[smart_track_player url="http://traffic.libsyn.com/dukesofstartuppodcast/DSP_009.mp3" artist="The Dukes of Startup Podcast" image="http://www.dukesofstartup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/DUKES-logo-Podcast-3000x3000.png" social="true" social_twitter="true" social_facebook="true" social_gplus="true" ]
Episode 009 Show Notes
Links Mentioned in the Show:
Judd Apatow on the Adam Corolla Show I couldn't get the episode to play, but maybe you guys will have better luck.
Exclusive 15% Discount at WUF! Just enter discount code 'dukes' upon checkout.
Who is Sean Kelly?
Sean Kelly is the Founder and CEO of WUF. He believes in world travel and has done quite a bit of it. Here is a quick look at his previous entrepreneurial ventures:
Selling candy in middle school
T-shirt and sweatshirt designs in high school
College founded delivery company for an on campus sub shop
Helped a guy expand his internet cafe in Spain (2005)
Helped an Australian guy run and expand a bar in Osaka Japan
Sean looks at the world differently, and he is convinced that his curiosity plays a huge role in his success as an entrepreneur.
In this conversation, we address some deep topics such as: When can say that you are an entrepreneur?, When are you a big enough success to feel like you are an authority?, and What it takes to get investor funding.
Just for fun. Here are some of the awards that he has won:
Franciscan Scholar
All-American Scholar Athlete
Global Mindset Scholar
Red Herring Top 100 (WUF)
Web Summit Top 100
Best Wearable at TC Disrupt NY 2015
Best Dad (according to his two-year-old)
Sean's Intro to Entrepreneurship
Sean Kelly has always had the personality for entrepreneurship. Unlike most of his peers growing up, he was fascinated by the questions, "Why?" and "Why not?" While he admits that those questions got him into a fair amount of trouble, they also helped him to find his own path vs. following everybody else.
Rules can be important, but it is just as important to constantly test rules as an entrepreneur.
Sean asserts that curiosity is an important trait of entrepreneurship.
How WUF Was Born
When he graduated with his MBA in 2012 he knew that he was eventually going to be a tech entrepreneur, but he didn't know what the company was going to be or when it would happen.
He had the idea kicking around to create a smart collar that could act as a mobile invisible fence since the Bluetooth first came out. One day, his dog ran away and was hit and killed by a car. This was the event that pushed him to make his concept a reality.
Now, his business and product have won several awards, he has launched a successful Kickstarter campaign, has raised investor funding, and is in the process of raising more.
Different Worlds, Different Ideas
In Long Island, where Sean grew up, most people wanted to "fit in." Everybody seemed to thrive off of their similarities. In college, he became bored with what he knew and what he was comfortable with. He needed a change.
The opportunity came to do a study abroad in Spain and he went for it. The experience was refreshing. Spain was a totally different world, with different rules. Sean embraced the differences that challenged his way of thinking.
After he graduated with his undergrad (in accounting) he decided that he couldn't see himself getting a job as an accountant. Instead, he traveled to Japan to teach English. We only briefly spoke about his time overseas, but I can tell that it made an impact.
It is so easy to just follow the system: go to work, come home, watch TV etc... And it takes courage to break away from that and do something different. Entrepreneurship requires courage. Starting a business requires courage.
Can You Call Yourself An Entrepreneur?
When looking at MBA schools, he felt weird about targeting schools that focused on entrepreneurship. He felt like a fraud because he wasn't successful yet.
