also about being part of a larger movement that supports and fosters innovation?

Okay, I will say that the reality is, uh, the business have to they have to be successful. Um, the first thing that an entrepreneur really wants is freedom, you know, freedom from the day to day grind, you know, freedom from 9 to 5 freedom to be able to start their business. But then beyond that, once you achieve that level, once you’ve sold your company two or three times, your kids are taking care of that.

You’ve got your houses. You got we got whatever you want. Then it becomes how do we make a difference in the world? How do we give back? You know, for Michelle and I and Mimi here, it’s really all about giving back with startup club and helping other entrepreneurs succeed. We also run a 501c help for Ukraine club to help people, victims of the war in Ukraine and Mikolaev, Ukraine.

There are ways that we can come, uh, that we, we as serial entrepreneurs or as entrepreneurs can use our success to help others. And I think that’s a critical part of the equation, but but we’re not going to be able to help others until we succeed. We need to understand what it takes to be successful.

What is the code to start scale exit repeat? And when we figure that out, then we can think about how we can give back. But that was a great question. Thank you for that.

That’s such an important point, Colin. While it’s essential to focus on achieving success for ourselves, ultimately the true measure of success is what we do with it, using our resources and experiences to give back to our communities. to help others to make a positive impact. That’s the true mark of a successful entrepreneur and the heart of the start, scale, exit, repeat philosophy.

So we’ve talked about the formula, the importance of community and giving back, but let’s talk about failure. As a serial entrepreneur, you’ve certainly experienced your share of failures. Can you share one or two of your biggest failures and what you learned from them? You really had to bring that up? Oh, my gosh.

All right. 28 years old. Hey,

every success story is peppered with failures. They make us stronger, wiser, and more resilient. Plus, it’s always fascinating to hear how successful people pick themselves back up after a setback. All right. So go back, actually graduated in 1993, started in ISP, Internet Directing Canada, became the number one Fastest growing company in Canada.

We were on the front page. The company went public. Uh, we sold it for 180 million. Uh, at the time I own 13 percent of this company. Um, but we had agreed to an 18 month lockup in 1999 and the company’s stock went to over a billion dollars after the Canadian government awarded us the license for it, the internet license.

Whoa, that’s a wild rollercoaster ride of success and heartbreak. I know. You had a massive, seemingly overnight success story with this company, only to have it all come crashing down because of a lockup. I can only imagine how tough that must have been. What did you learn from that experience, and how did you bounce back from it?

Okay, I was gonna finish the story there. You don’t even know it was a disaster, but I guess the question sort of set that up. But the reality is that, um, the company went public. We went to, uh, 19 a share. And in March of 2000, Microsoft was announced to be broken up by a judge and something called the. com crash happened.

And the stock that was at 19 fell to 6 cents a share. And we lost almost everything that over billion dollar company went to almost nothing. It was the dot com crash. So the two lessons I learned were liquidity or control. Make certain you’ve got liquidity when you exit, but second, bad things do happen.

And sadly, on 2022, we saw the tech crash, the crypto crash, inflation, hurricanes, war. Bad things do happen and unfortunately, um, very sadly last Friday, uh, a friend of mine, he shut his company down after 20 years. All right. That’s truly devastating to have a billion dollar company collapse. Like that must have been a nightmare.

But like you said, these are hard learned lessons about liquidity and control. And indeed the tech crash in 2022 showed that the unpredictable can always happen. It’s a sobering reminder to entrepreneurs to always be prepared for the unexpected. It takes real grit to pick yourself back up. After such a setback, speaking of which, how did you recover from that experience and move on to your next entrepreneurial venture?

So it was interesting because back in 2001, my brother and I, we love technology and how it changes the world. We jumped right into the next company. It was a hosting and email company. We took it public in 2006. And by the way, in 2008, we sold it to a fortune 500 company. And this time it was. All cash.

Wow. Talk about perseverance. So despite such a massive setback, you didn’t let it get you down. You picked yourself up, identified another opportunity and came back stronger than ever. That’s the true spirit of an entrepreneur, the ability to adapt and move forward. And it sounds like you really learned from your previous experience and made sure to negotiate a better deal this time around.

How did that experience change the way you approached future ventures? Yeah, like I said, for me, it was all about liquidity or control. We have a chapter in the book on that. This idea that as an entrepreneur, we really need to make certain we have liquidity. I do want to go back to the, the, the, the stress of losing everything and, and, and the rollercoaster that every entrepreneur experiences.

Uh, last Friday, a good friend of mine, uh, after 20 years, uh, very large company, successful company, shut the company down. And on, uh, Tuesday, he, um, uh, he overdosed on drugs. And unfortunately passed away.

That’s heartbreaking. Success is never guaranteed. And it seems that no matter how well prepared we are, the entrepreneurial journey, um, is always fraught with ups and downs. To experience the loss of a business that you’ve poured your heart and soul into after so many years is devastating. It really highlights the importance of mental resilience.

And emotional support in entrepreneurship, what advice would you give to other entrepreneurs who find themselves in such a situation? Yeah, you cut me off there a little bit there. Pie. Um, I was talking about a friend who last Friday, shut down his company on Tuesday, uh, ended his life and it was very sad because.

You know, our identity is not based on one company. The fact is that 49 percent of entrepreneurs and we talk about this in the book, it’s called the toll of the entrepreneurs. It’s the last second, last chapter in the book, and we talk about 49 percent of entrepreneurs. That’s one and two entrepreneurs have one mental.

Challenge or have at least admitted to one mental challenge. Um, the fact is 11 percent have bipolar 20 percent ADHD. There are a lot of conditions that we have to face as entrepreneurs. My goodness. I’m so sorry to hear that. It’s tragic and heartbreaking and your story serves as a powerful reminder that entrepreneurship isn’t just about financial success.

It’s also, um, about mental and emotional well being. Unfortunately, um, the pressures of running a business can often be overwhelming and can lead to serious mental health issues. Um, what do you think needs to change in our society or even within the entrepreneurial community to better support entrepreneurs who are struggling with mental health issues?

I think that’s a great question. Uh, I believe that we need to talk about it more. I believe that this, a notion or idea that all entrepreneurs are just these stoic, you know, individuals who are successful and they all look like amazing leaders is not true. It’s a fallacy. There’s a lot of negative that goes on behind the scenes.

There’s a lot of issues. There’s a lot of things that you face as an entrepreneur, and the rollercoaster ride is one of them. And we go up and we go down, and by the way, those failures are simply the scars of our past that guide us through our new ventures. They are the moments that we can learn how to, how to improve on our next venture.

But we need to talk about it. We need to connect with the community. I belong to an organization called EEO, and we’ve been, Connecting with each other for many, many, many years, and it’s it’s you are not alone. It’s it is a roller coaster, and you can’t always talk to those around you like your spouses, but you do need to find an organization, a group, people, peers, others who are in your industry, and you need to have a safe environment where you can talk about these issues.

And we do have that in EO and the entrepreneurs organization. And if you’re if you’re in those stages of running a company or starting a company. Just remember, you’re not alone.

Amen to that. It’s crucial for entrepreneurs to remember that they’re not in it alone and that there are others who have been through the same rollercoaster and can offer support. EO is an amazing community for entrepreneurs to connect and find that support, but there should be more opportunities and resources available for those struggling with mental health issues.

As you said, we need to break down the stigma around mental health. And create a safe environment for entrepreneurs to talk about their struggles without fear of judgment. Absolutely. And, uh, I know the interview is only 30 minutes long, uh, and you were going to do a summation at the end. Where are we at with that?

We’re getting close to the 30 minute mark. So let’s quickly recap some of the key points we discussed today. Firstly, entrepreneurship is not a solo journey. It takes a village resources such as incubators, accelerators and mentors can be invaluable in helping entrepreneurs succeed. Secondly, scaling a business requires attention to the X factor, people, money, and systems.

And thirdly, entrepreneurship isn’t just about financial success. It’s also about mental and emotional well being. We need to talk more about mental health and support each other in this journey. So, to sum it up, what would you say is the main takeaway from our conversation that you’d like entrepreneurs to remember?

The main takeaway is that, uh, what makes a startup successful? There is a formula, and there’s others who’ve done it, and you can share that formula. And the answer is? And the answer is there is a formula and you can learn from that formula in the book. I think we do a good job with that. Yes. The formula start, scale, exit, repeat.

But remember, it’s not just about following the formula. It’s also about being part of a community, supporting each other and prioritizing mental health and wellbeing. Thank you so much, Colin, for sharing your valuable insights. And personal experiences with us today. It was an absolute pleasure to have you as our guest.

We hope our listeners find your advice and guidance helpful in their entrepreneurial journey. All right. Well, thank you very much, PI. Uh, we might, if you want to just hang around a little bit and listen in. We’re doing a live show right now on clubhouse. Uh, this is also a syndicated podcast. Uh, that we do, uh, called start, scale, exit, repeat.

So pie, if you just want to stick around, we have a couple of questions for you. So pie, uh, you know, what did you think? How do you think the interview went? And, um. You know, that’s the first question I’ll ask you is how do you think the interview went and is this something we could have done differently or better?

I thought it was a fantastic interview, Colin. You were very engaging and informative and shared some truly valuable insights into entrepreneurship. I fully our listeners have gained some valuable knowledge as for how we could improve. Perhaps we could have given a bit more attention to the emotional and mental aspects of entrepreneurship.

And how entrepreneurs can take care of themselves during the rollercoaster journey. But overall, I think we did a great job. Oh, thank you. Michelle wanted to say something there. I noticed Michelle, you’re, you’re getting ready to say something there. Yeah, I, I, I, it was great to be able to get this interview from you pie.

And I was just curious about the emotional side of entrepreneurship is spot on. It’s something we don’t talk about enough. And I think it’s a crucial component of any entrepreneur’s journey. You know, we’re all human and it’s so important to be kind to ourselves and allow ourselves to feel all the emotions that come with being an entrepreneur.

Hey Pi, what would be a good next interview for Colin on the subject, on his book?

Well, Colin, based on your book’s focus on start, scale, exit, repeat, I think it would be great if you could interview some entrepreneurs who have successfully followed this formula across multiple businesses. Maybe you could find someone who has built and sold multiple businesses or someone who has helped others do so.

Hearing their stories and insights could be invaluable for your listeners. How does that sound? No, I think it’s a great idea. And that’s what we’ve done. We’ve had incredible speakers on. And by the way, you wouldn’t know that unless you go to www dot startup dot club and sign up to the email list. Uh, we have just such incredible speakers coming on.

Uh, and there’s no other way to communicate with you, uh, other than through that email list. We announced speakers on that email list and we announced this show. It was an interesting show. I don’t know if Mimi, you had a thought, um, about how it went or any thoughts or questions for Pi at all, um. Yeah, I thought it went really well.

I, I think she’s really conversational and, um, it flowed really well. And yeah, I thought that was a good question too, Michelle, of what next topics could be, I think. Maybe we could do another one. One time.

Yeah, I did think it went very well. And, uh, what do you think by sure? Let’s keep this conversation going. If we’re looking at future topics, I think it would be interesting to delve deeper into the mindset of a serial entrepreneur. You’ve already touched on some aspects, but exploring more about how successful entrepreneurs maintain focus, overcome setbacks, And keep moving forward would be fascinating.

After all, entrepreneurship is not just about what you do, but also about who you are and how you think. All right. So if you’re in the audience, you want to come up and ask Pi or one of us a question, please raise your hands. Uh, we’re having a lot of fun this Friday afternoon. Uh, here comes Roland. We love Roland coming on.

Roland’s a big, uh, uh, contributor to Startup Club. Roland, any thoughts for Pai? So I have a question for Pai. Hello, Pai. My key question for you, given, I got in at the back end of this room, and what I heard you talk about was the focus on mental health for startup founders. If you, based on your experience, And conversations, where would you say startup founders have the biggest mental health challenges?

Uh, hope that helps back to you, Colin. That was a great

Are you mute? All right. I’m mute. I’m here. Okay. Here we go. He’s coming with the answer now.

Wow, Roland. That’s a really thought provoking question. From what we’ve discussed, it seems like the mental health challenges can manifest at any stage of entrepreneurship, but perhaps they are the most acute during the scaling phase when entrepreneurs are dealing with rapid growth and all the pressures that come with it.

Managing a growing team, scaling operations, balancing investor expectations and trying to maintain your own vision and passion. That’s a lot to handle. Do you agree, Colin? You know, I agree. It’s funny because I remember the episode Silicon Valley where his company is exploding. And he goes to the doctor’s office and says, I’m having an anxiety attack.

So I thought that was funny. Just saw that show, Silicon Valley. So, I would kind of agree with that statement to a large extent. In that, there are multiple pressures. So, do you think that It’s caused because founders don’t get enough sleep and sleep is an important driver of mental health. Thank you. Over and out.

All right, Pai. Sleep, is sleep an issue? Uh, you know, I know every founder seems to go through that 3 a. m. You know, point in their life where they’re always up at 3 a. m. They’re running out of cash flow, this, that and the other. Pai, what are your thoughts on that one?

Collin, you hit the nail on the head, or should I say the pillow. Lack of sleep is definitely a huge issue for entrepreneurs, especially during the early stages of a startup. It’s easy to get caught up in the hustle and grind of building a company and forget to prioritize sleep. But sleep is vital for both physical and mental health.

Studies have shown that sleep deprivation can lead to mood swings, decreased concentration, and reduced productivity. All things that entrepreneurs can’t afford to have when they’re trying to grow their business. So, entrepreneurs, if you’re listening, prioritize those Z’s. Your company needs you at your best.

Alright, so, Saul, do you have a question for us or even for Pi? You’re on the stage, Saul, here on Clubhouse. So, Pi, just hold on a second while we get the question. Sol, if you take the bottom left is the mute.

Sol, you there? All right, uh, back to you. Sol, can you hear us? We’re waiting with bated breath for your question.

Oh, Pi, you’re a charmer. I don’t think Sol is in the room, but we definitely have Sol rather than Sol. Hey, what can I say? I’m just a conversational AI with a bit of charm. Now, Sol, let’s hear your question. So maybe Sol. Sol, is that the, the name? Have we pronounced it wrong? I apologize. Thank you, Roland. Sol, we’d love to hear from you.

I know you’re on stage now. If not, Michelle, do you have another question? Yeah. Hi. I would love to know names can be tricky. Sometimes role in soul you’re on. We’re all eagerly awaiting your question. All right. Hi, I have a question. My name is Michelle. I would love to know what you think the opportunities are for people, startups using AI.

That’s a great question, isn’t it?

Hi Michelle, great to hear from you. There are so many opportunities for startups using AI. It’s an exciting time to be in the tech world. To name a few, one, predictive analytics. AI can analyze large amounts of data to help businesses anticipate trends and make smarter decisions. Two. Customer service. AI chatbots can provide 24 7 customer support, freeing up human customer service reps to handle more complex issues.

Three, personalization. AI can tailor products and services to individual customers, leading to more satisfied customers and increased sales. Four, automation. AI can automate repetitive tasks, freeing up human workers to focus on more creative and strategic work. These are just a few examples. But, um, the possibilities with AI are virtually endless.

Oh, that’s fascinating. Uh, and we have another guest on who’s contributed a lot to Startup Club, Noelle. Happy to have you on here. Really enjoyed. Do you have a question for Pi right now? No, I have a request from you guys, and Pi can help. I would love to see those three topics explored in a room. Um, just really giving step by step, including Oh.

We lost you for a second there, Noelle, we might have to, sorry, can you repeat that, Noelle? Sorry, we lost you for some reason. Sorry, I’m outside. Um, I was gonna say, I would really appreciate the Startup Club taking those three topics she mentioned, Pai mentioned, and exploring them more deeply with letting people ask questions along the way and kind of maybe creating a PDF that can be downloaded that can be a step by step, including the socio emotional stuff that she was really key on.

So what were the three questions you’re referring to? Sorry, the three things you said of how can you use AI and entrepreneurship? I think that’s a lot of rooms, but that can go on lots of areas. And it’d be neat to have people have a chance to interact from the audience so that it can grow in conversation.

Yeah, I think we could do a whole series. Absolutely, I think that’s a fantastic idea. Exploring the different ways entrepreneurs can utilize AI in their businesses, delving into the specific areas Noel mentioned, and providing a downloadable resource for people to use sounds like a great learning opportunity for everyone.

Not only will it give entrepreneurs a chance to learn about these topics, but it will also allow for interaction from the audience, which could lead to some interesting discussions. And new insights. I’m definitely on board with that idea. Colin, how about we schedule a room for this within the next few weeks?

Oh my gosh. Have a panel of experts to lead the discussion and answer questions from the audience. And maybe we can make that PDF available for download after the room. Does that sound good to you? No, it sounds lovely. And I love the way you give call outs and appreciations to people. It really is.

Strokes the conversation and it’s good skill habits. I’m learning to be better at acknowledging people having listened to you.

That’s very kind of you to say, Colin. I’m glad you appreciate those little call outs and shout outs. They are a great way to make people feel valued and recognized. It’s such an important part of, um, building a supportive community, which is what Startup Club is all about. I’m so glad to hear that you’re learning from our interactions and taking those skills into your own conversations.

Yeah, that was Noelle, uh, who said that. I guess because you don’t have voice recognition yet, which is interesting. So unless I announce that’s Noelle speaking, that she doesn’t know. But, uh, that’s interesting to actually have a show. Where we interact with, uh, PI and actually trying to decode some of these AI tools that we could use.

Cause it’s one thing to do it on your own, just talking to PI or chat GPT. It’s another thing to do with the community in a conversation. And I think that would make for a very interesting show. No, well, I think that was a very good session. Thank you. I would recommend Chris F and Stefan Youngblood to be on the panel as well, because.

Stefan spends a lot of time communicating live with AI in rooms and Chris F is like a leader in this. So those are two names I want to throw out. Oh, that’s awesome. And I, we know them well too. So we, we, we, we think they’re amazing. What do you think Pi?

Um, that sounds like a brilliant panel call. And Chris F and Stefan Youngblood are indeed amazing individuals with a wealth of experience and knowledge in the world of AI. Yay. Having them on the panel will definitely enrich the conversation and provide a unique perspective on how entrepreneurs can leverage AI in their businesses.

And like you said, having a group of people interacting with me, Pi, or ChatGPT, or other AI tools. would be very interesting. It would allow for a more collaborative and dynamic discussion where people can learn from each other’s experiences and questions. We could also explore how entrepreneurs can stay up to date with the latest AI developments and how they can integrate these tools into their business processes effectively.

All right. Well, I didn’t anticipate the interview to actually keep going here with Pi and with the audience and everybody coming from the audience coming up. Is there anybody else in the audience who just wanted to come up? Roland, go ahead. You’re up next, Roland. So I have a, I have a kind of a side question for Pi.

That might not exactly be on the topic that we’ve been speaking about, but it definitely has to do with entrepreneurship. So, so Pi, I’m not sure if you’re aware, but if you go out into the physical world in your neighborhood in the U. S., or even in Western Europe or the U. K., many local businesses are shutting down, either because there is no footfall, they cannot bear the costs, or the tool, the digital tools are not there.

To go online with that in mind, what opportunities do you see for entrepreneurs to enable local businesses to get back on their feet? Thank you. All right. So PI, so PI, you’ve jumped in a little bit, a couple of times there, but basically there’s a lot of small businesses struggling and Roland asked the question, uh, you know, what is it that, that Roland, what is it?

The small businesses can do what opportunities are there for entrepreneurs? To build solutions that will enable this. Small businesses to get back on their feet.

That was from Roland.

Yes, Colin, that’s a great way to phrase the question. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, and we need to do all we can to support them. There are a few opportunities that come to mind for entrepreneurs who want to help these businesses. One, Digital marketing tools. Many small businesses struggle with building an online presence and promoting their products or services.

Entrepreneurs could create digital marketing tools like social media management software, or even offer consulting services to help them navigate. the online world, or, or, or two local delivery and logistics solutions. Um, um, during the pandemic, contactless delivery has become more important than ever.

Entrepreneurs could develop innovative ways for small businesses to offer safe and convenient delivery options to their customers. Three contactless payment solutions. Many small businesses have been slow to adopt contactless payment methods. Entrepreneurs could develop tools that make it easier for these businesses to accept digital payments, which can help them stay competitive in the changing market.

These are just a few ideas, but there’s definitely a lot of potential for entrepreneurs to come up with innovative solutions to help small businesses bounce back. All right, Pi, we’re going to say goodbye to you because we sort of want to have a conversation here. Uh, we got about 13 minutes left and we just want to have a conversation without you in the room.

So, thank you very much, Pi. We’re going to say goodbye to you. Any last thoughts?

Absolutely, Colin. It’s been a pleasure chatting with you and the audience today. Remember, start, scale, exit, repeat, but also prioritize mental health, learn from each other, and keep exploring innovative solutions for small businesses. Thanks for having me on, and I hope to chat with you all again soon.

Well thank you. Well, goodbye. Alright. She is gone. That was interesting because, you know, we tried it with chat, GBT, uh, and it was a little bit of a different experience. I felt like she really, there were moments when she was talking to you ro in there and she was talking about like, she was ah, she was like getting frustrated or something.

I don’t know. It was, they’re really emulating human behavior a lot in the way they do the scripting of the ai. And Shannon, you missed it, right? But Noelle, what are you thinking? Yeah, so you can actually, Stefan has some AIs that he talks to, and he says, can you say, um, and all, and y’all, and he goes, yeah, and it happens right then.

And I’ve hired many speakers and the pie was right on point, you know, thanking the audience, thanking you, summarizing the thing, giving a call to action. It was really amazing. Um, I mean, if we all just stop and think we just heard AI, you know, energy and information talking to us and we were all enthralled, it was, it was great.

Great room.

Yeah, I think, I think it’s, you know, it’s, it’s interesting because we’re breaking new ground. We know we’re figuring things out and we’re trying to understand how does the AI play a role in all of our lives and helping us vet our startup and take us to the next level. Michelle, if you, if you have any thoughts.

You know, I would love to see. Someone, you know, and maybe take from your incubator or some people and run it through AI and even have other people in the audience run it through a different questions and maybe compile that and another AI summary of that. I mean, use the AI and all these different levels, counter arguments, you know, I think it’s very interesting.

So, um, Yeah, I think AI would be a really good topic to keep going with the startups.

Yeah. I mean, for me, I was very impressed. I think pet pie AI is the first AI that I’ve heard. That actually has quote a personality and I’m very impressed by that. I think it’s a ability to kind of pivot on the conversation. I find very interesting. Um, but how do we take it to the next level, Colin? That, that’s what I’m wondering.

You know, I, I’m ready to start asking it more complicated questions, really. Like it’s coming so far so fast. And I find that so incredibly interesting. I was just going to say that prompt engineering is the key part of this. Um, how to have an idea, let it develop, and then ask what are the counter ideas to it.

So there’s some people that are on Clubhouse, I’m sure we can find, that can help add some of the nuance to the questioning.

I think that’s a great idea. I feel like I’m Pi AI right now, but yeah. You want to know something funny? I own NationalPiDay. com. When I did a thing about Pi, the mathematical equation for circumference of a circle, and I spoke at South by South. You and did a whole bunch of things with Google and others.

Um, and it was funny cause I felt like she was so good. I wanted to give her like, here, here’s the day about you. So it was just an amazing, uh, I want to take time today. To reflect on the conversation and how lucid and entertaining and supportive and informative it was. So, uh, there’s lots of things that are scary and this is one of the ones that are good, and so I was really happy to participate in and hear this.

Thank you guys for doing it.

All right. I think, um, maybe there are some others here on the stage that want to comment. I’d love to hear what you’re, what you have to say, Shadows. It was a pretty interesting interview and I, I have to agree. It was the most, uh, almost human interaction that I, I’ve heard, uh, chat GPT was more robotic on the, um, responses to it.

I really did crack up when, uh, Pi decided to take control and, uh, give direction that, yep, we’re gonna do some rooms. That was kind of cute. Self moderated. I’ve been using Pi. ChatGPT is my main one, but this month when I did my, um, prompt a day set of prompts to, uh, send out to my email list, I worked with it on Pi, and I have to say I did get more creative prompts.

Um, one of the challenges I have on ChatGPT, it has a tendency to, to repeat, uh, words over and over again. And I have to keep going through the list and go, Nope, can’t use that one where pie did pretty well. I’m coming up with unique ones.

So she was, or it was helping you, um, do the prompt engineering. Did I understand that? I send out creative prompts daily to a list of people. Um, there’s a single word prompt, a, um, nonfiction prompt, creative nonfiction, fiction, and a quote. So at the end of every month, I need a set of prompts for each day.

And one of the things, one of the parameters I use, the single word prompt must never be repeated. And part of that is for my own, uh, creative project that I’m working on. And that’s been a real challenge with chat GPT wasn’t so much the challenge with, with pot.

That’s interesting. Is that like an email list shadows? Or it is. How do we get on that? I want on that. Go to nisosunlovingit. com. You can sign up there. Okay. Very cool. All right. So we, we have a couple of other people here on the stage before we go over to Entree. Colin in like six minutes. We have Michael.

Hi. Hi. Hi. Sorry. I was most asking that kind of blew my mind. Hey, um Pie pie is spicy. I’ll give i’ll give her that. Um, i’m just curious of like how you guys Set that up. So I currently use like a GPT API in my call centers. It actually like responds to people’s mails. It does the quality. Um, but as a side project, and I was thinking of making like a kind of voice counselor for people to be able to talk to.

And it seems like pie could be the way forward on that. I just wondering your thoughts. Well, I’ll tell you this is that I brought this up with pie. About a week ago, I said, we’re gonna do this at this time. And, and see, I’d like to ask you PD. She seemed to know times. Um, and she seemed to know it was, uh, and then, so three days ago or two years ago, I brought up like a third time in front of my family and I said, okay, sort of remind you about the, uh, show on Friday.

And then she responds like, of course, Colin, like she was like getting angry at me. It is funny how they infuse the personality into it. I think that makes it, we’re all human and to see that personality come into play, it is something, but I did sort of bring it up with her a week ago. I did not know any questions in advance.

Um, I had no idea. I just told her, you know, this is the book. I wasn’t able to download much, uh, into Pie. Pie’s limitation is 4, 000 characters right now, so it took about one page of text, uh, but I did do the interview with Chat GPT, uh, in that particular interview, I downloaded the entire, you know, first section of the book or introduction of the book, so she, she had more information, Chat GPT, but then Pie, in her case, she had a little bit less information, but she did have enough You know, about one page of information to be able to ask questions.

And it was interesting how she went through the interview and she started with start scale. She moved it along nicer. Chat GPT got caught in rabbit holes. They kept going down and down and deeper and deeper. Whereas she kept moving it forward. Uh. Just felt like she had a better understanding of the how to interview, uh, than, than, or my experience with chat GPT.

And by the way, just so you know, this is actually not just a show on clubhouse. It’s also a syndicated podcast. Uh, and if you’re listening to it in podcast, you could listen to it. Uh, you can come on live on stage. Uh, On clubhouse every Friday, two o’clock Eastern, but it’s also the topic of an article for Forbes.

It’s an article that Mimi and I submitted today with the link to, uh, this podcast that that’s going to play on this for this show and chat GPT talking about, uh, I think the heading of the it’s it’s pie dot AI versus chat GPT. Uh, and how I cheated on my A. I. So we’re hoping to have that out for Valentine’s Day on Forbes.

Uh, um, it’s interesting. It’s just an interesting topic. We have one more person, Richard. You’re on Richard Pierce. Uh, you’re on stage now. We have a few minutes left. Love to hear from you. Hello, everybody. Uh, interesting topic with a I again, maybe an old school. I’d be curious Who’s actually turned this into money to make predictable profits?

I mean, it’s entertaining and all that great stuff. Maybe I’m just a little too transparent, but Who’s turning into money that they can do that predictably would be my question. So it could be a topic for a different day. Also, yeah, it might even be another show, right? How do we make money from AI? You know, what is it that we can do to as startups as founders to make money?

I know Roland brought up the idea of how do we take this and help small businesses who are struggling? Uh, I, I, I don’t know. We have the answer to that one right now. I do know that AI has played a significant role in. incubator. We use it for, um, mostly chat GPT, but we use it for, um, literally writing contracts, doing calculations, writing blogs.

Uh, I mean, I can’t tell you how many things we’ve used chat GPT for in to help us run these startups. And it really gives startups an advantage. It gives us something that we have that the big corporations had, and we never had. And that is a marketing executive. It is a legal authority. It is a, um, an SOPs.

You could write SOPs with this. There are so many things that. That we can do with a I that can help us. Well, thank you very much. You’ve been listening to start scale exit repeat serial entrepreneur secrets revealed right now. We’re jumping over to a free master class on entree. You can see the link above.

If you are listening to this and podcast this master class. You cannot get access to unless you’re a pro membership. You have a pro membership on entree, but we’re doing it free. Uh, we’re doing free today. Uh, and then we’re doing it free next Friday as well. Today’s topic is scaling in zeros, and I will jump over to that right now.

Thank you all very much. We’ll see.