Cut The Tie | Success on Your Terms
1st - Define your success on your terms.
2nd - "Cut The Tie" to whatever is keeping you from that success
Cut The Tie is not just a podcast; it's a movement. Hosted by Thomas Helfrich, this highly impactful show features short-form interviews with remarkable individuals who share how they redefined success by boldly cutting ties with fear, doubt, bad habits, toxic environments, and limiting beliefs. You'll hear exactly what they cut, how they did it, what it felt like, and how their lives — and the lives of those around them — changed forever.
Each episode is inspirational, motivational, and — most importantly — actionable. You'll gain real strategies and mindset shifts you can immediately apply to your own life and career.
Plus, every day, Thomas drops solo short-form episodes designed to fire you up, challenge your thinking, and remind you that the only thing standing between you and your potential... is the tie you need to cut.
Join our free community at facebook.com/groups/cutthetie to connect with others on the same journey, and subscribe to our growing YouTube channel with over 1 million subscribers at youtube.com/@cutthetie.
Own your success.
Cut the tie.
Change your life.
Cut The Tie | Success on Your Terms
“Every ‘No’ Just Meant Not Yet”—Jayla Siciliano on Building Resilience
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:
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Welcome to Cut the Tie podcast. Hi, I'm your host, thomas Helfrich. We are on the mission to help entrepreneurs cut the ties to whatever's holding them back from success, and today I'm joined by Jayla Siciliano. How are you?
Speaker 2:doing today, jayla, good thanks, great to be here.
Speaker 1:I'm very glad you're here. I'm excited to have this conversation with you. But to start, why don't you introduce yourself and what it is you do?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I am a kind of corporate to entrepreneur type background and currently I've got a company called Atlas Group which is a luxury bi-coastal short-term rental, hospitality kind of company that actually makes me money. And then on the side I've got a podcast called Seed Money and I just love helping entrepreneurs with the fundraising process. So that's what sparked that.
Speaker 1:I love that you get the multi-tenanted entrepreneurial journey on your way In either of your businesses. Though what's the differentiator? You know what makes you unique. Why do people pick?
Speaker 2:you yeah, I mean in, you know I'll talk about seed money because I think that's kind of the most relevant probably to your audience. I think a lot of the content out 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 silver platter to some degree. And there's this whole human side of raising money, and so my story isn't about raising a gazillion dollars, but I raised money in a recession as a first time entrepreneur, no track record in the industry, I was raising money in no sales and you know just no traction, no experience in the industry that I was in. So for me to have done that, it was like I went through every possible thing you could do and I made so many mistakes, and so I think you know I've lived it over and over and it's given me a good background to be able to help people avoid some of those mistakes.
Speaker 1:So Well, tell me a little bit about your journey and along the way. What, what? What's the major tie you had to cut?
Speaker 2:Oh man, you know, I think that. So again, I started in corporate for seven years and then I jumped into entrepreneurship. I quit my job like totally naive, didn't really know what I was getting myself into, and as soon as I did it became just an ego thing of like I have to make this happen. So I quit my job and I let that drive just take over my entire life. And all of a sudden I woke up 10 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.
Speaker 2:My investors goals became my goals, and so the big mistake, looking back, that I made is I didn't align, like my personal goals with my business goals and it just completely took over my life. And I think that happens to a lot of entrepreneurs. I think it happens in corporate too. I think people can easily let their corporate job kind of disrupt their whole personal life. Obviously that happened.
Speaker 2:There's a gazillion movies on that right. But in entrepreneurship it's like really becomes your baby. So if you don't align, if you don't kind of have some idea what your personal goals are in the beginning and make that a little bit of a priority. It's really easy to let your whole company just take over your life, and the hardest part of that is that when things don't go the way they should, it is deeply personal and painful. So I think that the big tie that I had to cut was completely pivoting and realigning my life to create a company and a business that aligns more with my personal life. And it didn't happen overnight and it wasn't easy, but I did manage to do it.
Speaker 1:Do you remember the moment when you knew you needed to cut that tie? Could you describe it?
Speaker 2: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 blood pressure. My great grandmother died of a heart attack when she was 46. And it really felt like it came down to kind of almost life or death at that point. But I just could not keep going and I knew I had to call my investors and talk to them about it and fortunately they were really supportive, but it was. It was not a fun time, let's put it that way, but looking back it was like one of those hardest decisions I've ever made and I'm so thankful I was quote unquote brave enough to not do what I should do and choose a different path, because it definitely set the course, you know, the rest of my life off on a completely different trajectory than had. I kept going down that path because I felt like I should.
Speaker 1:And describe, like, the impact since then. You know, to yourself, to others, to your business, what has been the impact since making the decision and then cutting that tie.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, I think if I had kept going down that path, I probably would be divorced. I don't know if I would have like started a family and had my son. I'd put that off for years and I, you know, now we like my personal life is the priority and I revolve work around that. You know we just got back from Belize. We were in Sicily for three weeks. This year. I pick my son up from school every day. You know, it's just a completely different lifestyle. You know we live in our dream location, dream house. I think it just. It was really hard and it wasn't a quick path to get here, but it's just such a better quality of life than how I spent the first 10 years of entrepreneurship.
Speaker 1:Hey, good for you. I think that's a very natural journey, the difference being, at some point the moment happens that you don't take it and, for whatever reason, you trade your life effectively for the fear of change, which is effectively what it comes out to. You have a fear and there's an excuse. And if you don't do it, tough and it's fair enough. When you call those investors, you are resolved enough where, like, I don't care what this is happening, you're going to be behind me or you're just going to lose your money, kind of idea. Is that fair of a way to say it? Or it was clear that that was happening and you were just letting them know?
Speaker 2:Yeah, more or less Definitely yeah.
Speaker 1:And you have an interesting path on your entrepreneur, how you raise money. Do you want to just just just setting up your journey? Maybe we'll use. Do you want to talk about that just a bit?
Speaker 2:The raising money part.
Speaker 1:Yeah, how did you do it?
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh man God, I just I live by two mantras and where there's a will there's a way, and patience and persistence. And, in a nutshell, I had a sticky note on my computer that said raise a million dollars and get into Whole Foods. And I just looked at that every single day, all day, and every action I took was towards those two things. And I raised my first 500,000 from non-friends and family. I must have pitched to hundreds and hundreds of investors, finally found a lead investor and then had to kind of fill out the rest of the round and it was just a lot of trial and error and after that that kind of it's a long story, but basically ended up on Shark Tank after that.
Speaker 2:So my first experience of raising money was with no exposure, just me grinding, pitching, networking, doing whatever it took, hopping on a plane, making meetings happen, fear of loss, like all that stuff plays into it. And then the Shark Tank exposure got the deal with Mark Cuban and that was just a crazy little rollercoaster ride which was super fun. So, yeah it's, I've definitely covered the full spectrum in terms of raising money, did it with no revenue and then again trying to run a company is extremely challenging, but again, where there's a will, there's a way it's doable. It's just a matter of a lot of networking.
Speaker 1:Yeah Well, I've said this to people too. You know you can ring. There's a few ways to do entrepreneurship. Just go ring the cash register and you ring it loud enough. People come find you to say, hey, can I get in? Or you spend time selling an idea and it's very hard to do both at the same time. I personally I'm sure people could do it there they are true unicorns if you can, but it is a full-time job to raise money or it's a full-time job to build a business and it's really hard to do both.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I totally agree.
Speaker 1:I started off with myself on the raise money from friends and family and acquaintances kind of stuff I won't call them fools because they're way smarter than me but got a little just to get going and quickly realized you have to pivot. And I was like I can't do both and I was like I'm going to go. So I pivoted from a tech company to a services company. I was like we got to make money, I'm going to go build a business, go figure out the market problems. And they were like all right, cool. And now I'm coming back to them saying it's time to pivot to a humanist company. Ai has come close enough now where we can do 99% of what we're going to want you.
Speaker 1:I know this will make the cut, for I was just curious. I will use that first part about you with Mark Cuban and Shark Tank Speaking of which, by the way, I'm actually on Kevin Harrington's A-Team thingy down in Florida when he does his stuff. So I, when they have their shootings, I go down and I get the LinkedIn and some marketing perspective. I wear the tie. Do that kind of fun stuff.
Speaker 2:I thought that was interesting.
Speaker 1: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, by the way. Yeah, Lesson for the listeners.
Speaker 2:What advice do you give to those that are entrepreneurs just starting? I think best advice, again, you know, really going back to making sure the business you're creating aligns with your personal goals. The business you're creating aligns with your personal goals. I think it's really easy to get excited about an idea and to just get laser focused on executing and making that happen and doing it separate from what your personal goals and personal life are, and all of a sudden you can just be too far down the path and so really reflecting is this company or business that I'm building going to align with what I want my personal life to look like At some point? If it's not what you want to do, you know to make the change again, but I think the earlier you can figure out what your personal goals are and align your business with that, the more sustainable you'll be as an entrepreneur in that business.
Speaker 1:You know what I mean. Great, great advice, and that is an evolution. So when you start you need to make money and that won't line up to what your personal stuff is typically. If you found that, you won't even realize you found it. You just you'll think you're the coolest thing ever likely. You're going to discover that my own autobiography of that is I have been working in agency. I know long term I don't want to be doing this. I'm 49. I don't want to be doing this 10 years now I do I. I want is I want to be able to go to sicily with my wife for a week and or three weeks and just maybe 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 all these things you need to do You're. But I didn't realize that until about five years in. I'm like, all right, I need to make a pivot in the next five years to get completely changed in what we do. So I a hundred percent agree with that advice.
Speaker 2:It's the better you can align advice, like with this podcast. Right now, I love doing the podcast and I've gotten into doing some one-on-one coaching and I've had to stop myself and be like I don't, I am not doing one-on-one coaching long-term because then I'm going to have to be on meetings. So you know, I'm like okay, I need to be very deliberate in how I help people and find the best method to work with people and structure this as a business or whatever I'm going to do with the podcast going forward. So even something simple like a project like this, that really isn't my full-time company. I still need to make sure I don't get caught up in like, oh, but it'd be fun to do this and this and this, and all of a sudden I'm like tearing my hair out again six months from now. You know it's it's so hard Cause I think as entrepreneurs we love the like idea and creation part of it. It's like feeds my soul, but I have to be so careful to not let that take over, you know.
Speaker 1:You're a.
Speaker 1:So, as I've spun up, cut the tie and 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 agency that rocks YouTube and does all this stuff.
Speaker 1:The team runs that and once I you and I or whatever establish a strategy or my client, it runs really well. But even down the road, long-term I'm like I'm going to fade, I'm going to keep those clients and at some point I would stop taking new ones because I'm like I'm going to phase that out and move on to the next thing. But but the the coaching thing is interesting. I I'm going to enter the one-on-one coaching space knowing that I'm not going to stay in it because I'm using it to learn what digital courses I'm going to go create to help people cut ties to whatever's holding them back. So the one-on-one stuff gives me really intimate settings of really where to apply it. And then I know I'm going to back out of it at some point or make it so ridiculously expensive it's worth taking the meeting to do it. Not really Like my time will be well served when I'm going to do that.
Speaker 2: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 to make sure I'm understanding what it is that people need, and that one-on-one is very insightful.
Speaker 1:And you're early phase right, so you get invited in to take the course for free. If you'll do it for the trade of a real feedback and if you find some damn positive, give me a testimonial and that's all. I got some true requirements. Give me some criticism, that's helpful. And you better find one thing positive I don't care if it smells nice. You know I don't give a shit. Something yeah, but no, that's what I'll do Anyway. So none of that will probably make the cut for it, but I want to share that with you because I think it's interesting.
Speaker 2:Yeah, let's do some rapid fire questions and this is like one of my who gives you inspiration every day outlook on life, and that's something I have a hard time doing is reminding myself that I have to prioritize my hobbies and having fun and doing that kind of stuff. So he definitely inspires me quite a bit actually, which is fun, and we're, we're, we're, super, super similar, but we're opposite in certain ways and I think we inspire each other and our differences to some degree. But, yeah, he definitely encourages me to like have fun and live life and prioritize the good stuff too, cause it goes by fast, as we're realizing.
Speaker 1:Yes, it does. That is beautifully. My son the other day took me to a. He wanted to go to a Pokemon tournament. 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 we went to a Pokemon tournament. I've played Pokemon one two times maybe with my son, like this week, and I it was embarrassing how bad I got beat, but I flirt with it. And but he was like, well, you need a hobby, dad. All you do is work and then go do the basement rehab. And I was like I do have a hobby. 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 and I don't prioritize them at all. I prioritize building this and you got to balance that and you can't. You know it's. It's a tough balance. I love that you guys inspire and I love that he's gotten to that point. So good for him. That is an inspiration. Yeah, best business advice you've ever received.
Speaker 2:I think it goes back when I first quit my job. I mentioned this earlier patience and persistence. I asked my neighbor growing up who has a successful business. I said what advice do you have for me? And he told me patience and persistence. And I don't know, it is literally again the words that I kind of live by. I think it applies to everything in business, in exercise, in health. You got to have patience. Things don't happen overnight, but you have to be relentless and persistent to hitting your goals and making things happen.
Speaker 1: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:My favorite book of the last couple of years has been Buy Back your time by dan martell. I think I am somebody who had that limiting belief that I had to kind of do everything and it took me a little while to realize that was not the most effective way to use my time. And that book really hit home for me because all the things that I hate doing, even just like managing my email, would just cause me this like underlying anxiety. And now I have somebody managing my email, my calendar and like all this little crap like researching summer camps for my son, all this stuff that just chews up time and distracts like my day I have help with and I have people doing now and it's. It has been a game changer and that book really helped me kind of shift that mindset and lay out a plan for how to do it, not just like, yeah, you need to do this. It was. It really gave tactical advice on how to do that, so highly recommend that book.
Speaker 1:I love that. That's, it is great advice. And just to continue, it's a yes. And here I moved. I have the same email problem right, multiple emails, thousands in there on Reddit a day, and I was like I try to get in a VA involved and in this she knows my, she knows me as better than I do, probably from a business standpoint, and she was unable to do it and she's, it's just. And I was like great use. I went and got an AI and it's, it reduces nine and a half hours a week out of my doing, and so it gives me a summary. I was like, hey, based on how you used to use your email, you say four and a half hours in this inbox, three and a half hours, and I was thinking a whole day, no wonder I feel like I can get shit done because I always check and check an email and so, and so AI is great for that. Calendly like listen, here's the link, figure it out, kind of thing, like if it's not available on there, I'm not available.
Speaker 2:Yes, it's that simple.
Speaker 1:You don't book till May. I'm like well, I'm booked. Yes, that's it. Sorry, there are times I'll open it, but anyway, once again, probably not making the cut, for, but I agree with you Like the stuff, because I am too involved in my own selfish world, I think, to do it. But that's a great one of hey, I could have a VA, do that. Go research this stuff in our area. That could be great for kids. That's a great idea actually.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like all that little stuff doctor's appointments, a random bill that I know I need to like make a call on, like that stuff, just choose up time, it's crazy Fraud.
Speaker 1: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 had to start over today, when in your timeline, would you do that?
Speaker 2: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 Shark Tank, 2012. And it was when I was on Shark Tank and I, you know, you spend all this time as an entrepreneur trying to get business and like pitching people and retailers and partnerships and marketing opportunities, and then, all of a sudden, the floodgates open and everyone's coming to you and you decide to say yes to everything. And it was a really tough lesson I learned.
Speaker 2:You decide to say yes to everything, and it was a really tough lesson I learned and, had I stayed focused, I think it would have been a very different trajectory for that company and I don't think I would have hit the burnout that I hit. But I decided you know, not just me, but it was kind of my investors, it was, it was a company decision, but I had, I had the insight to push back and say no, we need to stay focused. Um, I think it would have been a different path and so, fortunately, I did learn that lesson and in my current company, I've applied that strategy and I've stayed way more focused. And it's still hard. I still catch myself once in a while, 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 a lot earlier in my entrepreneurship journey was and not getting lured by all the opportunities and all the possibilities would have been smart.
Speaker 1:The book that I'm about to start I think should help with this is 10X is easier than 2X, and that's all about focusing your time, apparently. And I'm like, yeah, I find when you 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 long enough to focus on it. The point is that actually hurt. It makes you 2x a lot of things because you can see the opportunities.
Speaker 1:But the analogy. I mean you can run the marathon as faster than anybody 25 miles of it, but that last 1.2 is you'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 to go 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 entrepreneurs fall on that as well, and so you're right If you had said no, that's more things. You're saying yes, the one thing that mattered, the thing that you should have been focusing on, that you didn't realize, but you also do that because in the back of your head.
Speaker 1:You're like, well, what if it fails? Yeah, totally. And you're like, well, what if those options will still be there? I think that's. The thing you don't realize is like I get it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I think I think sometimes too, that we all confidence and grows over time and it's also being okay with yeah, like I could have done that better, I could have done that differently. It's a constant evolution and give ourselves some, you know, not be too hard on ourselves. Put it that way, Right.
Speaker 1:Well, and this is where the kind of imposter syndrome comes in, where you're like you got to put up the front, you know enough to be in that room or to have the conversation, and you're like I have no idea actually what I'm doing. I'm just going to sell the idea and they better better not dig too deep or they'll see it it's pretty shallow, but no, I get it, it's, it's, it's important. So I appreciate you sharing that. That's fantastic. If you, if I had one question I should have asked you today and it just didn't what's that question and how do you answer that?
Speaker 2:Let's see, I mean, I think it's basically, like you know, as it relates to entrepreneurship, kind of what's the biggest mistake I see them making right now in going out to raise money, and it's such a tough thing.
Speaker 2:I think when we're really close to our companies and our businesses, we know it so well.
Speaker 2:It can be so hard to explain it to somebody in a clear, concise message.
Speaker 2:So I'm getting pitch decks all the time and it's just crazy like the what they do, how they make money and how the investor is going to potentially get a return are not clear and it's you know you have an investor's attention for maybe 30 seconds before you lose them, and so I think it's such a critical thing to have a clear, concise message, 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 stuff like that, because you can spend a lot of time knocking on doors and if you're losing them and they can't figure out, like, what exactly it is that you do, and it's so crazy, like sometimes it seems like it should be so easy to do that and obvious, but it can be really, really tough to do. So that's the biggest mistake and just being not fully prepared, not having your financials, not knowing your numbers, just basic things. Just have your ducks in a row before you go pitch investors. It saves you a lot of time and effort.
Speaker 1:I'm going to ask you for a deck template at the end of this yeah do it.
Speaker 1:I'll tell you, we raised money two years in one of our equal main investors. I was explaining what we do. I don't know how I got him on a call again just to catch up with him. I think I was just catching up for the year summary and I was explaining what we do and how we do it. And he's like, oh, I know what it was. And he's like I wanted you to present some stuff on LinkedIn to my company I run. I'm like sure. And he's like he got things like I didn't even realize that's what you guys did and he had somehow you'd invest. I think you, you know, and and now they're our biggest client because we, we kill it. It's a billion dollar company. I was like we kill it for them Cause he's like, oh my God, I had no idea that's what you guys did. I'm like, yeah, he's like we need help with that.
Speaker 1: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 do it 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, so that that is the goal. And if they're like okay, take me in it. Why is that a problem? Like in the in like. So if you have a deck template that read it that I'm looking for that, I'm happy to put your name all over and say this and I'll give it to all the people that we meet. I know I personally need it. So, once again, this won't make the cut for, but I'm just telling you I'm going to need it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I'm happy to help. Yeah, it is so funny. It really is like when you hear peopleer you know, or I always say, like a caveman, like you're a 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:It is a shameless plug time for you. Go ahead. Who should get ahold of you? I always tell people be specific, so who should be? Try again. Who should get ahold of you? How do they do that that?
Speaker 2:yeah. So I would say early stage entrepreneurs who've never raised money, who are getting ready, thinking about raising money or they're in the process and struggling and kind of knocking the traction that they want, are really who I can help the most. And linkedin I've got a free call. If you jayless is leono on linkedin, you can book a free call. If you Jailess is Liano on LinkedIn, you can book a free 30 minute call and we can kind of see where you're at. Look at your deck. I'll give you some really like tactical pitch deck feedback. And yeah, that's it so happy to help. I dedicate my Fridays to reviewing pitch decks.
Speaker 1:I don't know if I actually follow up to the to the plug. Do you help people not only learn the better process, but do you connect them with potential investors?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I do do that and that is one of my goals with the podcast. I've been interviewing a lot of angel groups and investors and VCs and then I have my own network, and warm introductions are really how I ended up. I got my funding through six introductions my first lead investor, so you never know where an introduction is going to go. So, yeah, if I know somebody that's a good fit, if your deck is in a good place and if I feel like you're in a presentable place to pitch, then yeah, I definitely make introductions and try to help as much as I can.
Speaker 1:That was the caveat. You have to have a decent idea, be a good person and be prepared, because you will fall to the level of preparedness and no matter how prepared you are, the investor is going to know way more about the space of whatever you're trying to go do and just accept that you know more than that. That's why I'm bringing you on as an investor. That's your value add besides money. You got to flip the script on a little bit.
Speaker 2:Totally.
Speaker 1: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:Yay, thank you for having me, this was fun.
Speaker 1:Listen. Thank you, j Lee, for coming on. Get out there. Go cut a tie to something holding you back If you listen to this on Apple. Follow Spotify. Follow YouTube. Subscribe. Get out there.
