Shownotes
Zulfiya Forsythe
Bio
It all started with a simple question: “There has to be a better way, right?”
I began my career in accounting, spending countless hours buried in spreadsheets. The inefficiencies were frustrating, and I knew there had to be a smarter way. That curiosity led me to discover automation and data analytics, starting with Visual Basic and SQL. The first time I watched millions of data rows transform in seconds, I was hooked.
That passion pushed me to transition into the world of data, where I deep dived into data analytics and automation. Fast forward to today, I am CEO and Founder of Omadli Group, where we help businesses streamline operations, uncover valuable insights, and use AI to buy back their time. My mission is simple: turn complexity into simplicity and empower businesses to focus on what truly matters.
Summary
Zulfiya Forsythe's journey from a small town in Uzbekistan to the helm of an AI company illustrates the remarkable potential of immigrant grit and innovation. Her narrative, marked by a childhood fascination with design and a pragmatic pivot to accounting, reveals how she ultimately embraced her true passion for automation and problem-solving. Zulfiya's exploration of AI began as a means to streamline laborious accounting processes, leading her to create advanced AI agents designed to enhance operational efficiency for construction businesses. In this enlightening conversation, she candidly discusses a critical error that nearly jeopardized her entrepreneurial progress, a misstep commonly encountered by many startup founders. Our dialogue delves into the importance of failing fast, marketing fearlessly, and the significance of leveraging one's unique background as a catalyst for success in the entrepreneurial landscape.
Conversation
In this enlightening episode, Zulfiya Forsythe shares her compelling story that encapsulates the essence of entrepreneurial spirit. From her early aspirations in accounting to her eventual pivot towards artificial intelligence, Zulfiya's narrative is one of self-discovery and innovation. The conversation highlights not only her strategic approach to identifying market needs but also the invaluable lessons learned from her experiences, including the significance of early marketing and the transition from service-based to product-based business models. Zulfiya reflects on the importance of leveraging one's unique background as a source of strength, illustrating how challenges can be transformed into opportunities for growth. This episode serves as an inspiring guide for those contemplating the leap into entrepreneurship, emphasizing the power of resilience and the ability to adapt in an ever-evolving business landscape.
Takeaways
- Zulfiya Forsythe's journey from Uzbekistan to the United States exemplifies the importance of perseverance and grit in achieving one's dreams.
- She emphasizes the necessity of adopting a practical education to avoid unfulfilling careers, such as mopping floors.
- Forsythe's transition from accounting to AI illustrates the value of recognizing and seizing opportunities in technology and automation.
- The discussion highlights the significance of starting marketing efforts early in the entrepreneurial journey to build a presence and learn from audience feedback.
- Zulfiya reflects on the critical mistake of not marketing early and the importance of documenting one's journey for future growth.
- Her story serves as a testament to how immigrant experiences can cultivate resilience and a unique perspective in the startup ecosystem.
Links
- Omadli Group - OmadliGroup
- Jothy's TEDx talk - On why those with disabilities tend to overachieve
- The Who Says I Can't Foundation - Jothy's non-profit that helps disabled kids get back into a sport they love to restore their self-esteem
- Our YouTube channel
- Designing Successful Startups — Jothy Rosenberg | Author | Speaker | Podcaster - Site with all podcasts
- Tech Startup Toolkit book
- Please leave us a review
Transcripts
Hello.
Speaker A:Please meet today's guest, Zulphia Forsyth.
Speaker B:You need to get education, something practical if you don't want to mop the floors.
Speaker B:And when I was a kid, I liked to draw a lot.
Speaker B:I would be drawing things like, you know, clothes, designer clothes.
Speaker B:I would have interest in interior design.
Speaker B:I would have these visions.
Speaker B:But my mom said, you know, you need to get something practical or you not going to have a job.
Speaker B:So that's why I chose accounting.
Speaker B:And then I thought, you know, if I choose this path, I gotta go all in and become a CPA and then try to get into these big four.
Speaker B:But then things didn't work out.
Speaker B:And I think it's.
Speaker B:I'm happy they didn't work out because now I kind of figured out what I really like to do.
Speaker A:Picture this.
Speaker A:A young woman from a small town in Uzbekistan sends college applications across America without the required application fees.
Speaker A:Because she's never even seen a hundred dollar bill.
Speaker A:One school not only accepts her, but gives her a full scholarship.
Speaker A:Fast forward to today and she's running an AI company, helping construction businesses automate their operations and scale without massive teams.
Speaker A:This is Zulphia Forsythe's story.
Speaker A:From dreaming of working at the big four accounting firms to discovering her true passion lay in solving problems through automation and AI.
Speaker A:What started as weekend experiments with Visual Basic to automate repetitive accounting tasks has evolved into a modely group where she's building AI agents that act as virtual employees for busy business owners.
Speaker A:But here's what makes this conversation special.
Speaker A:Zofia shares the critical mistake that nearly derailed her progress, and it's one that 90% of startup founders make.
Speaker A:If you're building a service based business or considering the leap from employee to entrepreneur, you want to hear how she learned to fail fast, market fearlessly, and turned her immigrant grit into startup gold.
Speaker A:I'm Jathy Rosenberg and this is designing successful startups.
Speaker A:Let's dive in.
Speaker A:And please welcome Zulfia to the podcast.
Speaker A:Glad to have you here.
Speaker B:Thank you so much, Jati.
Speaker B:I'm happy to be here.
Speaker A:Context, setting.
Speaker A:Tell us where you're originally from and where you live now.
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker B:I'm originally from Uzbekistan.
Speaker B: I came here in: Speaker B:And now I live in Burlington, Massachusetts.
Speaker A:How.
Speaker A:How come you have such a light accent?
Speaker A:It's almost imperceptible.
Speaker B:Thank you so much.
Speaker B:I think it hoped that I migrated first to Midwest and due to, you know, being surrounded by native speakers 24 7, I think that like in a small Hotel there.
Speaker B:There's not much diversity.
Speaker B:So like say not many say ethnic groups.
Speaker B:Like, they'd speak like, say my native language or even speak like Russian.
Speaker B:It helped me to assimilate faster, I would say, and also helped me to learn like implac.
Speaker B:My English faster as well.
Speaker B:So I don't kind of.
Speaker B:I didn't get to.
Speaker B:To get to hang out with my comfort group, let's say, let's put it that way.
Speaker B:You know, when we were a little me, my brother would always love to make different accents like, or just imitate people.
Speaker B:It was just something we did to entertain our family members.
Speaker B:Yeah, we.
Speaker B:We loved different languages and yeah, it was just something fun to do.
Speaker A:So do you go back to Uzbekistan?
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:Frequently.
Speaker A:Like once a year or something.
Speaker A:What?
Speaker B:Yes, that's the goal.
Speaker B:That's the entire reason why I started my.
Speaker B:My professional business journey, started my company because, you know, when I worked at the corporate, it was really hard to take time off and see my family.
Speaker B:First of all, the flight is too long, and then you have a couple weeks of vacation.
Speaker B:It's just that half of your vacation goes into the travel times.
Speaker B:And when I.
Speaker B:I had this dream to work on myself and kind of work remotely from anywhere that I want in the world and work with people that I want to work with, work with projects that I want to work on.
Speaker B:And it's just that kind of inspired me to start my business.
Speaker B:And now I get to actually spend my time with my parents.
Speaker B:Every year I'm spent about work plus, and it's really incredible to see them and see my kids also get to know their parents.
Speaker B:My parents as well.
Speaker A:When you came over to Iowa, what were you studying there?
Speaker B:When I was in Uzbekistan, I had a dream to study abroad.
Speaker B:I'm very visionary person.
Speaker B:I would picture myself sitting in the green lawn among other students from all over the world, learning and just, you know, soaking up all that knowledge.
Speaker B:And I started applying to different colleges and my background is in accounting, so I studied accounting.
Speaker B:Yeah, I.
Speaker B:And actually I have a funny story if I made.
Speaker B:So back in the olden days, right now we have AI.
Speaker B:We have, you know, smartphones.
Speaker B: ingertips right back, back in: Speaker B:So you have to go to the Internet cafes, because not everybody had that, even in their households, and you have to pay money to use it.
Speaker B:So we'll go in these and then usually we're in some type of like A basement setting where a lot of young boys would just sit there and like play culture strike, for example, because not a lot of people had computers as well.
Speaker B:So I'll go pay for the.
Speaker B:For the Internet.
Speaker B:And while everybody's sitting in a dark room, literally, like all pitch black, everybody's playing like counter strike.
Speaker B:I'm applying for colleges all across the United States.
Speaker B:I have no idea where I'm applying.
Speaker B:I'm just.
Speaker B:I just.
Speaker B:I want to study in new school.
Speaker B:Please accept me.
Speaker B:And I sent out so many packages.
Speaker B:I remember at that time they would also require admission fees, but I had no money for the admission fee.
Speaker B:So just, you know, have all my.
Speaker B:At that time also graduated from local accounting from local institute university.
Speaker B:So I would just send all my transcripts and my essays.
Speaker B:And one magic day, I opened that email, that dark basement, and I got acceptance letter.
Speaker B:So that was.
Speaker B:That was very exciting to me.
Speaker A:Are you saying that you.
Speaker A:You didn't have the money, so you.
Speaker A:You.
Speaker A:You would send these applications in and.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And wouldn't send the.
Speaker A:The money and.
Speaker B:Yes, I would not send application fee.
Speaker B:Cause I just said, well, I don't have that.
Speaker B:It's like, I remember that time was like $25.
Speaker B:$20.
Speaker B:But I haven't.
Speaker B:In that time, I haven't even seen dollars.
Speaker B:Probably in my.
Speaker B:I haven't even.
Speaker B:Probably I could count handful times when I actually hold like a $5 bill in my hand.
Speaker B:Like, I wouldn't even know how 100.
Speaker B:How $100 bill look would look like.
Speaker A:So this school in Iowa was so interested in you that they waived the application fee and gave you the acceptance.
Speaker A:That's just fantastic.
Speaker B:Scholarship as well.
Speaker B:So they gave me scholarship.
Speaker B:They raped the fee.
Speaker B:And it was one of the best experience I've ever had, actually.
Speaker B:Funny part.
Speaker B:So everybody came in to say bye to me at the airport, and I have a really big family, my grandma there as well.
Speaker B:I was just crying my eyes out.
Speaker B:They were 21 years old, so I was just.
Speaker B:You know, I've never gone anywhere.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:Two bags of basically two luggages.
Speaker B:That's a.
Speaker B:That's it.
Speaker B:I've never mean.
Speaker B:I've never gone so far away from my parents.
Speaker B:So I remember still crying in the.
Speaker B:On that plane.
Speaker B:And the gentleman next to me, he's like, why are you crying?
Speaker B:And he's like, well, you know, I'm going.
Speaker B:You know, I'm leaving my parents and my family and I'm going abroad to study.
Speaker B:Where are you going?
Speaker B:Iowa.
Speaker B:He's like, what do you need to be crying about.
Speaker B:Do you even know where you're going?
Speaker B:No question.
Speaker A:That was not nice of him to say.
Speaker B:And nothing else there.
Speaker B:Oh, my geez.
Speaker B:Like, he was just like, I.
Speaker B:And I didn't really pay attention to it.
Speaker B:I just, I kept kind of like I was.
Speaker B:But, you know, Orange City, Iowa was perfect for me.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:I'm from Uzbekistan, like a small.
Speaker B:Grew up in the outskirts of capital city.
Speaker B:So I think if I end up in a larger city, would have been a lot more culture shock already for me.
Speaker B:But Orange City is a small town, super friendly.
Speaker B:When people pass you by, they try to get to know you.
Speaker B:The college was excellent.
Speaker B: I think there were only like: Speaker B:So the rooms were much smaller, the professors were much more dedicated.
Speaker B:And it's just like it was a great community.
Speaker B:And I think it was perfect.
Speaker A:Was it grad school?
Speaker B:It was.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:I did another bachelor's degree in accounting.
Speaker B:So I transferred my credit from my initial university and I finished it in two and a half years.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So I got my.
Speaker B:So I've doubled two degrees in accounting.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:So building on that, what and when did an idea for how to significantly improve the field that you were now the proud holder of two degrees in.
Speaker A:There was.
Speaker A:There was something that made you figure out how to do things in a better way.
Speaker A:And what was that?
Speaker A:And when was that?
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker B:So I thought, you know, I had this big dream coming to America.
Speaker B:I remember that I would work in big four companies.
Speaker B:That was my big dream.
Speaker B:I'll become a certified public accountant and I will work for, you know, renowned big four companies.
Speaker B:I'll have my corner office.
Speaker B:And I thought that would be.
Speaker B:That would feel like, you know, I made it here.
Speaker B:I did not make it to big four.
Speaker B:Big four, Deloitte, Deloitte, KPMG, Erstin, Young, PwC.
Speaker B:I did not make it.
Speaker B:I did not make the cut.
Speaker B:So I was very disappointed myself.
Speaker B:I just finished my CPA and I was working in a corporate finance field.
Speaker B:The corporate accounting, I would say, even precisely corporate accounting.
Speaker B:And I would just remember that I would live with my processes like bank reconciliations or month end close.
Speaker B:And I would see how repetitive they are.
Speaker B:And I would spend the weekends and evenings trying to automate the process, trying to figure out, okay, well, I've been doing this every month.
Speaker B:There must be a better way.
Speaker B:Why am I doing this every month?
Speaker B:How can I make it better?
Speaker B:And this is where I started kind of, you know, tinkering of Visual Basic code a little bit there and trying to.
Speaker B:At that time, there's no AI, right?
Speaker B:You own a drama, you only have YouTube, you have Google and then you have forums, Stack flow forum, for example, where you can just dummy down your question.
Speaker B:Like, for example, create scenario that you're trying to solve with dummy data and then hope that somebody will answer it.
Speaker B:And it was like a magic.
Speaker B:It's like a Christmas every day.
Speaker B:You put out there the problem and you pro.
Speaker B:You put your solution out there and then you wait.
Speaker B:When you wake up in the morning, somebody will give you some advice or some type of direction or solution and tell you, okay, well, this is what you're not doing, right?
Speaker B:This is what you do.
Speaker B:There's so many people that help it.
Speaker B:Just everyone, what's up?
Speaker B:Like, what's the fix?
Speaker B:What's the fix?
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:So then I started kind of seeing what IT department folks are doing and I started seeing how they just press F5 button.
Speaker B:I'm like, what is this F5 button?
Speaker B:And the code runs and all of a sudden it executes and it gives them information.
Speaker B:I'm like, I need to learn that.
Speaker B:I would like to get around that.
Speaker B:So at that time I started applying for even like financial analyst jobs.
Speaker B:And I kid you not, there's so many people that told me, sorry, you're an accountant.
Speaker B:You don't like, you don't qualify.
Speaker B:This is analytic job, analytical job.
Speaker B:You know, you an accountant, we.
Speaker B:Your resume doesn't say that.
Speaker B:But like, I can do this stuff.
Speaker B:Like, just give me a chance.
Speaker B:I know I can analyze things, I can streamline things.
Speaker B:But then my CFO saw that and I have a huge thank you for and huge thank you.
Speaker B:I were talking to him, I was like, how can I get to the IT department?
Speaker B:Kind of become that on a back end.
Speaker B:Like the data gets in the system.
Speaker B:Why do we retrieve the data, manipulate it each time?
Speaker B:Why can't we just have it out the way that we want it?
Speaker B:Basically, that was my guideline.
Speaker B:Aha.
Speaker B:And then after that.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So my.
Speaker B:The C4 was amazing because he saw my potential, he saw my interest into automating things.
Speaker B:And then I started talking to bpoit and then he's like, come over here.
Speaker B:Remember that moment?
Speaker B:Two is like, take a look at this.
Speaker B:And he just presses one button.
Speaker B:All of a sudden all that information gets processed and boom, refreshes the dashboard.
Speaker B:I was like, how do you do this?
Speaker B:Millions of rows just got processed in like seconds.
Speaker B:All of a sudden everything got fresh.
Speaker B:I want to know this.
Speaker B:I want to learn this was he.
Speaker A:In Excel when he did this output.
Speaker B:He was using Excel.
Speaker B:So the IT VP was using database.
Speaker B:So he was using basically code like a SQL code.
Speaker B:He put it and then what was in Excel?
Speaker B:The dashboard refreshing in Excel.
Speaker B:And I believe it was Excel.
Speaker B:But for me it was wow, like how's that happening?
Speaker B:You know, I want to learn this and I got a great opportunity to do careers which I moved into IT department.
Speaker B:My CFO completely supported me and gave me the opportunity from zero to join IT department.
Speaker B:So I had become at that time I was working for a senior care facility and we.
Speaker B:I was pulling the data from Yardi.
Speaker B:Yardi Voyager is one of the.
Speaker B:One of the software's very famous software in real estate management and senior K11 management space.
Speaker B:I kind of switched from being the end user to becoming assistant user of the software.
Speaker B:So I started learning over kind of backlink of the system.
Speaker B:So when people say hey, my report is not working, I would be the one like fixing the bugs, looking at the code that's running that, putting together that report, for example.
Speaker B:So I've become kind of like a system, almost like a business system analyst for that Yardy.
Speaker B:So that gave me opportunity to learn that system very well.
Speaker B:They gave me opportunity to send integrated code and I would spend my weekends, evenings and my commute time listening to on YouTube Structured Query Language, you know, how to do, how to put together data sets and what is a inner join, a full join and basically how to query the database, you know, how to write great statements like that was.
Speaker B:And I loved it.
Speaker B:I remember my coworker told me that and given I came from zero.
Speaker B:So I'm really, really grateful for that opportunity.
Speaker B:And from gone I just knew that I lived my passion.
Speaker B:This is what I love doing.
Speaker B:I spend hours and it doesn't feel much hours.
Speaker A:You'd had no, no programming exposure at all.
Speaker A:Back in Uzbekistan, I was learning a.
Speaker B:Visual basic, like macros, for example, to automate my extensive distribution spreadsheet.
Speaker A:So that was just in Excel.
Speaker B:Just was in Excel.
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker B:That was just first time kind of looking at syntax, first time seeing what automation can do for you.
Speaker B:And that's me getting curious about this.
Speaker B:That's me, you know that C4 saw that in me and I'm so grateful.
Speaker B:And then I was able then to talk to a VP of it.
Speaker B:So super grateful for taking me on with zero experience and kind of bringing me onto the team and be like, all right, well here go.
Speaker B:You want to play with this?
Speaker B:Now they're like, you know Care of opportunity.
Speaker A:So you have this accounting background, Repetitive tasks, really starting to see a problem that needs to be solved.
Speaker A:You start working on it, but you switch to it.
Speaker A:You still have a strong love of accounting.
Speaker B:I would say I have a love for accounting.
Speaker B:I would say, no, I never had a love for accounting to be.
Speaker A:Oh, what it was.
Speaker A:A means to an end.
Speaker A:That.
Speaker A:That's what it was.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker B:My mom used to tell me, you need to get education, something practical if you don't want to mop the floors.
Speaker B:So that's why I chose accounting.
Speaker B:And then I thought, well, I kind of figured out what I really like to do.
Speaker B:I like to automate processes, I like to problem solve and.
Speaker B:Yeah, and that's what I like to do.
Speaker A:Okay, so now take us from where you are.
Speaker A:You've painted this, this great picture.
Speaker A:Now your current company, your startup comes into the picture.
Speaker A:How did that happen?
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker B:So I kept growing in my field as a data analyst and in Covid.
Speaker B:During COVID What happened?
Speaker B:I got laid off.
Speaker B:And then I started looking at freelancing.
Speaker B:I was like, well, let me take a look at this.
Speaker B:Maybe see, I can apply everything that I know so far and help business owners to automate the assistance, help them with the financial reporting, maybe like the analytics.
Speaker B:And little by little, I started applying for jobs.
Speaker B:For example, I go, I remember, I still remember my first client and my first client, because I was like, all right, well, what do I know?
Speaker B:I know Yardi Law.
Speaker B:So let me try to help Yardy users, business owners that use Yardy in business, automate things.
Speaker B:And remember first one, that it was a commercial property down in, I think south, down the south.
Speaker B:And they hired me and I'm like, oh, my God, this is happening.
Speaker B:This is really happening.
Speaker B:And I remember I got so scared.
Speaker B:I was like, what if I can.
Speaker B:Like, what if I cannot do what they asking me like?
Speaker B:And they pay money for me.
Speaker B:Because before, you have a team in a corporate world, there's a team, there's a manager that you can ask for the reviews.
Speaker B:You work here, you kind of own your own.
Speaker B:You provide the expert knowledge.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:But I'm so happy that I took that client on because things will work out well.
Speaker B:I was able to put his process in place.
Speaker B:His property management company, place trained his stuff as well.
Speaker B:And after that, I just kept going.
Speaker B:I just kept, you know, now that I have one project in my upwork, I had.
Speaker B:Now another client's coming in, another client.
Speaker B:Some of my clients are still with me since I started this journey.
Speaker B: d it came both working but in: Speaker B:And plus I was also had this know my business on the side and that's where it just was not working anymore and I decided to kind of go all in my business.
Speaker B: time data analyst in AI since: Speaker A:You're going, you said I'm going to go all in, do my own thing.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:A model group.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:Tell us about the formation of it and what is the problem that you're focusing this whole company on?
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker B:So I'm having Russian Lucky in Uzbek.
Speaker B:So my husband came up with that name.
Speaker B:My husband's American.
Speaker B:So she thought, you know what, this is a great name.
Speaker B:I'm like absolutely.
Speaker A:Hi.
Speaker A:The podcast you are listening to is a companion to my recent book Tech startup Toolkit how to Launch Strong and Exit Big.
Speaker A:This is the book I wish I'd had as I was founding and running eight startups over 35 years.
Speaker A:I tell the unvarnished truth about what went right and especially about what went wrong.
Speaker A:You could get it from all the usual booksellers.
Speaker A:I hope you like it.
Speaker A:It's a true labor of love.
Speaker A:Now back to the show.
Speaker B:So what are we focusing on?
Speaker B:We're focusing on business owners.
Speaker B:Actually this year we started looking at our niche and I was like, oh, the niche is starting right in my face.
Speaker B:The whole time I was helping construction adjacent business owners to streamline their processes to measure their success and show their leakage in their business.
Speaker B:Basically streamline the entire business operations and help them to make more money.
Speaker B:So real I started focusing on construction adjacent business owners that use yarding, that run trade companies.
Speaker B:So now we do AI agents where we have several AI agents that we have built to help busy business owners to navigate through the time of the AI, to help them increase their productivity, make them more money and scale their business.
Speaker A:Did you start from scratch and build your own AI completely or are you basing this on one of the existing, you know, large language models or.
Speaker B:Yes, absolutely.
Speaker B:So I no means want to compete with Simultaneous of the world and Elon Musk.
Speaker B:So I'm using current models that out there, large language models and I'm now fine tuning them to the specific role, let's say in the construction.
Speaker B:If it's a receptionist that's trained to pick up the calls to make sure that all the plumbing or all the flooring or let's say all the roofing related or electrical related responses are being handled properly.
Speaker B:That's where I'm using.
Speaker B:That's just one use case nowadays.
Speaker B:I'm also decided to launch, I also decided to launch my AI coaching business.
Speaker B:Why?
Speaker B:Because I've noticed there's so many people, there's so many business owners with amount of AI news that's happening that don't know what to use.
Speaker B:And right now is a time where you can utilize, don't even need agents.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:We can utilize for example cloths and OpenAI models.
Speaker B:There are different models that they have or they utilize complexity.
Speaker B:AI Gemini.
Speaker B:And then now you can use those as a formless for every job in your business to help you to streamline it, to help you to get ideas, to help you to even generate additional revenue as well if you set them up properly.
Speaker B:That's the.
Speaker B:Right now it's almost with AI the shift is where you don't need large teams to scale your business.
Speaker B:You can just use AI agents, set them up.
Speaker B:And now you have these virtual employees that now can act on your behalf and perform tests much faster and much more consistently.
Speaker A:I would use it even in, in the case of the book, but I was very, very, you know, careful.
Speaker A:They wanted three bullets at the beginning of every chapter that summarized that chapter.
Speaker A:Perfect use of AI for, for the writing process.
Speaker A:But if you asked it to write a paragraph within the book, they have algorithms that are so good they could detect that you did that.
Speaker B:Oh, the publishing company has an algorithm that detects if it's so I've also heard like Ivy League schools or some universities can also detect if essays were written with artificial intelligence tools.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:This is very interesting conversation topic because I could see how the latest video from Veo, for example is a Google tool that does beautiful videos advertisement for social media just with one prompt.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And they collect the data all across the Internet to come up with data samples so they can create these beautiful outputs for you.
Speaker B:And another thing that I just recently read, for example Taylor Swift, the singer, she just bought out all her work back to herself.
Speaker B:She just saw that.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And the entire reason why she did that, because she wants to have ownership.
Speaker B:She doesn't want someone to get a hold of her stuff and regenerate things on unlimited in an unlimited way in the unlimited copies.
Speaker B:And that's, that's very strategic move.
Speaker A:She's a very smart businesswoman.
Speaker A:I specialize in making mistakes.
Speaker A:But.
Speaker A:But that's sort of what this book Is this book is about nine startups over 37 years.
Speaker A:What are the mistakes?
Speaker A:Some of them were disastrous mistakes and, and some were just, you know, little things.
Speaker A:You know, startups can't actually afford too many mistakes because you don't have much time.
Speaker A:You're burning cash and, and you may be burning someone else's cash if you're, if you're getting investor money.
Speaker A:And, and so what I'm trying to do with the book and with this podcast through guests like you, and soon with my online course which is launching today, is to share those mistakes.
Speaker A:Because people, other people learn really well from hearing what was the situation, what was the mistake, what should you have done?
Speaker A:So can you think of one thing, a mistake you made?
Speaker A:Obviously it was recoverable because you're still going strong.
Speaker A:Speaking to our, our listeners who are, you know, a lot of them are startup founders themselves.
Speaker B:A hundred percent, I think one thing that I didn't do.
Speaker B:So my startup is not funded by anyone.
Speaker B:It's just me right now, all not having the ability of a service company.
Speaker B:So I have two companies.
Speaker B:I have a startup company that does pure development and I have a service company.
Speaker B:So service companies, there's a framework, it's called the business pyramid strategy, basically where you learn everything in a service and then after you learn, basically you get paid to build these custom solutions and you get paid to learn and build solutions for your, for your clients.
Speaker B:Then after that you see what is really working, what do people really need now, how can you productize that knowledge now?
Speaker B:So it's much more repeatable, it's less custom and it's helped you to scale as well.
Speaker A:And it's high margin and it has.
Speaker B:A high margin because doing custom is very hard.
Speaker B:It every time is learning new system or it's every time there's new problem.
Speaker B:And also it's really hard to figure out who's your ideal customer profile is.
Speaker B:And there's a lot of time and energy goes into that.
Speaker B:But I also feel like sometimes maybe it's a part of the process, you know, starting you and trying to figure this whole thing out.
Speaker B:And I would say the things that I've done is doing it all by myself and now putting the work marketing early on marketing.
Speaker B:What I mean by this is all of us have phones and Internet and just recording the process, getting on social media, sharing the process.
Speaker B:Either it's talking about your business, talking about the services that you do, talking about maybe products that you do, ensuring with the world how we serving you, what works, what doesn't work and not being scared of it.
Speaker B:I've realized that I kind of done a lot of things at room, kind of backstage, just, you know, working with the customers or building these services, but not really, like, package them well into, let's say, case studies and convert these case studies into content and to maybe post and just starting to talk about your business.
Speaker B:And that ultimately will help other customers to hear what you're doing, but also inspire other business owners as well to see, oh, like, this is what's possible.
Speaker B:These are the, for example, things to avoid or these are the things that it kind of provides a value in terms of what works with doesn't and what could be achieved and at the same time makes you better as well.
Speaker B:I figure out that social media right now is just such a huge opportunity.
Speaker B:It's like a great platform for you to yelp about your business and the things that you do.
Speaker B:It's like a free advertisement.
Speaker B:And a lot of times there's a lot of.
Speaker B:I would say when I started, there was a lot of fear around it in terms of, oh, like, how do I sound, how do I look?
Speaker B:What if I say something that is incorrect and it's going to be there forever?
Speaker B:I'm going to damage my brand.
Speaker B:But at the same time, it's like your brand is you're not trying to steal anybody's money.
Speaker B:You, you're trying to grow and show what you're working on.
Speaker B:And you learning as an entrepreneur and as a professional as well, you're sharing with the skills that you've learned.
Speaker B:I think if I started that journey because it all takes reps, I would have gone, I would have failed fast.
Speaker B:I think the.
Speaker B:Just like, I love what you're saying.
Speaker B:The key is failing fast, pushing through your mistakes.
Speaker B:Because pushing through your mistakes and you also your fears every time you like, oh, I can't do a reel now you do a real well.
Speaker B:Great.
Speaker B:And now that reel is so bad, like, I don't even have.
Speaker B:I'm not even packaging, not delivering.
Speaker B:I'm not communicating my value to my potential customers in a way that it's clear to them, well, okay, how do you.
Speaker B:How can you now make it better?
Speaker B:Not rep 1, rep 2, rep 3, rep 4, like, and it takes so many reps to get comfortable in your own skin and your own voice.
Speaker A:Let's cover one more important topic about you.
Speaker A:When I think about this young girl from a small town in Uzbekistan decides that she's got to go to school in the United States to not mop Floors.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:And has to apply to all these places you're sending in all these things which require an application fee with nothing.
Speaker A:Not you get in and you go to the what the person on the plane said was godforsaken Iowa and you thrived there.
Speaker A:Then you got a job.
Speaker A:You, you, you moved to Massachusetts.
Speaker A:To get to my point, you, like every other startup founder I've ever met has a lot of grit.
Speaker A:And where do you think your grit comes from?
Speaker B:I think growing up in low middle class family, I think also sometimes nobody would want to have electricity or hot water.
Speaker B:I still don't remember that.
Speaker B:And it's funny, when I came to Iowa I remember like the coordinator picked me up from the airport from Susan Yacht airport and driving and I see all the fields a little.
Speaker B:All the fields that I had.
Speaker B:First question, do these people have hot water and electricity?
Speaker B:It looks at me as like what do you think this is?
Speaker B:They even have like Internet.
Speaker B:So I remember that vividly and I think I try to push myself hard because I've seen my mom work really hard.
Speaker B:I think I have very strong woman in my life.
Speaker B:My mom is an accountant, she's a controller.
Speaker B:And all my life I've seen her commute, take multiple, you know, commute like buses and train stations and she would actually dress food and also at night I still remember that before I go to bed I would see her sitting on my desk and walking and I remember that vividly and I think just how much she pushed herself.
Speaker B:And then my grandma was also like that as well.
Speaker B:So I have very strong movement in my life that pushed air push me to achieve great things and I just can't work it down.
Speaker A:That is a great story and I hope they watch this.
Speaker B:Thank you.
Speaker B:Thank you.
Speaker A:Well, I want to thank you for, for your time and, and these great stories.
Speaker A:I think we made a nice episode here.
Speaker B:Thank you Jaffy for having me.
Speaker B:Thank you.
Speaker A:Tool number one.
Speaker A:Start marketing from day one.
Speaker A:Don't wait until your product is perfect to start talking about it.
Speaker A:Document your journey, share your process and create content around what you're building.
Speaker A:Social media isn't just free advertising.
Speaker A:It's your testing ground to fail fast and refine your message.
Speaker A:Every post is a rep that makes you better.
Speaker A:Tool number two, use the service to product pipeline.
Speaker A:If you're building something new, start with custom services first.
Speaker A:Get paid to learn your customer's real problems.
Speaker A:Then identify patterns in what works.
Speaker A:This approach lets you validate demand while generating revenue.
Speaker A:Then productize your knowledge into scalable higher margin solutions, you'll retain more ownership of your company doing it this way as well.
Speaker A:Tool number three Channel your origin story into grit.
Speaker A:Your background isn't a limitation, it's your competitive advantage.
Speaker A:Whether you grew up watching your mother work multiple jobs or you're the first in your family to start a business, that foundation gives you resilience that privileged founders often lack.
Speaker A:When times get tough, remember what you've already overcome.
Speaker A:Those are your tools.
Speaker A:Now go build something amazing.
Speaker A:And that's our episode with Zulphia.
Speaker A:The show notes contain useful resources and links.
Speaker A:Please follow and rate us@podchaser.com designing successful startups.
Speaker A:Also, please share and like us on your social media channels.
Speaker A:This is Jothi Rosenberg saying TTFN Tata for now.
