June 16, 2025 • 27 mins
Cut The Tie Podcast with Thomas Helfrich
Episode 268
Jayla Siciliano walked away from the entrepreneurial dream everyone chases—funding, Shark Tank success, high-growth business—only to realize she had built a life that didn’t align with what actually mattered to her. In this raw and relatable episode of Cut The Tie, host Thomas Helfrich sits down with Jayla to explore the emotional cost of chasing the wrong version of success, and how she pivoted to build a life—and business—on her own terms.
Now the founder of Atlas Group and host of the Seed Money podcast, Jayla shares insights from raising capital during a recession, navigating burnout, and helping founders rethink how they approach fundraising and alignment. This episode is a must-listen for anyone grinding through startup life and wondering, Is this really worth it?
About Jayla Siciliano:
Jayla is a corporate-turned-entrepreneur who built and exited a venture-backed beverage company, landed a deal with Mark Cuban on Shark Tank, and then realized she had lost herself in the process. Today, she runs Atlas Group, a luxury short-term rental company, and hosts Seed Money, a podcast that demystifies fundraising from a founder’s perspective. Through coaching and community, she helps early-stage entrepreneurs fundraise smarter—without losing themselves.
In this episode, Thomas and Jayla discuss:
- Why “success” can become a trap
Jayla opens up about letting investor goals override her personal goals—and what it took to reset. - How misalignment leads to burnout
She describes the toll of building a company that didn’t match the life she actually wanted. - The power of one courageous moment
Jayla shares the exact moment she knew she had to change her entire trajectory. - How she raised $1M with no traction
From sticky notes to Shark Tank, Jayla unpacks the persistence it took to raise money as a first-time founder. - What most founders get wrong about fundraising
Hint: it’s not about more slides—it’s about clarity, confidence, and alignment.
Key Takeaways:
- If the dream doesn’t fit, it’s not your dream.
Build a business that aligns with your personal values, not just investor expectations. - Burnout isn’t a badge of honor.
Hustle without purpose is just exhaustion in disguise. - Your pitch must be simple, clear, and investor-ready.
You’ve got 30 seconds—don’t blow it with jargon or ambiguity. - Saying “no” is how you protect your “yes.”
Focus is everything when the opportunities start pouring in. - Alignment isn’t a luxury—it’s the foundation.
Start with your life goals, then build the business around them.
Connect with Jayla Siciliano:
💼 LinkedIn: Jayla Siciliano
🎙️ Seed Money Podcast
📅 Book a free pitch deck feedback session via her LinkedIn
Connect with Thomas Helfrich:
🐦 Twitter: @thelfrich
📘 Facebook: Cut The Tie Group
💼 LinkedIn: Thomas Helfrich
🌐 Website: cutthetie.com
📧 Email: t@instantlyrelevant.com
🚀 instantlyrelevant.com
Serious about LinkedIn Lead Generation? Stop Guessing what to do on LinkedIn and ignite revenue from relevance with Instantly Relevant Lead System
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Cut the Tie podcast.
Hi, I'm your host, thomasHelfrich.
We are on the mission to helpentrepreneurs cut the ties to
whatever's holding them backfrom success, and today I'm
joined by Jayla Siciliano.
How are you?
Speaker 2 (00:11):
doing today, jayla, good thanks, great to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
I'm very glad you're here.
I'm excited to have thisconversation with you.
But to start, why don't youintroduce yourself and what it
is you do?
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Yeah, so I am a kind of corporate to entrepreneur
type background and currentlyI've got a company called Atlas
Group which is a luxurybi-coastal short-term rental,
hospitality kind of company thatactually makes me money.
And then on the side I've got apodcast called Seed Money and I
just love helping entrepreneurswith the fundraising process.
(00:43):
So that's what sparked that.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
I love that you get the multi-tenanted
entrepreneurial journey on yourway In either of your businesses
.
Though what's thedifferentiator?
You know what makes you unique.
Why do people pick?
Speaker 2 (00:55):
you yeah, I mean in, you know I'll talk about seed
money because I think that'skind of the most relevant
probably to your audience.
I think a lot of the contentout there on fundraising is from
VCs.
To be honest, and to be a VC,it's like 95% of them had it
handed to them on a silverplatter to some degree.
And there's this whole humanside of raising money, and so my
(01:20):
story isn't about raising agazillion dollars, but I raised
money in a recession as a firsttime entrepreneur, no track
record in the industry, I wasraising money in no sales and
you know just no traction, noexperience in the industry that
I was in.
So for me to have done that, itwas like I went through every
(01:42):
possible thing you could do andI made so many mistakes, and so
I think you know I've lived itover and over and it's given me
a good background to be able tohelp people avoid some of those
mistakes.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
So Well, tell me a little bit about your journey
and along the way.
What, what?
What's the major tie you had tocut?
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Oh man, you know, I think that.
So again, I started incorporate for seven years and
then I jumped intoentrepreneurship.
I quit my job like totallynaive, didn't really know what I
was getting myself into, and assoon as I did it became just an
ego thing of like I have tomake this happen.
So I quit my job and I let thatdrive just take over my entire
(02:29):
life.
And all of a sudden I woke up10 years later and I was like
what am I doing?
The dream is not the dream.
I'm killing myself.
I'm super burnt out.
I raised money.
My investors goals became mygoals, and so the big mistake,
looking back, that I made is Ididn't align, like my personal
goals with my business goals andit just completely took over my
(02:52):
life.
And I think that happens to alot of entrepreneurs.
I think it happens in corporatetoo.
I think people can easily lettheir corporate job kind of
disrupt their whole personallife.
Obviously that happened.
There's a gazillion movies onthat right.
But in entrepreneurship it'slike really becomes your baby.
So if you don't align, if youdon't kind of have some idea
(03:14):
what your personal goals are inthe beginning and make that a
little bit of a priority.
It's really easy to let yourwhole company just take over
your life, and the hardest partof that is that when things
don't go the way they should, itis deeply personal and painful.
So I think that the big tiethat I had to cut was completely
(03:35):
pivoting and realigning my lifeto create a company and a
business that aligns more withmy personal life.
And it didn't happen overnightand it wasn't easy, but I did
manage to do it.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Do you remember the moment when you knew you needed
to cut that tie?
Could you describe it?
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Yeah, I was standing in my front yard and I just
remember standing there going.
I have to make a change.
I cannot keep doing this.
There are so many reasons.
I mean, I had high bloodpressure.
My great grandmother died of aheart attack when she was 46.
And it really felt like it camedown to kind of almost life or
death at that point.
But I just could not keep goingand I knew I had to call my
(04:15):
investors and talk to them aboutit and fortunately they were
really supportive, but it was.
It was not a fun time, let'sput it that way, but looking
back it was like one of thosehardest decisions I've ever made
and I'm so thankful I was quoteunquote brave enough to not do
(04:36):
what I should do and choose adifferent path, because it
definitely set the course, youknow, the rest of my life off on
a completely differenttrajectory than had.
I kept going down that pathbecause I felt like I should.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
And describe, like, the impact since then.
You know, to yourself, toothers, to your business, what
has been the impact since makingthe decision and then cutting
that tie.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Yeah, I mean, I think if I had kept going down that
path, I probably would bedivorced.
I don't know if I would havelike started a family and had my
son.
I'd put that off for years andI, you know, now we like my
personal life is the priorityand I revolve work around that.
You know we just got back fromBelize.
(05:19):
We were in Sicily for threeweeks.
This year.
I pick my son up from schoolevery day.
You know, it's just acompletely different lifestyle.
You know we live in our dreamlocation, dream house.
I think it just.
It was really hard and itwasn't a quick path to get here,
but it's just such a betterquality of life than how I spent
(05:43):
the first 10 years ofentrepreneurship.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Hey, good for you.
I think that's a very naturaljourney, the difference being,
at some point the moment happensthat you don't take it and, for
whatever reason, you trade yourlife effectively for the fear
of change, which is effectivelywhat it comes out to.
You have a fear and there's anexcuse.
And if you don't do it, toughand it's fair enough.
(06:06):
When you call those investors,you are resolved enough where,
like, I don't care what this ishappening, you're going to be
behind me or you're just goingto lose your money, kind of idea
.
Is that fair of a way to say it?
Or it was clear that that washappening and you were just
letting them know?
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Yeah, more or less Definitely yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
And you have an interesting path on your
entrepreneur, how you raisemoney.
Do you want to just just justsetting up your journey?
Maybe we'll use.
Do you want to talk about thatjust a bit?
Speaker 2 (06:32):
The raising money part.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
Yeah, how did you do it?
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Yeah, oh man God, I just I live by two mantras and
where there's a will there's away, and patience and
persistence.
And, in a nutshell, I had asticky note on my computer that
said raise a million dollars andget into Whole Foods.
And I just looked at that everysingle day, all day, and every
action I took was towards thosetwo things.
(06:56):
And I raised my first 500,000from non-friends and family.
I must have pitched to hundredsand hundreds of investors,
finally found a lead investorand then had to kind of fill out
the rest of the round and itwas just a lot of trial and
error and after that that kindof it's a long story, but
(07:19):
basically ended up on Shark Tankafter that.
So my first experience ofraising money was with no
exposure, just me grinding,pitching, networking, doing
whatever it took, hopping on aplane, making meetings happen,
fear of loss, like all thatstuff plays into it.
And then the Shark Tankexposure got the deal with Mark
(07:41):
Cuban and that was just a crazylittle rollercoaster ride which
was super fun.
So, yeah it's, I've definitelycovered the full spectrum in
terms of raising money, did itwith no revenue and then again
trying to run a company isextremely challenging, but again
, where there's a will, there'sa way it's doable.
It's just a matter of a lot ofnetworking.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
Yeah Well, I've said this to people too.
You know you can ring.
There's a few ways to doentrepreneurship.
Just go ring the cash registerand you ring it loud enough.
People come find you to say,hey, can I get in?
Or you spend time selling anidea and it's very hard to do
both at the same time.
I personally I'm sure peoplecould do it there they are true
unicorns if you can, but it is afull-time job to raise money or
(08:22):
it's a full-time job to build abusiness and it's really hard
to do both.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Yeah, I totally agree .
Speaker 1 (08:28):
I started off with myself on the raise money from
friends and family andacquaintances kind of stuff I
won't call them fools becausethey're way smarter than me but
got a little just to get goingand quickly realized you have to
pivot.
And I was like I can't do bothand I was like I'm going to go.
So I pivoted from a techcompany to a services company.
I was like we got to make money, I'm going to go build a
business, go figure out themarket problems.
And they were like all right,cool.
(08:48):
And now I'm coming back to themsaying it's time to pivot to a
humanist company.
Ai has come close enough nowwhere we can do 99% of what
we're going to want you.
I know this will make the cut,for I was just curious.
I will use that first partabout you with Mark Cuban and
Shark Tank Speaking of which, bythe way, I'm actually on Kevin
(09:08):
Harrington's A-Team thingy downin Florida when he does his
stuff.
So I, when they have theirshootings, I go down and I get
the LinkedIn and some marketingperspective.
I wear the tie.
Do that kind of fun stuff.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
I thought that was interesting.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
I love it.
Trade up the paperclip right.
Where are we?
So I broke my own flow.
Give me a second here.
Thank you for sharing that, bythe way.
Yeah, Lesson for the listeners.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
What advice do you give to those that are
entrepreneurs just starting?
I think best advice, again, youknow, really going back to
making sure the business you'recreating aligns with your
personal goals.
The business you're creatingaligns with your personal goals.
I think it's really easy to getexcited about an idea and to
just get laser focused onexecuting and making that happen
and doing it separate from whatyour personal goals and
(09:55):
personal life are, and all of asudden you can just be too far
down the path and so reallyreflecting is this company or
(10:16):
business that I'm building goingto align with what I want my
personal life to look like Atsome point?
If it's not what you want to do, you know to make the change
again, but I think the earlieryou can figure out what your
personal goals are and alignyour business with that, the
more sustainable you'll be as anentrepreneur in that business.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
You know what I mean.
Great, great advice, and thatis an evolution.
So when you start you need tomake money and that won't line
up to what your personal stuffis typically.
If you found that, you won'teven realize you found it.
You just you'll think you'rethe coolest thing ever likely.
You're going to discover thatmy own autobiography of that is
I have been working in agency.
I know long term I don't wantto be doing this.
(10:56):
I'm 49.
I don't want to be doing this10 years now I do I.
I want is I want to be able togo to sicily with my wife for a
week and or three weeks and justmaybe I'll do podcasting.
Then I won't.
The point is the work optional,not to have to show up every
week for meetings and do allthese things you need to do
You're.
But I didn't realize that untilabout five years in.
I'm like, all right, I need tomake a pivot in the next five
(11:17):
years to get completely changedin what we do.
So I a hundred percent agreewith that advice.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
It's the better you can align advice, like with this
podcast.
Right now, I love doing thepodcast and I've gotten into
doing some one-on-one coachingand I've had to stop myself and
be like I don't, I am not doingone-on-one coaching long-term
because then I'm going to haveto be on meetings.
So you know, I'm like okay, Ineed to be very deliberate in
(11:53):
how I help people and find thebest method to work with people
and structure this as a businessor whatever I'm going to do
with the podcast going forward.
So even something simple like aproject like this, that really
isn't my full-time company.
I still need to make sure Idon't get caught up in like, oh,
(12:13):
but it'd be fun to do this andthis and this, and all of a
sudden I'm like tearing my hairout again six months from now.
You know it's it's so hardCause I think as entrepreneurs
we love the like idea andcreation part of it.
It's like feeds my soul, but Ihave to be so careful to not let
that take over, you know.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
You're a.
So, as I've spun up, cut the tieand we had the little Facebook
free group and I look like, okay, I'm down the path of I need to
create the digital courses and,like you know, right, like I
said, I have a marketing agencythat rocks YouTube and does all
this stuff.
The team runs that and once Iyou and I or whatever establish
a strategy or my client, it runsreally well.
But even down the road,long-term I'm like I'm going to
(12:52):
fade, I'm going to keep thoseclients and at some point I
would stop taking new onesbecause I'm like I'm going to
phase that out and move on tothe next thing.
But but the the coaching thingis interesting.
I I'm going to enter theone-on-one coaching space
knowing that I'm not going tostay in it because I'm using it
to learn what digital coursesI'm going to go create to help
people cut ties to whatever'sholding them back.
So the one-on-one stuff givesme really intimate settings of
(13:12):
really where to apply it.
And then I know I'm going toback out of it at some point or
make it so ridiculouslyexpensive it's worth taking the
meeting to do it.
Not really Like my time will bewell served when I'm going to
do that.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Yeah, no, I'm with you, and I do think that's part
of the reason I'm doing.
It also is because I want tomake sure I'm understanding what
it is that people need, andthat one-on-one is very
insightful.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
And you're early phase right, so you get invited
in to take the course for free.
If you'll do it for the tradeof a real feedback and if you
find some damn positive, give mea testimonial and that's all.
I got some true requirements.
Give me some criticism, that'shelpful.
And you better find one thingpositive I don't care if it
smells nice.
You know I don't give a shit.
Something yeah, but no, that'swhat I'll do Anyway.
(13:56):
So none of that will probablymake the cut for it, but I want
to share that with you because Ithink it's interesting.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Yeah, let's do some rapid fire questions and this is
(14:23):
like one of my who gives youinspiration every day outlook on
life, and that's something Ihave a hard time doing is
reminding myself that I have toprioritize my hobbies and having
fun and doing that kind ofstuff.
So he definitely inspires mequite a bit actually, which is
fun, and we're, we're, we're,super, super similar, but we're
(14:44):
opposite in certain ways and Ithink we inspire each other and
our differences to some degree.
But, yeah, he definitelyencourages me to like have fun
and live life and prioritize thegood stuff too, cause it goes
by fast, as we're realizing.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Yes, it does.
That is beautifully.
My son the other day took me toa.
He wanted to go to a Pokemontournament.
He's 13 and I'm like, oh my,and so we went to a Pokemon
tournament 13.
And I'm like, oh my, and so wewent to a Pokemon tournament.
I've played Pokemon one twotimes maybe with my son, like
this week, and I it wasembarrassing how bad I got beat,
but I flirt with it.
(15:22):
And but he was like, well, youneed a hobby, dad.
All you do is work and then godo the basement rehab.
And I was like I do have ahobby.
It's called golf.
I never get to play, right,he's right.
I'm like I do need hobbies.
I need, I need to get some andI don't prioritize them at all.
I prioritize building this andyou got to balance that and you
can't.
You know it's.
It's a tough balance.
I love that you guys inspireand I love that he's gotten to
that point.
So good for him.
That is an inspiration.
(15:43):
Yeah, best business adviceyou've ever received.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
I think it goes back when I first quit my job.
I mentioned this earlierpatience and persistence.
I asked my neighbor growing upwho has a successful business.
I said what advice do you havefor me?
And he told me patience andpersistence.
And I don't know, it isliterally again the words that I
kind of live by.
I think it applies toeverything in business, in
(16:08):
exercise, in health.
You got to have patience.
Things don't happen overnight,but you have to be relentless
and persistent to hitting yourgoals and making things happen.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
I like that Relentless and persistent.
It doesn't have to be fast,just plow through it.
I love that.
What's the one must-read book?
Speaker 2 (16:27):
My favorite book of the last couple of years has
been Buy Back your time by danmartell.
I think I am somebody who hadthat limiting belief that I had
to kind of do everything and ittook me a little while to
realize that was not the mosteffective way to use my time.
And that book really hit homefor me because all the things
that I hate doing, even justlike managing my email, would
(16:50):
just cause me this likeunderlying anxiety.
And now I have somebodymanaging my email, my calendar
and like all this little craplike researching summer camps
for my son, all this stuff thatjust chews up time and distracts
like my day I have help withand I have people doing now and
it's.
It has been a game changer andthat book really helped me kind
(17:14):
of shift that mindset and layout a plan for how to do it, not
just like, yeah, you need to dothis.
It was.
It really gave tactical adviceon how to do that, so highly
recommend that book.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
I love that.
That's, it is great advice.
And just to continue, it's ayes.
And here I moved.
I have the same email problemright, multiple emails,
thousands in there on Reddit aday, and I was like I try to get
in a VA involved and in thisshe knows my, she knows me as
better than I do, probably froma business standpoint, and she
was unable to do it and she's,it's just.
And I was like great use.
(17:45):
I went and got an AI and it's,it reduces nine and a half hours
a week out of my doing, and soit gives me a summary.
I was like, hey, based on howyou used to use your email, you
say four and a half hours inthis inbox, three and a half
hours, and I was thinking awhole day, no wonder I feel like
I can get shit done because Ialways check and check an email
and so, and so AI is great forthat.
(18:06):
Calendly like listen, here'sthe link, figure it out, kind of
thing, like if it's notavailable on there, I'm not
available.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Yes, it's that simple .
Speaker 1 (18:13):
You don't book till May.
I'm like well, I'm booked.
Yes, that's it.
Sorry, there are times I'llopen it, but anyway, once again,
probably not making the cut,for, but I agree with you Like
the stuff, because I am tooinvolved in my own selfish world
, I think, to do it.
(18:33):
But that's a great one of hey,I could have a VA, do that.
Go research this stuff in ourarea.
That could be great for kids.
That's a great idea actually.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
Yeah, like all that little stuff doctor's
appointments, a random bill thatI know I need to like make a
call on, like that stuff, justchoose up time, it's crazy Fraud
.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
Someone took $30,000 out of a perk that's not mine.
Yeah, I'm dealing with that one, that one actually I'm going to
make money on.
Anyway, all right, if you hadto start over today, when in
your timeline, would you do that?
Speaker 2 (19:00):
And what would you do differently If I had to start
over today?
I would go back to 2012.
And it was when I was on SharkTank, 2012.
And it was when I was on SharkTank and I, you know, you spend
all this time as an entrepreneurtrying to get business and like
pitching people and retailersand partnerships and marketing
(19:21):
opportunities, and then, all ofa sudden, the floodgates open
and everyone's coming to you andyou decide to say yes to
everything.
And it was a really toughlesson I learned.
You decide to say yes toeverything, and it was a really
tough lesson I learned and, hadI stayed focused, I think it
would have been a very differenttrajectory for that company and
I don't think I would have hitthe burnout that I hit.
But I decided you know, notjust me, but it was kind of my
(19:44):
investors, it was, it was acompany decision, but I had, I
had the insight to push back andsay no, we need to stay focused
.
Um, I think it would have beena different path and so,
fortunately, I did learn thatlesson and in my current company
, I've applied that strategy andI've stayed way more focused.
(20:05):
And it's still hard.
I still catch myself once in awhile, like wanting to say yes
to something.
I'm like no, what am I doing?
Don't do that, don't do that.
So I think staying focused alot earlier in my
entrepreneurship journey was andnot getting lured by all the
opportunities and all thepossibilities would have been
(20:25):
smart.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
The book that I'm about to start I think should
help with this is 10X is easierthan 2X, and that's all about
focusing your time, apparently.
And I'm like, yeah, I find whenyou have adult or if you have
ADD in your life or ADHD,whatever it's called now I can't
remember I can't think longenough to focus on it.
The point is that actually hurt.
It makes you 2x a lot of thingsbecause you can see the
(20:47):
opportunities.
But the analogy.
I mean you can run the marathonas faster than anybody 25 miles
of it, but that last 1.2 isyou're not getting done, and so
that's why you're stay at 2x,and that last 1.2 is where your
time and effort needs to go togo finish the marathon and then,
once you have then the next one, you do it faster the next time
, and so I fall on that.
I know lots of entrepreneursfall on that as well, and so
(21:09):
you're right If you had said no,that's more things.
You're saying yes, the onething that mattered, the thing
that you should have beenfocusing on, that you didn't
realize, but you also do thatbecause in the back of your head
.
You're like, well, what if itfails?
Yeah, totally.
And you're like, well, what ifthose options will still be
there?
I think that's.
The thing you don't realize islike I get it.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
Yeah, and I think I think sometimes too, that we all
confidence and grows over timeand it's also being okay with
yeah, like I could have donethat better, I could have done
that differently.
It's a constant evolution andgive ourselves some, you know,
not be too hard on ourselves.
Put it that way, Right.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
Well, and this is where the kind of imposter
syndrome comes in, where you'relike you got to put up the front
, you know enough to be in thatroom or to have the conversation
, and you're like I have no ideaactually what I'm doing.
I'm just going to sell the ideaand they better better not dig
too deep or they'll see it it'spretty shallow, but no, I get it
, it's, it's, it's important.
So I appreciate you sharingthat.
That's fantastic.
(22:08):
If you, if I had one question Ishould have asked you today and
it just didn't what's thatquestion and how do you answer
that?
Speaker 2 (22:20):
Let's see, I mean, I think it's basically, like you
know, as it relates toentrepreneurship, kind of what's
the biggest mistake I see themmaking right now in going out to
raise money, and it's such atough thing.
I think when we're really closeto our companies and our
businesses, we know it so well.
It can be so hard to explain itto somebody in a clear, concise
(22:41):
message.
So I'm getting pitch decks allthe time and it's just crazy
like the what they do, how theymake money and how the investor
is going to potentially get areturn are not clear and it's
you know you have an investor'sattention for maybe 30 seconds
(23:03):
before you lose them, and so Ithink it's such a critical thing
to have a clear, concisemessage, and sometimes it's hard
to do that on our own.
So I'm a huge advocate of, like, accelerators and incubators
and getting coaching and stufflike that, because you can spend
a lot of time knocking on doorsand if you're losing them and
(23:24):
they can't figure out, like,what exactly it is that you do,
and it's so crazy, likesometimes it seems like it
should be so easy to do that andobvious, but it can be really,
really tough to do.
So that's the biggest mistakeand just being not fully
prepared, not having yourfinancials, not knowing your
numbers, just basic things.
Just have your ducks in a rowbefore you go pitch investors.
It saves you a lot of time andeffort.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
I'm going to ask you for a deck template at the end
of this yeah do it.
I'll tell you, we raised moneytwo years in one of our equal
main investors.
I was explaining what we do.
I don't know how I got him on acall again just to catch up
with him.
I think I was just catching upfor the year summary and I was
explaining what we do and how wedo it.
And he's like, oh, I know whatit was.
(24:08):
And he's like I wanted you topresent some stuff on LinkedIn
to my company I run.
I'm like sure.
And he's like he got thingslike I didn't even realize
that's what you guys did and hehad somehow you'd invest.
I think you, you know, and andnow they're our biggest client
because we, we kill it.
It's a billion dollar company.
I was like we kill it for themCause he's like, oh my God, I
had no idea that's what you guysdid.
I'm like, yeah, he's like weneed help with that.
(24:39):
And I'm thinking, two years in,how did I not explain this?
You gave me money.
I, I solve.
This is generally how we'll doit and you get your money back
when we exit five years from now, and I'm targeting a 10 X exit
relative to your investment, sothat that is the goal.
And if they're like okay, takeme in it.
Why is that a problem?
(25:00):
Like in the in like.
So if you have a deck templatethat read it that I'm looking
for that, I'm happy to put yourname all over and say this and
I'll give it to all the peoplethat we meet.
I know I personally need it.
So, once again, this won't makethe cut for, but I'm just
telling you I'm going to need it.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
Yeah, no, I'm happy to help.
Yeah, it is so funny.
It really is like when you hearpeopleer you know, or I always
say, like a caveman, like you'rea caveman, typing is like, it's
so true with pitch deck, so,yeah, I'm happy to send one over
or look at anything.
Yeah, anytime.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
It is a shameless plug time for you.
Go ahead.
Who should get ahold of you?
I always tell people bespecific, so who should be?
Try again.
Who should get ahold of you?
How do they do that that?
Speaker 2 (25:43):
yeah.
So I would say early stageentrepreneurs who've never
raised money, who are gettingready, thinking about raising
money or they're in the processand struggling and kind of
knocking the traction that theywant, are really who I can help
the most.
And linkedin I've got a freecall.
If you jayless is leono onlinkedin, you can book a free
call.
(26:03):
If you Jailess is Liano onLinkedIn, you can book a free 30
minute call and we can kind ofsee where you're at.
Look at your deck.
I'll give you some really liketactical pitch deck feedback.
And yeah, that's it so happy tohelp.
I dedicate my Fridays toreviewing pitch decks.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
I don't know if I actually follow up to the to the
plug.
Do you help people not onlylearn the better process, but do
you connect them with potentialinvestors?
Speaker 2 (26:27):
Yeah, I do do that and that is one of my goals with
the podcast.
I've been interviewing a lot ofangel groups and investors and
VCs and then I have my ownnetwork, and warm introductions
are really how I ended up.
I got my funding through sixintroductions my first lead
investor, so you never knowwhere an introduction is going
(26:49):
to go.
So, yeah, if I know somebodythat's a good fit, if your deck
is in a good place and if I feellike you're in a presentable
place to pitch, then yeah, Idefinitely make introductions
and try to help as much as I can.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
That was the caveat.
You have to have a decent idea,be a good person and be
prepared, because you will fallto the level of preparedness and
no matter how prepared you are,the investor is going to know
way more about the space ofwhatever you're trying to go do
and just accept that you knowmore than that.
That's why I'm bringing you onas an investor.
That's your value add besidesmoney.
You got to flip the script on alittle bit.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
Totally.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
And I don't need money.
I need somebody who's connected.
I'm talking to you.
I got money coming in, clearly.
Thank you, by the way.
So much for coming on today.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
Yay, thank you for having me, this was fun.
Speaker 1 (27:32):
Listen.
Thank you, j Lee, for coming on.
Get out there.
Go cut a tie to somethingholding you back If you listen
to this on Apple.
Follow Spotify.
Follow YouTube.
Subscribe.
Get out there.
Welcome to Cut the Tie podcast.
Hi, I'm your host, thomasHelfrich.
We are on the mission to helpentrepreneurs cut the ties to
whatever's holding them backfrom success, and today I'm
joined by Jayla Siciliano.
How are you?
Speaker 2 (00:11):
doing today, jayla, good thanks, great to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
I'm very glad you're here.
I'm excited to have thisconversation with you.
But to start, why don't youintroduce yourself and what it
is you do?
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Yeah, so I am a kind of corporate to entrepreneur
type background and currentlyI've got a company called Atlas
Group which is a luxurybi-coastal short-term rental,
hospitality kind of company thatactually makes me money.
And then on the side I've got apodcast called Seed Money and I
just love helping entrepreneurswith the fundraising process.
(00:43):
So that's what sparked that.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
I love that you get the multi-tenanted
entrepreneurial journey on yourway In either of your businesses
.
Though what's thedifferentiator?
You know what makes you unique.
Why do people pick?
Speaker 2 (00:55):
you yeah, I mean in, you know I'll talk about seed
money because I think that'skind of the most relevant
probably to your audience.
I think a lot of the contentout there on fundraising is from
VCs.
To be honest, and to be a VC,it's like 95% of them had it
handed to them on a silverplatter to some degree.
And there's this whole humanside of raising money, and so my
(01:20):
story isn't about raising agazillion dollars, but I raised
money in a recession as a firsttime entrepreneur, no track
record in the industry, I wasraising money in no sales and
you know just no traction, noexperience in the industry that
I was in.
So for me to have done that, itwas like I went through every
(01:42):
possible thing you could do andI made so many mistakes, and so
I think you know I've lived itover and over and it's given me
a good background to be able tohelp people avoid some of those
mistakes.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
So Well, tell me a little bit about your journey
and along the way.
What, what?
What's the major tie you had tocut?
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Oh man, you know, I think that.
So again, I started incorporate for seven years and
then I jumped intoentrepreneurship.
I quit my job like totallynaive, didn't really know what I
was getting myself into, and assoon as I did it became just an
ego thing of like I have tomake this happen.
So I quit my job and I let thatdrive just take over my entire
(02:29):
life.
And all of a sudden I woke up10 years later and I was like
what am I doing?
The dream is not the dream.
I'm killing myself.
I'm super burnt out.
I raised money.
My investors goals became mygoals, and so the big mistake,
looking back, that I made is Ididn't align, like my personal
goals with my business goals andit just completely took over my
(02:52):
life.
And I think that happens to alot of entrepreneurs.
I think it happens in corporatetoo.
I think people can easily lettheir corporate job kind of
disrupt their whole personallife.
Obviously that happened.
There's a gazillion movies onthat right.
But in entrepreneurship it'slike really becomes your baby.
So if you don't align, if youdon't kind of have some idea
(03:14):
what your personal goals are inthe beginning and make that a
little bit of a priority.
It's really easy to let yourwhole company just take over
your life, and the hardest partof that is that when things
don't go the way they should, itis deeply personal and painful.
So I think that the big tiethat I had to cut was completely
(03:35):
pivoting and realigning my lifeto create a company and a
business that aligns more withmy personal life.
And it didn't happen overnightand it wasn't easy, but I did
manage to do it.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Do you remember the moment when you knew you needed
to cut that tie?
Could you describe it?
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Yeah, I was standing in my front yard and I just
remember standing there going.
I have to make a change.
I cannot keep doing this.
There are so many reasons.
I mean, I had high bloodpressure.
My great grandmother died of aheart attack when she was 46.
And it really felt like it camedown to kind of almost life or
death at that point.
But I just could not keep goingand I knew I had to call my
(04:15):
investors and talk to them aboutit and fortunately they were
really supportive, but it was.
It was not a fun time, let'sput it that way, but looking
back it was like one of thosehardest decisions I've ever made
and I'm so thankful I was quoteunquote brave enough to not do
(04:36):
what I should do and choose adifferent path, because it
definitely set the course, youknow, the rest of my life off on
a completely differenttrajectory than had.
I kept going down that pathbecause I felt like I should.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
And describe, like, the impact since then.
You know, to yourself, toothers, to your business, what
has been the impact since makingthe decision and then cutting
that tie.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Yeah, I mean, I think if I had kept going down that
path, I probably would bedivorced.
I don't know if I would havelike started a family and had my
son.
I'd put that off for years andI, you know, now we like my
personal life is the priorityand I revolve work around that.
You know we just got back fromBelize.
(05:19):
We were in Sicily for threeweeks.
This year.
I pick my son up from schoolevery day.
You know, it's just acompletely different lifestyle.
You know we live in our dreamlocation, dream house.
I think it just.
It was really hard and itwasn't a quick path to get here,
but it's just such a betterquality of life than how I spent
(05:43):
the first 10 years ofentrepreneurship.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Hey, good for you.
I think that's a very naturaljourney, the difference being,
at some point the moment happensthat you don't take it and, for
whatever reason, you trade yourlife effectively for the fear
of change, which is effectivelywhat it comes out to.
You have a fear and there's anexcuse.
And if you don't do it, toughand it's fair enough.
(06:06):
When you call those investors,you are resolved enough where,
like, I don't care what this ishappening, you're going to be
behind me or you're just goingto lose your money, kind of idea
.
Is that fair of a way to say it?
Or it was clear that that washappening and you were just
letting them know?
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Yeah, more or less Definitely yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
And you have an interesting path on your
entrepreneur, how you raisemoney.
Do you want to just just justsetting up your journey?
Maybe we'll use.
Do you want to talk about thatjust a bit?
Speaker 2 (06:32):
The raising money part.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
Yeah, how did you do it?
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Yeah, oh man God, I just I live by two mantras and
where there's a will there's away, and patience and
persistence.
And, in a nutshell, I had asticky note on my computer that
said raise a million dollars andget into Whole Foods.
And I just looked at that everysingle day, all day, and every
action I took was towards thosetwo things.
(06:56):
And I raised my first 500,000from non-friends and family.
I must have pitched to hundredsand hundreds of investors,
finally found a lead investorand then had to kind of fill out
the rest of the round and itwas just a lot of trial and
error and after that that kindof it's a long story, but
(07:19):
basically ended up on Shark Tankafter that.
So my first experience ofraising money was with no
exposure, just me grinding,pitching, networking, doing
whatever it took, hopping on aplane, making meetings happen,
fear of loss, like all thatstuff plays into it.
And then the Shark Tankexposure got the deal with Mark
(07:41):
Cuban and that was just a crazylittle rollercoaster ride which
was super fun.
So, yeah it's, I've definitelycovered the full spectrum in
terms of raising money, did itwith no revenue and then again
trying to run a company isextremely challenging, but again
, where there's a will, there'sa way it's doable.
It's just a matter of a lot ofnetworking.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
Yeah Well, I've said this to people too.
You know you can ring.
There's a few ways to doentrepreneurship.
Just go ring the cash registerand you ring it loud enough.
People come find you to say,hey, can I get in?
Or you spend time selling anidea and it's very hard to do
both at the same time.
I personally I'm sure peoplecould do it there they are true
unicorns if you can, but it is afull-time job to raise money or
(08:22):
it's a full-time job to build abusiness and it's really hard
to do both.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Yeah, I totally agree .
Speaker 1 (08:28):
I started off with myself on the raise money from
friends and family andacquaintances kind of stuff I
won't call them fools becausethey're way smarter than me but
got a little just to get goingand quickly realized you have to
pivot.
And I was like I can't do bothand I was like I'm going to go.
So I pivoted from a techcompany to a services company.
I was like we got to make money, I'm going to go build a
business, go figure out themarket problems.
And they were like all right,cool.
(08:48):
And now I'm coming back to themsaying it's time to pivot to a
humanist company.
Ai has come close enough nowwhere we can do 99% of what
we're going to want you.
I know this will make the cut,for I was just curious.
I will use that first partabout you with Mark Cuban and
Shark Tank Speaking of which, bythe way, I'm actually on Kevin
(09:08):
Harrington's A-Team thingy downin Florida when he does his
stuff.
So I, when they have theirshootings, I go down and I get
the LinkedIn and some marketingperspective.
I wear the tie.
Do that kind of fun stuff.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
I thought that was interesting.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
I love it.
Trade up the paperclip right.
Where are we?
So I broke my own flow.
Give me a second here.
Thank you for sharing that, bythe way.
Yeah, Lesson for the listeners.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
What advice do you give to those that are
entrepreneurs just starting?
I think best advice, again, youknow, really going back to
making sure the business you'recreating aligns with your
personal goals.
The business you're creatingaligns with your personal goals.
I think it's really easy to getexcited about an idea and to
just get laser focused onexecuting and making that happen
and doing it separate from whatyour personal goals and
(09:55):
personal life are, and all of asudden you can just be too far
down the path and so reallyreflecting is this company or
(10:16):
business that I'm building goingto align with what I want my
personal life to look like Atsome point?
If it's not what you want to do, you know to make the change
again, but I think the earlieryou can figure out what your
personal goals are and alignyour business with that, the
more sustainable you'll be as anentrepreneur in that business.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
You know what I mean.
Great, great advice, and thatis an evolution.
So when you start you need tomake money and that won't line
up to what your personal stuffis typically.
If you found that, you won'teven realize you found it.
You just you'll think you'rethe coolest thing ever likely.
You're going to discover thatmy own autobiography of that is
I have been working in agency.
I know long term I don't wantto be doing this.
(10:56):
I'm 49.
I don't want to be doing this10 years now I do I.
I want is I want to be able togo to sicily with my wife for a
week and or three weeks and justmaybe I'll do podcasting.
Then I won't.
The point is the work optional,not to have to show up every
week for meetings and do allthese things you need to do
You're.
But I didn't realize that untilabout five years in.
I'm like, all right, I need tomake a pivot in the next five
(11:17):
years to get completely changedin what we do.
So I a hundred percent agreewith that advice.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
It's the better you can align advice, like with this
podcast.
Right now, I love doing thepodcast and I've gotten into
doing some one-on-one coachingand I've had to stop myself and
be like I don't, I am not doingone-on-one coaching long-term
because then I'm going to haveto be on meetings.
So you know, I'm like okay, Ineed to be very deliberate in
(11:53):
how I help people and find thebest method to work with people
and structure this as a businessor whatever I'm going to do
with the podcast going forward.
So even something simple like aproject like this, that really
isn't my full-time company.
I still need to make sure Idon't get caught up in like, oh,
(12:13):
but it'd be fun to do this andthis and this, and all of a
sudden I'm like tearing my hairout again six months from now.
You know it's it's so hardCause I think as entrepreneurs
we love the like idea andcreation part of it.
It's like feeds my soul, but Ihave to be so careful to not let
that take over, you know.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
You're a.
So, as I've spun up, cut the tieand we had the little Facebook
free group and I look like, okay, I'm down the path of I need to
create the digital courses and,like you know, right, like I
said, I have a marketing agencythat rocks YouTube and does all
this stuff.
The team runs that and once Iyou and I or whatever establish
a strategy or my client, it runsreally well.
But even down the road,long-term I'm like I'm going to
(12:52):
fade, I'm going to keep thoseclients and at some point I
would stop taking new onesbecause I'm like I'm going to
phase that out and move on tothe next thing.
But but the the coaching thingis interesting.
I I'm going to enter theone-on-one coaching space
knowing that I'm not going tostay in it because I'm using it
to learn what digital coursesI'm going to go create to help
people cut ties to whatever'sholding them back.
So the one-on-one stuff givesme really intimate settings of
(13:12):
really where to apply it.
And then I know I'm going toback out of it at some point or
make it so ridiculouslyexpensive it's worth taking the
meeting to do it.
Not really Like my time will bewell served when I'm going to
do that.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Yeah, no, I'm with you, and I do think that's part
of the reason I'm doing.
It also is because I want tomake sure I'm understanding what
it is that people need, andthat one-on-one is very
insightful.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
And you're early phase right, so you get invited
in to take the course for free.
If you'll do it for the tradeof a real feedback and if you
find some damn positive, give mea testimonial and that's all.
I got some true requirements.
Give me some criticism, that'shelpful.
And you better find one thingpositive I don't care if it
smells nice.
You know I don't give a shit.
Something yeah, but no, that'swhat I'll do Anyway.
(13:56):
So none of that will probablymake the cut for it, but I want
to share that with you because Ithink it's interesting.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Yeah, let's do some rapid fire questions and this is
(14:23):
like one of my who gives youinspiration every day outlook on
life, and that's something Ihave a hard time doing is
reminding myself that I have toprioritize my hobbies and having
fun and doing that kind ofstuff.
So he definitely inspires mequite a bit actually, which is
fun, and we're, we're, we're,super, super similar, but we're
(14:44):
opposite in certain ways and Ithink we inspire each other and
our differences to some degree.
But, yeah, he definitelyencourages me to like have fun
and live life and prioritize thegood stuff too, cause it goes
by fast, as we're realizing.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Yes, it does.
That is beautifully.
My son the other day took me toa.
He wanted to go to a Pokemontournament.
He's 13 and I'm like, oh my,and so we went to a Pokemon
tournament 13.
And I'm like, oh my, and so wewent to a Pokemon tournament.
I've played Pokemon one twotimes maybe with my son, like
this week, and I it wasembarrassing how bad I got beat,
but I flirt with it.
(15:22):
And but he was like, well, youneed a hobby, dad.
All you do is work and then godo the basement rehab.
And I was like I do have ahobby.
It's called golf.
I never get to play, right,he's right.
I'm like I do need hobbies.
I need, I need to get some andI don't prioritize them at all.
I prioritize building this andyou got to balance that and you
can't.
You know it's.
It's a tough balance.
I love that you guys inspireand I love that he's gotten to
that point.
So good for him.
That is an inspiration.
(15:43):
Yeah, best business adviceyou've ever received.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
I think it goes back when I first quit my job.
I mentioned this earlierpatience and persistence.
I asked my neighbor growing upwho has a successful business.
I said what advice do you havefor me?
And he told me patience andpersistence.
And I don't know, it isliterally again the words that I
kind of live by.
I think it applies toeverything in business, in
(16:08):
exercise, in health.
You got to have patience.
Things don't happen overnight,but you have to be relentless
and persistent to hitting yourgoals and making things happen.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
I like that Relentless and persistent.
It doesn't have to be fast,just plow through it.
I love that.
What's the one must-read book?
Speaker 2 (16:27):
My favorite book of the last couple of years has
been Buy Back your time by danmartell.
I think I am somebody who hadthat limiting belief that I had
to kind of do everything and ittook me a little while to
realize that was not the mosteffective way to use my time.
And that book really hit homefor me because all the things
that I hate doing, even justlike managing my email, would
(16:50):
just cause me this likeunderlying anxiety.
And now I have somebodymanaging my email, my calendar
and like all this little craplike researching summer camps
for my son, all this stuff thatjust chews up time and distracts
like my day I have help withand I have people doing now and
it's.
It has been a game changer andthat book really helped me kind
(17:14):
of shift that mindset and layout a plan for how to do it, not
just like, yeah, you need to dothis.
It was.
It really gave tactical adviceon how to do that, so highly
recommend that book.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
I love that.
That's, it is great advice.
And just to continue, it's ayes.
And here I moved.
I have the same email problemright, multiple emails,
thousands in there on Reddit aday, and I was like I try to get
in a VA involved and in thisshe knows my, she knows me as
better than I do, probably froma business standpoint, and she
was unable to do it and she's,it's just.
And I was like great use.
(17:45):
I went and got an AI and it's,it reduces nine and a half hours
a week out of my doing, and soit gives me a summary.
I was like, hey, based on howyou used to use your email, you
say four and a half hours inthis inbox, three and a half
hours, and I was thinking awhole day, no wonder I feel like
I can get shit done because Ialways check and check an email
and so, and so AI is great forthat.
(18:06):
Calendly like listen, here'sthe link, figure it out, kind of
thing, like if it's notavailable on there, I'm not
available.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Yes, it's that simple .
Speaker 1 (18:13):
You don't book till May.
I'm like well, I'm booked.
Yes, that's it.
Sorry, there are times I'llopen it, but anyway, once again,
probably not making the cut,for, but I agree with you Like
the stuff, because I am tooinvolved in my own selfish world
, I think, to do it.
(18:33):
But that's a great one of hey,I could have a VA, do that.
Go research this stuff in ourarea.
That could be great for kids.
That's a great idea actually.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
Yeah, like all that little stuff doctor's
appointments, a random bill thatI know I need to like make a
call on, like that stuff, justchoose up time, it's crazy Fraud
.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
Someone took $30,000 out of a perk that's not mine.
Yeah, I'm dealing with that one, that one actually I'm going to
make money on.
Anyway, all right, if you hadto start over today, when in
your timeline, would you do that?
Speaker 2 (19:00):
And what would you do differently If I had to start
over today?
I would go back to 2012.
And it was when I was on SharkTank, 2012.
And it was when I was on SharkTank and I, you know, you spend
all this time as an entrepreneurtrying to get business and like
pitching people and retailersand partnerships and marketing
(19:21):
opportunities, and then, all ofa sudden, the floodgates open
and everyone's coming to you andyou decide to say yes to
everything.
And it was a really toughlesson I learned.
You decide to say yes toeverything, and it was a really
tough lesson I learned and, hadI stayed focused, I think it
would have been a very differenttrajectory for that company and
I don't think I would have hitthe burnout that I hit.
But I decided you know, notjust me, but it was kind of my
(19:44):
investors, it was, it was acompany decision, but I had, I
had the insight to push back andsay no, we need to stay focused
.
Um, I think it would have beena different path and so,
fortunately, I did learn thatlesson and in my current company
, I've applied that strategy andI've stayed way more focused.
(20:05):
And it's still hard.
I still catch myself once in awhile, like wanting to say yes
to something.
I'm like no, what am I doing?
Don't do that, don't do that.
So I think staying focused alot earlier in my
entrepreneurship journey was andnot getting lured by all the
opportunities and all thepossibilities would have been
(20:25):
smart.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
The book that I'm about to start I think should
help with this is 10X is easierthan 2X, and that's all about
focusing your time, apparently.
And I'm like, yeah, I find whenyou have adult or if you have
ADD in your life or ADHD,whatever it's called now I can't
remember I can't think longenough to focus on it.
The point is that actually hurt.
It makes you 2x a lot of thingsbecause you can see the
(20:47):
opportunities.
But the analogy.
I mean you can run the marathonas faster than anybody 25 miles
of it, but that last 1.2 isyou're not getting done, and so
that's why you're stay at 2x,and that last 1.2 is where your
time and effort needs to go togo finish the marathon and then,
once you have then the next one, you do it faster the next time
, and so I fall on that.
I know lots of entrepreneursfall on that as well, and so
(21:09):
you're right If you had said no,that's more things.
You're saying yes, the onething that mattered, the thing
that you should have beenfocusing on, that you didn't
realize, but you also do thatbecause in the back of your head
.
You're like, well, what if itfails?
Yeah, totally.
And you're like, well, what ifthose options will still be
there?
I think that's.
The thing you don't realize islike I get it.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
Yeah, and I think I think sometimes too, that we all
confidence and grows over timeand it's also being okay with
yeah, like I could have donethat better, I could have done
that differently.
It's a constant evolution andgive ourselves some, you know,
not be too hard on ourselves.
Put it that way, Right.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
Well, and this is where the kind of imposter
syndrome comes in, where you'relike you got to put up the front
, you know enough to be in thatroom or to have the conversation
, and you're like I have no ideaactually what I'm doing.
I'm just going to sell the ideaand they better better not dig
too deep or they'll see it it'spretty shallow, but no, I get it
, it's, it's, it's important.
So I appreciate you sharingthat.
That's fantastic.
(22:08):
If you, if I had one question Ishould have asked you today and
it just didn't what's thatquestion and how do you answer
that?
Speaker 2 (22:20):
Let's see, I mean, I think it's basically, like you
know, as it relates toentrepreneurship, kind of what's
the biggest mistake I see themmaking right now in going out to
raise money, and it's such atough thing.
I think when we're really closeto our companies and our
businesses, we know it so well.
It can be so hard to explain itto somebody in a clear, concise
(22:41):
message.
So I'm getting pitch decks allthe time and it's just crazy
like the what they do, how theymake money and how the investor
is going to potentially get areturn are not clear and it's
you know you have an investor'sattention for maybe 30 seconds
(23:03):
before you lose them, and so Ithink it's such a critical thing
to have a clear, concisemessage, and sometimes it's hard
to do that on our own.
So I'm a huge advocate of, like, accelerators and incubators
and getting coaching and stufflike that, because you can spend
a lot of time knocking on doorsand if you're losing them and
(23:24):
they can't figure out, like,what exactly it is that you do,
and it's so crazy, likesometimes it seems like it
should be so easy to do that andobvious, but it can be really,
really tough to do.
So that's the biggest mistakeand just being not fully
prepared, not having yourfinancials, not knowing your
numbers, just basic things.
Just have your ducks in a rowbefore you go pitch investors.
It saves you a lot of time andeffort.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
I'm going to ask you for a deck template at the end
of this yeah do it.
I'll tell you, we raised moneytwo years in one of our equal
main investors.
I was explaining what we do.
I don't know how I got him on acall again just to catch up
with him.
I think I was just catching upfor the year summary and I was
explaining what we do and how wedo it.
And he's like, oh, I know whatit was.
(24:08):
And he's like I wanted you topresent some stuff on LinkedIn
to my company I run.
I'm like sure.
And he's like he got thingslike I didn't even realize
that's what you guys did and hehad somehow you'd invest.
I think you, you know, and andnow they're our biggest client
because we, we kill it.
It's a billion dollar company.
I was like we kill it for themCause he's like, oh my God, I
had no idea that's what you guysdid.
I'm like, yeah, he's like weneed help with that.
(24:39):
And I'm thinking, two years in,how did I not explain this?
You gave me money.
I, I solve.
This is generally how we'll doit and you get your money back
when we exit five years from now, and I'm targeting a 10 X exit
relative to your investment, sothat that is the goal.
And if they're like okay, takeme in it.
Why is that a problem?
(25:00):
Like in the in like.
So if you have a deck templatethat read it that I'm looking
for that, I'm happy to put yourname all over and say this and
I'll give it to all the peoplethat we meet.
I know I personally need it.
So, once again, this won't makethe cut for, but I'm just
telling you I'm going to need it.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
Yeah, no, I'm happy to help.
Yeah, it is so funny.
It really is like when you hearpeopleer you know, or I always
say, like a caveman, like you'rea caveman, typing is like, it's
so true with pitch deck, so,yeah, I'm happy to send one over
or look at anything.
Yeah, anytime.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
It is a shameless plug time for you.
Go ahead.
Who should get ahold of you?
I always tell people bespecific, so who should be?
Try again.
Who should get ahold of you?
How do they do that that?
Speaker 2 (25:43):
yeah.
So I would say early stageentrepreneurs who've never
raised money, who are gettingready, thinking about raising
money or they're in the processand struggling and kind of
knocking the traction that theywant, are really who I can help
the most.
And linkedin I've got a freecall.
If you jayless is leono onlinkedin, you can book a free
call.
(26:03):
If you Jailess is Liano onLinkedIn, you can book a free 30
minute call and we can kind ofsee where you're at.
Look at your deck.
I'll give you some really liketactical pitch deck feedback.
And yeah, that's it so happy tohelp.
I dedicate my Fridays toreviewing pitch decks.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
I don't know if I actually follow up to the to the
plug.
Do you help people not onlylearn the better process, but do
you connect them with potentialinvestors?
Speaker 2 (26:27):
Yeah, I do do that and that is one of my goals with
the podcast.
I've been interviewing a lot ofangel groups and investors and
VCs and then I have my ownnetwork, and warm introductions
are really how I ended up.
I got my funding through sixintroductions my first lead
investor, so you never knowwhere an introduction is going
(26:49):
to go.
So, yeah, if I know somebodythat's a good fit, if your deck
is in a good place and if I feellike you're in a presentable
place to pitch, then yeah, Idefinitely make introductions
and try to help as much as I can.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
That was the caveat.
You have to have a decent idea,be a good person and be
prepared, because you will fallto the level of preparedness and
no matter how prepared you are,the investor is going to know
way more about the space ofwhatever you're trying to go do
and just accept that you knowmore than that.
That's why I'm bringing you onas an investor.
That's your value add besidesmoney.
You got to flip the script on alittle bit.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
Totally.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
And I don't need money.
I need somebody who's connected.
I'm talking to you.
I got money coming in, clearly.
Thank you, by the way.
So much for coming on today.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
Yay, thank you for having me, this was fun.
Speaker 1 (27:32):
Listen.
Thank you, j Lee, for coming on.
Get out there.
Go cut a tie to somethingholding you back If you listen
to this on Apple.
Follow Spotify.
Follow YouTube.
Subscribe.
Get out there.
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