Billy Keels  0:00  

Today's episode is sponsored by Billy Keels advisory services. If you want to learn more about how to make your 99 optional, just go to make it optional.com. Once again, that's make it optional.com.

Speaker 1  0:14  

Helping you build freedom without losing your edge. This is the going long podcast with Billy Keels.

Billy Keels  0:27  

You know, I've heard that it's been said that the key to figuring out how to solve future problems is understanding what comes from the past, or some would say, understand your history. And you know what today's special guest? Well, he's doing exactly that because, from his educational background, which I'm sure he'll tell us a little bit about, maybe just a little bit, and then a stop in what I would like to call the corporate life, he's really been able to carve out a knit niche for himself, and now he's helping you to organize, not just your DM just I did say direct messages with labels, reminders, and also being able to connect to things like quad. Is that even possible to help you triage and also be able to truly define and connect with those that you want? It gives me great, great pleasure to welcome the co founder of tri condo.com Mr. Mitchell. Tom Mitchell, welcome to the show. Man,

Speaker 2  1:24  

thanks. Thanks for having

Billy Keels  1:28  

me. Man, this is like, is this such an awesome like, I'm really, really excited for you to be here, because, as well, many people will know more about how you and I met in the in the beginning, but also seeing what you continue to do, you've been able to carve out a very, very unique niche understanding that there are some very specific problems, and also being able to cause or help to provide solutions to those problems. And so you and I know one another, but if, if it's okay with you, I would love for you to share Mitchell a bit of your backstory, and then when you share your backstory, you know what? I would really like to see where we take the conversation from there. How's that

Speaker 2  2:12  

sound to you? Yeah, that sounds great. So yeah, I mean, just a regular guy went to college, right? Like, studied history. Thought I wanted to, like, you know, read books for a living and write books for a living. So did that, and, you know, yes, spend all my time in libraries. But then at some point, I was, you know, I was like, hey, like, there's a world out there. Maybe I should go see what's what's beyond the library. So I took a brief hiatus from libraries and took my first job in like, a marketing consultancy. So we basically help like, you know, big brands like Procter and Gamble like Google, right car companies position their products for new markets, understand how to distribute in like, you know, like very different cultures, how to innovate, right for new, new consumer segments. So I did that job for, you know, a good like, you know, for four years, starting out at first, I thought, oh, you know, it's just gonna taste a corporate wall and then just go right back to libraries. But as it turns out, like two things happen. One, like, it was kind of fun, right? I got to, like, understand, for example. One thing I learned, I traveled to, you know, Chile like Santiago, eventually, in South America. And I learned that the kind of ways people think about responsibilities and household are really different, right? Like, men actually, like, it's quite common for men to do the dishes and, you know, go cook and, like, do all these things that in say, American culture might be associated with, like, the women's role in the household, right? So they go see all these things and learn all these things. So that was kind of fun. Other thing that happened was covid So, you know, like, the wall kind of stopped, and, yeah, making career changes was, you know, like a question mark, right? So that did that for a while, and then found my way into, like, the tech startup world that this was, like, like a zero interest rate era where, like, you know, bad for Washington, the tech startup scene, so joined a company, and then, like, learn how a startup operates. And that was really the start of how I got to where I am now. Like, at that point, we, you know, use LinkedIn a lot to do B to B sales, so that's quite common now, but even five years ago, this was like, not like, an accepted norm for everyone. People will still call the emailing, right? And, yeah, the idea of like, using personal connections on LinkedIn, like over the internet to do sales, was still rather early. And so I did lots of that and sent, I sent 1000s and 1000s of LinkedIn messages, right? And one thing I noticed was like, Hey, I'm working in a tech startup world, making everything faster better, right? But here I am sitting with my LinkedIn inbox and, like, adding things to a spreadsheet manually because I couldn't keep track of them, right? Like, I was scared to do to miss stuff, right? Because we're doing sales and like, the guy replies and you you miss a replied, and what was the point of view doing all that worked, right? So, yeah, here I was spreadsheeting my messages for a long time. And I'm sure lots of people spreadsheet lots of stuff, right? This is quite common, but I was like, I don't spreadsheet my emails. Like, like, I spreadsheet something like, why am I spreadsheeting messages? Right? Like, there's this doesn't really make sense. And from that, like, a few years, like, few years ago, and now, I always had this kind of, like, dream that someone would, like, build me a tool where I didn't have to spreadsheet my LinkedIn messages anymore. And, yeah, fast forward a few years. Right? Option you opened up for me, like, start my own day. And I was like, let's go build this tool that I've always wanted and see how far we get with it, right? And at first I was like, I'm pretty sure I can get 50 people pay for it. I'm not sure if we can get 100 not sure if we can get 1000 but yeah, it's been a year and a half, and we have like, you know, 1000s of people like using and paying for this thing, including yourself. Thanks for being customer, happy

Billy Keels  6:36  

customer.

Speaker 2  6:37  

And that's how, that's how we that's how we got a condo. And what condo is, is essentially plugs into your your direct messages. Right now does LinkedIn? We also have plans to do other things, like WhatsApp, Instagram, like other forms of basically all these chat platforms, which are built mainly for end consumers, rather than business professionals who are like, making money on these platforms right? And condo plugs into these things and turns into something that's like, much more productive, like, imagine email, right? You have folders, you can set reminders, you have safe message templates. You basically have, like, a surface that helps you stay focused and be productive. So that's one thing, and then you mentioned Claude Billy. So another thing that's hard about these chat platforms is that they they're, like, owned by big companies, and these big companies have no incentive to innovate, right? You have no incentive to open up their platforms, to interact with, like, an ecosystem of tools, right? Like, you're not going to stop using IMET, which ever just because they don't have some connection with with cloud or chat GPT, right? Like, comes to the hardware, so the big companies don't have or even like WhatsApp or like Facebook, right? They're a bit more like, you know, tech forward, but like, they basically, it's like a monopolistic market where it's just a huge, slight network effects, and they're they have no incentive to innovate on their products, and that's fine for a vast majority of users, but not fine for like, the 1% of like, power users who are like, Oh my God, I've hundreds of messages. What am I gonna do them, right? And so, oh no, because we're also, like, a new surface for investors, and we're like, all about productivity. Also lets you, like, plug the clot in and think about this as like a way for your assistance to work, right? So, like some personal assistants or human assistants, use condo to help you know their principles, like manage the inbox, but now you can get flawed also to triage your messages. Hey, like, I got 100 messages. Say, who are the five people I really should go talk to, right? And then I'll go talk like, once it points to five people for you, you'll go talk to them yourself. But you know, like, there are also like, 50 people who are, like, selling me random shit. I don't need go get rid of them, right? So, yeah, condo basically unlocks this kind of connection to assistance, both human and AI, yeah. And so that's kind of like what we're building here, and the kind of impact we want to make on the world

Billy Keels  9:06  

well. And I think that's well, I personally know, as you mentioned before, this is something that has helped in terms of being an efficiency and a productivity gainer, and also, too, because there are so many people that are watching or listening that are interested in, like, how do I start to build relationships with people? Do it in a way that is also like, discrete allows me to really ask the questions that need to be asked. And as I'm thinking about this side business, what's the best channel? And since so many of the listeners and the viewers of the go along family, invest a lot of time on LinkedIn platform, thought, hey, listen, you know what? This is another way that you can distribute or connect with and have more conversations, and do it in a way that's much more efficient. But there's something that you said from the from the beginning, and I just, I'm always interested in tapping into the mindset. You mentioned that you had this. Experience in Santiago, Chile, that there was, you know, the US experience, but also to help us understand, like, I'm a like, I was born in the US, and I've traveled to 90 different countries. I've lived in four different countries in the in the last 25 years. So it's really shaped my worldview. So the example that you gave, like, hey, traditional roles in the US, versus like, living in Spain or living in France. So can you give us a little bit more about how that's impacted you, and also to, like, Where was your birthplace, and where have you kind of traveled?

Speaker 2  10:30  

Yeah, I grew up in Singapore, you know, the high school there, sort of military Singapore has, like, you know, like, on conscription, like, like a national reserve, like, defense forest thing, yeah. And then when a school in the east coast in the US, and then update history libraries, right? And then move back to Singapore for a while, but now, like home for me is Los Angeles, yeah, enjoying the California weather, but yeah, so that's where I've been. How that's impacted me, I don't know. I think it's hard to say right, because, like, I definitely don't believe that into, like, American culture, maybe right. But neither am I, like, you know, truly at home in Singapore, because I've been abroad for so many years, and most of my most of my friends there are, like, doctors and lawyers, or like, they work for the government and like, all they can talk about all day is, like, you know, like, politics in law, stuff like that. And I'm like, I'm checked out. Like, I want to talk

Billy Keels  11:33  

about other stuff. I want to help people solve problems.

Speaker 2  11:35  

I want to solve problems. Yeah, it's like, quite, quite rare, like, quite odd to be like an entrepreneur, I think, like, if you like, you know, follow the kind of, like, proven path in Singapore society, and where, yeah, I think maybe the one thing that's that background has led me to, like, I had had to, like, forge my own path, right? And, yeah, yeah, make decisions that are not based on, like, what is, what are most people doing? And like, more like, what made sense? Like, I had to go figure out what makes sense for me given like, you know, the options and constraints before me, and like, pick my path right and take some risk in that, because maybe no one has walked that exact same path, and no one can truly tell me how it goes. But like, you know, like, we made some common sense decisions about, yeah, like, risk and reward, right? Yeah.

Billy Keels  12:33  

So, you know, actually, Mitchell, that's a great spot, because in sometimes when we see things from some a different light, it's really helpful. It makes me think a lot about my corporate experience. And there were moments where I would, you know, I worked in a particular industry, and when you go in and you speak to the C level of a certain industry, they said, Well, yeah, I don't need to hear any more about my industry. I live it every single day. Bring me ideas from other industries that I can now bring into mind. So you make me think about something, because it's in a very similar way that a lot of our going along family are in high paying roles. And the roles you're in a high paying role, and at a certain point there's lots of benefits, and you have the nice German sports car, and you have the greatest health plan, and you're making six and sometimes seven figure bonus checks. And so it's very easy to fall into a place where, okay, this is what I'm going to continue to do. You gave a really good example. Like, some of your friends are doing the same thing and talking about the same thing. So there can be a real big perceived risk of saying, hey, look, you're, you're living the perfect life here. Like, why would you ever consider doing something else? And there's a lot of emotion that goes with that. It's not easy. When people say, Well, yeah, you're earning a lot of money, you've got the great role, you're working for this big company, but it's something that you went through. It's something that I definitely went through. And unless we hear somebody else's kind of how they dealt with the risk reward, we think that we're on an island by ourselves. But it would be great if you could maybe talk through some of that, when you talk about risk, reward and how you measured that, and how you how you looked at that, just to help other viewers and listeners realize that, yeah, you're not alone.

Speaker 2  14:10  

Yeah. Okay, so first, to be clear, I I've never owned a Malibu mansion or driven the like the German sports car. Okay, so

Billy Keels  14:18  

I've never earned the mansion. I've never earned the match.

Speaker 2  14:21  

So, like, if you're listening, going, like, okay, like, you know, like, sorry. Like, I don't understand your life. So yeah, I can't barely qualify, right? So there's that, but, and, I mean, I think, I think the answer to that is, like, if you're really happy with you know, like, what you've gotten in a corporate life, then, like, why question it? Right? Like, like, there's no reason good for you, right? Like, happy for you. Like, so I don't think definitely need to reconsider. That, I think the question is, like, if you're not happy for whatever reason, right? And then, like, why are you not happy? It's probably something to do with, like, you know, like you feel like it's this, like, some are you going to leave some meaningful effect in the world, right? Like, is your, is your best life, really, you know, like, ultimately, like, basically managing, like, you know, a complex, like, people organization and, you know, like, navigating, like, like, like, internal kind of politics, right? And again, it's like that you get a long meeting out that you should just do that. And I would say maybe my bosses at my first job been there for 2025, years. I mean, some of them actually, like, were perfectly fine with that. They were like, you know, my job's a job. I I work six hours a day, and then, you know, I get paid a lot money, and then I have a nice house, and I have kids, and I'll go spend my hammer kids. And they were happy, right? But I guess for me, like, as, like, a younger person working under them, I was like, I don't, honestly, I don't want to be them in 20 years, you know, like, I don't, I don't want, I don't want my work to be something that only generates, like, income so they can live life in the time they're not working, even though, like, the work might be somewhat interesting, but like, if it was not, like, something that also be meaningful to me, that I wasn't counting hours or seeing it as like this, like, separate part of my life and like, that's not something I aspire to work something's not saying that that's a bad kind of, like, setup of life. It's not. But from my experience, I didn't see myself being there. That's number one. Number two, world changes a lot, right? Like, yeah, like, I don't know, like, and we can probably talk endlessly about, you know, AI in the world, but yeah, I mean, we're seeing like, large changes in in reasonably large corporations, where the necessity of having, like large organizations and like people managers to run high growth, you know, like high revenue company like these are being called into question, Right? Like, it will change this really quickly. Like, for example, my first job, we were, like, basically writing for consultants, right? We're writing, we're selling slide decks for hundreds of 1000s of dollars. Honestly, some of those analyzes Could, could be done today by by Opus, you know, 4.6 Right? Like, like, there are, I don't think all jobs in the world have changed, but some of them certainly will, and already have, right? And so do you is, like, being in, like, a stable, you know, established, like, like, you know, storied environment, right? Like, the best place to, you know, like, see, like, go along with where the world's headed, don't know, right? Like, I think you have to answer these like people to answer these questions for themselves. But one thing I was very clear on, like, independent, like, you know, years into my consulting job doing, like, performing, you know, I was, I couldn't do my job, you know, in my sleep. At that point, I was like, pretty good at it, but I was like, I want to optimize for, like, you know, ideas ahead of me in my career. Like, I want to optimize. I want to be in a position where I learn obviously, like, have like, five to 10x learnings every year. Like, I basically grow in, like, the things I know how to do, the things I've seen right. Like, I'm, like, fundamentally becoming better in some way, as, like, a professional, because I'm pushed to, like, learn things I didn't know at all, like the form and being a consultant was not like the environment do that. I was just going to learn to, like, get like, a bit better, a bit better, a bit better at the same thing, until, like, I was like, the best at that thing. But we were advising clients on marketing. I had never owned a marketing budget end to end myself, right? I wanted to go do that, right. And we were advising a product invasion. I hadn't owned, like, a full product development lifecycle, from start to end, right? I want to go do that, right? We're working with large companies. But what happens if a small company? What happens if a small company? What happens if you're like, a million dollar company, right? Like, you can't go hire consultants, and you can't go hire like, like, a million agencies go through this, like, how do you make it work? Right? So I want to, like, be on edge of these learnings, and I think that's still what I'm optimizing for today, right? I want to be an environment where I'm constantly forced to, like, learn new things. And I think, like, being an entrepreneur is, like, a great way to do that, because if you don't learn new things, you will die. There is no like, there's no brand legacy, or there's, there's no like, you know, like moat. You have to go build it from scratch. And so you either get ahead or you're dead. And so that kind of forces you to, like, you know, like, basically be at the cutting edge of like, innovation. And I think that's probably the guiding principle in choices I make, right? I'm optimizing like I want to learn, and like the highest learn ramp up. I will change that. And at the time where I'm not learning anymore, I could go join a company more. Know, because I think I could learn a lot from that, right? But like, when the learning stopped, then it took time to move on, yeah?

Billy Keels  20:07  

So it's, you know, it's really interesting. So it's having this, this idea of what is the reward that you're seeking, knowing what the risks are maybe for for you at the time, it was regret for someone else, it is the risk of could potentially be the same thing, losing your time or not being able to build a legacy, whatever the case may be, we're constantly looking at, as long as we're intentional about. And this is sometimes you can easily just go through when you're in a very large corporate machine, and I maybe put my hand up, was that way for a little bit, it's easy just to kind of go with the flow sort of thing and not be intentional about what is your next step, and what do you really want to learn? And do you want to have a 2x growth, or do you want to have a 5x growth, or whatever the case may be, but you but you're doing that. And so also, to one of the things that I really like about your story, and I and I see it being extremely relatable for someone who's in, you know, you're in that corporate role, and you're thinking to yourself, well, you know, I don't really know what I want to do next. I don't know exactly what the next step is, but I know that this voice keeps getting louder that I should be trying something new. And there can be a real tendency to say, I have to go out and solve this major problem, like the I have to solve world hunger. I'm exaggerating here a little bit, but you have to solve these really, really big things. And one of the brilliance of what I believe you've been able to do, it's it's calm, it's taken the opposite approach. It's something like something that you were a part of, that was a problem that you were having, that you were looking for a solution to, but because the solution didn't actually exist, you went out and figured out how to build it. You took what you were learning in your at least in correct me, if I'm if I'm wrong here, anywhere but you took what you were learning from company one in the consultancy area, and then you took what you were learning in the startup area, and you said, Hey, listen, let me go out and actually fix this problem that I don't see a solution to in the marketplace. Number one, did I understand the story correctly? And if so, can you talk about how that was it scary for you to figure out it was such a niche problem that you were wanting to figure out how to solve that you thought, well, maybe there's there's not enough. It's not a big enough problem.

Speaker 2  22:19  

I think I got two points made here. One, on risk, right? Like, if you're corporate for a while, like, and you're thinking of starting your own thing, I think most people overestimate the risk. Like, what's the risk? You go out and do something for a few years, okay? Like, you know, you take a dip on your income, and it doesn't work out, and you just go right back, and you're like, Yo, I tried something. I learned a bunch of stuff, like, all these ideas, like, all these new skills. You'll go back to work for a big company, and you'll be better for it. You might even, like, climb even, like, climb a rank, right? Because you have, like, all this, you've tried all these other things, so I don't see that much of a writ. I mean, right, like, I think right, like, it is like, non zero. But like, I think most people, like, overestimate how bad, you know, it could get. The second thing is, like, I think corporate like, especially, like, you're a corporate leader, or, you know, you've been working in corporate for a long time, you're like, quite uniquely put, like, the best startup idea, like, Look, everyone can like ideas achieve like, everyone can go internet and find ideas, right? Like, what? And I was on first time. Had the idea. The difference is, like, people like, do you have insight into the kind of nuances of the problem? Right? You understand, like, all the little, small things that, like, you have to solve for this to be, like, a really, really good solution that you're building, whatever it is, right, for example, right? Like, if you have like, hired and fired hundreds of people, you probably have like, very unique view into like, what it takes to like, succeed in the corporate world. And so you probably make a better like career coach than like, random guy, right? Just not because people don't have the general principles of what they succeed in corporate career. So you have seen, like, all the nuances of it, and that's hard, like, that's a that's an unfair advantage. It's hard for like, random guy to replicate, I'd say, like, the same applies to, like, all kinds of products and services, right? You probably see by working in large corporation, like, what are all the things you wish could be much better? And the only reason they're not much better is either a solution doesn't exist. Or, like, the internal political will didn't exist to go, like, you know, get that solution right. There are depth probably, like, like, think of, like, what you would buy, like, you know, forget, like, the bureaucracy, like, what would you buy or make, or who would you hire that would suddenly unlock, you know, like, the growth of your company. Now you don't own the company. You're like cog in a wheel, but you know, like you have the credibility to now go sell this to other people, like yourself, and more importantly, you understand, like, the nuances of this problem, right? And so I'd say that's a good place to. Start because, like, that's something you have that, like, gut college graduate does not right? And, like, I think there's money to be made there, right? Basically, like, you have all these insights that you might think aren't worth that much in your current environment, because everyone has them. But like, there are some value in them in the market, right? And this is like, and if you're like, Yo, this is, like, an, obviously a big problem. And like, a lot of companies have it, and it we hire like, 20 people to do this random stupid admin thing that really should not need 20 people to do. But why? I don't know why we still hire these 20 people, right? Go, like, make a company to do that, like, right now, right? So I'd say, I'd say, like, people should, like, lean into like, insights they have, which don't seem super like, unique in their current environment, but like, if you, like, take a step back or take a step out, is like, some level of insight that a vast majority of people in the world don't have, and so you're uniquely positioned to to build a service for Yeah,

Billy Keels  26:03  

I love being able to think about that, because it there are the these concepts of what makes you unique and and when you have this unique insight, as you talk about, are you, you have the nuance that maybe someone who doesn't have the same years of experience I talk a lot about, when you know if you're if you're Using, yet leveraging your career capital, right? You have this capital that you don't even think about because everyone you're surrounded that to your point, everyone around you has the same or similar level, and so you don't recognize how much you can shine outside of that particular environment, which is something that happens a lot. Here's one of the things that I do want to kind of use like use case, because the people that that are that are watching, that are listening, and they're thinking to themselves, well, yeah, you know, I have this idea that have this career capital that I want to continue to leverage. I spend a lot of time, or I invest many hours on LinkedIn every day. And what Mitchell described earlier, like, I feel like I if I'm using it just for my normal job, but I want to start to actually branch out and do it in a way that is that is discreet and and also see if I could build up my own profitable business on the side, and because I know LinkedIn so well, but, but I actually want to see how I can leverage it more to have one on one conversations. How is condo helping today? Or maybe, if you could describe to that person how they could leverage their inbox in a way that they're actually not recognizing today, because it's the similar problem that you are having, that condo is now providing a solution for today.

Speaker 2  27:40  

Most people like that. The problem with like LinkedIn is like, it's like any other social media platform. It's like their goals are to, like, suck you in and to keep you there and waste your time, right? So that's like, the default, like modus operandi of like social media since the dawn of the internet scroll. So the people on LinkedIn are valuable. Like, the network is valuable. But there's also lots of random shit there that's like, if you want to go there and have fun, be my guest, right? But like, if you're if your goal is like, hey, I want to go start this, like, side hustle. I want to, like, explore running my own business. I want to go, like, you know, like, grow my network in a direction which will enable that. Then you need, like, super intentional about, like, how you're leveraging the platform and, and I think you should think about it like a salesperson does, right? Like, I have a list of like, 300 people that if I had, like, good relationships with them, it will unlock me being able to, like, start this business or right. Like, these are the relationships I need, and I have, like, a target list and these and I'll go connect with these people on LinkedIn. I'll go, if these people live on Twitter, wherever they are, like, you know, I'll go hunt them. And the first step is to, like, open a channel, or like, a back and forth conversation. Step one, and I would focus my energies on like these people, right? Let's just ignore everyone else. All like, they're all sorts of like, random networking that go up, but that's not your goal, right? Your goal is not like that around. Your goal is like, Go Billy a side hustle, right? And like, you've identified these, like 300 people who you want to get in like relationship to it. So focus on them. And then I think, yeah, like, why I was spreadsheeting my, my LinkedIn conversations was like, I was doing sales, and, you know, I was, like, chasing these people, like, you know, every few weeks, every few months, right? And you can see your side hustle, like your personal networking, that your personal network in the direction, in the same way, right? Like, you want to, like, intentionally, like, chase these people down. You want to intentionally, like, you know, like, give regular attention to, you know, like, your conversation with these people and how they're going, right? And so I think a tool like condo, honestly, like, you could do this on a spreadsheet. Like, said, condo was my way of, like, getting out spread. Cheating to achieve the same outcome you don't encounter, you should start with a spreadsheet or whatever, right? But like, also, like, whatever condos, like $35 a month, so, like, not a big expense. Go try it, right? So, like, the goal here is to, like, be intentional with who you're spending your time on, but also, like, making sure that you are putting in the requisite, you know, like, persistence in communication, and doing this without incurring the overhead of, like, scrolling through all the random stuff that you don't shouldn't be caring about, right? So I think that's, that's the idea here, like to like Like, instead of being like a media consumer, right, like you, like, like, make the platform work for you, right in life by saying, the only thing I care about in this platform is like this subset of people, and I'm gonna tune everything out and like, your method of like, the how you tune everything out could, like, it's definitely not scrolling on the feed or scrolling in your Unboxing LinkedIn. It might be a spreadsheet, it might be a tool, like condo, it might be something else. But, like, that's the mindset, right? Of like, I'm like, I'm hunting here. I'm not, you know, like, just like sitting around and like watching things happen.

Billy Keels  31:14  

Yeah, it's about being very intentional. And when you when you come back to it, it is, you're already a you're a busy executive senior leader in your company you want to build, and be very intentional about the new relationships that you want to build. I can tell you, for me, it has helped me enormously in terms of the way that I focus, in terms of the way that I continue to to build relationships and and, you know, it's one of those things where it's something that I've gotten lots of value out of. It's helped me to be much more intentional. And I know, had I known about a solution like this one before, when I was in my corporate role, now I'm on the other side, of course, would have been something that helped me, one be very much more intentional and also too much more productive, because at the end of the day, we all have the same 168 hours in a week. And if we can get the more results with less time, it allows us to do the things with the people that we love the most when we want to do it the most. So you know, Mitchell and I, the time like super flies by. But there's something I wanted to ask you, because I realized that in, like, I used to think, I mean, while I was in my corporate career, most of like, traveling around life, things always went in the perfect with other people looking from the outside, was like, hey, look, this is continues to go in the right direction all the time. Well, in 2023 a couple things happened for me, and it really changed life for me, and it helped me realize something that I hadn't been really, really aware of in the beginning, is that when things tend to go well, we don't tend to think about it too much because we're like, riding this high and everything's going really, really well and so but the thing is, is when things are not going well, or maybe, let's say, they're going really, really bad, it can be really easy to get stuck in that place of going things are going to Stay long and stay bad for a really, really long time. And the friends, the family members that were there were helping and giving me lots of support and love and things like that. That was all really good. But it wasn't until, like, I actually looked myself in the mirror one day, like, literally, and was like, Hey, listen. And I said something to myself, and that thing that I said to myself, it's the thing that I say to myself all the time when I feel that things are going not according to plan, and it helps me to get back on track and move in the right direction. So what I would love like as a scenario, what I would love for you to think about Mitchell, is what the track that you're on now, three years from now, you're looking back at Mitchell in 2026 Yes, I did timestamp this episode, but imagine Mitchell three years from now, is looking back, and you're in one of those moments where you know things are not going exactly where they need to be going, and people are telling you all these different things, but you have to say something to yourself to actually get you to move. It's that one sentence. It's that one word. It's that one whatever thing that you need to tell yourself, but if you can think of what that one thing that you will tell yourself, that you know is going to help you move to the next level and snap out of it and also share with the going long family, what's that one thing that you know you need to say to yourself that you'll look back and say, Thanks for telling me that. Mitchell.

Speaker 2  34:20  

I mean it. No one has who has like, you know, like, gotten like, anything, any measure of like, real success in life, has done it without pain,

Billy Keels  34:37  

right?

Speaker 2  34:37  

Like, it's like, like, like you as anyone who is like, you know, like, find, you know, the highest peaks, right? Like, done so without, you know, like, some degree of you know, of faith, setback along the way. And so I think that, like, we embrace, like, there's also like a sales, you know, like sales people like being in sales is rough, you know, like. You call 100 people, and 99 people say no to you. But if you don't do the 99 people say no to you and you give up, then you only get the one guy, right? So I think, yeah, that, like, the pain is on route to, like, like, something more and like, if you, if you don't stay alive, then, then you know you're not going to get to the end. So, like, I think that's what I would say to myself, and what I have said to myself, yeah,

Billy Keels  35:26  

no, I love that. I love that perspective. And you know, you don't get any reward without going through the pain. So this is, so this is, this is a part of the process. And it makes me think about the the founder of of Nvidia said something very similar to that, and it's and it's so true. So, yeah, I mean, I keep like this conversation is literally, literally flown by, and I think about just you starting off and you're telling us about your story, and being in the libraries, and going from libraries to the history, and then from from history to get into the marketing consultancy, and really being able to understand more about cultures and traveling. And you talked about the as you travel your trip to Santiago, Chile, which which really helped to give you some new perspectives about the way that you think about things. And then afterwards, we go into a global shutdown with covid, and you think to yourself, all right, well, I'm in this one type of role, but I also want to get other skill sets and understood more about what it was like to be in the in the tech startup space. And then from there, as you're going into your your continued sales role, you're where you're spending a lot of time, or investing a lot of time on LinkedIn, and you're realizing you're doing a lot of these different manual processes, and you wanted to be able to be more efficient and well, there was a certain moment in life where you had this opportunity to say, Hey, listen, this tool. Nothing is helping me. I want to fix this myself. And so then you took the initiative to go out and be able to say, Hey, listen, since someone, no one else, is going to build a tool, let me build the tool. And you thought, well, maybe, let's see if we can get one person to pay for this. Well, maybe now there are 100 people, and now there's a 500 now there's 1000 now there's lots and lots and lots more around the globe, and I get to the point where you start to think to yourself, wow, you know what? You even helped us understand that along the way, you can find a really unique niche, create a solution for it, and be able to serve others in the way that makes the most sense for you. And so yes, the entire going long family wants to know they're like Billy, just ask him the question. And I do ask this question all the time, and so I'm going to ask you as well, Mitchell, help us understand how we can find out more about you. Find out more about what you have going on at condo, or try condo.com so that we can, we can be in touch with you, please.

Speaker 2  37:39  

Yeah. So to find out more about condo, try condo.com right? And then, yeah, like, well, if you sign up, I'll be sure to hit you up, and then you'll have my email, and you'll have my LinkedIn, and we'll go chat, if not just look me on LinkedIn. I have a little post box linked to my name, and yeah, I mean the internet, man, if you really want to, like, you want to get in touch, use the internet.

Billy Keels  38:07  

Mitchell makes it really, really easy. Hey, listen, also too, I will say this, but because, for the, for the first time ever, Mitchell's done something cool for us, for the with the go along family, we're going to include in the in the show notes, as well, a little link that you can select. And he's done something special for for for our, our going along family, and you can check it out there. We'll include the the link. And when you reach out to Mitchell, also, too, because this is an inbox thing, when you reach out to him on LinkedIn, please make sure that you send him a personalized invitation and let him know that you've already invested time like listening to the episode or watching the episode. I'm sure you have really, really great things to to connect with one another talk about and also. Mitchell, I just want to say on behalf of the entire going long family, thank you very, very much for deciding to invest your time with us and share a little bit of your story. Really appreciate

Billy Keels  39:00  

it,

Speaker 2  39:00  

man. Thanks for

Billy Keels  39:00  

having

Billy Keels  39:01  

me All right, perfect. Gua long family, thanks so much. Really appreciate you listening in, go out and make a great day. And thank you very, very much.

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