Pivotal Moment
I have both good and bad news from October.
Good news?
Season 1 come to a successful close! 10 episodes in two months! 🥳
Bad news?
I’ve been at it all wrong. 🫤
And it's because I'm so darn (up in my face) close up to this project.
“Action creates information!” my buddy Thanh Le of Coin98 likes to say this. And he's absolutely correct.
I've been going about Leverage Asia all wrong because this is my first time doing a podcast. It's my first time flirting with this type of “project”.
Dang it! It shouldn't even be called a project!
You know who runs projects? Scientists and people who aren't running a business!
BUT I’m glad I moved and acted. Now I have more data and information. Now I KNOW I am doing it wrong.
Podcasting isn’t the business. Media isn't my business. But I was so caught up in the learning and ‘just doing’ that I lost sight of my main objective.
Leverage Asia is first and foremost a catalyst for a movement—business expansion movement between Asia and America. The podcast should have been orbiting around this central theme.
But I have been aimlessly just interviewing, interviewing, and interviewing. 😔
In November, I'll put everything on a short pause to quickly pivot and construct the Leverage Asia platform around this new found clarify.
My podcast and any media play I do should bolster my business; NOT distract from it!
Thank you for staying tuned—for those who are tracking Leverage Asia. If you LOVE working with Asia and America, great and exciting things are coming your way! 🤗
My goal for November is for me to bring this newfound clarity to you and the world, and to get more people to join me in catalyzing more business between Asia and America!
September was a Failure
September was a total and utter disaster. I didn’t hit any of my goals.😥
Three Reasons for the Failure (and What To Do Moving Forward)
Failure to Outsource
The plan was to outsource my editing in September. However, this didn’t happen. I couldn’t find an editor that I liked. This translated to hours and hours of me spending time editing. Really poor use of my time.
In October, one of my top priorities is to either find an editor OR figure out a way to streamline the editing process (using AI or some tech tools).
Unclear Funnel
My podcast features video and audio interviews with incredible guests, and my strategy has been to share short, engaging snippets (teasers) through LinkedIn posts. With over 10,000 LinkedIn followers, my goal was simple: drive traffic to LeverageAsia.com and convert that engagement into podcast subscribers.
But it didn’t turn out that way.
While my LinkedIn posts are getting tons of engagement, the issue is clear: people are staying on LinkedIn, and very few are actually clicking through to the website or subscribing to the podcast.
I need to rethink my funnel and conversion strategy. LinkedIn is still a valuable platform, but something has to change. What I’ve been doing isn’t working.
One potential issue is that Leverage Asia, as it’s currently positioned, may not be the most compelling topic for my LinkedIn audience. If that’s the case, I have two options:
Switch the entry platform to something like Instagram or TikTok.
Pivot to a more focused and compelling angle for Leverage Asia.
This doesn’t mean abandoning the theme, but perhaps I need to narrow or sharpen my focus to better resonate with my audience.
Juggling Too Much
September was a whirlwind. I was jam-packed with trips to Seoul, Korea for Korea Blockchain Week and BTCON Seoul 2024. I also made a business visit to Jakarta, Indonesia. Half the month, I was on the move.
When I wasn’t at conferences, meetings, or speaking events, I was managing my Ethos Fund responsibilities, including the launch of our 2024-25 New Venture Challenge (NVC). Balancing it all is no easy feat.
Looking back, I realize I need to adjust my goals to align better with my schedule. Given how much travel I had planned, I shouldn’t have been so ambitious. I should have been more realistic about what I could achieve.
October Goals
Here are my goals for October:
6 new interviews for the podcast
60 new mailing list subscribers (ALL active members!)
2 total interviews for the case studies
In September, I wrote one case study that performed reasonably well. 73.17% of the people who received it in their inbox actually read it. Now, I’m looking to build on that success.
For October, I’m planning to experiment more with longer-form written content to see how my target audience responds. Video may or may not be the answer. 🤔 Interestingly, my personal newsletter site, which has zero videos, gets more hits than LeverageAsia.com.
It’s time to dive deeper and figure out what truly resonates to drive stronger engagement. Gotta crack this code!
I’m determined to hit my goals this month!
Wish me luck!
I 🫶 you mucho.
Leverage Asia’s 1 Month Anniversary!
I'm sharing these monthly updates to track my journey in launching Leverage Asia — a platform focused on not only improving business practices and investment activities between Asia and America, but also fostering bold leadership.
This is my September 1st update. You can catch my August update here.
August Results
For August 2024, here are the goals I set at the beginning of the month compared to what actually transpired:
Overall, I'm happy with the results. However, I wish I had been more familiar with beehiiv and knew more about the intricacies of email delivery — turns out, it's not just about writing and clicking send!
I released a total of six episodes in August.
Not all episodes received the same level of attention. There were two sharp spikes (see above).
Spike #1
The initial spike on August 2nd resulted from the buzz I created around the launch, which I announced exclusively on LinkedIn. While I could have used other platforms, I focused on LinkedIn because:
It’s a professional platform;
My LinkedIn engagement is strong and growing; and
Understanding both the activities and quirks of LinkedIn users was important for future iterations
Spike #2
The second spike on August 21st resulted from the release of my interview with Chang Kim (CK). Once again, I announced it solely on LinkedIn, where CK’s engagement is also strong and growing. However, several other factors might have contributed to this spike:
It was the first long-form content (1 hour) released on Leverage Asia (all previous content was approximately 20 minutes);
The LinkedIn title and post were carefully crafted to maximize attention, unlike previous episodes, which were shared more organically and off the cuff.
CK is somewhat of a celebrity in the startup world.
More experimenting is necessary to identify consistent patterns for achieving strong, recurring spikes in performance!
Subscribers: 59 (but 40 active)
Although a total of 59 people subscribed to Leverage Asia’s mailing list in August, only 40 are officially considered active members.
I didn’t realize that factors like sender reputation and double-opt-in are crucial for ensuring emails are safely delivered to subscribers’ inboxes. So, what does it mean when only 40 out of 59 subscribers are active members? And what about the remaining 19? It likely means that my emails are ending up in their spam folders. That’s disappointing.☹️
Although I didn’t hit my goal, I’m not too bent out of shape about the results. I’m actually happy because I did get 59 people to subscribe, which was essentially my goal of 60.
For September, I’ll need to tweak my goals to measure not just how many people subscribe, but more importantly, how many remain active members!
Interviews: 12
I exceeded my goal of 10! I’m realizing that meeting and interviewing people isn’t that difficult for me — in fact, I really enjoy it. What slows me down, however, is the video editing process.
In September, I plan to outsource my editing and explore the use of video editing AI. If I can figure this out, I believe I can publish my content MUCHOS faster.
Instagram and Facebook
For September, I’ll start experimenting with other platforms while continuing to focus on LinkedIn. I suspect that Instagram and Facebook, in particular, will help me gain better traction, especially if I can break my long form content down to short 20- to 60-second clips.
Podcasting is no longer just about audio; it’s also about video.
September Goals
Here are my goals for September:
12 new interviews for the podcast
60 new mailing list subscribers (ALL active members!)
4 total interviews for the case studies
In addition to continuing with podcasts, I’ll be debuting case studies in September.
Case studies (written content) provide in-depth, actionable insights, while podcasts (audio and video content) offer engaging, narrative-driven inspiration and motivation for doing business and investing between Asia and America.
If the goal of Leverage Asia’s podcast is to entertain you and engage you in high-level learning, the goal of the case studies is to go deeper, providing you with additional insights and practical tools to enhance business practices and investment decisions between Asia and America.
Wish me luck!
I 🫶 you mucho.
The Launch — August 2024
Hi, I'm David. I created this website, Leverage Asia. I am starting this blog to write about my progress.
I'm going to publish a post each month, where I'll set goals for the month, and see if I reached my goals for the previous month. You can find my August goals at the bottom of this post.
Subscribe to Leverage Asia and I'll send you an email with the next blog post! Also, shoot me an email if you want to connect!
What is Leverage Asia?
Leverage Asia interviews trailblazers who have leveraged the interconnected opportunities between Asia and America to scale their businesses and enrich their lives.
Today, it's easier than ever to expand your business and/or life into Asia. With so many people who have already done it, I want to show the world how easy and rewarding it is to leverage Asia.
I aim for these interviews to be not only inspiring but also rich in detailed, actionable advice and insights on expanding your business and life. There's a lot of superficial, motivational content online that doesn’t offer practical help.
I interview businesses of all sizes, from small side projects that earn a few extra dollars a month to large companies driving significant revenue.
My Higher Ground Goals
I aspire to achieve the freedom to work from anywhere in the world. While I currently have a full-time job (which I love) as a VC in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, I’m committed to leveling-up by exploring new ideas, starting innovative projects, and seizing the right opportunities as they arise.
For Leverage Asia, my goals are:
Deliver High-Quality Interviews. Provide insightful and inspiring conversations with trailblazers who have successfully navigated the dynamic landscapes of Asia and America.
Build a Thriving Community. Foster a network of like-minded individuals who share the Leverage Asia mindset, dedicated to growth, collaboration, and leveraging cross-continental opportunities.
Learn and Network. Continuously learn from other entrepreneurs and industry leaders, expanding our collective knowledge and creating valuable connections.
Generate Revenue. Ensure Leverage Asia is a sustainable platform that not only inspires but also provides practical value, leading to financial success.
By focusing on these goals, I aim to make Leverage Asia a hub of knowledge, inspiration, and opportunity for innovators looking to expand their horizons and achieve their business aspirations.
So Why Build Leverage Asia?
I’m aiming for higher ground.
Both for myself and for those around me.
As business leaders, we are either growing or dying.
In the bigger scheme and scope, all living things are either growing or dying.
Think of plants.
If it's not growing, then it's dying, no?
If it's not dying, then it's growing, yes?
In the context of business, while "dying" doesn't literally mean "death," it does mean weakening and lessening of power, vitality, and hope.
Drawing inspiration from Harvard Business Review and Starter Story , I began Leverage Asia, a business interview platform. While Harvard Business Review offers analysis on wide ranging subjects and Starter Story covers a broad spectrum of entrepreneurship, Leverage Asia distinguishes itself by hyper-focusing on business + life opportunities between Asia and America. From consumer goods and social media influencers to technology and beyond, I aim to showcase the strategies and stories of trailblazers leveraging the interconnected markets of Asia and America.
August Goals
I want to set my monthly goals and share them publicly, inviting you to help keep me accountable:
10 total interviews
60 total mailing list subscribers
These goals might not seem like much! But it’s a start!
I'll let you know at the end of the month how it all goes.
Thank you for tuning in. I 🫶 you mucho.
Yours truly,
David