Eric Siu – Do Not Chase the Money, Chase the Opportunity

Feb 16, 2021

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Eric Siu is the CEO of content intelligence software ClickFlow, which helps you grow your traffic while looking like a genius. He also owns ad agency Single Grain and has worked with companies such as Amazon, Airbnb, Salesforce, and Uber to acquire more customers.

He hosts two podcasts: Marketing School with Neil Patel and Leveling Up, which combined have over 48 million downloads to date.

He also speaks frequently around the world on marketing and SaaS.

“If you keep chasing the money, you are going to run out of steam at a certain point, and you will not want to keep working at it anymore.”

Eric Siu

Worst investment ever

Eric was in the first year of running his ad agency, and things were not going too well. So he decided to look for something else he could venture into. He ended up settling on the senior living niche that he believed would blow up in a few years.

Partnering with his high school mates

At the time, two of Eric’s friends from high school were interested in Eric’s idea. They made a power team. One had a finance and operations background, another was a developer, and Eric had a marketing background.

Together, they started a company called CareSprout. They each contributed $80,000 to start the company.

Focusing on too many things at once

While the team was great, their heads were not in the game. Each partner had other things they were focusing on simultaneously, so they could not give their business the full attention it needed.

Needless to say, the business did not work out even after going at it for two years. When they ran out of money, one of the partners suggested they raise more money, but Eric felt it was time to cut their losses, and so they did.

Lessons learned

Do not chase the money; chase the opportunity

Do not get into a business just because you want to make money. Go into it because there is an opportunity you can benefit from.

Focus on one thing until you have it working

Do not be a jack of all trades. Work on one thing and nail it before you try to scale anything else.

Make sure that your values and those of your partners align

Before you get into a partnership, make sure that you vet the people you want to partner with and see if their values align with yours. Make sure that everyone understands their roles and responsibilities, and they are comfortable with them.

Andrew’s takeaways

Implementing an idea is more challenging than you imagine

Implementing an idea to fruition is such a huge challenge. It is better to work in an area, understand it, and then implement an idea in that area. Start small before you go big.

Is your idea worth investing in?

Before you turn your idea into a business, ask yourself if it is an idea that people can invest in. Can you confidently ask people to invest in your idea and guarantee them a return on investment?

Money is secondary in business

Making money should not be the primary goal of a business. The idea, the implementation, the passion, and the customers are the primary thing. Money is just a measure of success.

Actionable advice

Slow down and think things through so you can have the tool belt to sidestep critical mistakes. So just be very intentional and slow down from time to time.

No. 1 goal for the next 12 months

Eric’s number one goal for the next 12 months is to hit the Wall Street Journal bestseller list for his new book Leveling Up.