Episode #391: Get Rich and Die Trying with John Roa

At the age of twenty-six, John Roa founded a tech-consulting and design firm,  ÄKTA,  that he sold for a fortune to Salesforce.  His account of his rise from a self-described below-average student, to becoming a poster boy for the ambitious, successful young entrepreneur, to nearly destroying himself in the process is the subject of his book, A Practical Way to Get Rich . . . and Die Trying. Roa's twenty-year-long journey from being dead-broke to wealth he never imagined is an absurd and often comical story of talent, luck, risk, rapidly changing technology, larger-than-life personalities, sex, gambling, and excessive alcohol and drug consumption. We covered lots of ground in this conversation, including: How Roa went from a six-figure debt to multi-millionaire before the age of 30 The toxic lifestyle he led while building his company, AKTA The psychotic breakdown he experienced, which forced him to sell his company And the lessons learned along the way about business and life Listeners of this show will know that I am an advocate for balance, and Roa’s tale serves as a cautionary one that I hope entrepreneurs listening to this will learn from. With that, I bring you the one and only, John Roa. Show Notes: Get the book: https://amzn.to/3572aa6 Twitter: @johnroa Instagram: @johnroa Web: roa.com --- Listen to Future Squared on Apple Podcasts  goo.gl/sMnEa0 Also available on: Spotify, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Stitcher and Soundcloud Twitter: twitter.com/steveglaveski Instagram: instagram.com/@thesteveglaveski Future Squared: futuresquared.xyz Steve Glaveski: steveglaveski.com Medium: medium.com/@steveglaveski Steve's book: employeetoentrepreneur.io NEW Facebook group:facebook.com/groups/futuresquared/ Watch on YouTube: bit.ly/2N77FLx GET COACHED BY LUCAS: https://www.ergogenic.health/product/coaching GET LUCAS TO DESIGN YOUR SUPPLEMENT PROTOCOL: https://www.ergogenic.health/product/custom-stack  

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Hosted by author and entrepreneur, Steve Glaveski, Future Squared brings you conversations with preeminent thought leaders from myriad disciplines such as startups and entrepreneurship, technology, corporate innovation, psychology, philosophy, economics, politics, biology, human performance and productivity, motivation and self-development, management and leadership, health and fitness and more to help you think in a multi-disciplinary way, avoid relying on the first piece of information that comes to hand, kick goals in your professional and personal life and better navigate what is fast becoming, a Brave New World. Previous guests include thought leaders such as Adam Grant, Brad Feld, Tim O'Reilly, Gretchen Rubin, Kevin Kelly, Jeremy Heimans, Steve Blank, Neil Patel, Rand Fishkin, Jordan Harbinger, Omar Zenhom, Andreas Antonopoulos, Ryan Blair, Whitney Johnson and various other thought leaders. Past topics have explored the likes of: Blockchain, virtual and augmented reality, algorithms, machine learning, artificial intelligence and universal basic income (UBI), sales and marketing, lean startup, design thinking, agile, political correctness, identity politics, cloud computing, geopolitics, neuroscience, data science, fintech, proptech, sports, tech addiction, CRISPR, venture capital, angel investment, nootropics and cognitive therapies, big data, cloud computing, DevOps, fake news, web development, UX and UI, influencer and content marketing, emotional intelligence, Stoic philosophy, mindfulness and meditation, chatbots, automation, IoT, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Trump, tech trends, Pixar animation studios, Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Google, disruption to incumbents, how to measure innovation, extreme ownership, radical transparency and a hell of a lot more! Future Squared is brought to you by Collective Campus, a innovation accelerator that works with organisations to unlock their people’s latent potential to create more impact for humanity and lead more fulfilling lives. If you need help driving your organisation’s innovation strategy, visit www.collectivecampus.io Future Squared is part of the NoFilter Media network. Join the conversation on Instagram at @thenofilternetwork This podcast is available on: - iTunes: http://apple.co/1QWMgS7 - Stitcher: www.stitcher.com/podcast/future - Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/5LH1aSj8WQYWnYQdn9AmuW Links: NoFilter network: www.nofilter.media Future Squared website: www.FutureSquared.xyz Steve Glaveski website: www.SteveGlaveski.com Twitter: @steveglaveski Instagram: @thesteveglaveski Advertising inquiries: [email protected]