Ace Bolo’s Post

The whole decade we've been friends, Gorick Ng has always been obsessed with the question, "How do we make early-career professionals successful, especially those that don't come from privileged backgrounds?" We've always bonded over his mission. I felt it -- the middle-class kid, totally lost entering my first job -- like I was just showing up for a test I wasn't aware of, that everyone else had been preparing for their whole life. Gorick's written a WSJ bestselling book ("The Unspoken Rules") and today is launching something really useful: The "How to Say It" flashcards, on Kickstarter (link below) I reviewed an early copy and think it's a great resource. Whether or not you're in startups, it's worth getting packs if: -> You're early in your career -> You manage people early in their careers (get it for your team!) It helps you communicate much more clearly, every day, with less feeling like you're a fish out of water -- which makes everything easier & more things possible.

What would you do if the CEO asked you to make something that can generate revenue? I interned at a startup where the CEO tasked me to come up with a product idea that could generate revenue. Along with this problem statement, my task was also to take the product from 0 to 1. I followed the below framework to achieve it. #productdevelopment #startupsuccess #strategicsolutions #productmanagement #zerotoone

Last week I hit the big 4-0. I guess this age is made for deep reflection, because I'm going there. We were going to be in New Orleans, where I spent most of my early career in tech and cut my teeth on startup life – for the better part of a decade. Naturally, we grabbed dinner with Matthew Tritico and Jenni, and as the evening went on we spiraled into deep conversation. This has me reflecting on these pivotal moments in my life that led me to where I am today – building an incredible product (Koala) with incredible cofounders (Tido Carriero, Netto Farah) and team. Every pivotal moment is about people. The first major one was meeting my now wife, Aimee Shwery. She saw my potential and pushed me to pursue (what I thought was just a hobby) professionally. I'd probably still be on a farm in Iowa if not for her (jk I was never on a farm). We found ourselves in New Orleans, and the first two amazing people I met were Joe Ellis and Matthew Tritico. Literally on Day 1. Their mentorship and moreover their friendship opened countless doors for me, including an epic journey working alongside Patrick Comer and the early team at Lucid. Then came Segment. Some may not know this, but Netto Farah was the one who *hired me* at Segment, and Tido Carriero was the one who sold me during the interviews (well, I was already sold by Netto, but Tido made the decision a no brainer). Segment is where the three of us Koala co-founders first connected and each of us experience quite a journey of career growth and impact there. This experience deeply influenced my desire to build a products that customers love, and to do that with people you have Default Trust with. (stealing a phrase that Netto likes to use). It's wild that while you can navigate through life with intentionality, so much comes down to the people you meet along the way. #startup #thursdaythoughts #gratitude

The Journey launch has completely blown me and the team away over the past 9 days. Almost 20 Founders and VCs wanting to work with us to document how they're building they're startup, day by day, week by week, month by month. Through VIDEO 🎥 40 hours a month of documenting in your offices, in your meetings, in your home, with your co-founders, travelling, etc etc. All for one, affordable price. Now, the team is looking for people to cope with demand 🤣: - Videographers - Editors - BD Interns. Entrepreneurship is about adding value and putting yourself out there. Very proud of how The Journey team has built and launched so far 🚀 p.s Even though my reach is down 70% on LinkedIn over the past 2 months, we're still able to build FAST 😈. p.p.s Founders, check out what we're doing at www.founderjourney.vc

What's your best head-shot/profile appropriate photo? That's easy—it's right there at the top of your linkedin profile. But what's your *worst* photo that would still be appropriate? Just finished my onboarding at STATION F, the world's largest startup campus, and I think I have a new personal contender for "worst possible head-shot" I'm working on my own start-up, which means eventually there will be a website with an "about us" section. So, which of these two photos should I use? 😶

I just realized it is Good Friday! Let's celebrate good news! Do you have any to share? Here's mine - After five years of working diligently to develop a home on ten acres of land in coastal Topanga after Woolsey took the Malibu Dream House in 2018 and put my life in a slightly different path of healing and discovery... Plans have been CLEARED and APPROVED including fire engineering, septic, grading, and California Coastal Commission (almost). Grading and construction can start this year! Dreams becoming real. I took a rendering of the architect's plans and put it in a photo, so you can imagine the possibilities for business, creativity, and wellness here. It's taken up a lot of bandwidth to commit to this journey while also working diligently to rebuild a recruiting/advisory firm for purpose-driven companies. I could let that part go, but I am genuinely excited to advise founders and recruit for businesses that increase commerce, create jobs, and do good for the world. Self-care has become an essential part of the experience. You may think I am grinding all the time, like I used to, but I actually spend a lot of time in the garden, playing music, and resting. After losing so much, it's even more important to treasure every day, breathe, and be kind to people. Forgive myself if I don't get it all done. Let it go, or ask for help. I also realize when people see what's been built already, how much HAS been accomplished, so I am probably getting just as much done, with plenty of rest and support, as I did when I worked non-stop, trying to do it all myself. If these insights can inspire other founders and people in general - then YAY. We are not alone. We can help each other. Wanna come see it IRL and meet other inspiring founders & leaders? April 21st is the next monthly Dreamore Hike & Picnic. RSVP here: https://lu.ma/yuqdn7es Happy Friday! Yay Dreamore #inspiration #womeninleadership #womeninbusiness #growthmindset #startups #founders #hiring #recruiting #purposedriven #missiondriven

🎙️ Wearing Many Hats: The Startup Reality Savannah High, CWDP, a former intern and a Technology Employment Specialist at Persevere, and Justin Krug, Account Executive at Workshop, dive into the startup grind—where adaptability is key. Whether you’re juggling admin tasks one day or diving into a big project the next, it’s all part of the journey. The startup world keeps you on your toes, and learning to figure things out on the fly is a game-changer. 🎩💼 #StartupLife #Adaptability #EntrepreneurMindset

🚀 I'm excited to share my startup journey with you all! This year, I joined Builders to embark on a new startup adventure. Eager to jump in and create a magical product right away 🤩 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺… The first thing I focused on during the initial 10 weeks was connecting with our Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) to understand their daily challenges and biggest pains. It wasn't easy, especially as a foreigner with zero network in the region. So, Sales Navigator became my best friend. 🤝 After countless outreach messages, rejections, and being stood up on calls, I finally spoke with over 𝟭𝟯𝟬 HR leaders and it was incredible! These conversations not only gave me deeper insights into their most challenging issues but also led to in-person meetings, invitations to community events, and great coffee chats that give me a clear understanding of where to start building our product. Now armed with a lot of knowledge and a focused goal, I'm ready to dive into building. This experience completely shifted my initial product concept, and I'm grateful it did! It allowed me to realize early on that my original idea may not have addressed the problems that we are now focusing on. 🎯 𝘈𝘴 𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘐𝘊𝘗'𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴? 𝘐'𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵! 🔍

What did we do before we even launched our company? We got merch for our friends 😅 Probably not the smartest use of time allocation back then, but that's why it's fun being a young founder. (if I could talk to my younger self, I would say to focus on customer interviews and not the flashy and easy stuff like buying merch) Buying merch and distributing it is easy. The hard part is sitting down with customers and iterating on initial ideas. Maybe for our next startup, we'll get merch after we launch the company 😄

A new year means new beginnings. For some founders, it means taking on a new role within their start-up. Discover why it doesn’t have to be a case of 'once a founder, always a founder’. Find out how to stop wearing too many hats, follow your passion and do the work you enjoy the most in your start-up. Read the blog, https://bit.ly/3O1JkXT