Interview with Jeremy Kong

Hey Jeremy, thanks for letting me interview you today.

Pleasure to meet you!

Would you please tell me a little about yourself and how you relate yourself to entrepreneurship?

I am a currently a student in highschool. Entrepreneurship has interested me ever since I started a game server online. I fell in love with the practice and ever since have strived to continue to learn and grow as an entrepreneur.

Do you think you want to be a business entrepreneur? What about that appeals to you, Jeremy?

I love watching my hard work and effort create results. I treat every buisness I own as a baby that requires a lot of time to grow. I love working my own hours and solving problems for everyone else. I am very creative and always love to learn so entrepreneurship really appeals to me.

What do you want to eventually do as an entrepreneur? i.e. your niche?

I haven't really settled on a particular niche for now. Because I am still young, I prefer to dip my toes into as many things as possible and learn as much as I can. I am constantly looking for new opportunities and I'm always thinking of the next big thing. The dream for me as an entrepreneur is when I have genuinly improved the world and can live comfortably. I would love to be able to attend all of my children's extracurricular events and spoil my wife once in a while.

As long as I learn and do something new everyday I'll be satisfied waking up every morning.

Growing up in Canada, what are some advantages (or disadvantages) you've had for developing your current mindset for success?

As a second generation immigrant to Canada I have watched my parents work 9-5 jobs my whole life. My mother actually has to work from 5-3 just to pick my younger sister up from school. They make a decent living but they never come home happy from work. I don't want to be like them when I'm older. I would love to do something fullfilling with my life and always learn and discover new things. They're also very conservative and honestly don't really support me with my current ventures. I'm just waiting for my big break to prove them wrong. Where I'm from there is also a large variety of cultures, sometimes it's a disadvantage having a lot of different point of views to satisify. The shipping prices are also ridiculous here. Haha

Thanks for the response. I definitely agree that general shipping prices in Canada are outrageous.

do you have a mentor, coach or adviser? Or do you mostly get inspired yourself?

I had a mentor before but I was very egotistical and wanted to do things my way. I have definetly grown a lot from when I first started. Currently, I am actually looking for a mentor. Some things like some shipping customs or maybe the best places to get some designs done or stuff like that would be much easier with a adviser. Usually for motivation though, I am quite self motivated. I've always been able to push myself as a person no matter what I'm doing. I think when you have a purpose of "why" you're doing something it makes the inspiration part come much easier. I understand that many people never find that, it frustrates me sometimes talking to my classmates where they go home at 3 from school and just play video games. My "why" is watching my parents come home everyday grumpy and unhappy with their jobs.

From your responses so far, it seems that financial freedom is very important for you personally. Do you feel in a way that you would like to eventually show your parents entrepreneurship is a viable road to such success?

I know that it won't come easy, and maybe it'll never come to me. However proving my parents wrong and reaching financial freedom is something that drives me everyday. Entrepreneurship may lead me to success but ultimately it's the road where I'd definetly be the happiest. In entrepreneurship you really only have to get a lucky break once. I know if I keep trying then the lucky break definetly will come. Mark Cuban started his entrepreneurial path at the age of 16 after he sold a single stamp. I very much believe that I can achieve success. I just have to keep pushing and never give up. It's actually quite hard sometimes to keep the final goal in mind personally. I've suffered from startup burnout multiple times where I wouldn't get enough sleep or I'd sacrifice time in the gym or with my friends to work on a project. Some people think I'm crazy. Maybe I am a little.

Is there anything else you would like to say about entrepreneurship in general or your future goals?

I wake up everyday happy now. I know that the things that I am learning will lead to my eventual success. I'm doing things that people are often too scared to do. I have the advantage because I'm young. Many people never even think of starting their own buisness for their entire lifetime. My goal for now is to keep learning and developing new skills for the future. I either win or I learn, that is my mindset. Long term goal? I'll see where my projects take me... who knows? Maybe in 25 years I'll be rich and famous looking back and laughing at the things I said in my youth.

Jeremy, I'd like to thank you again for the interview and the honest answers.

[Internet Bro: I wish you luck in your future business ventures.

Thank you so much! Goodluck to you as well.

Thanks