Alex Emmanuel is a UK-born, Canadian Expat living in New York City who went to work his way up at several start-ups (Skillshare, Grailed, etc.) before going all in with some friends to co-found a gaming app called 1v1me (@1v1meapp) that successfully raised a Series A while also being profitable.
He joins Ara on this week’s episode of #TheTamilCreator to discuss wanting to have gone to culinary school, how engineering was a tool that allowed him to pursue his passion of creating technology, prioritizing education over compensation early on in his career, growing his business 77% MoM (Month over Month) over the first 13 months of operations ($14,000 in sales for the first month to over $3 million in a recent month), why he opted to raise money vs bootstrapping, and so much more.
Follow Alex:
– LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-emmanuel/)
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Timestamps
00:19 – Ara introduces this week’s guest, Alexander Emmanuel
01:28 – Alex speaks on growing up in Ottawa; moving to bigger cities like NY
02:37 – The impact of his parents working for Nortel/in the tech scene
03:48 – Growing up in a tight-knit family; cousins are like siblings
04:19 – Getting laid off and moving to New York within a span of two weeks
06:14 – How the first iPhone sparked Alex’s passion for engineering
09:14 – Carleton having an underrated engineering school
10:50 – Could he have achieved the same success in Toronto that he’s seen in NY?
13:44 – Staying at multiple companies for long periods before starting his own venture
16:30 – The moment he decided to start his own company
23:37 – How his company’s staking model works
24:11 – Biggest factors that have contributed to his company’s success
27:54 – The game titles he works with (Madden, NBA 2K, Call of Duty)
29:16 – Not needing licensing due to fair use laws
30:51 – Why Alex opts for raising money over bootstrapping
34:09 – His learning habits operating a 24/7 business; doing
36:11 – How he handles having to be switched on all the time; being intentional
38:39 – Learning lessons during the course of his career; why timing is everything
41:36 – The Tamil community in New York; and food spots
43:59 – Advice he would give his 16-year-old self; from lazy to disciplined
45:09 – The personal legacy he wants to be remembered for by friends and family
46:03 – Creator Confessions
52:19 – The Wrap Up
Intro Music
Produced And Mixed By:
– The Tamil Creator
– Yanchan
Written By:
– Aravinthan Ehamparam
– Yanchan Rajmohan
