Tony Wright is the CEO of RescueTime and Offers this Advice for Fellow Founders | Ep. 151 | Business Podcast
Summary
Tony has had an amazing entrepreneur career. He’s sold several companies, raised a record breaking amount in a crowdfunding campaign that went against conventual wisdom of using Kickstarter and offers his top three pieces of advice for fellow founders and business owners.
Find Tony at:
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Brandon:
Hello Friends, Welcome to the show.
Today we are doing a recap of episode 50 where we talked with Tony Right who has come back from a company that he founded almost a decade ago, I think called Rescue Time and he’s back as the ceo Tony and I actually went to college together and we were both psychology majors and we had lost touch through the years and one time I saw a press release or something that he was doing Rescue Time and and had already sold another company and was out in Silicon Valley and I was in Half Moon Bay and he was over doing, I think of why Combinator gig or something in in mountain view or around that area.
I looked them up, we caught up for a beer and a hot dog and have stayed in touch in this conversation, Tony shares his story of all the things he’s done in this entrepreneur career which have been really successful along the way.
He did one of the largest Kickstarter campaigns ever done and built a custom platform.
We talked all about that lessons, he’s learned about raising money, not raising money, going back and becoming the ceo of a company that he founded and had left and how things are going.
He actually moved to Austin and we talk about that as well.
If you love his three H.
Pts high percentage tips, you will love Our conversation in episode 50, so go back and give it a listen, here we go, Welcome to build the business success secrets, the only podcast that provides straight talk for entrepreneurs whether you’re an entrepreneur starting with an idea or growing your business this show is for you, we’ll teach you how to build a strong mindset, powerful body and profitable business so you can achieve success and here’s your host Brandon C White, what three tips Tony.
I don’t even think I prepared you for this, but I know you well enough that you’ll come up with, what three tips would you give fellow entrepreneurs who are looking to start a business boy?
Tony:
I mean, you know, any kind of business, I think like the, you know, deserves, I just turned off by uh so right up I have this like, you know, God, I would be like the death themed guy, but there’s a great book on, on the palette of Theranos wrote, wrote about the regrets of the dying and uh one of the biggest regrets at the top of red of dying people is living life for somebody else.
Tony:
And I think like, you know, there’s so much pressure in the our world to like build a business of a certain stripe.
Tony:
You know, whether if you’re in the bay area is like go big or go home and you know, if you’re on the East coast, maybe it’s sort of government related, like you have all sorts of outdoor pressure, Here’s what you should do with your life.
Tony:
And I think there’s like, I don’t, I wouldn’t go and say like do what you love because like, you know, there’s a whole, there’s a whole myth of that.
Tony:
It’s like, if you love starting businesses, you should start a business, if you love, you know, making pies for God’s sakes, don’t start a bakery, right?
Tony:
Like, but if you really want to start a business, you should love it.
Tony:
You should love starting businesses and you should love the market, we’re in love serving the customers that you serve and as bright eyed and bushy tailed as you are and you think this is going to be a home run, like you want to sort of be in a business that you’d be happy to sort of have a double or single and not a home run, right?
Tony:
Because that’s a very real possibility.
Brandon:
Yeah, you got to know like the no, the game that sort of gives you joy and for some people it is they go big or go home thing, but I see a lot of entrepreneurs kind of forcing themselves into that sort of Bay area all in sort of mindset and it’s not good for you.
Brandon:
I think there’s another of like, and you touched on this a little bit, is that that you’re a different entrepreneur today than you were earlier and I think there’s a fallacy that people have is that they are going to keep being the same person for their whole life and I think you want to be cautious about sort of uh reassessing who you want to be at different stages of your life and be willing to shift based on what I’m a different person today and I’m going to chase different goals even if it’s a reset on sort of, you know what I was doing before, I don’t stay with entrepreneurship.
Brandon:
Like the, there’s ways to do it in sort of daringly risky ways.
Brandon:
Every single thing that I’ve done was a side project, but not every single thing, a lot of things that I’ve done a good side projects that I built, landing pages for before I had software that I had users before I had software that I had users before I had incorporated a company.
Brandon:
So I think there’s ways you can kind of dip your toes in this sort of entrepreneurial waters, it in a particular market or just being an entrepreneur general to see if you enjoy it or, or if there’s like hoping that market right a lot of times to learn that there isn’t.
Brandon:
So I think that like it, being cautious about that commitment until you have the data that says this is worth, you know, committing two or three years of my life too or more or you, like you say you’re, he said, I’m about four and you’re about seven in terms of that when you get the energy like maybe I should do something else.
Brandon:
But either way, these are big swaths of your life meaningful percentage of your remaining life and like, you know, again, I guess I’m the guy who talks about death, but like, you know, these next four years, your life might be the last four healthy ones who have.
Brandon:
So, um, I think that’s sort of, we want to be cautious about what you dedicate yourself to because it’s what you’re gonna be doing for a while.
Brandon:
Yeah, I think the value of time everybody says it, but you don’t understand it until you get to some moment and either get really old and then it hits you or you have these moments along the way.
Brandon:
That to your point in many ways, your greatest sadness is your greatest gratefulness because it allows you to live life fuller and just becoming this, I don’t know, zombie.
Brandon:
I do want to say like that whole thing about doing your passion.
Brandon:
I have this, I mean I ran that social networking site for fishermen and you know, it’s like, well you love fishing, go to a fishing company and I told, I haven’t fished in eight years because it totally roomy.
Brandon:
Right?
Brandon:
I think there’s something to be said that you gotta sort sort of understand that.
Brandon:
So those are really great tips.
Brandon:
Thanks for being generous with your time and joining us for this episode of build a business success secrets Before we go, let me ask you a quick question, Are you the type of person who wanted to get 100% out of your time?
Brandon:
Talent and ideas.
Brandon:
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Brandon:
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Brandon:
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Tony:
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Tony:
That’s b as in business success secrets dot com.
Tony:
And until the next episode, remember you are just one business plan away.
Tony:
I’m rooting for your success.
Tony:
Okay
