Wantrepreneur to Entrepreneur | Start and Grow Your Own Business 1307: Solving Today's Problems is the ONLY Way to Build for Tomorrow w/ Elke Wong
In this powerful episode, Elke Wong, founder and CEO of TomorrowToday, shares her inspiring journey from pre-med to becoming a serial tech entrepreneur who is now transforming the education landscape. Elke unpacks how a single conversation with a friend revealed a massive operational inefficiency in schools, sparking the idea for a platform that empowers students and educators. This episode is a masterclass in how to build a mission-driven company by focusing on real-world problems. For any entrepreneur struggling to find their niche or innovate in a traditional industry, Elke provides a brilliant roadmap for empathetic product development, strategic growth, and creating a business that solves today’s problems to build a better tomorrow.
💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business
- How to Find a Billion-Dollar Problem: Discover how Elke identified a critical market gap not through complex analysis, but by listening to a friend's everyday professional struggles—and how you can do the same.
- The "Crawl, Walk, Run" Innovation Strategy: Learn how to introduce groundbreaking technology into slow-moving industries by meeting your customers where they are, rather than overwhelming them with change.
- Mastering the Customer vs. Consumer Dynamic: Unpack Elke’s strategic approach to serving multiple stakeholders (students, educators, parents, schools) by identifying a core user and expanding organically from there.
- The Antidote to "Shiny Object Syndrome": Hear why focusing on solving today's urgent problems is non-negotiable for survival and the key to earning the right to build for the future.
- Empathetic Product Development: Learn how to design solutions that enhance human capability and save time, rather than trying to replace the essential human element in your industry.
- Leveraging Your Entire Career Path: Understand how every pivot and experience, even from seemingly unrelated industries, can be a unique asset in your entrepreneurial toolkit.
📝 About Elke Wong
Elke Wong is the founder and CEO of TomorrowToday, a groundbreaking EdTech platform transforming career readiness for students. The daughter of immigrant parents, Elke's own winding career path—from pre-med to co-founding major ad tech and B2B marketing companies like Madison Logic—inspired her mission. With a deep background in customer success and operational excellence, Elke brings a powerful, human-centric approach to technology. She is an expert at identifying and solving complex operational inefficiencies, building empathetic solutions that empower users and drive real-world impact.
🎯 Elke’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs
"Don't just say that you're your student-centric or your customer-centric. I think you need to put it into practice... Be adaptable, be resilient, and try to have a growth mindset."
📢 Memorable Quotes
- “If I don't help solve [today's problems], then I'm not going to have a tomorrow.” – Elke Wong
- “It's not fair to say that educators are not innovative. They want to be innovative. They don't have the time... It's our responsibility as EdTech entrepreneurs to think about how to be those change agents.” – Elke Wong
- “It's not about a specific path. It's about growth and adaptability, and when obstacles come, it's about navigating around them to reach that next milestone.” – Elke Wong
🔗 Links & Resources