Ep 015: Building A Team That Works w/ Luke Sophinos

Startup Life Hacks | Business and Life Advice | Founders | Entrepreneurship

Luke is a student entrepreneur from San Diego State University. He has won numerous awards such as winning 1st place in SDSU’s Lean Model Competition and awarded the top student entrepreneur at San Diego State University during the Spring of 2015. His software company, Coursekey, aims to improve the lack of interaction in classes and is currently being used by more than 5000 students in Southern California.

STRATEGIES USED TO FUND BUSINESS

We went out and recruited top tier engineering talent at San Diego State. I was able to lock in a couple engineers and bought into the vision and have been with us since. That allowed us to put out software at a very low cost. We got to our alpha version last Spring for around $1200. From that, after proving what we had, we funded ourselves completely off business plan competitions.

FOUNDERS

I started a totally different concept with another individual, and that ended up not working out. While that process was taking place, we were in recruiting mode and we brought on some really talented kids that I would consider to be co-founders today because we wouldn’t be where we are without them.

DESCRIBE A MOMENT WHEN YOU FELT LIKE GIVING UP

Early on was the most challenging. We had a totally different concept and we stumbled upon someone who was doing the exact same thing. We almost threw in the towel, but fortunately we ended up recruiting and pivoting and recruited a straight hustler, Ryan Vanshur. He really propelled us and helped us all see the value in the idea and got us out there grinding and putting in the work that was required.

HUGE SUCCESS

Being able to recruit the team that we had was a huge success. On top of that, one of our favorite memories was when we went down to Brigham Young University for the International Business Plan Competition. There were over 3800 student teams there and we finished in the top 11.

SUPERPOWER

My entrepreneurial superpower is being a generalist. I think a lot of entrepreneurs really try and focus in on one talent, which is very valuable, but being able to dive into every aspect of the business (finance, accounting, etc.) is extremely important for a founder.

KRYPTONITE

I’m a little bit of a pleaser. I try and make everyone happy and sometimes that’s not how it should be.

IF YOU CAN HAVE ANY SUPERPOWER…

I think being able to tell when people aren’t being honest with you would be my superpower.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE OR APP

Sunrise Calendars

RECOMMENDED BOOKS

How to Win Friends & Influence People

ADVICE TO HACKER NATION

The idea is less than 1% of the journey and the evolution of the company. Don’t hang so much on the idea. If you can create something that is valuable and you work hard towards it, and you build people that are better than you around you, you’re going to be successful.

FOLLOW

thecoursekey.com

Thoughts of a 21-year old tech founder

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