Very Short Interview No.1 - Chad Nuss

Chad Nuss is co-founder and chief revenue officer of InsideOut. In 2015, Chad (along with his partner Christina) created this sales lab environment to test and measure sales velocity at every stage of the sales funnel. He brings over 17 years of senior management experience from previous projects he has worked on. He is a graduate of UC Santa Barbara and has been an entrepreneur ever since. This is the third company that he has founded. He currently lives in San Francisco, CA.

Interview:
-Alex: What does it mean to be an entrepreneur?
-Chad: Being able to think independently and being self reliant. Also, being able to take educated risks is key. Intuitively being able to see demand in the market and then validating it through testing.

-Alex: What do you think I should learn in an entrepreneurship course?
-Chad: Learning how to discover opportunities in the marketplace that you can then apply your own skills, or further develop skills if necessary, to service those opportunities and make a profit.

-Alex: What do you wish you had been taught in school before setting out on your own path as an entrepreneur?
-Chad: How a variety of  businesses first get started, and what needs to be done to acquire the first customer. aka - How to develop a minimal viable product.

I thought Chad's responses were very informative and gave me a good alternative viewpoint on the class/entrepreneurship. His response about learning how to discover opportunities in the marketplace really resonated with the last assignment that I completed - "the world's biggest problems." This was a starting point for recognizing problems, which leads to opportunity. I would also really like to learn about the initial stages of various business, as I think this really broadens one's horizon and allows them to see what it takes to get the ball rolling.

World's Biggest Problems

1. Climate Change - The gradual increase of temperatures worldwide. aka - "global warming". Human caused global warming occurs when certain gasses are release into the atmosphere which results in the "greenhouse effect." This is a natural process but is accelerated from humans polluting the environment, particularly CO2. A solution to this problem would be to reduce our carbon emissions, which could be by implementing regulations on factories, creating more electric cars, and other ways of creating energy other than burning fuel.

2. Famine - Worldwide about 1 in 9 people are hungry. Thousands of people die every day from hunger related causes, whether it be starvation (not eating anything for a certain period of time) or just eating enough to get by and their bodies get so weak that disease kills them. A solution to this problem is distribution of food from countries where it is more bountiful to those that are impoverished. Perhaps creating nutrition bars specifically with the intention of feeding these undeveloped, poverty level countries.

3. Water Crisis - The pollution of water is resulting in less and less accessible fresh water. 1 in 10 people worldwide lack access to safe water. 1 in 3 people lack access to a toilet. A solution to this would be creating/distributing personal filtration devices that would allow the impoverished to drink from the poor quality water they do have access to.

4. Poor/No Housing - Whether it be homeless people living off the streets, or people in third world countries whose only housing are shacks or cardboard boxes, millions of people have terrible living conditions worldwide. Providing shelter homes for these people is one solution. Perhaps they could trade whatever skills they have in return.

5. Running out of Oil/Energy - Petroleum is a non-renewable resource, and it will eventually run out at the global rate we are burning it. Creating other sources of energy/implementing them is necessary to continue powering this world. This would be wind, water, solar, etc.

6. Deforestation - We are cutting down forests at a rate faster than they are able to grow back. Trees provide us with oxygen which we need to breath. Some solutions to this problem would be to recycle/use other material to create things that we normally use trees for. Also planting more trees and designating national forests contributes to preventing this problem.

7. Species Extinction - Humans kills tons of other species for a variety of purposes: food, clothing, fun, collecting, etc. If we continue to do this certain species will eventually become extinct. A solution to this problem would be putting restrictions on endangered species as well as finding other sources to solve this issues - i.e eating vegetable instead of animals, creating clothing out of things other than animal fur.

8. Terrorism - Terrorism kills thousands of people world wide every year. Bombings, shootings, 9/11, etc. This is a very tough one to solve. One potential solution (which is highly controversial these days) would be implementing gun rights.

9. Economic Situation - The overall imbalance of economies worldwide. The fact that there are superpowers like the US and then tons of impoverished countries just doesn't seem right. Also the worldwide debt is off the charts. In US in particular we no longer produce what we need to sustain ourselves which is why we import way more than we export. This can be solves with politics as well as overall individual habits worldwide.

10. Disease - Deadly diseases such as AIDS, Influenza, Malaria, Cholera, and tons more are plaguing countries worldwide and killings millions of people. The solution to this problem would be to provide the necessary treatments and medicines to the victims. Many of the diseases do not have live saving treatments so the continuation of research is necessary to solve this worldwide problem.

My Entrepreneurship Story

    I have always been exposed to entrepreneurship, as it has been my dads main source of income for most of his life. During college he went to auctions to buy used cars and then flipped them for a profit. After college he started a bi-weekly newsletter in New York listing nearby foreclosures. He then went to wall street for one day but decided that it wasn't for him, and instead used his accounting degree and interest in finance to start his own finance business dealing with account receivables. It is very online based and flexible which allows him to work from home. This was cool as a kid because he could take our family on vacations a lot easier and was around to spend time with us frequently.

    I enrolled in ENT 3003 because it was one of my core business classes. I hope to get exposure to a variety of fundamentals necessary to be a successful entrepreneur.

Introduction

Hello, I am currently starting my first semester at UF as a transfer student studying business. I was born in Huntington, New York but have lived most of my life in Sarasota Florida. I have an older sister who is 22 and currently is head of marketing for a small start-up company. I played lacrosse in high school and college. I like all board sports and started wakeboarding when I was 6. I previously attended the University of Miami for two years studying finance and entrepreneurship, but decided to leave as I got sick of going to class and felt that I was learning nothing applicable.  I took a semester off and traveled the country in my car and ended up in Huntington Beach, CA (which is where I live currently). I am still ambivalent about getting a degree, but thought that an online program would give me a lot more freedom to pursue other interests. I have worked valet jobs, tutored, and interned with a finance corporation. At the moment I have no specific career aspirations, rather lifestyle aspirations. I really like traveling and getting exposure to different cultures and ways of life - I don't want to be locked down to a particular city for a long time.  However, I am contemplating pursuing pro wakeboarding, or starting a flexible online business. Or working for a start up. Or becoming a pilot. Or a stuntman. Or an investment banker. Or a vagabond. I really have no idea...

The Entrepreneur's Mantra

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