WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.111 --> 00:00:02.112 I think my philosophy is always just kind of have fun with life. 2 00:00:02.132 --> 00:00:06.995 You know, I think if you're going to choose to like go entrepreneur out, I think you should work on something that you're passionate about. 3 00:00:07.295 --> 00:00:08.336 Otherwise it's going to suck. 4 00:00:08.396 --> 00:00:12.358 When you work on something that you actually want to work on that you're passionate about, it's so rewarding. 5 00:00:12.438 --> 00:00:13.538 It's the best feeling in the world. 6 00:00:16.820 --> 00:00:22.823 I kind of just got this idea when I was traveling and I think I just thought it'd be really fun to go and try to build this, even if it didn't work out. 7 00:00:22.843 --> 00:00:24.224 Like I think it would be a lot of fun. 8 00:00:24.564 --> 00:00:28.947 I knew that the pain of the what if would haunt me more than failing. 9 00:00:32.350 --> 00:00:36.295 Hey, I'm Jay and I make over 100K a month as a solopreneur. 10 00:00:36.436 --> 00:00:40.581 I bootstrap this business to 140K MRR, 1.8 million users. 11 00:00:40.641 --> 00:00:45.568 And people often ask me about how I built my app while traveling the world and as a solopounder. 12 00:00:45.708 --> 00:00:49.113 So today I'm excited to tell you about how I work. 13 00:00:56.754 --> 00:00:58.955 You know, pretty standard, I wake up, I always check my phone. 14 00:00:58.975 --> 00:01:02.438 My WhatsApp is always crazy with my creators and stuff. 15 00:01:02.478 --> 00:01:12.024 I know some people say like, you're not supposed to check your phone when you wake up, but I kind of just have to, you know, it's just like, I got to go make sure nothing broke, make sure nothing crazy is going on. 16 00:01:12.064 --> 00:01:15.967 And yeah, then I kind of just, you know, get out of bed, you know, just basic morning stuff. 17 00:01:16.007 --> 00:01:16.327 Like I should. 18 00:01:16.447 --> 00:01:19.130 I shave, I shower, make myself breakfast sometimes. 19 00:01:19.231 --> 00:01:31.766 But usually I try to get out the door by like at least, like at the very latest 11, if I had a bad night of sleep, if I slept well, then hopefully like 9 a.m. Yeah, then I kind of just get to the office wherever I'm working that day, whether it's a cafe, WeWork, so yeah. 20 00:01:39.417 --> 00:01:44.659 So Nomad Table is basically a meetup app for solo travelers, expats and nomads. 21 00:01:44.759 --> 00:01:49.800 Kind of the problem is when you're traveling alone, it can be hard to find, you know, companionship and friends and stuff. 22 00:01:49.940 --> 00:01:59.784 But yeah, launched about a year and three months ago, doing about 140k a month, 1.8 million users and estimated like over a hundred K meetups that have happened through the app. 23 00:01:59.904 --> 00:02:03.905 When I first got the idea and started like working on it, I was still at Amazon as a software engineer. 24 00:02:04.045 --> 00:02:06.586 I was never kind of like the entrepreneurial type, to be honest. 25 00:02:06.626 --> 00:02:09.287 Like I wasn't really like obsessed with making my own business. 26 00:02:09.648 --> 00:02:14.550 I kind of just got this idea when I was traveling and I think I just thought it'd be really fun to go and try to build this. 27 00:02:14.710 --> 00:02:19.152 I knew that the pain of like the what if would haunt me more than like failing. 28 00:02:19.532 --> 00:02:22.395 And also the thing is like, I already had gotten the job in big tech. 29 00:02:22.415 --> 00:02:23.716 Like I knew that I could do it again. 30 00:02:23.736 --> 00:02:26.799 I just kind of convinced myself that it wasn't really that risky. 31 00:02:26.879 --> 00:02:34.025 It seems very risky on the outside, but on the inside, it felt more risky to me to not try because then I would be like full of regret. 32 00:02:34.065 --> 00:02:37.448 And like that felt like a bigger risk to me than just doing it and failing. 33 00:02:37.508 --> 00:02:40.951 So at that point I was like, okay, like logically I just have to go and do this. 34 00:02:41.011 --> 00:02:42.533 You know, it's like the right choice right now. 35 00:02:43.350 --> 00:02:45.151 Hey Gus here, producer on Starter Story. 36 00:02:45.191 --> 00:02:50.635 Real quick, I hope you're enjoying Jay's story and getting to go behind the scenes on his mobile app and how he works. 37 00:02:50.835 --> 00:02:52.576 I think he's building in a really smart space. 38 00:02:52.817 --> 00:02:55.999 iOS apps and mobile apps are really, really hot right now in 2026. 39 00:02:56.259 --> 00:03:04.525 If you're looking for a mobile app idea, well, at the link in the description, we have a free database of over 50 iOS app ideas, most of them making over $10,000 a month. 40 00:03:04.605 --> 00:03:09.188 You can get all the data you need and all the inspiration you need to validate your idea and start building. 41 00:03:09.348 --> 00:03:11.610 Once again, you can get that for free at the link in the description. 42 00:03:12.011 --> 00:03:13.492 Alright, let's get back to J-Story. 43 00:03:19.972 --> 00:03:23.074 I always like do some kind of commute to my workspace. 44 00:03:23.114 --> 00:03:25.075 I don't like just, you know, starting the day at home. 45 00:03:25.216 --> 00:03:30.699 I think getting some like steps in or getting a bike ride in or something like is always just good to kind of just get the day started right. 46 00:03:30.719 --> 00:03:33.141 And then, yeah, I get to the office, just open my laptop. 47 00:03:33.221 --> 00:03:37.284 And based off what I saw in the morning, when I checked my phone, you know, just kind of get on those things. 48 00:03:37.324 --> 00:03:41.286 So if there's some kind of time sensitive stuff to do, I'll go and, you know, address that. 49 00:03:41.346 --> 00:03:44.348 First, like two hours, I'm pretty locked in, just, you know, grinding on whatever that is. 50 00:03:44.909 --> 00:03:46.910 And then I really like my breaks in my day. 51 00:03:46.930 --> 00:03:49.852 I think breaks are really important to kind of just recenter yourself and, you know, 52 00:03:49.992 --> 00:03:53.794 At least for me, my hours have diminishing returns if I don't take breaks. 53 00:03:53.854 --> 00:03:56.976 So taking breaks help me kind of like, you know, recenter myself. 54 00:03:57.296 --> 00:04:00.058 And when I come back to work, I'm like back focused 100%. 55 00:04:00.098 --> 00:04:02.059 And I've kind of changed my scenery a lot, too. 56 00:04:02.519 --> 00:04:06.862 I think I get like after three, four hours of being in one place, like I need to just move. 57 00:04:06.942 --> 00:04:10.043 So sometimes I'll, you know, go back home and work after that. 58 00:04:10.063 --> 00:04:12.845 Sometimes I'll go to the gym and then, you know, find a cafe to work from. 59 00:04:12.985 --> 00:04:16.027 But yeah, I don't like staying in the same place for like more than four hours. 60 00:04:22.827 --> 00:04:26.808 It's important for me to like always put myself back in the shoes of my audience. 61 00:04:27.148 --> 00:04:29.048 I've seen lots of products that start out good. 62 00:04:29.108 --> 00:04:35.829 And then as they mature, they kind of like lose track of the ball and distance themselves from the original kind of good product that they used to be. 63 00:04:35.909 --> 00:04:37.070 So I never want to do that. 64 00:04:37.190 --> 00:04:42.591 I always want to kind of like stay grounded and make sure that I'm still solving the same problem that I set out to solve. 65 00:04:42.751 --> 00:04:44.291 I think traveling helps a lot for that. 66 00:04:44.311 --> 00:04:45.891 Cause obviously my app targets travelers. 67 00:04:46.231 --> 00:04:49.452 Um, for example, I was just in Bangkok for, for four months, um, 68 00:04:49.752 --> 00:04:51.494 And that's a really big hotspot for my app. 69 00:04:51.514 --> 00:04:53.998 There's lots of nomads, lots of expats, there are lots of travelers there. 70 00:04:54.118 --> 00:04:59.064 I got so many future ideas by just being in Bangkok and going to meetups in my own app and talking to people. 71 00:04:59.144 --> 00:05:07.936 And I got so many ideas for new things to add and how to serve other sub-segments of my audience that I wouldn't have gotten if I wasn't just there on the ground. 72 00:05:17.416 --> 00:05:20.598 I mean, I think traveling in general will just like broaden your horizons a lot. 73 00:05:20.638 --> 00:05:27.842 I feel like just putting yourself in unfamiliar situations just gives me energy at least, it makes me think of new ideas and maybe it might not be the same for everyone else. 74 00:05:27.882 --> 00:05:33.486 Cause I know for someone else, maybe like it's annoying to always change, setting is not having your monitor, you're like shut up, whatever. 75 00:05:33.626 --> 00:05:44.873 But I think for me, the benefits I get from the inspiration from new places, like definitely outweighs the cost of, you know, not having my perfect monitor and not having like the right wifi, the right lighting, the right desk, the right chair. 76 00:05:50.348 --> 00:05:52.789 Yeah, so after work, I mean, I love working out. 77 00:05:52.809 --> 00:05:54.330 At this point, it's like, I need to. 78 00:05:54.490 --> 00:05:59.733 It's just a must after working for a long time, just move my body and get active. 79 00:05:59.974 --> 00:06:05.537 Usually it's like a run or playing paddle or playing tennis or, you know, getting the gym and doing some lifting. 80 00:06:05.757 --> 00:06:07.678 After that, then usually get home. 81 00:06:07.918 --> 00:06:13.440 make like a smoothie, make dinner, and then my kind of evening routine after that usually, yeah, it depends on the day. 82 00:06:13.460 --> 00:06:16.320 I mean, if there's something going on, like my friends, I'll hang up with my friends. 83 00:06:16.340 --> 00:06:17.821 I think that's a pretty big part of my life. 84 00:06:17.861 --> 00:06:23.722 So I try to always make time in my day to see some friends, whether it's co-working with them or hanging out, grabbing some dinner. 85 00:06:23.882 --> 00:06:28.984 Then last like a couple hours before bed, usually I just make some tea and I'll do some light work. 86 00:06:29.044 --> 00:06:36.906 I'll get my laptop on the couch, just kind of chill and do some relatively chill work and then just pop in bed, nothing too crazy. 87 00:06:46.070 --> 00:06:48.691 I think you should pretty much only work on like what you care about. 88 00:06:48.891 --> 00:06:54.374 If you're going to choose to like go like the entrepreneur route, I think you should work on something that you're passionate about and that you really care about. 89 00:06:54.594 --> 00:06:55.795 Otherwise, like it's going to suck. 90 00:06:55.815 --> 00:07:04.719 Like if you're putting all your life's effort into like something that you don't enjoy, like just to make money or like just to get status or whatever, it's just like, you're not going to enjoy that. 91 00:07:04.739 --> 00:07:05.320 It's going to suck. 92 00:07:05.500 --> 00:07:09.482 When you work on something that you actually want to work on that you're passionate about, it's so rewarding. 93 00:07:09.522 --> 00:07:11.103 Like it's, I can't even put it into words. 94 00:07:11.143 --> 00:07:13.644 I can't, it's like, it's a priceless, like it's the best film in the world. 95 00:07:14.024 --> 00:07:18.909 Even if I could get just two people to meet because of my app, I would be so fulfilled. 96 00:07:19.409 --> 00:07:21.371 And I also think it gives you like an unfair advantage. 97 00:07:21.411 --> 00:07:26.175 I think when you actually have that passion, that drive for an idea that you're working on, you know, you can be anybody. 98 00:07:26.456 --> 00:07:27.497 No one can compete with that. 99 00:07:27.537 --> 00:07:31.080 Like if you're just having fun every day with work, it's very, very hard to compete with you. 100 00:07:31.280 --> 00:07:37.326 When you do that, not only is it like more fun and enjoyable, but like I think you're a lot more likely to actually succeed. 101 00:07:45.990 --> 00:07:48.332 I think my philosophy is always just kind of have fun with life, you know. 102 00:07:48.372 --> 00:07:49.433 I think life is short. 103 00:07:49.453 --> 00:07:50.874 Don't take things too seriously. 104 00:07:51.114 --> 00:07:56.158 Have fun, go spend time with your loved ones, go hang out with your friends, like go do what makes you happy. 105 00:07:56.398 --> 00:07:58.380 I don't think anything's that serious at the end of the day. 106 00:07:58.400 --> 00:08:03.043 I think you just think the picture, you know, only got one life to live and you know, tomorrow's not guaranteed. 107 00:08:03.064 --> 00:08:04.985 So I think it's the golden age to just try stuff out now. 108 00:08:05.005 --> 00:08:08.188 Like, you know, you can build software so fast and just go out there and try. 109 00:08:08.208 --> 00:08:10.069 You can even do stuff at the same time as your work. 110 00:08:10.209 --> 00:08:14.573 Think about it and think if you're gonna like regret not doing something in the future, 111 00:08:15.173 --> 00:08:16.394 versus just trying it out. 112 00:08:16.614 --> 00:08:23.539 So yeah, I would just say, go out there and have fun and enjoy your life and don't take things too seriously. 113 00:08:31.004 --> 00:08:32.705 I wanna make it to the podcast. 114 00:08:33.225 --> 00:08:35.547 Please include me as his amazing roommates. 115 00:08:35.867 --> 00:08:38.389 My dream is to be in a podcast.