AndrewStartups is a marketing and growth consultant from San Francisco with nearly 12 years of experience and three successful exits. Now, he works for cool tech companies around the world that are looking to save money and time. As a seasoned digital nomad, Andrew has worked remotely in over 45 countries and is currently on a speaking tour, giving lectures in Nigeria, Thailand, England, Czech Republic and more! Read more of his story, here.
What are you working on right now?
I am finishing my first book How To Become a Digital Nomad, and I am launching my first ever online course for startups with Junior Marketers. I am also handling marketing for a client in Australia and a client in San Francisco.
What is your current desktop wallpaper? and why?
A photo of my laptop on the beach. I was working one day in Koh Kut Thailand and realized the scenery was incredible and had to snap a pic…I often forget how lucky I am to work all over the world, accept every invite from friends to visit that I want and to escape the rat race. This photo is a reminder.
Which book has shaped your life or changed the way you think the most?
Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari. People have a hard time being unbiased. They grow to use their upbringing, past experiences and their “niche” to make their decisions, and I’ve never had those problems as I grew up multi-faith and multi-ethnic whilst still being just a normal white kid in suburbia. This book slams and denounces every myth, every religion, every ideology that we waste our time on. It truly dives into the history behind all of us and all of our things. It puts things into perspective and teaches you that NOTHING, past biology, is fact. Think about that–every money, every language, everything we say and think is made up by other men and women. Biology is the one true fact. It opened my eyes quite a bit.
How do you start off your day — aka what’s your morning routine?
I wake up between 6:30-8:30 a.m. and do three hours of work/calls before I make breakfast. I work from home because I don’t like commuting or going anywhere before working. I want to work right when I wake up until I sleep. So by noon, I’ve put in four to five hours in of solid work; that’s more than most people in their entire day counting commutes and lunch breaks. I’ve found the long fast in the morning to be incredible for my productivity and I’m never starving; when my body tells me it’s time to eat, I make a simple breakfast with some green tea and get back to work for two to four more hours, depending on the workload and if I have errands to run that day.
Around 4:00-5:00ish. I hit the gym for 30-45 mins and then I’ll go enjoy my afternoon or evening, do some sightseeing, catch some live music, go shopping or to a meetup etc.
I’m always online answering Slack and e-mail as the messages come through. I’m rarely offline at all.
Whenever I get home, no matter how late, I’ll jump online for another hour before bed.
I don’t drink. I don’t watch TV. I don’t infinitely scroll social media. I barely watch Netflix. I’ve found that removing all un-monetized distractions from my life to be very helpful. I don’t do it unless there’s financial value or social value. I’m all for hanging with new friends, hiking, experiencing new things, but to get me to stop working–it has to be valuable.
What is one thing you do to get motivated?
I think never settling until I found exactly what I love to do is what enables me to work so hard. I have the highest energy level of anyone you’ve ever met. What once caused me a great deal of problems in middle/highschool is now channeled into what I’m passionate about and enables me to work harder than anyone and really never feel like I’m working at all. I love what I do, I love the people and problems I get to work with and thus I’m able to really feel excited about what I do and able to put the extra time and effort into it.
What made you smile today?
FaceTiming with my family and friends, a daily routine!
What is something you think everyone should try at least once in their life? Or Name one skill you think everyone should have or learn?
Everyone MUST travel internationally at least once in their lives! Please go somewhere random, meet someone from another land and take care of them when they’re in your hometown and then stay connected on social media. When you have the chance, go visit them. I have a million stories like this and they’re my favorite memories.
What is one skill or hobby you’ve been meaning to learn but haven’t had time for?
I want to learn how to play guitar. I can kind of do it on my own but I never actually have sat down and taken lessons and it’s so easy now on Youtube or with apps. I need to do it.
List 3 simple things in life that make you really happy:
- high-end soap (like homemade or Lush type)
- good green tea
- learning new languages
What is the best thing that you have done, just because you were told you can’t?
I climbed the great pyramid in Giza right past the sign that said no climbing!
What is your favourite coworking space and why?
OAKLAND IMPACT HUB because of the diversity of the founders and the social impact focus of the projects. The energy in there is more infectious than anywhere else in the world.
If you had the opportunity to spend a week or month in another country to be your office of the week/month, where would you go?
I work from dream locations constantly. This year alone I’ve worked from islands, beaches, cities etc. In the past year, I’ve worked from 11 countries.
I spent 2 weeks in Malta in 2016 and there was no coworking options. Now there’s COCOhub, so I want to go back and work from there.
Biggest item on your bucket list at the moment?
My bucketlist spot to visit is the Caribbean side of Nicaragua. I want to go there so badly but worried about the wifi situation. I want to be ahead of the digital nomad curve…I feel like that and the south of Brazil are good future spots.
As a Digital Nomad/Entrepreneur. If you were stranded on a deserted island, what three things would you have and why?
- Skyroam Wi-Fi router – The best global mobile internet on earth.
- Macbook – If i had to choose between laptop and phone I would choose Macbook because I can do everything I can do everything I can do on my phone and more.
- Airpods – I take 1-3 hours of calls every day for work. With Airpods in I’m able to multitask much more. I do dishes, clean my apartment, cook food, work out and do laundry while I’m on calls. It’s been an incredible life-changing time saver.
What was your first job? Has it shaped where you are today?
I worked with my father in his jewelry store and saw how happy he was being his own boss, doing what he loved (still 20 years later) 24/7 and his ability to jump out of bed in the morning, drive 30 minutes to work, put in long hours away from family…all in the name of love. Hard to have a better example.
Any advice for your previous boss?
Trust the experts you hire. CEO might mean Chief Everything Officer but you’re not an expert at everything.
What’s your favorite part about coworking?
The ethos of supporting each other. The connections you get, the help in solving your problems you get from your office mates.
What is your go to pump up song?
Anything from Suicide Boys, or old Three Six Mafia–nothing gets me more amped than their music.
Anything else you would like to add?
My best advice for people who are starting out at coworking spaces and want to become a digital nomad is to start offering services for free, get good at it, see where there’s value and then start to charge more and more as time goes on. Always focus on creating value for people and you’ll see it come back.
