Leveling Up with Eric Siu

Latest Episodes:

11 Quick, Simple Sleep Hacks May 04, 2021

Show notes

Sleep is one of the ‘power-ups’ in your life and, in order to perform at a high level, it’s important to get good rest. From preparing for bed to preventing disturbances and monitoring your sleep patterns, today’s episode looks at some quick yet powerful sleep hacks to help you perform at your best! We factor in the environmental, physical, and chemical factors that can help maximize your sleep quality for the ultimate night’s rest.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

[00:23] The importance of sleep as one of the ‘power ups’ of your life.
[01:27] Tip 1: Putting a piece of tape over your mouth.
[02:34] Tip 2: Sleeping at 68 or 69 degrees.
[03:18] Tip 3: Using an air filter to ensure high-quality air.
[03:39] Tip 4: The benefits of tracking your sleep with an Oura Ring.
[04:08] Tip 5: Cooling your mattress and monitoring your sleep with an Eight Sleep.
[04:48] Tip 6: Being wary of taking too hot a shower before bed.
[05:16] Tip 7: Avoiding screens before bed; read a book or use glasses with blue light filters.
[05:35] Tip 8: Keeping your phone on orange light and using F.lux on your laptop or desktop computers.
[05:57] Tip 9: Wearing a silk sleep mask.
[06:22] Tip 10: Taking hemp oil or a CBD pill before bed.
[06:43] Tip 11: Current Experiment: using magnesium to stop tossing and turning.

Resources From The Interview:

Why We Sleep

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How Zeus CEO Kulveer Taggar Plans To Tackle The $18B Corporate Housing Market May 03, 2021

Show notes

How Zeus CEO Kulveer Taggar Plans To Tackle The $18B Corporate Housing Market

Today’s guest is Kulveer Taggar, CEO of and co-founder of Zeus, a new flexible way to rent that caters for utilities, furniture, and fixed leases. Since 2015, the company has made over 150 million dollars in revenue and they have set their sights on the 18 Billion dollar Corporate Housing Market. Kulveer explains how he became an entrepreneur and sold a business for $5 million when he was only 24-years-old. He talks about how his motivation changed from making money to solving a problem, what inspired him to start this company, and how he continues to find ways to make it easier for people to move around and stay in places for longer periods of time. He also explains how the pandemic affected the business, how they survived it, and how it influenced their strategy going forward. Hear about how they managed to achieve customer acquisition long before they ever hired a marketer, and how they managed to scale from 100 homes to almost 4000. Tune in today!

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

[00:15] An introduction to Kulveer Taggar.
[00:44] How he became an entrepreneur and sold a business for $5 million at age 24.
[03:28] Kulveer explains the benefits of YCombinator and how the founder network became one of his greatest assets.
[05:05] How is Zeus different from Airbnb: more like a hotel company than a hotel booking site.
[05:50] Kulveer explains the business model.
[06:19] Eric mentions some of the figures of the business’s success.
[06:31] Kulveer describes how he came up with the idea and some of the success they’ve had since 2016.
[07:25] Kulveer’s long-term vision for the business: Turnkey provision homes.
[08:05] As human happiness and potential are often tied to location, he wants to make it easier for people to be more mobile.
[08:30] How Kulveer has evolved as a founder and how his motivation has changed from wanting money to solving a problem.
[09:44] How studying philosophy helped him in the business world.
[12:11] What is working for Zeus: How they managed to achieve customer acquisition and scale from 100 homes to almost 4000 homes.
[14:11] How the pandemic affected the business and their strategy has changed.
[15:29] How the pandemic affected his own psyche.
[18:00] Kulveer’s favorite business book: 7 Powers
[18:59] Why he follows Balaji Srinivasan on Twitter.
[20:17] His favorite business tool.
[20:48] How people can find him online.

Resources From The Interview:

Fleck

Must read book: 7 Powers: The Foundations of Business Strategy

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How Jon Levy Masterfully Connects Celebrities and Influential People (And How You Can Too) May 01, 2021

Show notes

The greatest predictor of human longevity, apart from genetics, is close ties and social integration. According to today’s guest, research has shown that even the success of a business can be traced back to the oxytocin levels (the chemical released when you feel a connection) found in the bodies of its employees. Jon Levy is the founder and host of Influencers, a private organization that arranges dining experiences dedicated to bringing together exceptional people and thought leaders. He is also a behavioral scientist and author who has a new book coming out, titled You Are Invited, about how to create connection, trust, and a sense of belonging. In this episode, John talks about how the human brain is wired for novelty, why networking events and swag bags are a waste of time, and how to genuinely foster human connection. Tune in and learn about the IKEA effect, the Mere-exposure effect, and an art heist at the Louvre that will blow your mind!

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

[00:13] An introduction to Jon Levy.
[01:48] John talks bout the dinners he hosts with 12 high-profile people who can only share their names or professions once they have cooked a meal together.
[02:30] How the human brain is wired for novelty: people do really well when they’re doing something just outside their skillset.
[03:45] The state of peaking in performance: when you’re doing something that’s fully engaging, you lose all sense of self-consciousness.
[05:01] Jon talks about Shane Snow’s book, Smartcuts, and the value of momentum.
[06:31] Jon shares his background as a human behavioral psychologist
[07:55] Thoughts on Youtuber, MrBeast.
[09:09] Jon’s main focus on increasing the connections between people.
[10:50] How the definition of a close friend has changed: why Gen Z is the loneliest generation.
[11:45] An introduction to Jon’s book, You're Invited; how to create connection, trust, and a sense of belonging.
[13:04] Why Jon wrote the book: to share the importance of and misunderstandings about human connection.
[14:38] Jon explains the IKEA effect and why we care about what we put effort into.
[16:05] Using his book as a guide to figure out the ideal way to connect with people.
[16:43] Jon addresses some of the commonly held misperceptions about how to meet people.[17:38] Why he found memorable stories to demonstrate his lessons.
[18:37] An example of one of his stories is an art heist at the Louvre that demonstrates the Mere-exposure effect.
[21:54] What else is Jon reading: Breathe about the Wim Hof method of fire breathing.
[23:25] What breathwork has done for Jon.
[26:30] How to find Jon’s book and other resources.

Resources From The Interview:

Jon Levy

You’re Invited

You're Invited: The Art and Science of Cultivating Influence

Influencers

Smartcuts

MrBeast

The 2 AM Principle: Discover the Science of Adventure

Breathe

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Social Media Trends for 2021 Apr 30, 2021

Show notes

Today on Leveling Up, Eric looks at the social media trends for 2021. He gives a breakdown of what’s growing in popularity and what’s declining or leveling out. He gives a breakdown of his five favorite social media platforms right now and provides some insightful advice as to where you should or should not be targeting your efforts right now in terms of growth potential, competition, and organic reach. To level up on your social media game, tune in today!

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

[00:14] Eric introduces this topic with a breakdown of trends in the usage of each platform.
[02:28] Eric explains why he is most excited about YouTube.
[03:20] Why LinkedIn is currently Eric’s second favorite platform: organic reach is strong.
[03:40] Number three is Twitter: it enables Eric to interact with some of the smartest people in the world through DMs.
[05:00] Number four is podcasting.
[05:23] Why starting a blog in 2021 is a bad idea.
[05:33] How to choose which social media platform to target: Go for low competition and high organic reach.
[06:16] Start with one platform and branch out from there.

Resources From The Interview:

Pure Research

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Why Clubhouse Will Fail Apr 29, 2021

Show notes

Why Clubhouse Will Fail

In today's episode, Eric continues his series on Clubhouse by explaining some of the major obstacles facing its success. He talks about how he became addicted to it, built up a following, and spent a significant amount of time on it, before dropping his usage by 90%. Hear about the problems with Clubhouse's execution, monetization, and follower retention, as competitors like Twitter and Facebook launch their own versions.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

[00:19] Before we jump into today’s interview, please rate, review, and subscribe to the Leveling Up Podcast!
[00:23] How Eric started using Clubhouse in December 2020.
[00:54] Clubhouse’s success among course-creators and coaches.
[01:26] How Eric ended up spending 30 to 40 hours a week on Clubhouse.
[02:12] Why Eric’s usage of Clubhouse dropped to 4 hours a week.
[02:41] The emergence and threat of copies by competitors like Twitter and Facebook.
[03:08] Copying may not kill you: Snap Chat / Snap is still successful despite being copied.
[03:33] The problem with Clubhouse’s android app.
[03:52] The threat of Clubhouse being ‘out-executed’ by its competitors.
[04:29] How people are not spending as much time on Clubhouse as they did in the past.
[04:32] The question of monetization.
[05:49] Despite its problems Eric hopes that Clubhouse succeeds.
[06:02] Let Eric know your thoughts in the comments, subscribe, and like.

Resources From The Interview:

Clubhouse

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This SEO Strategy Is Infinitely Better Than Link Building (Podcast version) Apr 28, 2021

Show notes

In today’s episode, Eric shares the SEO strategy that he has found to be significantly more valuable than link-building: relationships. Find out how he came to believe that content and links were the two most important things for SEO and the lengths he went to to get links before he realized that relationships were far more beneficial. Tuning in today, you’ll also learn how you can build relationships and establish networks that will get you links but also have a much bigger payoff in the long term.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

[00:13] An introduction to today’s topic.
[00:19] A breakdown of Eric’s businesses and how he came to believe that the two most important things for SEO are great content and links.
[01:00] Creating linkable assets, guest posts, directory links, and other things Eric did in the past to get links.
[01:44] How social media and email provide touch points for building relationships.
[02:03] Eric shares examples of the time-consuming nature of relationship building.
[04:08] Why you should focus on relationships rather than links.
[04:28] By fostering relationships, you're no longer just asking for links; you’re building a network and forming partnerships and collaborations.
[04:50] Some examples of how relationships have created networking opportunities for Eric.
[05:38] If you focus on long-term relationships, you get so much more than a short-term link.
[06:55] Why you should continue to create linkable assets, but prioritize the relationships over the links.

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What To Make Of Apple's Podcast Subscriptions Apr 27, 2021

Show notes

In today’s episode, Eric shares his thoughts on Apple’s new Apple Podcasts Subscriptions and analytics feature called Podcast Connect. He explains how one of its features enables podcasters to add different channels for SEO, email, and paid media, among other things, to group or curate episodes. Eric compares this to the membership platform of Supercast and breaks down the pros and cons of each. To find out whether or not Eric will be making use of Apple’s new features and why, tune in today!

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

[00:13] An introduction to Apple’s new Apple Podcasts Subscriptions and analytics feature Podcast Connect.
[01:09] How Apple has enhanced their podcast analytics: Stepping things up because they have been losing ground to Spotify.
[01:29] New feature: You can add different channels for SEO, email, paid media, to group or curate episodes.
[01:45] Eric compares Apple Connect to Supercast and breaks down the pros and cons of each:
Apple doesn’t provide much data, Supercast takes a percentage of revenue but gives you more control.
[03:04] Some of the features offered by Apple Podcasts Subscriptions: Exclusive content, ad-free listening, and access to additional content.
[03:57] Why it may make sense to launch a transcription on both.
[04:57] The earning potential from Apple Podcasts Subscriptions.
[05:40] How much the Market School Podcast makes per month on subscriptions.
[06:02] A recap: It has analytics from Apple, a Podcast Next section, and the ability to add subscriptions.

Resources From The Interview:

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Startup Secrets with Activision Co-Founder Howard Marks Apr 26, 2021

Show notes

Startup Secrets with Activision Co-Founder Howard Marks

Welcome back to another episode of Leveling Up hosted on Clubhouse! Today’s guest is Howard Marks, the legend behind Activision and Acclaim who has recently been pioneering crowdfunded investing with his company StartEngine. We also open up the floor to a bunch of different people in the Clubhouse chat who ask brilliant questions all centered around building a successful startup, from how to land funding to defending yourself from the competition. Tune in today!

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

[00:41] Before we jump into today’s interview, please rate, review, and subscribe to the Leveling Up Podcast!
[02:12] The story of acquiring Activision, moving to LA, and the innovations that followed.
[12:53] Alisa Jacobs from Queens Gaming Collective introduces herself and her company.
[14:48] Further details of Howard’s process of acquiring Activision.
[17:10] Trouble Activision was in and Howard’s process of reinvigorating it.
[21:36] Feeling things out, thinking in decades, and utilizing lawyers and bankruptcy.
[23:48] What drives Howard and why he started StartEngine, and how it has evolved.
[38:53] How StartEngine is innovating in the landscape of raising capital using crowdfunding.
[44:02] The three core pillars of a successful crowdfund.
[45:25] A brief description of how to utilize Clubhouse to connect with new friends.
[48:29] Qualities Howard looks for in founders that make him want to fund them.
[51:47] Howard’s belief in having an impossible mission and how he arrived at it.
[53:59] The mission, values, stated goal, strategy hierarchy.
[57:44] What industries Howard is most fascinated with.
[59:12] Whether StartEngine invests in Latin American companies.
[1:01:45] How to defend yourself against bigger competitors in your industry.
[1:03:20] When to start raising capital and what investors look for in early-stage companies.
[1:07:52] The importance of aligned KPIs and OKRs with your investors
[1:10:25] How the conversation around equity crowdfunding has changed.
[1:14:39] Hear how servicing companies would get funding from StartEngine.
[1:17:04] Howard’s perspectives on startup opportunities in the cloud gaming sphere.
[1:20:47] Creating a minimum viable product and balancing school with entrepreneurship.
[1:23:45] Advice on getting the gaming and tech community to adopt your technology.
[1:25:50] What is preventing StartEngine from funding thousands of companies per month.
[1:27:52] The lack of purpose in pitches by passionate people on Clubhouse.
[1:32:50] When to know whether to take on more funding if it is available.
[1:36:11] Howard’s favorite game of all time.

Resources From The Interview:

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How I Sold $65,000 of Books Using Clubhouse Apr 22, 2021

Show notes

How I Sold $65,000 of Books Using Clubhouse

While Clubhouse might not as big a thing that some have been professing it to be, that does not mean that it has no use to you and your business. In today's episode, Eric explains how he used the Clubhouse app to spark $65,000 worth of book sales and the smart methods he used to up-sell certain customers. Tuning in you will hear about NFTs, what it takes to build Clubhouse credibility, and more!

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

[00:11] Before we jump into today’s interview, please rate, review, and subscribe to the Leveling Up Podcast!
[00:29] The rooms that Eric hosted on Clubhouse to boost his sales of Leveling Up.
[01:31] Time that Eric spent building relationships on Clubhouse in early 2021.
[02:15] How Eric redirected conversations on Clubhouse to the bulk orders page on his website.
[03:50] The possibility of selling NFTs on Clubhouse and the money that is currently being made.
[04:44] Concerns about the future of Clubhouse and why it might not beat out its competitors.
[05:04] We'll see you tomorrow!

Resources From The Interview:

Leveling Up

Time Magazine

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What Is The Creator Economy? Apr 21, 2021

Show notes

What Is The Creator Economy?

Today’s episode is all about the creator economy and what this means for you. Listening in, you’ll hear about the recent success of platforms such as Cameo, Substack, and Clubhouse and how more and more money is going to the creators themselves. We talk about how being a creator and being an entrepreneur are increasingly becoming the same thing and discuss our fundamental desires to create, the many existing channels through which we can create, and how, by making a small investment of time every day, you can become a successful creator. Be sure to tune in today!

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

[00:16] An introduction to the creator economy.
[00:23] The recent success of platforms such as Cameo, Substack, and Clubhouse.
[01:03] How more and more money is going towards the creators themselves.
[01:20] How the creator is becoming an entrepreneur, and the entrepreneur a creator.
[02:20] What “creator economy” actually means.
[02:55] How the system is reversing: Now you build up an audience and then you build up the business.
[03:08] The growing trust in individuals and the growing distrust in large conglomerates and government.
[04:00] The four forms of leverage: code, capital, labor, and media
[04:45] The fundamental human desire to create things.
[04:50] The things we want to achieve through creating.
[05:14] The many opportunities currently available for those who want to be creators.
[05:35] The creation versus consumption ratio.
[06:06] The time investment required to become a successful creator.
[06:25] Like and subscribe for more!