Conference Keynote

7 May 2019

Vooza’s CEO gives an inspirational talk at The Next Web conference in Amsterdam.

Transcript

[SOUND].

>> I’d like to start off with a question a lot of your are asking.
>> How much funding do you need, right?
>> And I think a good lesson here is to look at a company called Color.

>> Color raised over $41 million in funding, and the app went out of business.
>> And I think there’s a clear lesson there.

>> You need more than $41 million to build a successful app.
[LAUGH].
>> Right?

>> Next up.
>> Here’s a tip for you.
>> Question I always ask myself, what would Steve do?

>> All right.
>> This book right here, that’s my bible.
>> All right.
>> I ask it all the time, what would Steve do?
>> The first thing he would do?
>> Wear a black turtle neck.
[LAUGH] [SOUND].
>> Thank you.
>> Next step, when I’m hiring, I always ask this question, key question.
>> Would I like to get a drink with this person?
>> All right.
>> Would I like to get a drink with this person, and if
>> the answer is yes, I stop the interview and we do shots.
[LAUGH] Right there.
>> because I’m an alcoholic.
[LAUGH].
>> All right, and I’m also scared of people.
>> I don’t know how to meet people, and I’ve found that a
>> great way to meet people is to pretend you have job openings.
[LAUGH].
>> Yeah, they line up, they show up, you’re like hey, let’s do shots and talk.
>> Wait, where are you going, come back.

>> It works for me, guys.

>> Next up, you need more monitors.

>> He knows what I’m talking about.
>> What do you have?
>> One monitor, two monitors?
>> Come on, childs play.
>> Here’s my setup.
>> Bam!
[LAUGH].
>> Got online poker, Gizmodo, Hacker News, the Next Web, World
>> of Warcraft, surveillance camera in the lobby, kittens falling asleep.
>> I’m on the pulse of the internet, all the time.
>> But I do more than just monitors.
>> I read two books at the same time.
[LAUGH].
>> No accident that, that one’s call Focus, okay?
>> I can handle it, can you?

>> And oh, by the way, one more thing.
[LAUGH].
>> Oops.
>> You thought I was going to go?
>> Wrong again.
>> One more thing, let’s end up where we began.
>> You’ve got to embrace failure, right?
>> Already a lot of you in this room
>> are embracing your failure, I love to see it.
>> A lot of failure in here.

>> Love to see it.
>> It’s really encouraging.
>> Failure, failure is all about how you frame it, right?
>> You know, I could say, oh, my wife is divorcing me.

>> I could say that, or I could say oh, my
>> wife is disrupting our marriage in order to pivot romantically.
[LAUGH].
>> Totally different meaning, you know?
>> And along those lines, my last tip, remember this most of all.
>> Your family is an obstacle, okay?
>> You need to be working all the time, they’re just getting
>> in the way with their I need to see you tonight, again?

>> Come on.
>> I want to show you how I lead my life.
>> I want to show you a family tree that my six year old son drew.
>> And it really touched me in a meaningful way.
[LAUGH].
>> As you can see, he drew his mom and there
>> he is crying tears, and he depicted me as a laptop.

>> And when I see that, I swell up with pride.

>> because I know, I’m spending my life the right way.

>> Thank you very much everyone, have a good time.

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