Best Startup - California
Jenny Q Ta of HODL Assets, Inc..
Tell us about yourself?
Jenny Q. Ta is a veteran of Wall Street, self-made millionaire, and seasoned entrepreneur with three highly successful early ventures to her credit.
As founder and CEO of Titan Securities, a full-service broker-dealer and investment banking firm, Ms. Ta built a company that was profitable enough to be acquired in 2005.
Prior to that venture, Jenny had filled the role of founder, CEO, and driving force behind Vantage Investments, another full-service broker-dealer and investment banking firm that she started while still in her twenties and quickly grew to a-third-of-a-billion dollars in assets.
What do you think is the single biggest misconception people have when it comes to startups?
Most startup founders believe building a unicorn status company is a walk in the park until it isn’t. Startups not only take passion with discipline, but to possess an in-depth knowledge and skill.
What lessons has being an entrepreneur taught you?
Each founder has their own journey, but most must have the known universal formula for success, which includes work hard, stay committed, perfect your craft, and take advantage of opportunities. In sort, founders need to hustle and grind.
If you could go back in time to when you first started your business, what piece of advice would you give yourself?
Startup founders tend to bootstrap everything including legal fees or sometimes disregard the importance of have an attorney drafting legal agreements.
Don’t! You’ll be more mistakes in the long run and it’ll cost the company more money to fix it later. Use an attorney from the very beginning.
A lot of entrepreneurs find it difficult to balance their work and personal lives. How have you found that?
In fact that is true. Being a startup founder resembles that of a chart of the stock market market.
It goes up and it goes down. There will be weeks when you can get to sleep 6-7 hours and there will be weeks when 3-4 hours of sleep would be too much.
Founders need to balance their work life and personal lives. It would be best to prep your relationships ahead of time that once the startup is founded, there wouldn’t be much personal times. It’s a give and a take to earn success.
Give us a bit of an insight into the influences behind the company?
First-Ever Exclusive 10K 1:1 ‘Vitalik The Goat’ NFT/IRL Toys Collection.
The NFT project will include an assortment of 10,000 unique NFTs (non-fungible tokens), each represented by a one-of-a-kind IRL Customized Bobblehead toy to look like each NFT sold.
What do you think is your magic sauce? What sets you apart from the competitors?
Fun with a twist of differentiates from the rest. Each NFT in the 10K collection will be paired with a customized IRL (in real life) bobblehead toy that’s designed to look like that individual NFT.
Every NFT in the collection is unique — no two are identical — and therefore no two bobbleheads will be identical either.
How have you found sales so far? Do you have any lessons you could pass on to other founders in the same market as you just starting out?
Just launched a few days and already made five figure sales. My lessons for other founders is it isn’t in the ideas that’s important, it’s all about the execution. Ideas without executions are simply worthless.
What do you consider are the main strengths of operating your business in California over other states in the US?
When it comes to technology companies, California is one of the best states since a lot of talents are here.
California is the fifth largest economy in the world, therefore if startup founders are looking to strive for the best it’s California!
What (if any) are the weaknesses of operating your business within California?
The cost of living is extremely high and talents are high as well. But, it’s a give an a take because the hustling and grinding in California among the startup world isn’t comparable elsewhere.
We are currently suffering through a cost of living crisis. With California already being one of the most expensive states to live in, how has this impacted your business?
It’s definitely taking a toll to a lot of businesses including ours, but that’s where great founders are separated by normal ones.
Great founders learn where to cut costs and send their employees to WFH and cutting office expenses.
You just have to manage to cut costs where you’re able to keep things afloat.
It is no secret that California is the birthplace of innovation. But that also makes it incredibly competitive. How have you found the competitive environment of California?
Being a part of the startup world you would need to be extremely competitive, therefore, California is definitely the best environment.
If you can’t survive in California with your startup, you wouldn’t be able to last anywhere else.
Have you considered moving your company to another state? If so, which state and why?
Not really. I’ve founded a number of startups in California and I wouldn’t change that for anything. The next state, maybe Las Vegas, Nevada.
Where do you see your business in the next 5 years?
At least unicorn status.
And finally, if people want to get involved and learn more about your business, how should they do that?
Connect with me via Twitter or our emails through our website.
Follow HODL Assets, Inc. on Twitter or Linkedin.
