20+ years building productivity apps/selling startups, AMA! 👋🏽
Marc Gingras
2 replies
Hey Product Hunt! Marc here—angel investor, entrepreneur, and co-founder of Bloks 🙂
We just launched, so I thought I’d host an AMA and give back to the Product Hunt community by sharing some humble wisdom from my 20+ year career.
My previous startup, the meeting scheduling tool Tungle.me, was acquired by BlackBerry in 2011, and my next one, the communication platform Foko, was bought by WorkForce Software in 2021.
I’ve seen it all (and have the scars to prove it), so ask me anything: fundraising advice, stories from my time at RIM, how I see AI impacting the productivity space—you name it!
I’ll be here all day, so ask me anything.
Check out our launch here: https://www.producthunt.com/posts/bloks
Replies
George Stamatis@george_stamatis
Hey Marc - Thanks for your time in giving back to this community.
What are some of the biggest challenges you have faced in your career so far?
What inspired you to co-found Bloks, and what are some of the key lessons you learned from your previous startup experiences that you applied to this venture?
How do you think the landscape of angel investing and entrepreneurship has changed over the course of your career, and what do you see as the most important skills or traits for success in these fields today?
Can you share a specific challenge or obstacle you faced during your career and how you overcame it?
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@george_stamatis Hey George - a lot of good questions.
1. What are the biggest challenges you have faced in your career so far?
I have come to realize that my biggest challenge is that I can only scale as much as I am willing to scale. Pushing myself to be uncomfortable is not easy. But ultimately, I tell myself that we will spend more time dead than we will alive.
2. What inspired you to co-found Bloks, and what are some of the key lessons you learned from your previous startup experiences that you applied to this venture?
One of my core skills has been the ability to cut through the noise and focus on what matters. This is served me well over the years. Bloks is an expression of this skill. I am finally working on a project that speaks to my core. How can I become more productive by focussing on my strengths and leave the more boring stuff the app.
From my previous startups - I have learned not to put too much emphasis on one specific moment to define success. Rather, success is a is built over time by putting one foot in front of the other consistently. Turning the flywheel, turn by turn as momentum picks up.
3. How do you think the landscape of angel investing and entrepreneurship has changed over the course of your career, and what do you see as the most important skills or traits for success in these fields today?
It is uncanny how cycles just repeat themselves. I have lived the dot com boom and bust, the 2008 financial crisis, the long growth period, and the covid ups and down. We entrepreneurs and investors often get greedy and think we walk on water during bull periods, and then think that is harder to get going during harder times. I find that starting something during harder times - is the best time to do it. You can find better team members, it forces you to be creative and flex your entrepreneurial muscles. Good companies and ideas will always find a path to revenue and capital.
To me, the most important trait of someone in tech today is the ability to think clearly. Not focus on the noise around, but really act on core beliefs.
Thanks for those great questions George.