Ep 133: If It’s Easy, It Must Be A Scam + Hunting for 100 Cockroaches?! | Adlin Yusman (Managing Director, Endeavor Malaysia)

Adlin Yusman, Managing Director of Endeavor Malaysia, will work
for anyone he’s hired.


A huge contrast to when he began his entrepreneurial journey with
the mentality of, “I pay you a salary, you work for me and you do
as I say.”


Which, as you can imagine, created quite a lot of issues.


That said, Adlin has had an eventful life. One that’s sprinkled
with a generous serving of failures and spooky occurrences (e.g.
receiving a 3am call from a female ghost?!).


He’s founded several startups that failed, but managed to stay
friends with his former employees and investors, who don’t regret
a single day of giving money to him.


And has held past positions as:


Director (Travel) of Groupon

Principal at Digi Telecommunications

SAVP at Astro

COO at MaxMoney.com 

CEO at Payfo.






So how did Adlin go from featuring a Maybach in the first edition
of his luxury automobile publication to:


️ Making major hiring mistakes (e.g. hiring a wimp) 


️ Hunting for 100 cockroaches


️ Raising USD 500k in 2 days 


️ Working at Endeavor Malaysia, where he helps the likes of Bryan
Loo of Loob Holdings in the startup ecosystem?!


You’ll have to listen to the latest STIMY episode to find out!





Highlights:


2:04 A 3am call from a female ghost?!

4:59 What “real success” has Adlin even gotten to be featured
in the media?!

6:41 Studying economics

8:14 A fork in the road

11:48 Launching his first luxury automobile publication

14:45 How Adlin sold himself

21:01 Being a good leader means learning to follow

22:51 The saddest moment of his life

25:21 Terrible hiring decision - by hiring a wimp

27:09 Why his startup collapsed

27:49 Working at Groupon & 8am meetings

31:07 Launching another startup

33:46 If it’s easy, it must be a scam?!

40:05 Hitting RM15k revenue & 1,800 requests in 2 weeks

40:45 Finding 100 cockroaches

44:45 Big mistake

48:03 Deciding when to quit

49:20 Failure isn’t a big thing, but…

52:53 Do you still struggle with sharing your failures?

53:43 Why Adlin’s investors don’t regret a single day of
giving money to him

56:53 The best way to handle mass resignations and
retrenchments

57:55 Endeavor’s Local Selection Panels (LSPs)

1:00:18 What founders always fail at

1:02:09 You need a Big Vision

1:06:39 Helping Bryan Loo of Loob Holding (Tealive etc.)

1:09:05 You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take

1:10:35 Advice for building your community

1:14:02 Who would Adlin work for?

1:15:42 Questions to ask to determine if someone has a shitty
attitude!






Fun Fact: Adlin has said that this interview
contains quite a few stories that he’s never shared elsewhere
before!





P/S: Does anyone know where I can find Adlin’s
blog?! Please send help.





Show notes: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/133


YouTube: https://youtu.be/MX3BTIhi1Xg 


Weekly STIMY Newsletter on the art of storytelling + building
your personal brand (+snippets of STIMY behind-the-scenes):
https://sothisismywhy.ck.page/acd5bd1062


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