#45, Nick Houldsworth, "If you are offered a seat on a rocketship, Just F*@kin Do It!"

In this episode of the WFLS podcast, we chat with Nick Houldsworth.

Nick Houldsworth is co-founder of AI tax startup Prosaic, a board member of Ambit and Melodics, and an investor at Tradify, Spotrisk, and Redshield.

Nick was the first employee and CMO at Vend, and Exec GM for the Developer API and App Store at Xero.

Sadly, he’s no longer available for children’s parties.

In this episode, we chat about Nick's journey from being the #1 employee at Vend and then leading the Ecosystem marketplace at Xero.

Nick gives his advice to people that want to be in a startup and why you should sit when you are offered a seat on a rocket ship.

He talks about life now and what he is up to with his latest startup.

Nick talks about his band Hobotalk as his information share and you can check them out here.

He believes that you should join a startup and 'start a movement' and you can see the video "How to start a movement" to see how it evolves.

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Timestamps:

[00:03:25] Taking a career break.

[00:06:36] Filtering through creative ideas.

[00:10:22] Finding balance in work and life.

[00:14:47] User-friendly accounting software.

[00:16:17] Consumer brands building business applications.

[00:20:10] Failed entrepreneurial attempts.

[00:23:24] B2B marketing and emotional motivation.

[00:26:00] Creative marketing strategies.

[00:29:23] F bomb gate.

[00:32:06] Writing job descriptions and blow-up.

[00:36:34] Obsession with Trade Me.

[00:38:05] Sliding door moments.

[00:42:28] Midlife crisis and hobbies.

[00:45:20] Music archives and Virgin Records.

[00:47:26] People smarter than you.

[00:51:30] Marketing team and business growth.

[00:53:37] Leaving for new opportunities.

[00:57:55] Entrepreneurial mindset and prioritization.

[01:00:27] Career trajectory and joy.

[01:03:52] Building a marketing team.

[01:08:07] Personal cashflow struggles.

[01:09:09] Open banking and AI opportunities.

[01:11:32] Companies thriving and growing.

[01:16:37] Hobo talk on Spotify.

[01:19:26] Getting involved in startups.

[01:21:08] Nick's imposter syndrome.