📺 Develpreneur YouTube Episode

Video + transcript

How to Evaluate AI for Marketing ROI Without Chasing Hype

2026-02-26 •Youtube

Detailed Notes

AI is everywhere — but that doesn’t mean it’s delivering value.

In this episode of Building Better Developers, we break down how technical leaders can approach measuring AI marketing ROI without falling into hype-driven decisions. Instead of chasing tools, we focus on defining outcomes, setting baselines, and using structured discovery and launch processes to protect time and budget.

We also explore why compliance, SEO shifts, and platform changes matter when adopting AI — and how checklists help teams move faster without creating risk. For founders and tech leads, we dive into delegation and scaling lessons that directly impact ROI.

If you’re a developer, engineering manager, or founder trying to make smarter AI decisions, this conversation will help you cut through the noise and focus on what actually works.

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Key Takeaways • Why outcomes matter more than tools • How to define AI success before implementation • Using checklists to reduce risk • Navigating compliance and platform changes • Delegation as a growth multiplier

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About the Guest — Meeky Hwang

Meeky Hwang is the CEO and Co-Founder of Ndevr, a digital solutions development agency. With over 20 years of experience, she has helped organizations such as Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Forbes, PMC, and Bloomberg build resilient, scalable digital platforms.

Meeky specializes in engineering long-term solutions that align technology with business strategy, streamline workflows, and support sustainable growth. As a woman leading in a male-dominated industry, she brings a grounded and honest perspective on technical leadership, entrepreneurship, and building strong teams while scaling a business.

Follow Meeky on • https://www.linkedin.com/in/meekyhwang/ • https://www.ndevr.io/

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Follow-us

• [email protected] • https://develpreneur.com/ • https://www.youtube.com/@develpreneur • https://facebook.com/Develpreneur • https://x.com/develpreneur • https://www.linkedin.com/company/develpreneur/

Transcript Text
Well, hello and welcome back. We are
continuing our season where we are
getting unstuck. We're moving forward.
We're getting the forward momentum that
everybody wants to have at the beginning
of the year. We are the developer
podcast. We are also known as building
better developers. I am Rob Broadhead,
known only as Robad as far as I know.
And I am one of the founders of
developer, also the founder of RB
Consulting, where we help you leverage
technology, AI, and build yourself a
roadmap for success for your business.
uh we help you make sure that you're
doing the processes and the procedures
and the design first instead of just
jumping into some tools. Good thing and
bad thing. Good thing is is that uh I've
had like a really good start of the
year. It's one of these times where it's
like sometimes, you know, the start of
the year just you make a bunch of
commitments and the next thing you know
January 2nd occurs and it's like it's a
train wreck. This year's actually done
pretty good. I've had a pretty good
settle into the year. Uh things are
moving smoothly. bad thing is I'm
sitting here doing the podcast by myself
again. It is yes, Michael and I have all
kinds of back and forth, but it is nice
having that second person there to sort
of help you out when you stumble and
fall. And yes, I am poking him because
he's going to be listening to this and
he's going to say, "Oh, darn." So, he
knows he's missed. It's not because I'm
picking on him as much. We're going to
continue this time our discussion with
Miki Wong. And uh really I had a great
time. the f it's it's one of these that
you talk to you look at the you know you
get somebody on as a guest and you see
what they do and where they're coming
from and you don't get the whole story
and so we have these conversations and
this is where we do and uh it's really
somebody that's very much a uh you know
as they as they would say one of minte
one of these people that have gone
through the same kinds of things I've
done the same trials and and some of the
same proced trials and tribulations uh
even although in a very different uh
line of work and things like that, but
has a track record that is very uh
familiar to me. So, it's been a fun
conversation and I look forward to the
next part of this. So, pencils up, take
some notes because we do have some uh
some really interesting things if you
are going to get into that like start
your own business mode and what that
looks like. She shares some really good
uh insights and some of her stories uh
as well. So, here we go back with part
two with Miki.
So are your are your uh services more
uh graphic design and things of that
nature or do you have a lot more
technical sort of back end
>> early development also? Yeah, we're
we're very different from traditional u
full service marketing agencies. We
don't do any creative work. We only
focus on technology. So with the
implementation, migration, development
and whatnot. So we only focus on the
backend portion and we partner with a
lot of other design agencies or even um
the internal design team or UX team to
work together and also we work with
their internal tech tech development
team too but a lot of times you are the
development team for some companies
where we are a subset of their
development team so we only focus on
technology portion.
>> Oh excellent. So you so is that how you
because you said you sort of drifted
into to media before before you started
the company is you you got out there and
were looking at the problems to solve.
So how do you uh from a technology point
of view is how do you see that as a uh
what like some of the the changing
problems that you see and actually I
guess now I guess we'll have to go there
a little bit is like how has it changed
over the 10 years that you've been doing
this? How have you seen a change in that
uh that digital marketing landscape? I
think it's it's changing a lot because
they well with lately I mean I almost
don't want to even bring up but then I
have to bring up is like AI is kind of
into the picture. So with that a lot of
people try to adapt it but I feel like
at this point
they it's still a hype for them cuz they
want it but they don't know what to do
with it
>> like especially in the because we do we
work with marketing department a lot u
for these companies because we're doing
more like a CMS and and they're
publishing so it's usually marketing
related um departments that we work with
so they do a lot of campaigns or like
you know user engagements
and like how to get more ROI or like
whatever those kind of things on their
websites, but now that there's AI in the
picture, they feel like they're
obligated to use it, but they don't know
what to do with it. And I was just like
I was just recently reading about like I
don't know the actual percentage is
correct, but like they are some are
pretty much waiting to see what to do or
some are just kind of they're ready to
do it, but they don't know what to do.
like there's like personalization and
all these things like they hear all
these words so they feel like they are
obligated to adopt it but is it really
helping is it really doing like is it
really increasing ROI or is your
customers or audience for your website
really getting frustrated with it like
they don't know that yet because like
they're not that much data into it and
also they don't necessarily know how to
use it properly. So there's a little bit
of a weird um
gap where like I feel like it's weird
phase right now that like they feel like
they need to use it but they're not. But
like but there has been a lot of little
things like that just like if there's
any changes in like Google changes on
like different um way they do their ads
or something. There's always that along
the way. But this one is a little I
think it's more current. It felt like
it's longer.
>> Yeah. Yeah. And I think I guess maybe
it's just because we're in the middle of
it. But yeah, very much that it seems
like everybody's in this like I hear all
these great things and this is what it
should do for me, but I don't know how
to get there. I don't know what that is
and I don't know anybody that can, you
know, that's that's doing that
necessarily. So there's just Yeah, it's
a lot of Yeah. very much the hype thing.
It's like it's coming. It's going to be
great. It's you should be doing it right
now. And every like okay well what does
that mean? How would I do that? What
does that look like?
>> How is it going to help me? Like they
don't necessarily know exactly that. And
also like there's a lot of investment
going on to this AI. So people think
like oh this might be the good thing but
>> is it good for you but they can't really
tell because they don't know what
they're looking for.
>> Yeah. That's probably the worst possible
situation to be in is when people are
ready to put a lot of money into
something but they really don't know
what they're it's like you got a lot of
money but you don't know where you're
going to spend it. So now it's like
that's that's not a good com recipe for
the best decisions to be made. It's just
like
>> you don't want to hold it in your pocket
too long. It's like no maybe you should
and actually think about what you're
doing before you go just spend a wad on
AI and say okay we've put a lot of
invested a lot in AI well okay well what
will you what were you expecting to get
out of it you know it's like it gets
back to the the nuts the the brass b
brass tax of it of like okay you
invested this well what was your return
on investment and how are you going to
measure that
>> yeah and then also I think I heard this
like recently on like yesterday's
meeting or something some people like
they don't feel like they want to
implement it because by the time they
roll it out, it's going to be outdated.
>> But
that's kind of like because like it gets
outdated faster these days. So like
there's some some like but that's also
catch22 like but you still need to do
something. But I was like yeah that was
like interesting dilemma that I was
hearing yesterday on that meeting. And
I'm wondering because I I heard some of
this years ago and I'm wondering if you
guys ran into it as well because you're
in the the uh WordPress space in that. I
said you'd run into people it's like
well they they go and and get a theme
and then it would be you know last
year's theme and now you it's just like
uh you know any design kind of thing.
You sort of have these like seasons and
these like the hot thing for the year
and the the new hot technology. Um are
you seeing a lot of that? And did you
see a lot of that where people are sort
of like hesitating a little or almost
worse is that you get to the end of a
project and people are like, "Oh,
there's this new thing out and there's
this great new, you know, there's a new
word press release and it does A, B, and
C and so now we have to upgrade
everything to take advantage of the
latest." Or were you able to sort of
lock it in and say, "Okay, this is what
we're doing for the project." And then
come back at a, you know, version two of
it.
>> It's actually easier to lock in because
WordPress is one thing they're good at
is that they're very good at backwards
compatibility. you don't have to like
even if you upgrade to the next version
it doesn't break the things that you
already built. So it's like slightly
different from different technology
because whereas like if there's a new
version come out you have to do the full
migration there are other CMS that that
has to be done that way but WordPress
wasn't isn't the case so like it's a
little little easier to go to the next
version and get adapt the new thing that
they're rolling out without breaking
what you already built. So it's been a
little more smoother transition. So like
it's easier to do version two or
whatever. And also like technology too.
It's like it's a slightly different tech
technology. So you can still adapt it.
It's like it's how much you want to
spend time on it is usually the
question. Time and money on it is
usually the question. But everything can
be done. It's just like it's always like
the thing that we always talk about.
It's how important is it for you to
adopt this? Like do you know how
beneficial it would be for you in order
to adopt it? because it's it's at the
end of the day it's just a matter of
time and and money how much you're
willing to spend for that feature that
you want to adopt in. So um it was a
little more smoother transition into
adopting the latest and greatest for for
that end.
>> Yeah, that's always that uh that's a
common question and and the kind of
thing was like well can you do this?
It's like yes we can but do you really
want us to because this is how long it's
going to take or the risk or the cost
involved and sometimes the thing is like
we really got to have that and then when
you put a price tag and a time frame to
it they go we really don't need that you
know like it changes can change the
answer very very quickly.
>> Yeah. But it actually gives you like a
good perspective like do you really need
it? Then you'll know. So
>> that's true. If they if you keep like
adding to the price and the cost and
they're just like yes we need it. We
need it. You're like okay definitely
they need it. you know, they you can
tell then when this is critical to their
their business moving forward. Uh you
also mentioned um you like Google and
some of those kinds of things. So, do
you just curious are you guys uh are you
guys sort of abstracted from the latest
update and like the you know how
Google's changing their their SEO
rulings and things like that or is that
definitely one of the things that is is
that you're constantly working with that
to figure out like making sure that you
are aligning with the latest SEO search
engine changes across Google and all the
other people that matter. Yeah, we we
have to be aligned with that because
that's we're as us as like the uh
consulting we're giving them directions
of what needs to be done for the people
who might not be technical or not aware
of this. We need to let them know that
these are these are the things that you
need to be aware of like if there's any
new um rules that you need to be abide
by like we need to let them know because
like if you have an audience in
California there are certain things that
you have to do on your website you have
to put different fluky consent or
whatever GDPR and all those rules we
have to let them know that you have to
have it. Um so that's yeah so we need to
be always be aware of what's changing on
that on that end. What do you do to keep
your yourselves and your your staff u
you know current on that on the latest
things and the latest rules that you
have to work with particularly u and I
guess it's sort of a addition to that
question is do you have international
clients or do you have California is
always its own little beast but do you
have you know other like EU and their
regulations and other things that you
have to to keep up with
>> not necessarily from the the companies
that are only there it's more like
global companies so they have offices in
different countries
So that's when we have to let them know
about like all these other rules and um
it's more it's due diligence for us like
we kind of for for owners we do but like
yeah it's actually a good call that we
probably need to have some mechanism for
our country to be aware of it because
they when they delve into different
projects they naturally know because
they have to do that but yeah that's a
good call like um one thing I should
probably might have we might have
overlooked should be our place to be
always aware of it cuz I know like most
of the the the people that we work with
that they're naturally curious or they
do they're pretty up to date with
current affairs and what needs to be
done for their job. So like it was I
guess it was more of a we've been lucky
on that end.
>> Well, it's I mean it's a it's a
perfectly I think it's a perfectly
logical answer to say well we just do
our due diligence for any given project
and so we're going to go like you said I
think you some of it you get because
you've just done this project before.
So, for example, if you've, you know,
you built a website that had to follow
all of the California rules last week,
then all right, you're you're up to
speed with it. Now, if you jump suddenly
jump to, I don't know, India and you've
got to deal with their stuff, then
you're like, okay, I'm going to learn,
but now the next place I do, you know,
the next site I do that's going to be in
India, then we already know that. So,
uh, you know, sometimes that's
you can't keep ahead enough because you
don't know what's ahead of you. So it's
easier to just sort of like take it as
you go and just make sure that you you
slow and steady as you go into it and
are able to to do that research.
>> Yeah. And also like since with all the
experience that when you have to someone
comes in and like we have to open like a
website in this region that we'll do a
couple things that like as a a checklist
cuz like you know just make sure that is
there anything that we need to do. Is
there anything on the compliance side or
anything that we should be aware of?
Those kind of things we do as a
checklist. So even if we didn't know and
we wouldn't we weren't aware that with
that research we'll probably have to
figure out what needs to be done before
they actually put their site out on that
region.
>> And since you're doing since you live in
this space uh it's it's you know sort of
a very consistent space as far as what
you're delivering for your customers. Do
you have like a a testing suites and
validation automation that you use so
that when you you spin up a you know you
spin up a site and a solution for
somebody and here here's what we've got.
Do you have something you can do to sort
of uh to test that and to say yes, we've
we're going through and basically we can
check off all those things on our
checklist that we do have, you know,
we're responsive and we have uh you
know, alternate methods of of navigation
and all the different things that are
out there that are I guess the the list
of things that a good website does.
>> Yeah, we have our own checklist. It's
like it's not fully automated because
like with every time we go to different
client, it's very custom to them. But
there's like a a general thing that we
have as a checklist even like onboarding
or before um before we even uh engage
with the clients that we have all this
list of questions that we need to be
aware to start discovery and all that
stuff. So we do have our internal
checklist to go through it and then
during also usually there's like the
initial checklist but with once you get
the actual engagement there's like a
whole discovery phase to figure out what
needs to be done and then also like
during like the whatever the development
cycle and then the QA cycle and all that
stuff and UAT cycle and after that
actual launch there's like a launch
checklist that we need to have for like
basic things for the web publishing and
also like depending on which CMS or
which technology we're pushing it out
like what needs to be done on the
hosting side what needs to be done on
the actual like you know data side and
all that stuff and like if you have more
things like third party integration what
needs to be done there on the CDN side
and all these things that we have a
checklist for and then depending on the
client there should be their custom list
that they need to uh have before we
actually put everything up and if after
they launch then we also have like a
postlaunch items that we want to go
through and like you So we do have like
a phase and and stages of um cycle that
we have to go through with a different
list of things that we need to check off
on
>> since we have like as I said before we
have a lot of developers in our in our
audience and that's one of the things
that I I think a lot of people a lot of
developers struggle with is when they
shift from being a developer that's
that's part of a company organization
and now they're they're shifting into
more like a uh whether they're you know
consulting or they've got some sort
service or or an agency that they work
with is actually the the discovery phase
is is getting that because a lot of
times it's sort of given to you. It's
been spoonfed you instead of having to
go through that. So, uh from that and
and uh especially interested because if
you got you had an experienced
co-founder, how is the how is that
discovery phase uh evolved? How have you
evolved that over the years as you've as
you've worked with your clients? I'm
assuming you have. I'm assuming it
wasn't perfect from the start, but maybe
I'm over over suing.
>> Yeah, I mean I did have So before we
started the company, we were I was
pretty much doing the similar thing. So
I had my own clients like I was had my
client base and I was taking over
probably like 90 to 95% of WordPress
clients were going through me anyway. So
with that, I was learning through it
initially from like you know my boss and
whoever was more senior like I'll be in
the meeting together to learn about it.
But as you put a lot of projects
together cuz I already have a lot of um
like a bigger sites like I think times
or all these other companies with like a
different structure and different team
had u I implemented different uh
websites there. So from through that
experience there are common things that
I need to know before starting a
project. So those are the list that were
gathering through that and well it
smoothly transitioned into when we
started it because we're pretty much
doing the similar thing. It's just a
with a different company name.
>> So, another one that just because I've
talked to a few founders lately and and
that as you've grown, is there
what is the thing that was the hardest
for you to to give up as you've grown as
a company has grown? Like something that
maybe you guys did early on that you've
had to sort of like, you know, set aside
because it was or either delegate or uh
train somebody to do so that you can you
can scale the company. I think it was
also always that because um I remember
even when I was going to the management
role and I was fost was encouraging the
people who were bringing up to into the
management role I always have to tell
them like you know you have to delegate
because I know you as a developer I
think it's naturally that you want to
develop but you have to let go of
certain things that you're doing
especially you can't you'll kill
yourself you're going to do all these
tickets to you and also try to manage
people because like it's like there's
No, there's no way you can do it. I
mean, if you want if you want your
sanity to and then you really love this
development work, just assign one or two
tickets and fade out, but don't put the
same amount of tickets to your bucket
when you have to manage the people as
well. So that I always tell people that,
but I was not really good at it either.
especially
like with the company and then also I
think um when you start a company
because I'm technical there are a lot of
times that I can just do it
>> but it's also twofold too cuz I need to
make sure that the person who's taking
over has to learn so like I need to be a
little more patient about that so like
letting go of those uh was it's always
it's a little bit of challenging like
even if like roll switch a little bit I
can still technically do the roll
sometimes faster
But like it's it's the things that I
remind other people I have to remind
myself. It's like be patient, let them
do it because they need to learn so that
they can you can move on to the next
role. So yeah, I think that's a kind of
constant thing that I still um remind
myself like let go, move on to the next
role and trust.
>> I agree.
>> Yeah,
>> I think that's one of those hard ones
where you you know it but doing it is
different than knowing it. It's easy to
tell somebody else it's like, "Yeah, go
do this." And then doing it yourself is
is is the more challenging piece of it.
>> Now, you have you been able to stay
technical or have you been able I mean,
you can still do it, you said, but is
that you've been able to stay technical
on a regular basis? Have you really
grown to the point where you've you've
had to leave that behind?
>> Yeah, I I still um stay technical for
some clients. Um so like different
depending on different clients. So, but
that's also one of those things that we
like the co-founder and I talked about
cuz he's more he wants to do more
hands-on too. Um I I think I felt like I
let go a little better than they did,
but um I had to kind of constantly
remind him I was like I think I mean
we've been very lean because we're both
technical so we can do a lot while you
have to have a turnover like that. But I
think that was another reason that we
were growing a little slower than um
than we initially thought because
you have that option to lean on
yourself. So like if we weren't
technical, we probably try to hire and
scale that way. Whereas we instead of
hiring, we sometimes do it ourselves and
we stay lean. Um but like that means
that we didn't hire people to scale to
the next level enough. So like I think
it's always like a little bit of
catching up on that cuz like I mean it
worked out in some years and worked out
and not not in some years cuz when we're
so focused on on client hands- work,
other things internal stuff falls
behind. And I think this is probably
like you know everyone's dilemma
especially with like a small companies
because when yeah you have client work
comes first and then like other internal
thing that you need to do for the next
quarter or whatnot and that gets
affected. So it's always like a little
bit and catching up and learning to
balance it was actually one of the the
one of the biggest learning thing that
that we have to go through. It's like
how did you super busy you still have to
put some time for your internal things
for the next quarter of planning or like
whatever the next um thing internally to
make sure that future is um not
affected. So it was like a constant
reminder and that was like a harder
thing to get adjusted because you have
to be very forced to not
not focus too much on one thing only.
So is that how you sort of solve that
problem? You just you start putting it
on the calendar and essentially said,
"Okay, we've got to schedule this, so we
it's got to get done."
>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's like you kind of
have to force it like brute force it
like we got to get done. It doesn't
matter. So
>> yeah, sometimes that is the best way to
get it is just like just say, "Okay,
we're going to plan for it and you know
it's got to get done." And you get the
end of the week and go, "Oh, that's on
my to-do list. So we got to get it got
to get it knocked out instead of kicking
it forward to the next week or or
further down the road."
>> Yeah. We forced it on the calendar. It's
like it's set. So, we have to spend this
time on the task.
>> It's on the calendar. It is you can't
touch the calendar. I totally get that.
>> Now, thank you so much for for hanging
out with us and and sharing this. And
for people that are out there and and
wanting to learn more about you guys,
yourself and and you guys, is what are
some of the best ways for them to reach
out for you and reach out and contact
you?
>> Probably LinkedIn because well, we're my
co-founder and I are both very active on
LinkedIn. the only actually only channel
that we're active on. I suck at social
channels. Like I wasn't really too um
good at it. So LinkedIn um it's like
it's very similar. I I'll um send you
the link, but it's very easy because my
name is unique enough. It's my full
name, Mickey Wong. Um and um our website
endeavor.io.
Um then you can find that find us from
there contact page and we'll we'll get
to it.
>> Awesome. Well, thank you so much for
your time. love having you here and uh
sharing and it's uh it's always fun to
have somebody that's had a an
entrepreneurial journey that either some
of our you know I think some of our
people are either in the midst of or
maybe considering or looking forward to
and to hear some of the uh the real
world stories is always a you know is a
bonus and and it al it helps those who
are struggling to it through it to know
that yep that's I'm not the only person
struggling through it and for those
looking ahead it's like oh okay I got to
make sure I'm you know for example maybe
I should find myself a good mastermind
group or you know somebody some meetup
group or something that is going to be
able to, you know, give me that that
community and and that support.
>> Yeah. Yeah. That'll be that's actually a
really good good way to get to know and
then like and see um and learn from
others.
>> Well, I will thank you for your time and
everybody else uh thank you for hanging
out with us and we will be back next
time uh probably with yet another
interview depending on how we slice
these up. Uh, and Michael will be back
as well most likely, so you won't have
to listen to just me. But as always, go
out there and have yourself a great day,
a great week, and we will talk to you
next time.
So our bonus material now that we are
out of the audio side of it and that is
um what is I guess I'll start with it
like a good what is one thing if you
could go back and tell yourself as you
were diving into this 10 years ago what
what is one piece of advice you would
give your your younger you? I think I
think I already said it um so I don't
know if you want to repeat it like join
the masro fast like it's like join a
group that where you can learn from
others and grow together because it
gives like a great accountability as you
said and then you learn so much and then
you get so motivated by the people
around you. Um and also you you share
your experience like some of the pain
points and then some of the things that
you went through a lot of times they
went through it too. So, it's a really
great way to even like um for your
sanity check too cuz like you're not
alone in this. So like knowing that and
other there are other people are doing
it and how much effort they're putting
into their business also makes you like
you know you want to do better because
like you know it's it's always a very
misconception that people always see the
tip of the ice but they don't really
know what's underneath it how much
effort that went into it. um when you
see the successful person because I
haven't met any single successful person
that didn't put effort into it and
that's like it's a known thing but it's
it's very easy to forget. So like if you
see other people really putting
everything they got or sometimes like
more to get to where they want to go,
you get so inspired by that. So I think
it's a great way to get to know other
people and also like you learn about
different businesses that's too because
you didn't even think of like oh that
kind of thing exists. So like oh that's
really great. So you learn a lot from
just being being around like that.
>> Yeah. I'm glad like people will often in
an interview they'll say like here's
something you know here's a great thing
to point a great point that I would have
you know I would suggest to people
starting out or you know advice I give
to my younger self. And so it's very
it's it's nice that you doubled down on
that say yes that's that is exactly the
advice I would give and then I love that
you gave us some more u a little you
know went a little deeper on that. Now
when you went into these groups um sort
of as we go a little explore that a
little bit is was that you and your uh
co-founder or was this something that
sort of you were doing and was more for
your own personal sanity and that as
opposed to I guess a corporate kind of
thing.
>> It was more personal thing and then he
joined a different group so we also want
to like evaluate different groups. So
yeah, we always join a different group
um to see which one's good. Um and then
there were times that I joined the group
that he was in for short period of time
just to kind of see. But um I think he
and I look at different things on when
you're in different masterminds. So it
worked out because like what um what I
like is more like this the thing that I
discussed and he actually um like more
sharing and on also more focused on the
similar industry type of thing whereas I
like different type of businesses or
different things just to kind of see
what's going on and what's exploring
different um experiences I can
secondhandly get.
Now that also allow you then to and I
sort of lean into that is that allow you
to sort of talk about your relationship
with your your co-founder and like how
should this work and the because
sometimes that's the dynamics are are
that is one of the more challenging
pieces is the dynamics of not being a
founder but being like a co-founder or a
you know or a board or something like
that.
>> Yeah. Yeah. So like I asked about those
kind of things before too. Um but so
yeah so different things that you learn
from there.
>> Well, excellent. So, we are we're
starting to run out of time. So, I guess
I will let you get on with your day. I
want to pre say again just thank you so
much for for spending some time with us.
I know we had a couple of of change
schedules along the way and thank you
for us uh bouncing all of that stuff in
place and getting here finally and and
making it worthwhile. Um and u as I
said, we will get the links to you and
we'll get everything in contact as this
comes closer and feel free to share it
wherever you want to. uh we'll get you
links for the the YouTube stuff as well
as the um the pod the podcast places or
the main podcast links and uh between
now and then if there's anything else we
can do just let me know. Uh happy to
help you guys out in any way that we can
and have yourself a good uh rest of the
day, good week and we'll we'll catch you
somewhere further down the road.
>> Yeah. Um yeah, we're we started our our
podcast as well. So I'll I can send you
information if you want to be because
I'm actually well so we have two
different one. One's actually boozy
browsing, which is a we're doing a happy
hour and auditing the site while while
we're drinking.
>> Fun. Boozy browsing.
>> Yeah.
>> Okay. We'll have to look for everybody
look for the boozy browsing podcast.
>> Yeah. And then the other one is actually
I'm interviewing all the um different
company business owners or agency owners
just like a five 15 to 20 quick
interviews set of five questions just to
learn about their business and what
they're about. Um just it's like I was
telling uh one of the guests who asked
me why I'm doing this. is like it's my
curiosity to learn about other business
as well as I want to get to know and
then also hopefully that other people
want to learn about your business can
also get exposed to it. So if you're up
for it I can send you the the link and
information.
>> Yes, definitely. And what's the name of
that one?
>> That was um um Voices of Leadership.
>> Okay.
>> So if you're looking for fun boozy
browsing if you want something more
concrete voices of leadership. So
awesome. there's some there's some
actual bonus uh material there and we'll
yeah definitely send us the links love
to uh listen to them ourselves and also
share those out with the uh the audience
and see whatever we can do to help you
to build that up. So
>> thanks so thanks for hanging out. This
has been great. Uh look forward to
hearing more from you. I'll I'll hear
you. If nothing else, we'll go listen to
the podcast and catch some of that kind
of stuff and uh just uh keep going at it
and we'll talk to you again soon.
>> Thanks S. Thanks for having me.
>> All right, have a good one. Bye bye.
Bye.
Transcript Segments
27.119

Well, hello and welcome back. We are

30.4

continuing our season where we are

31.92

getting unstuck. We're moving forward.

33.6

We're getting the forward momentum that

35.2

everybody wants to have at the beginning

36.719

of the year. We are the developer

39.2

podcast. We are also known as building

41.28

better developers. I am Rob Broadhead,

43.68

known only as Robad as far as I know.

46.32

And I am one of the founders of

47.92

developer, also the founder of RB

50

Consulting, where we help you leverage

52.559

technology, AI, and build yourself a

55.199

roadmap for success for your business.

57.84

uh we help you make sure that you're

59.12

doing the processes and the procedures

61.12

and the design first instead of just

62.8

jumping into some tools. Good thing and

65.519

bad thing. Good thing is is that uh I've

69.92

had like a really good start of the

71.439

year. It's one of these times where it's

73.04

like sometimes, you know, the start of

74.24

the year just you make a bunch of

76.24

commitments and the next thing you know

77.68

January 2nd occurs and it's like it's a

79.84

train wreck. This year's actually done

81.36

pretty good. I've had a pretty good

82.72

settle into the year. Uh things are

84.799

moving smoothly. bad thing is I'm

87.84

sitting here doing the podcast by myself

89.759

again. It is yes, Michael and I have all

92.56

kinds of back and forth, but it is nice

94.24

having that second person there to sort

95.92

of help you out when you stumble and

97.439

fall. And yes, I am poking him because

99.52

he's going to be listening to this and

100.799

he's going to say, "Oh, darn." So, he

103.04

knows he's missed. It's not because I'm

104.799

picking on him as much. We're going to

107.119

continue this time our discussion with

109.36

Miki Wong. And uh really I had a great

112.399

time. the f it's it's one of these that

115.119

you talk to you look at the you know you

117.68

get somebody on as a guest and you see

119.36

what they do and where they're coming

120.64

from and you don't get the whole story

123.68

and so we have these conversations and

125.36

this is where we do and uh it's really

127.84

somebody that's very much a uh you know

130.16

as they as they would say one of minte

132.239

one of these people that have gone

133.28

through the same kinds of things I've

134.879

done the same trials and and some of the

136.8

same proced trials and tribulations uh

139.599

even although in a very different uh

142.16

line of work and things like that, but

143.76

has a track record that is very uh

146.4

familiar to me. So, it's been a fun

147.84

conversation and I look forward to the

150.4

next part of this. So, pencils up, take

152.48

some notes because we do have some uh

154.16

some really interesting things if you

156

are going to get into that like start

158.4

your own business mode and what that

160.319

looks like. She shares some really good

162.16

uh insights and some of her stories uh

165.04

as well. So, here we go back with part

167.2

two with Miki.

169.599

So are your are your uh services more

174.48

uh graphic design and things of that

176.48

nature or do you have a lot more

177.92

technical sort of back end

179.36

>> early development also? Yeah, we're

180.879

we're very different from traditional u

183.28

full service marketing agencies. We

185.36

don't do any creative work. We only

186.879

focus on technology. So with the

188.56

implementation, migration, development

190.48

and whatnot. So we only focus on the

192.56

backend portion and we partner with a

194.4

lot of other design agencies or even um

197.28

the internal design team or UX team to

200.239

work together and also we work with

202.159

their internal tech tech development

204.159

team too but a lot of times you are the

206.08

development team for some companies

207.44

where we are a subset of their

209.84

development team so we only focus on

211.84

technology portion.

214.48

>> Oh excellent. So you so is that how you

216.799

because you said you sort of drifted

218.08

into to media before before you started

220.48

the company is you you got out there and

222.08

were looking at the problems to solve.

223.599

So how do you uh from a technology point

226.4

of view is how do you see that as a uh

229.2

what like some of the the changing

231.12

problems that you see and actually I

232.64

guess now I guess we'll have to go there

234.08

a little bit is like how has it changed

236.239

over the 10 years that you've been doing

237.599

this? How have you seen a change in that

240

uh that digital marketing landscape? I

242.879

think it's it's changing a lot because

244.48

they well with lately I mean I almost

246.879

don't want to even bring up but then I

248.319

have to bring up is like AI is kind of

249.76

into the picture. So with that a lot of

252.64

people try to adapt it but I feel like

255.04

at this point

257.28

they it's still a hype for them cuz they

261.359

want it but they don't know what to do

262.88

with it

263.84

>> like especially in the because we do we

265.6

work with marketing department a lot u

267.36

for these companies because we're doing

269.28

more like a CMS and and they're

271.199

publishing so it's usually marketing

273.52

related um departments that we work with

276.96

so they do a lot of campaigns or like

278.96

you know user engagements

281.12

and like how to get more ROI or like

283.68

whatever those kind of things on their

285.199

websites, but now that there's AI in the

288.08

picture, they feel like they're

289.44

obligated to use it, but they don't know

292.32

what to do with it. And I was just like

293.68

I was just recently reading about like I

295.52

don't know the actual percentage is

296.96

correct, but like they are some are

299.199

pretty much waiting to see what to do or

302

some are just kind of they're ready to

304

do it, but they don't know what to do.

305.84

like there's like personalization and

307.36

all these things like they hear all

309.199

these words so they feel like they are

310.72

obligated to adopt it but is it really

313.52

helping is it really doing like is it

316.8

really increasing ROI or is your

319.36

customers or audience for your website

321.759

really getting frustrated with it like

323.52

they don't know that yet because like

324.96

they're not that much data into it and

326.88

also they don't necessarily know how to

328.56

use it properly. So there's a little bit

330.56

of a weird um

334.56

gap where like I feel like it's weird

336.16

phase right now that like they feel like

338.32

they need to use it but they're not. But

339.68

like but there has been a lot of little

341.52

things like that just like if there's

342.8

any changes in like Google changes on

344.639

like different um way they do their ads

347.84

or something. There's always that along

350.88

the way. But this one is a little I

353.84

think it's more current. It felt like

355.12

it's longer.

357.6

>> Yeah. Yeah. And I think I guess maybe

358.8

it's just because we're in the middle of

359.84

it. But yeah, very much that it seems

361.6

like everybody's in this like I hear all

364.08

these great things and this is what it

365.44

should do for me, but I don't know how

366.8

to get there. I don't know what that is

368.72

and I don't know anybody that can, you

370.479

know, that's that's doing that

371.919

necessarily. So there's just Yeah, it's

373.44

a lot of Yeah. very much the hype thing.

375.44

It's like it's coming. It's going to be

376.639

great. It's you should be doing it right

378.479

now. And every like okay well what does

379.68

that mean? How would I do that? What

381.039

does that look like?

382.639

>> How is it going to help me? Like they

384.08

don't necessarily know exactly that. And

386.319

also like there's a lot of investment

388.639

going on to this AI. So people think

390.479

like oh this might be the good thing but

393.28

>> is it good for you but they can't really

395.28

tell because they don't know what

396.319

they're looking for.

398

>> Yeah. That's probably the worst possible

399.52

situation to be in is when people are

400.96

ready to put a lot of money into

402.24

something but they really don't know

403.28

what they're it's like you got a lot of

404.8

money but you don't know where you're

405.84

going to spend it. So now it's like

407.199

that's that's not a good com recipe for

409.44

the best decisions to be made. It's just

411.6

like

412.8

>> you don't want to hold it in your pocket

414.16

too long. It's like no maybe you should

415.68

and actually think about what you're

416.88

doing before you go just spend a wad on

419.039

AI and say okay we've put a lot of

421.039

invested a lot in AI well okay well what

423.52

will you what were you expecting to get

425.039

out of it you know it's like it gets

426.8

back to the the nuts the the brass b

429.36

brass tax of it of like okay you

431.199

invested this well what was your return

432.72

on investment and how are you going to

435.12

measure that

436.16

>> yeah and then also I think I heard this

437.919

like recently on like yesterday's

439.919

meeting or something some people like

441.52

they don't feel like they want to

442.88

implement it because by the time they

444.319

roll it out, it's going to be outdated.

446.8

>> But

448.319

that's kind of like because like it gets

450.8

outdated faster these days. So like

452.56

there's some some like but that's also

454.56

catch22 like but you still need to do

456.56

something. But I was like yeah that was

458

like interesting dilemma that I was

460.08

hearing yesterday on that meeting. And

462.72

I'm wondering because I I heard some of

464.16

this years ago and I'm wondering if you

465.44

guys ran into it as well because you're

466.8

in the the uh WordPress space in that. I

469.44

said you'd run into people it's like

471.039

well they they go and and get a theme

474.16

and then it would be you know last

476.639

year's theme and now you it's just like

478.639

uh you know any design kind of thing.

480.4

You sort of have these like seasons and

482.08

these like the hot thing for the year

483.919

and the the new hot technology. Um are

486.96

you seeing a lot of that? And did you

488.879

see a lot of that where people are sort

490.24

of like hesitating a little or almost

492.8

worse is that you get to the end of a

494.319

project and people are like, "Oh,

495.52

there's this new thing out and there's

496.72

this great new, you know, there's a new

498

word press release and it does A, B, and

500.16

C and so now we have to upgrade

502.56

everything to take advantage of the

503.919

latest." Or were you able to sort of

505.199

lock it in and say, "Okay, this is what

506.56

we're doing for the project." And then

508.24

come back at a, you know, version two of

510.16

it.

511.12

>> It's actually easier to lock in because

512.719

WordPress is one thing they're good at

514.32

is that they're very good at backwards

515.919

compatibility. you don't have to like

518.08

even if you upgrade to the next version

519.919

it doesn't break the things that you

521.2

already built. So it's like slightly

522.959

different from different technology

524.24

because whereas like if there's a new

525.92

version come out you have to do the full

527.839

migration there are other CMS that that

530.32

has to be done that way but WordPress

532.24

wasn't isn't the case so like it's a

534.32

little little easier to go to the next

536.88

version and get adapt the new thing that

539.279

they're rolling out without breaking

541.2

what you already built. So it's been a

543.279

little more smoother transition. So like

545.36

it's easier to do version two or

546.88

whatever. And also like technology too.

549.36

It's like it's a slightly different tech

550.88

technology. So you can still adapt it.

553.04

It's like it's how much you want to

554.56

spend time on it is usually the

556.08

question. Time and money on it is

557.44

usually the question. But everything can

559.279

be done. It's just like it's always like

561.12

the thing that we always talk about.

562.399

It's how important is it for you to

564.72

adopt this? Like do you know how

566.16

beneficial it would be for you in order

568.56

to adopt it? because it's it's at the

570.8

end of the day it's just a matter of

572

time and and money how much you're

573.519

willing to spend for that feature that

575.6

you want to adopt in. So um it was a

578.72

little more smoother transition into

580.64

adopting the latest and greatest for for

583.279

that end.

584.959

>> Yeah, that's always that uh that's a

586.64

common question and and the kind of

588.24

thing was like well can you do this?

589.519

It's like yes we can but do you really

591.04

want us to because this is how long it's

592.64

going to take or the risk or the cost

594.32

involved and sometimes the thing is like

596.72

we really got to have that and then when

598.16

you put a price tag and a time frame to

600

it they go we really don't need that you

601.839

know like it changes can change the

603.76

answer very very quickly.

605.839

>> Yeah. But it actually gives you like a

607.6

good perspective like do you really need

609.2

it? Then you'll know. So

612.56

>> that's true. If they if you keep like

614.399

adding to the price and the cost and

615.92

they're just like yes we need it. We

617.04

need it. You're like okay definitely

618.079

they need it. you know, they you can

619.279

tell then when this is critical to their

621.44

their business moving forward. Uh you

624

also mentioned um you like Google and

626.399

some of those kinds of things. So, do

627.68

you just curious are you guys uh are you

631.519

guys sort of abstracted from the latest

633.519

update and like the you know how

634.88

Google's changing their their SEO

636.64

rulings and things like that or is that

638.48

definitely one of the things that is is

640.32

that you're constantly working with that

641.92

to figure out like making sure that you

643.519

are aligning with the latest SEO search

646.48

engine changes across Google and all the

649.36

other people that matter. Yeah, we we

651.44

have to be aligned with that because

652.88

that's we're as us as like the uh

655.279

consulting we're giving them directions

657.04

of what needs to be done for the people

658.48

who might not be technical or not aware

660.48

of this. We need to let them know that

662.399

these are these are the things that you

663.76

need to be aware of like if there's any

665.12

new um rules that you need to be abide

667.92

by like we need to let them know because

669.68

like if you have an audience in

670.88

California there are certain things that

672.16

you have to do on your website you have

673.519

to put different fluky consent or

675.279

whatever GDPR and all those rules we

678

have to let them know that you have to

679.68

have it. Um so that's yeah so we need to

682.079

be always be aware of what's changing on

683.92

that on that end. What do you do to keep

686.8

your yourselves and your your staff u

689.04

you know current on that on the latest

691.519

things and the latest rules that you

692.959

have to work with particularly u and I

695.2

guess it's sort of a addition to that

697.04

question is do you have international

698.24

clients or do you have California is

700.32

always its own little beast but do you

701.76

have you know other like EU and their

704.56

regulations and other things that you

706.24

have to to keep up with

708.16

>> not necessarily from the the companies

711.44

that are only there it's more like

712.88

global companies so they have offices in

714.88

different countries

715.839

So that's when we have to let them know

717.68

about like all these other rules and um

719.92

it's more it's due diligence for us like

722.72

we kind of for for owners we do but like

725.279

yeah it's actually a good call that we

726.88

probably need to have some mechanism for

728.72

our country to be aware of it because

731.76

they when they delve into different

733.36

projects they naturally know because

735.76

they have to do that but yeah that's a

738.639

good call like um one thing I should

740.24

probably might have we might have

741.6

overlooked should be our place to be

744.32

always aware of it cuz I know like most

746.8

of the the the people that we work with

749.04

that they're naturally curious or they

750.88

do they're pretty up to date with

752.8

current affairs and what needs to be

754.959

done for their job. So like it was I

757.279

guess it was more of a we've been lucky

759.519

on that end.

762.079

>> Well, it's I mean it's a it's a

763.519

perfectly I think it's a perfectly

764.8

logical answer to say well we just do

766.48

our due diligence for any given project

768.399

and so we're going to go like you said I

770.399

think you some of it you get because

772.24

you've just done this project before.

773.92

So, for example, if you've, you know,

775.279

you built a website that had to follow

777.44

all of the California rules last week,

779.839

then all right, you're you're up to

781.44

speed with it. Now, if you jump suddenly

782.959

jump to, I don't know, India and you've

785.2

got to deal with their stuff, then

786.56

you're like, okay, I'm going to learn,

787.519

but now the next place I do, you know,

789.92

the next site I do that's going to be in

791.36

India, then we already know that. So,

794.16

uh, you know, sometimes that's

796.48

you can't keep ahead enough because you

798.32

don't know what's ahead of you. So it's

799.68

easier to just sort of like take it as

801.12

you go and just make sure that you you

802.88

slow and steady as you go into it and

805.12

are able to to do that research.

807.44

>> Yeah. And also like since with all the

809.36

experience that when you have to someone

811.839

comes in and like we have to open like a

813.68

website in this region that we'll do a

815.519

couple things that like as a a checklist

817.2

cuz like you know just make sure that is

819.04

there anything that we need to do. Is

820.8

there anything on the compliance side or

822.56

anything that we should be aware of?

824.399

Those kind of things we do as a

825.68

checklist. So even if we didn't know and

827.6

we wouldn't we weren't aware that with

829.839

that research we'll probably have to

831.92

figure out what needs to be done before

833.519

they actually put their site out on that

836

region.

838.48

>> And since you're doing since you live in

840.72

this space uh it's it's you know sort of

842.72

a very consistent space as far as what

844.639

you're delivering for your customers. Do

846.48

you have like a a testing suites and

849.36

validation automation that you use so

851.199

that when you you spin up a you know you

853.199

spin up a site and a solution for

854.639

somebody and here here's what we've got.

856.8

Do you have something you can do to sort

858.24

of uh to test that and to say yes, we've

861.199

we're going through and basically we can

862.959

check off all those things on our

864.24

checklist that we do have, you know,

865.68

we're responsive and we have uh you

868.079

know, alternate methods of of navigation

870.24

and all the different things that are

872.24

out there that are I guess the the list

874.16

of things that a good website does.

876.8

>> Yeah, we have our own checklist. It's

878.399

like it's not fully automated because

880.399

like with every time we go to different

881.92

client, it's very custom to them. But

884.16

there's like a a general thing that we

886.399

have as a checklist even like onboarding

888.24

or before um before we even uh engage

890.88

with the clients that we have all this

892.16

list of questions that we need to be

894.16

aware to start discovery and all that

896.32

stuff. So we do have our internal

897.839

checklist to go through it and then

899.839

during also usually there's like the

901.76

initial checklist but with once you get

904.16

the actual engagement there's like a

905.68

whole discovery phase to figure out what

907.6

needs to be done and then also like

910.079

during like the whatever the development

912.079

cycle and then the QA cycle and all that

914.24

stuff and UAT cycle and after that

916.88

actual launch there's like a launch

918.48

checklist that we need to have for like

921.44

basic things for the web publishing and

924

also like depending on which CMS or

926.32

which technology we're pushing it out

927.839

like what needs to be done on the

929.04

hosting side what needs to be done on

930.56

the actual like you know data side and

932.079

all that stuff and like if you have more

934.56

things like third party integration what

936.56

needs to be done there on the CDN side

938.48

and all these things that we have a

939.839

checklist for and then depending on the

942.399

client there should be their custom list

944.639

that they need to uh have before we

947.279

actually put everything up and if after

949.44

they launch then we also have like a

951.839

postlaunch items that we want to go

954.56

through and like you So we do have like

956.959

a phase and and stages of um cycle that

960.88

we have to go through with a different

962.24

list of things that we need to check off

964.32

on

966.8

>> since we have like as I said before we

968.56

have a lot of developers in our in our

970.24

audience and that's one of the things

971.759

that I I think a lot of people a lot of

974.16

developers struggle with is when they

976

shift from being a developer that's

978.32

that's part of a company organization

979.92

and now they're they're shifting into

981.519

more like a uh whether they're you know

984.16

consulting or they've got some sort

985.68

service or or an agency that they work

987.44

with is actually the the discovery phase

990.56

is is getting that because a lot of

992.48

times it's sort of given to you. It's

993.839

been spoonfed you instead of having to

995.44

go through that. So, uh from that and

997.92

and uh especially interested because if

1000.24

you got you had an experienced

1002

co-founder, how is the how is that

1004.639

discovery phase uh evolved? How have you

1007.6

evolved that over the years as you've as

1009.519

you've worked with your clients? I'm

1011.279

assuming you have. I'm assuming it

1012.48

wasn't perfect from the start, but maybe

1014.32

I'm over over suing.

1016.72

>> Yeah, I mean I did have So before we

1019.279

started the company, we were I was

1020.8

pretty much doing the similar thing. So

1022.56

I had my own clients like I was had my

1024.64

client base and I was taking over

1026.88

probably like 90 to 95% of WordPress

1029.439

clients were going through me anyway. So

1032.16

with that, I was learning through it

1034.4

initially from like you know my boss and

1036.64

whoever was more senior like I'll be in

1039.199

the meeting together to learn about it.

1040.88

But as you put a lot of projects

1042.88

together cuz I already have a lot of um

1045.36

like a bigger sites like I think times

1047.199

or all these other companies with like a

1049.679

different structure and different team

1052.48

had u I implemented different uh

1055.039

websites there. So from through that

1057.2

experience there are common things that

1058.88

I need to know before starting a

1060.559

project. So those are the list that were

1062.88

gathering through that and well it

1065.84

smoothly transitioned into when we

1068

started it because we're pretty much

1069.28

doing the similar thing. It's just a

1070.88

with a different company name.

1074.64

>> So, another one that just because I've

1076.48

talked to a few founders lately and and

1078.4

that as you've grown, is there

1082.4

what is the thing that was the hardest

1083.84

for you to to give up as you've grown as

1086.32

a company has grown? Like something that

1087.84

maybe you guys did early on that you've

1090

had to sort of like, you know, set aside

1091.76

because it was or either delegate or uh

1095.6

train somebody to do so that you can you

1097.679

can scale the company. I think it was

1099.76

also always that because um I remember

1101.919

even when I was going to the management

1104.08

role and I was fost was encouraging the

1107.6

people who were bringing up to into the

1109.679

management role I always have to tell

1111.2

them like you know you have to delegate

1113.44

because I know you as a developer I

1115.28

think it's naturally that you want to

1116.799

develop but you have to let go of

1118.48

certain things that you're doing

1121.52

especially you can't you'll kill

1122.96

yourself you're going to do all these

1124.559

tickets to you and also try to manage

1126.88

people because like it's like there's

1128.559

No, there's no way you can do it. I

1130.4

mean, if you want if you want your

1132.32

sanity to and then you really love this

1134.4

development work, just assign one or two

1136.24

tickets and fade out, but don't put the

1139.44

same amount of tickets to your bucket

1141.52

when you have to manage the people as

1143.2

well. So that I always tell people that,

1147.52

but I was not really good at it either.

1150

especially

1152.08

like with the company and then also I

1153.679

think um when you start a company

1155.52

because I'm technical there are a lot of

1157.679

times that I can just do it

1160.799

>> but it's also twofold too cuz I need to

1163.2

make sure that the person who's taking

1165.12

over has to learn so like I need to be a

1167.919

little more patient about that so like

1169.76

letting go of those uh was it's always

1173.12

it's a little bit of challenging like

1174.48

even if like roll switch a little bit I

1177.039

can still technically do the roll

1178.96

sometimes faster

1180.16

But like it's it's the things that I

1182.32

remind other people I have to remind

1183.76

myself. It's like be patient, let them

1186.72

do it because they need to learn so that

1188.64

they can you can move on to the next

1190.08

role. So yeah, I think that's a kind of

1192.799

constant thing that I still um remind

1195.2

myself like let go, move on to the next

1198.24

role and trust.

1200

>> I agree.

1200.64

>> Yeah,

1200.96

>> I think that's one of those hard ones

1202.16

where you you know it but doing it is

1204.16

different than knowing it. It's easy to

1205.52

tell somebody else it's like, "Yeah, go

1206.88

do this." And then doing it yourself is

1208.48

is is the more challenging piece of it.

1211.2

>> Now, you have you been able to stay

1212.559

technical or have you been able I mean,

1214.16

you can still do it, you said, but is

1215.36

that you've been able to stay technical

1216.64

on a regular basis? Have you really

1218.32

grown to the point where you've you've

1219.76

had to leave that behind?

1221.6

>> Yeah, I I still um stay technical for

1223.84

some clients. Um so like different

1225.76

depending on different clients. So, but

1228.08

that's also one of those things that we

1230.08

like the co-founder and I talked about

1231.76

cuz he's more he wants to do more

1233.679

hands-on too. Um I I think I felt like I

1236.799

let go a little better than they did,

1239.2

but um I had to kind of constantly

1240.88

remind him I was like I think I mean

1242.559

we've been very lean because we're both

1244.32

technical so we can do a lot while you

1246.96

have to have a turnover like that. But I

1249.2

think that was another reason that we

1250.72

were growing a little slower than um

1254.08

than we initially thought because

1257.12

you have that option to lean on

1259.28

yourself. So like if we weren't

1261.28

technical, we probably try to hire and

1263.039

scale that way. Whereas we instead of

1265.679

hiring, we sometimes do it ourselves and

1268.24

we stay lean. Um but like that means

1270.799

that we didn't hire people to scale to

1272.96

the next level enough. So like I think

1275.36

it's always like a little bit of

1276.64

catching up on that cuz like I mean it

1278.48

worked out in some years and worked out

1280.159

and not not in some years cuz when we're

1282.32

so focused on on client hands- work,

1285.36

other things internal stuff falls

1288.159

behind. And I think this is probably

1290

like you know everyone's dilemma

1292.08

especially with like a small companies

1294.32

because when yeah you have client work

1296.64

comes first and then like other internal

1298.48

thing that you need to do for the next

1301.12

quarter or whatnot and that gets

1303.039

affected. So it's always like a little

1304.88

bit and catching up and learning to

1307.6

balance it was actually one of the the

1309.919

one of the biggest learning thing that

1311.44

that we have to go through. It's like

1314.32

how did you super busy you still have to

1318

put some time for your internal things

1319.84

for the next quarter of planning or like

1322

whatever the next um thing internally to

1324.799

make sure that future is um not

1327.52

affected. So it was like a constant

1330.24

reminder and that was like a harder

1331.6

thing to get adjusted because you have

1334.559

to be very forced to not

1337.52

not focus too much on one thing only.

1340.64

So is that how you sort of solve that

1342

problem? You just you start putting it

1343.36

on the calendar and essentially said,

1344.559

"Okay, we've got to schedule this, so we

1346

it's got to get done."

1347.039

>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's like you kind of

1349.2

have to force it like brute force it

1350.88

like we got to get done. It doesn't

1352.48

matter. So

1354.799

>> yeah, sometimes that is the best way to

1356.159

get it is just like just say, "Okay,

1357.84

we're going to plan for it and you know

1359.679

it's got to get done." And you get the

1360.96

end of the week and go, "Oh, that's on

1362

my to-do list. So we got to get it got

1363.52

to get it knocked out instead of kicking

1364.96

it forward to the next week or or

1367.039

further down the road."

1368.4

>> Yeah. We forced it on the calendar. It's

1369.84

like it's set. So, we have to spend this

1371.76

time on the task.

1374

>> It's on the calendar. It is you can't

1375.679

touch the calendar. I totally get that.

1379.039

>> Now, thank you so much for for hanging

1380.72

out with us and and sharing this. And

1382.48

for people that are out there and and

1384.159

wanting to learn more about you guys,

1385.84

yourself and and you guys, is what are

1387.76

some of the best ways for them to reach

1388.96

out for you and reach out and contact

1390.96

you?

1391.679

>> Probably LinkedIn because well, we're my

1393.36

co-founder and I are both very active on

1394.96

LinkedIn. the only actually only channel

1397.039

that we're active on. I suck at social

1399.36

channels. Like I wasn't really too um

1401.6

good at it. So LinkedIn um it's like

1403.6

it's very similar. I I'll um send you

1405.52

the link, but it's very easy because my

1407.28

name is unique enough. It's my full

1409.28

name, Mickey Wong. Um and um our website

1412.72

endeavor.io.

1414.48

Um then you can find that find us from

1416.48

there contact page and we'll we'll get

1418.64

to it.

1420.559

>> Awesome. Well, thank you so much for

1422.08

your time. love having you here and uh

1424.559

sharing and it's uh it's always fun to

1426.4

have somebody that's had a an

1427.679

entrepreneurial journey that either some

1429.84

of our you know I think some of our

1430.96

people are either in the midst of or

1432.799

maybe considering or looking forward to

1434.48

and to hear some of the uh the real

1436.96

world stories is always a you know is a

1438.799

bonus and and it al it helps those who

1440.799

are struggling to it through it to know

1442.159

that yep that's I'm not the only person

1444.24

struggling through it and for those

1445.44

looking ahead it's like oh okay I got to

1447.2

make sure I'm you know for example maybe

1449.039

I should find myself a good mastermind

1450.559

group or you know somebody some meetup

1452.88

group or something that is going to be

1454.32

able to, you know, give me that that

1456.08

community and and that support.

1458.24

>> Yeah. Yeah. That'll be that's actually a

1460.4

really good good way to get to know and

1462.559

then like and see um and learn from

1464.96

others.

1467.279

>> Well, I will thank you for your time and

1470

everybody else uh thank you for hanging

1471.76

out with us and we will be back next

1474.08

time uh probably with yet another

1475.679

interview depending on how we slice

1477.279

these up. Uh, and Michael will be back

1479.36

as well most likely, so you won't have

1481.279

to listen to just me. But as always, go

1483.44

out there and have yourself a great day,

1485.039

a great week, and we will talk to you

1488

next time.

1489.919

So our bonus material now that we are

1492.159

out of the audio side of it and that is

1495.52

um what is I guess I'll start with it

1497.679

like a good what is one thing if you

1500.32

could go back and tell yourself as you

1502.32

were diving into this 10 years ago what

1504.48

what is one piece of advice you would

1506

give your your younger you? I think I

1508.88

think I already said it um so I don't

1510.72

know if you want to repeat it like join

1511.84

the masro fast like it's like join a

1513.84

group that where you can learn from

1515.36

others and grow together because it

1517.6

gives like a great accountability as you

1519.52

said and then you learn so much and then

1521.76

you get so motivated by the people

1524.32

around you. Um and also you you share

1527.039

your experience like some of the pain

1528.559

points and then some of the things that

1529.919

you went through a lot of times they

1531.52

went through it too. So, it's a really

1533.52

great way to even like um for your

1536.96

sanity check too cuz like you're not

1539.679

alone in this. So like knowing that and

1542.48

other there are other people are doing

1543.919

it and how much effort they're putting

1546.24

into their business also makes you like

1549.039

you know you want to do better because

1551.36

like you know it's it's always a very

1554.48

misconception that people always see the

1557.039

tip of the ice but they don't really

1558.64

know what's underneath it how much

1560.32

effort that went into it. um when you

1563.2

see the successful person because I

1565.12

haven't met any single successful person

1567.76

that didn't put effort into it and

1570.4

that's like it's a known thing but it's

1572.48

it's very easy to forget. So like if you

1575.2

see other people really putting

1578.72

everything they got or sometimes like

1580.48

more to get to where they want to go,

1583.36

you get so inspired by that. So I think

1585.36

it's a great way to get to know other

1587.44

people and also like you learn about

1588.799

different businesses that's too because

1590.96

you didn't even think of like oh that

1592.64

kind of thing exists. So like oh that's

1594.24

really great. So you learn a lot from

1597.12

just being being around like that.

1600.4

>> Yeah. I'm glad like people will often in

1602.96

an interview they'll say like here's

1604.559

something you know here's a great thing

1605.84

to point a great point that I would have

1607.52

you know I would suggest to people

1609.2

starting out or you know advice I give

1611.279

to my younger self. And so it's very

1613.2

it's it's nice that you doubled down on

1614.88

that say yes that's that is exactly the

1616.88

advice I would give and then I love that

1618.32

you gave us some more u a little you

1620.32

know went a little deeper on that. Now

1621.919

when you went into these groups um sort

1623.76

of as we go a little explore that a

1625.12

little bit is was that you and your uh

1627.44

co-founder or was this something that

1628.72

sort of you were doing and was more for

1630.559

your own personal sanity and that as

1632.88

opposed to I guess a corporate kind of

1634.48

thing.

1635.2

>> It was more personal thing and then he

1636.96

joined a different group so we also want

1639.279

to like evaluate different groups. So

1642.24

yeah, we always join a different group

1644.4

um to see which one's good. Um and then

1646.88

there were times that I joined the group

1648.96

that he was in for short period of time

1650.799

just to kind of see. But um I think he

1653.12

and I look at different things on when

1655.679

you're in different masterminds. So it

1658.559

worked out because like what um what I

1660.559

like is more like this the thing that I

1663.52

discussed and he actually um like more

1665.84

sharing and on also more focused on the

1668.88

similar industry type of thing whereas I

1671.12

like different type of businesses or

1674.88

different things just to kind of see

1676.48

what's going on and what's exploring

1678.48

different um experiences I can

1681.44

secondhandly get.

1684.48

Now that also allow you then to and I

1686.399

sort of lean into that is that allow you

1687.6

to sort of talk about your relationship

1689.12

with your your co-founder and like how

1691.12

should this work and the because

1692.64

sometimes that's the dynamics are are

1695.279

that is one of the more challenging

1696.48

pieces is the dynamics of not being a

1698.24

founder but being like a co-founder or a

1700.48

you know or a board or something like

1702

that.

1702.72

>> Yeah. Yeah. So like I asked about those

1704.96

kind of things before too. Um but so

1708.159

yeah so different things that you learn

1709.76

from there.

1712

>> Well, excellent. So, we are we're

1713.6

starting to run out of time. So, I guess

1714.88

I will let you get on with your day. I

1716.32

want to pre say again just thank you so

1717.919

much for for spending some time with us.

1719.36

I know we had a couple of of change

1721.52

schedules along the way and thank you

1723.2

for us uh bouncing all of that stuff in

1726.32

place and getting here finally and and

1728

making it worthwhile. Um and u as I

1731.76

said, we will get the links to you and

1733.039

we'll get everything in contact as this

1734.64

comes closer and feel free to share it

1736.559

wherever you want to. uh we'll get you

1738.48

links for the the YouTube stuff as well

1740.159

as the um the pod the podcast places or

1743.36

the main podcast links and uh between

1746.399

now and then if there's anything else we

1747.84

can do just let me know. Uh happy to

1749.52

help you guys out in any way that we can

1751.52

and have yourself a good uh rest of the

1753.44

day, good week and we'll we'll catch you

1755.039

somewhere further down the road.

1756.64

>> Yeah. Um yeah, we're we started our our

1758.96

podcast as well. So I'll I can send you

1761.039

information if you want to be because

1762.799

I'm actually well so we have two

1764.72

different one. One's actually boozy

1766.24

browsing, which is a we're doing a happy

1768.24

hour and auditing the site while while

1770.48

we're drinking.

1771.919

>> Fun. Boozy browsing.

1773.76

>> Yeah.

1774.32

>> Okay. We'll have to look for everybody

1775.76

look for the boozy browsing podcast.

1777.84

>> Yeah. And then the other one is actually

1779.44

I'm interviewing all the um different

1781.76

company business owners or agency owners

1783.76

just like a five 15 to 20 quick

1785.6

interviews set of five questions just to

1788.08

learn about their business and what

1789.279

they're about. Um just it's like I was

1791.44

telling uh one of the guests who asked

1792.88

me why I'm doing this. is like it's my

1795.36

curiosity to learn about other business

1797.36

as well as I want to get to know and

1799.279

then also hopefully that other people

1801.44

want to learn about your business can

1803.36

also get exposed to it. So if you're up

1805.12

for it I can send you the the link and

1806.799

information.

1808.24

>> Yes, definitely. And what's the name of

1809.44

that one?

1810.32

>> That was um um Voices of Leadership.

1813.84

>> Okay.

1816.159

>> So if you're looking for fun boozy

1817.84

browsing if you want something more

1819.679

concrete voices of leadership. So

1821.76

awesome. there's some there's some

1822.88

actual bonus uh material there and we'll

1824.72

yeah definitely send us the links love

1826.159

to uh listen to them ourselves and also

1828.32

share those out with the uh the audience

1829.919

and see whatever we can do to help you

1831.279

to build that up. So

1833.12

>> thanks so thanks for hanging out. This

1834.799

has been great. Uh look forward to

1836.399

hearing more from you. I'll I'll hear

1838.08

you. If nothing else, we'll go listen to

1839.36

the podcast and catch some of that kind

1840.72

of stuff and uh just uh keep going at it

1843.6

and we'll talk to you again soon.

1845.36

>> Thanks S. Thanks for having me.

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>> All right, have a good one. Bye bye.

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Bye.