Lessons From A Serial Entrepreneur Who Started When He Was 15 Years Old – With Albert Lai
on Sep 8, 2009 - 9:50 AM PSTHe started cranking out companies in his teens, and before he turned 20, Albert Lai sold one of his early businesses for over a million dollars in cash. He’s now working on his 5th company, Kontagent, a Facebook funded and VC backed social analytics startup.
I asked him to come to Mixergy and talk about what he learned along the way. So he stepped into a closet — the quietest place in his office — and recorded this interview via Skype.
(Read my notes on the interview below, or check out Scott Simko’s more detailed notes.)
The FULL program
Video excerpts
About Albert Lai
Albert Lai is currently the Founder & CEO of Kontagent, a Facebook funded viral analytics platform venture. His past businesses included CD ROM Yearbook, FrogDog, Hardware Central, MyDeskTop, BuyBuddy, Idleagent and BubbleShare.
Lessons learned
Use your disadvantages to get press
In the mid-90′s, when Albert started in business, being a young entrepreneur wasn’t considered an asset. Instead of hiding from it, Albert used it to get press. The media, he says, loves an underdog.
Little things can give you lots of credibility
When I asked him how he got credibility as a young entrepreneur without a track-record, Albert pointed out that little things, like business cards and basic marketing packages, went a long way towards communicating professionalism. Today, he advises the young entrepreneurs he mentors that a well-designed web site can keep potential clients from ever knowing that they’re still students.
You don’t have to start small
Starting out small and working your way towards the big clients can be a tough, long slog. Instead, Albert aimed for the big clients right away. He knew that if he won them, the association would help him win other clients.
Similarly, when Neil Patel was on Mixergy he said he targeted big-name bloggers because if he won them as clients, everyone else would want to work with him too.
Let hobbies turn into businesses
In high school, Albert worked on his class yearbook. Instead of the usual paper-based publication, he put his yearbook on CD-ROM. He thinks of it as a pre-Internet pressed onto a CD-ROM. It was impressive because it was probably the first its kind in the world, so it led to a business relationship with MuchMusic, Canada’s video music channel.
Lack of funding can be good for a business
Albert made an interesting admission in this interview. He said his under-funded companies, BubbleShare and MyDeskTop, did better than the ones that were well-backed. Financial constraints can help focus a business. If you listen to the interview, you’ll hear him explain how BubbleShare thrived when it started focusing on dead-simple photo-sharing via a simple interface that was inspired by Google and Craig’s List.
Full program includes
- You’ll hear details of how Albert built his businesses.
- You’ll learn how you can pair down a big, unmanageable idea into a simpler business when you see how Albert focused his vision for BubbleShare.
- You’ll learn how a failed business idea can lead to successful followup company.
Suggested comments
- How would you rate my work on this program?
- What was the most useful part of this interview for you?
- I ran my first ad ever in this program. What did you think of it?
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September 8th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
Just testing the comments since reader Guilherme Cherman told me there might be some issues with it. So far it looks okay.
September 8th, 2009 at 11:41 am
[...] Albert Lai Come Outta The Closet Mixergy, Albert Lai, (Serial Entrepreneur) Founder of BubbleShare, IdleAgent, [...]
September 8th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
Very useful points to take away here. Albert is an inspirational entrepreneur that shows that imagination and ingenuity go a long way. Especially being a successful entrepreneur at 15 years old is commendable. Also Im loving the blog and videos Andrew.
September 8th, 2009 at 3:22 pm
Thanks!
September 8th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
Hey Andrew, amazing Interview. Very inspiring, just got a whole lot of ideas for my project ;) thx!
September 8th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
Great interview with lots of good advice. I really like the idea of aiming for the big clients first – go big or go home! Back to work now…
September 8th, 2009 at 10:27 pm
Great interview. Since I'm working on my first startup, right out of college, getting credibility is hard, so I really appreciated that part. Oh, and I definitely needed some encouragement and advice on approaching big clients.
Getting close to product launch, Mixergy videos have been on the backburner for a while now but I'm really glad I got to this one.
September 9th, 2009 at 2:07 am
Andrew. Loved this interview with Albert. He provided tons of insight in to his experiences running his businesses and its always a nice kick in the ass to see someone so young have so much success. Thank you again for all the hard work.
September 9th, 2009 at 5:39 am
Great interview.
As always i feel really good after watching the interviews, ready to work and full of ideas ;) .
Thanks.
September 9th, 2009 at 6:34 am
Yet another inspiring Interview. I love hearing from young people who are successful at what they do. I love that he wasn't afraid to start with Big dreams. Usually people tend to start at the bottom and work their way up. I guess it sounds like it makes sense to do that, but it's definitely slower.
I like targeting the big guys. Yes, it can be harder to get to therm, but when you do get to one it can make a big difference. The worse that can happen is that you hear the word “no” and that word doesn't stop true entrepreneurs ;)
September 9th, 2009 at 11:15 am
That's great. Thanks.
September 9th, 2009 at 11:16 am
Thanks. Thanks for the email yesterday too. I'm looking forward to our
follow-up call later today.
September 9th, 2009 at 11:17 am
Email me with any specific questions and I'll see what I can do.
September 9th, 2009 at 11:20 am
I appreciate the feedback Ryan.
September 9th, 2009 at 11:22 am
I'm glad to hear it because I've been getting some feedback that some of my
listeners have been feeling intimidated by the success of the people I
interview. I don't want my work to make anyone feel overwhelmed. I need it
to be inspiring and useful.
September 9th, 2009 at 11:22 am
To entrepreneurs like us, a “no” is like rocket fuel!
September 9th, 2009 at 4:16 pm
Thanks for the awesome interview Andrew.
It was great fun.
You caught me on a super hyper active day.
Yeah, above average hyper for Albert.
But probably still a low day for Gary Vaynerchuck (Which btw, was awesome fun to watch). =P
- Albert Lai
September 9th, 2009 at 7:59 pm
I'm sorry but I'm gonna play the devil here. I loved and hated this interview.
I loved it mainly because this is someone who had experienced success at the my age right now. Also, he made several great points about selling to the top, and chasing your dreams.
Again, I guess some specifics were missing. Most notably, though telling us to go straight to the bigger companies, it would be much better if he could probably share some specific tips, be it how he scripted a pitch to a big company.
And again, i'm sorry I have to disagree, but I do not think that people see teenagers on the same level as adults, and it is my opinion that this is the case outside of the valley. Of course, it depends on the whole nature of the business, and what the public's general perceptions of the capabilities of a 20 year old to do such things. I will wager that people certainly frown upon the idea of teenage entrepreneurship, at least in the countries which I have visited and live in (Australia, and Asia in General).
O well, i guess that is a matter of culture. But it raises a completely valid point. Most of the entrepreneurs featured here are based in the US with some in Europe and a couple where I am in Australia. It would be nice to have a completely different change by interviewing a successful entrepreneur (especially a young one) who succeeded under completely different cultural conditions (Like in China for example).
I'm sorry if that sounded harsh, all the more made unreasonable by the fact that I got so suggestions for such entrepreneurs right now. But I still think it would be a great way to broaden the audience of Mixergy even further.
Still, this was a great interview, and I for one am inspired!
September 10th, 2009 at 4:53 am
I like the interview; most useful is the inspiration part of the journey
in short it is always about
1. traffic 2. networking 3. make yourself known – in the sense that people know you are selling stuff
4. then operations to get the money
I am still ploughing through, learning to make my online biz to take off
I do not quite like the Ad you did in the beginning, it was confusing
i am wondering why you dont also put that on to the site?
thanks a lot
September 10th, 2009 at 12:45 pm
It's amazing how young some entrepreneurs are starting now. I'm impressed.
September 11th, 2009 at 4:59 am
Hey Andrew,
About the commercial: I rather listen to the commercial before the introduction to the interview. So it'd be commercial, intro to interview, interview. And if the commercial is placed at the beginning, I wouldn't fastforward the video/audio because it's interesting, and I always love to know whose getting paid by who.
Random question: most websites need traffic. There's advertising, seo, word of mouth. How did Bradford&Reed(greet card business) get its initial traffic to go viral?
Thanks a bunch, and awesome work. Wish I had the mindset of Albert at 15, seems great to realize what you want at such a young age, and to follow through with it all, wooo, go Albert.
September 16th, 2009 at 9:28 am
congrats on your first sponsor… freshbook!
September 17th, 2009 at 9:37 pm
Hey Andrew!
Thanks for posting this. It was nspiring seeing an interview of a fellow Torontonian I really enjoy your enthusiasm and action oriented approach :)
I've shared this with some of my close friends in the Toronto Tech Community. Keep pumping out these killer interviews! Meanwhile, I'll be working away on my own stuff … :)
Cheers!
Will
P.S. Cool seeing Freshbooks as your sponsor (go Toronto!). I met almost the entire team – great people and great company.
September 18th, 2009 at 11:37 am
perhaps that's a limiting belief you carry.
If you're creating something of value and it's already proven to be monetizable – what would it matter?
September 23rd, 2009 at 7:43 am
Very Cool interview. Loved Albert's persistence. Not persistance with with gritted teeth but with a youthful exuberance and a smile. Very inspirational.
I have one suggestion. Your voices sound very echoic and distant, like you are speaking into the mic from a foot back so it's soft and slightly tinny. Maybe it's the mic or something. It should sound warm and full like the interviewer is very close…almost talking into your ear.
Anybody else agree? Or is it just me?
Anyway thanks for the interview Andrew….I really love them! Keep it up!
Regards, Dale
September 24th, 2009 at 10:39 am
What an inspiring story! Great interview.
September 24th, 2009 at 10:40 am
The most useful part of the interview was when he said to not start small and go for big clients. Great!
October 21st, 2009 at 9:50 am
[...] with some of the top internet entrepreneurs, like Max Levchin (PayPal), James Hong (HOTorNOT), and Albert Lai [...]
January 3rd, 2010 at 10:19 pm
I remember when Alex was first on the cover of Canadian Business, his boys brought it to an event. That's where I met him, awesome that we have some Canadian representation here on Mixergy!
I would have to agree with Alex on the strategy of going after the big guys first. It's easier than people think. Personally in the fashion industry the bigger department stores are a lot easier to work with than the boutiques. They pay on time!
Other than the benefits mentioned in the interview it's also a test on your product, if it's not good enough for the big players than it might not be good enough to hit the market.
January 4th, 2010 at 5:19 am
I remember when Alex was first on the cover of Canadian Business, his boys brought it to an event. That's where I met him, awesome that we have some Canadian representation here on Mixergy!
I would have to agree with Alex on the strategy of going after the big guys first. It's easier than people think. Personally in the fashion industry the bigger department stores are a lot easier to work with than the boutiques. They pay on time!
Other than the benefits mentioned in the interview it's also a test on your product, if it's not good enough for the big players than it might not be good enough to hit the market.