Ep. 20 Building a Branded Community: How Andrew Yeung broke into the world of Tech Parties!

Andrew Yeung [00:00:00]:

was working at 1 of the coolest companies in the world

Andrew Yeung [00:00:02]:

and the coolest city in the world. And and that was an absolute dream come true. I started hosting these intimate dinners and over time and over 3 years of consistently hosting, they've grown from 8 person dinners to 2000 person tech parties. I've done them in 6 different cities. I've done 100 of them. 15,000 people have attended. Attorneys include, you know, the cofounder of $1,000,000,000 companies, chief product officers $100,000,000,000 companies.

Andres Sanchez [00:00:25]:

Everybody always talks about the amazing things. What are some of the hard times that you've had with this? Like, what are maybe some of the struggles or maybe story that something went wrong.

Andres Sanchez [00:00:34]:

I think that's always interesting for people to hear. Welcome to the virtual ventures podcast episode

Andrew Yeung [00:00:39]:

20.

Andres Sanchez [00:00:39]:

I'm your host, Andres Sanchez, and this week's guest is Andrew Young, a tech and events visionary, as the owner of Andrew's mixers, he hosts and curates tech parties for industry leaders. He is also a global product lead at Google and has been featured in Bloomberg, Fortune, and Fast company. Get ready for an inspiring conversation as we explore tech, events, and more with Andrew Young. Make sure to help her podcast continue to grow and like, comment, and subscribe.

Andres Sanchez [00:01:17]:

Andrew, thanks for coming on the show. My man. Really excited to have you. How you doing today?

Andrew Yeung [00:01:21]:

Good. good. Thanks for having me. I'm, I'm excited to do this on a on a Saturday morning. It's gonna be fun.

Andres Sanchez [00:01:25]:

Yeah. For sure. I like the weekend episodes a little better because I don't have to worry about actual work So I feel like I can prepare really well and, like, I'm much more fresh. So excited that you got one of these weekend slots. It's not a popular demand pick. always excited when I see somebody grab it. If you've listened to us before and I know the listeners listening now know, I go right into things. Who is Andrew? let's hear a little bit about your story and how you got to where you're at right now.

Andrew Yeung [00:01:49]:

Yeah. So, I'm Andrew Young. I'm a, you know, full time. I'm a tech operator. So I I work at Google. I'm a global product lead there. For that, I worked at I worked at Meta. I was in north North America operations lead. And then before that, I worked at a few other companies. That's, you know, that's what I like to say. That's my day job, but I also have a night job, which is, you know, long story short, throwing parties for people in tech. And, that all started when I moved to New York City 3 years ago, knowing very few people in the middle of pandemic, you know, August 2020, everything was shut down, so I started hosting. And, you know, like I said, I didn't really know anyone. So I started meeting people online on Twitter, LinkedIn, fishbowl, all these online platforms, bringing people together hosting these dinners, these intimate dinners, and over time, and over, you know, 3 years of consistently hosting, they've grown from eight person dinners to 2000 person, you know, tech parties.

Andres Sanchez [00:02:39]:

Wow.

Andrew Yeung [00:02:40]:

I've done them in 6 different cities. I've done over a

Andrew Yeung [00:02:42]:

100

Andrew Yeung [00:02:42]:

of them. 15,000 people have attended. Attendees include, you know, the cofounder of $1,000,000,000 companies, chief product officers of of $100,000,000,000 companies. And, you know, I I I use that network to help founders higher talent fund raise. So it's a bit of a community. It's a bit of a tech ecosystem with an events layer, which is what what I call unique experiences for the most remarkable people in tech. And so, yeah, just a little bit about me. I do a few other things as well, but those those are the main things that Google and the and the events thing.

Andres Sanchez [00:03:10]:

That's amazing. What cities have you been and do you plan on coming to Miami if you already if you haven't already, and then how do I punch my ticket into one of these awesome events?

Andrew Yeung [00:03:19]:

Yeah. So I I've been in, 6 different cities. I've done New York City. Obviously, that's home based for me. I've done Toronto. I lived there for 7 years, so I visit pretty often. Done Miami. I've done, I think, 3 events in Miami, far basil, and and, I think, right after summit. And I've done LA, San Francisco, and there's one more there that I can't think of. Austin, Austin. Austin is fine. That was

Andres Sanchez [00:03:41]:

gonna be my guess.

Andrew Yeung [00:03:42]:

Yeah. Yeah. All the all the big sort of, like, hubs.

Andres Sanchez [00:03:45]:

Yep. Awesome. So, like, what are kind of the requirements to get into these events. I know you said you started at 8 person intimate dinners. They've grown now to 2000 people events. Is it limited to get in? Do you have to have certain credentials to be part of the guest list? Like, how does that work?

Andrew Yeung [00:04:00]:

So I have events that are broadly available to accessible to anyone. So in Austin, I did south by southwest, like kickoff party and, like, two thousand people over there. And I don't I don't really gate it, but it tends to be a tech founder investor operator crowd. And so I think, like, 40% of them are entrepreneurs and founders. The big ones again, I I don't like Gait. Anyone's welcome. I've actually never charged a dime at any of my rent. I love that. And at the smaller ones, for example, I run this series called the Huinto Club. I run it every month in New York City, and it's a hundred people max there's a wait list of about 4000 people. And so that one is is a lot more curated where it's, I I sort of look for the the remarkable and brilliant people who seem to be awesome humans and seem to be kind. And the application process takes like 5 minutes. So I I I literally read through every single one, and I'm like, who would benefit by being in this room and how could they add value to others? So it's a bit of a, more of an art than a science in terms of curation, but typically that, you know, these founders have, either build build business that that have, like, a $1,000,000 in revenue or have, like, you know, 50 employees and and it tends to be sort of that kind of crowd.

Andres Sanchez [00:05:03]:

When did you realize that you had this skill? like, this is not a very unique type of thing to kind of work your way into. And it seems like you're doing an amazing job. Like, when did you realize that this was a talent of yours?

Andrew Yeung [00:05:15]:

Yeah. And thank you for that. Yeah. So a bit about my background. You know, I've lived in 5 different countries. I spent 20 years in Asia. I was born in Hong Kong and moved to Taiwan and moved Canada and I moved to New York City. And so moving around, you know, I'm twenty seven years old, five times in 27 years. That's, you know, whatever the math is. It's a few years per per country, and it takes more than that to build your community, build your network. And so every time I moved, I had to uproot my life and rebuild my community, my friends, and my professional network from scratch, And, you know, it was a it was a lonely childhood, you know, because, you know, single child and and every time you moved, you had to make me friends. And so I learned really quickly how to make friends fast. And I am I, you know, I feel for those who are in that situation of of, you know, they're lonely or they don't have a network, and and that was a lot people during during COVID, right, because no one could leave their apartment, and it was dangerous and and that kind of thing. And so I, you know, one, I got really good at that and bringing people together and building my own network and teaching others how to build theirs. And then second of all, I really just feel for those out there who have the ability or don't have the infrastructure to do that. And so I've dedicated a big portion of my time to helping others, you know, connect with other people.

Andres Sanchez [00:06:19]:

That's awesome. and it's always great when something comes, like, deep rooted from a personal situation or a personal experience because I feel like that's when you really give it a 150 percent. Like, this means more to you than just a status or title. And I think that's really important because you're in New York, so you get it. I live in Miami. There's plenty of people that do things for the status and the recognition, not for the right reasons. And it really seems like you're doing all this for all of the right reasons. So one kudos to you for that because it's an amazing accomplishment. And it's not something to just glaze over either. I mean, the fact that you've been able to move to all of these different countries and then continue to like you said, uproot yourself and build a network from scratch. Like, that shows something. That's not a simple task. And we throw around this word networking. so loosely now, and it is not easy. There's a difference between networking and just talking to a 100 different people. Like, if you're not getting results from those initial meetings, those elevator pitches, those first thirty seconds, are you really networking, or are you just talking to a bunch of cool people? And it seems like you've done such a good job of not only meeting all these cool people, but keeping them close, keeping them in a community, and then helping others like myself who works in tech. Like, going to an event yet years. I work at a big tech company like we talked about before the episode, but, honestly, my passions are in the startup world. I was a founder of a few companies in college. This is kind of my newest venture. And my goal is always to end up at start ups and bounce around and enjoy that life. Like, you telling me the guest list and the pedigree of people coming to these events gets me fired up to, like, wanna go and show up and be part of that community. So a little rant there about you, like, this is an amazing accomplishment, and I'm so excited to, like, continue to dissect this and see where it's all really come from. So great job from there. Let's pull back all the way to your job at Meta, your product lead at Google, like, how has that been working in Big Tech?

Andrew Yeung [00:08:11]:

Yeah. So the, you know, I was in Toronto. I lived in Toronto for 7 years, and, I I left Toronto in 2020 to go to New York City. Probably one of the worst times to do do do that. Arguably, maybe a good time.

Andres Sanchez [00:08:21]:

It was a good time from Canada. From

Andrew Yeung [00:08:23]:

Canada. Yeah. And and so I worked there for this company called Bell. this telephone company or, sort of like a Verizon Canada. And, you know, it's it's rare for for someone to go from, like a bell to, like, a Facebook. You know, Facebook really only hires from, like, top schools, top consulting firms, like, a lot of people exit from McKinsey and and baine and that kind of thing. And so the the pivot is quite hard, and it was, all just through, you know, what you call networking and and reaching out to, like, hundreds of people and then speaking with and and building relationships and that kind of thing and and mastering the interview process. So when I when I landed at Facebook, it was a dream come true. It was working at one of

Andrew Yeung [00:08:56]:

the coolest companies in the world

Andrew Yeung [00:08:57]:

and the coolest city in the world, and and that was an absolute dream come true. So I I really enjoyed my experience there. I, you know, attributes so much of who I am and what I learned to my experience at face And before Facebook, honestly, I was, like, still quite shy. I didn't know how to present executives. I didn't know how to build relationships. I didn't know how to put a PowerPoint presentation together, and it was, honestly Facebook and meta that taught me all that stuff, and it taught me the power of influence and how to influence people and which I which I've taken for, you know, for my my sort of my hustle outside my job. Google's sort of an extension of that where it's it's very similar. It's almost like the same company. It's twice as large, but it's very similar culture, workflows, incentives, how you get promoted is probably the same way. And so, you know, Google for me, it was so from, like, my first company to to Facebook, it was like, the learning was, like, exponential, and it was it was insane. I was in constantly in in in discomfort in a good way, you know, in in terms of learning. And then Google sort of, like, you know, might be, like, honestly flattening out a little bit because it's, like, the same thing. And and and I've just realized that. All these companies, you know, you work at a tech company. They're probably all the same. And, tech playbook. Yeah. Same playbooks. And where they manage their their structures and their organizations, So, yeah, it it's been a good time. I learned a lot, but I think you can only spend, if if you're someone that seeks discomfort and and growth, an exponential level and that you seek that intensity, you can only really do these for, like, 3 to 5 years and then you you have to, you know, you really need a big change. It could be another role in organization or different organization, but it definitely flattens out after a certain time.

Andres Sanchez [00:10:20]:

What are next steps for you? Do you wanna continue to work in Big Tech are you looking to go from Google to the next big exciting company, or do you think this is something that's gonna phase out and you're gonna go and the entrepreneurial route and run these events is like the main thing that you do.

Andrew Yeung [00:10:35]:

I'm exploring that right now. I, I wouldn't go to another big I wouldn't go to another company with more than 50 employees. I've just

Andrew Yeung [00:10:41]:

--

Andrew Yeung [00:10:42]:

Okay. -- you know, I advise startups on the side. I've worked I worked with a lot of these companies that are, you know, SMBs. And, you know, they they operate a little bit differently, but I I think I've just I've done so much of in the space already. And so I I wanna explore something new, which is most likely entrepreneurship. you know, as part of it as being a creator and entrepreneur and not necessarily building something that's venture backed, but just trying my my own thing for a bit. So so, yeah, that's really vague, but I'm exploring taking, like, the assets I have, which is events, the newsletter, the the network, and then and then figuring out, like, can I add value to these people and and sort of make a business model out of it? So that that's what it probably looks like.

Andres Sanchez [00:11:16]:

Yeah. I mean, it seems like you have all the right resources to get into the entrepreneurial world, or like you said, jump into a SMB with 50 or less employees, which That is also in itself, almost entrepreneurship. I mean, when it's a small team like that, you're so ingrained. You might not be technically starting the company and have the risk that the founders do, but you're right there in the trenches with them. And that's a good way to really, like, get a feeler on, can I do this, or do I wanna do this? because something that I talk about with my friends all the time, like, I, like I said, started a few companies in college, thought I was gonna never work for anybody And then I realized business is really hard, and things can change in an instance. So I learned so much at that point, but people I think we've lost the concept of, like, how hard business is. Everybody thinks, like, if you go on Twitter and you go on Instagram, it's like, yeah, start up a solorepreneurship. Get clients 35100 a month and get 5 of them, and you'll be a millionaire. But and, like, I just don't think people get how hard that is. And it's easy to get a client but good luck retaining them for a long period of time unless you have a crazy good offer. So I think it's interesting, and I I wish more people were interested in taking the leave not you don't always have to go start a company. Like, go work at a startup. Not a startup. And for people not listening on video, I'm doing air quotes here. not a startup, like, not a company with 45100 employees, like, go work for a company with 50 or less employees, and you'll really see if, 1, you have the drive and the determination to do it because not everybody does, and that's not a bad thing. Like, not everybody was built to go start a company. Like, this is not a simple task to accomplish. So I love that you're willing to explore that thinking about doing something. And I think somebody of your status at these bigger tech companies would be such an asset to these smaller companies who need somebody who knows what culture is, need somebody who knows how to deliver, like you said, a presentation, a message, and help the people around them get better. So I love that. Let's talk about the newsletter. News letters are super popular now. I just started a newsletter. I've got 21 subscribers in my 1st 3 weeks. Nice.

Andrew Yeung [00:13:20]:

Let's

Andres Sanchez [00:13:21]:

go. But it is a really tight knit community. Like, I have those 21 subscribers because I tweeted and shout out beehive, not sponsored, but that's the platform I'm using. I tweeted something about beehive, And the tweet got, like, 8000 impressions. 40 people commented under, and a ton of people started subscribing in the newsletter and, like, collaborating. So that was really, like, exciting from my perspective. I was like, wow. Like, it's always nice to jump into a community with the like minded people. So how has your experience been creating a newsletter and now being, like, an author of one with a lot of subscribers.

Andrew Yeung [00:13:51]:

Yeah. So I I started, you know, I'll sort of rewind back a little bit. I got my job at Facebook from reaching out to hundreds of people. and speaking to hundreds of people and getting their advice and and just, you know, like, building relationships with them. Once I got that job, I felt like I owed it to the community to to pay it forward. And so I opened up my calendar for months close to a year. And I was like, any student, any early career professional who's looking for a job in tech It was a tough time. It was COVID 2020. You know, there was, like, layoffs and that kind of thing, core job market. I was like, book time with me. And I will give you my time. I'll answer any questions you full transparency. And I I spoke with probably 100 of students in early career professionals, and I found myself saying the same things over and over again, sort of this Evergreen, you know, insight and and wisdom. Yeah. I found myself saying the same thing over again. I'm like, why not just, like, scale that and and write write it. So I started writing on LinkedIn, and then this was when I think Substack came out. And I was like, this is this is hot. This is catching on. Like, everyone's on Substack. I'm like, there's something to it. And, I kinda wanna own an email list because, you know, I I had an audience on on LinkedIn, but, it it wasn't mine. You know, it's at mercy of the algorithm of sounds like, I kinda want my own thing, which is email lists and newsletters. So I start writing a sub stack and actually message every single person I I help And I was like, hey. Like, we had a 30 minute chat a few weeks back. If it was helpful, here's my newsletter where I'm gonna share similar insights. And that's where I learned the concept of, like, funnel. And I think when I launched that newsletter, I immediately have a couple 100 subscribers who were the people around me that I I previously helped or invested in my journey. So I had a bit of a kick start to it. And I started writing and and writing and writing. And, in 2 years, I think I got got it to, like, about

Andrew Yeung [00:15:28]:

15,000.

Andrew Yeung [00:15:29]:

And then I integrating, like, my vents in there. Thank you. Starting grading my my vents in there. And so now it's the place where you stay in touch with me, attend my vents, and then now it's at

Andrew Yeung [00:15:36]:

21,000,

Andrew Yeung [00:15:37]:

but it it's still a little bit, like, you know, most most, newsletters are to educate or to entertain or to inform. And mine has been all over the place where it's like, here's my events, but here's my wisdom. trying to find a way to consolidate it and to make it a little bit more specific just because it is it it's more of I could never, like, sell it or anything. it's just more so something that's attached to my personal brand, which a little bit all over the place, but it, yeah, it's been a great experience. Learn, learning how to write and and market. And I think with improving your writing, you improve the way you think and the way you sort of problem solve. So it's it's a really useful skill that I've I've really enjoyed learning.

Andres Sanchez [00:16:08]:

That's awesome. Two things I wanna unpack from that is one amazing that you were willing to put yourself out there and others. I am actually, I'm finding a lot of similarities between us as we continue to talk here, but I'm just like that. The job that I got It was a special program within the company. It's their early in career program, and they picked 50 of us, and there was

Andrew Yeung [00:16:28]:

41,000

Andres Sanchez [00:16:29]:

applicants for the role. So really tough to get this job. And that's when I realized I'm like, alright. Maybe I I do have some of these skills. Like, I'm a great interviewer. I'm great at talking. I've had some pretty unique experiences in college. So my goal is always to do something like what you did. Like, I wanted to open my calendar and just help people for free. Because one, I love meeting people and

Andrew Yeung [00:16:49]:

2,

Andres Sanchez [00:16:49]:

I really get joy from mentorship and helping, like, I wanna be a leader going forward within my company and companies that I joined going forward. So I'd love to pick your brain a little bit about how you found all of those people that wanted to, like, take those free meetings because that's something I would love to do and love help out because, I mean, I help a lot of my friends because the job landscape is tough. Like, everybody's kind of at the same level almost at this point. everybody's going to good schools. Everybody's getting their 4 year degree. Everybody's going back and getting their masters. Like, things are it's tough. It's not just go get your degree and then snap your fingers and get a good job Like, you've really gotta compete in these interviews. So that's just something I wanted to highlight, and that's something maybe we could talk offline because I love that idea. And then 2, just got my brain thinking here. What you did, like, a segment in that newsletter where you kept the newsletter as, like, your events and that's where you broadcast it to people, but you were able to do maybe, like, a weekly because you still like to help people out find these jobs. What if you did, like, a weekly 5 minute video that came out with your newsletter of just a tip of the week or, like, a suggestion of the week to help people learn. And maybe the video would help, like, separate it from the newsletter and keep it engaging. Super random thought. Just the first thing that popped in my head when told me you wanted to try and, like, figure out a smooth way to do it. I think that would be super cool to get, like, a 5 minute video from you on a tip of the week on an interview tip or on a outreach tip. something like that. So so yeah. I can't return brain off. Like, whatever I'm talking to people, I'm always thinking of ideas, thinking of, like, different ways to do certain things. So if I didn't say it, I would forget it, and then I would be upset because I would know that I did have a good idea when we were talking, and I didn't push forward with it. So that's a it's a random thought there. if you ever use it, let me know because I think that'd be super cool.

Andrew Yeung [00:18:29]:

Yeah. Yeah. I like it. I I've been experimenting with, like, TikTok, and I have a few friends who are helping me out who are, like, TikTok influencers. And, yeah, I'm I'm trying to think of what content would resonate there. And there's a lot of stuff with, like, how to get a job and how to, like, do a good job in, you know, in a in a big company or even, like, a a startup yeah, there are a lot of, like, mental models and hacks there that I, I wanna share that's worked for me in the past. I'm just trying to think of, like, the angle. So so it's a great idea. It's a great idea. I might end up using it.

Andres Sanchez [00:18:55]:

Yeah. I think a good underutilized space right now is how to get the most out of your remote job. I think a lot of people are in remote jobs, but are either, a, burning out because they're stuck at home and they're feeling like trapped. They don't get interact with people face to face. And then 2, I think a lot of people are getting these remote jobs and coasting and getting away with coasting. And then 5 years down the road when they have to actually go get a real job, or maybe we all go back to the offices, they're gonna be really overwhelmed when they haven't made any career growth or any personal growth over the next 5 years. And I I I forget where I saw. I think it might have been on the Calum Johnson show where he had interviewed somebody who had said this, and I thought about because, I mean, I work remote, but I also know I also started jobs online, so I knew what it was like to be at home. How you gotta go get up? You gotta walk around. You gotta go do certain things. So I think that's like a space that no one really talks about, but there could be, like, a lot of potential. It's like, how to get the most out of your remote how to go about it the right way. So I think that's like a super underutilized space and just the online education when it comes to jobs. So I think that's really cool. And we're going on a little bit of a tear here. Let's try and pull it back to the events. Like, that's what I'm super interested in learning about. I saw you did a okay boomer with Jason Calicanis on this weekend start ups Love that podcast. Love Jason. And I saw you've been featured in a few, articles like Forbes. How did that come about? How was that experience? Was that like a launching pad for your growth, or were you already big when you started to get those types of things? because those are not small accomplishments.

Andrew Yeung [00:20:29]:

You know, I I think at this point, I've I've reached, like, 15, fifteen thousand people in in New York City have have come to these events, or, like, close to that number, And, the the reach is beyond that just from Twitter. I think it's like millions of of views. So by, you know, by extension, I have a ton of reporters coming to my events, I think every single publication has been to my event before. And I see this in in my invite list. I'm like, woah, tone it like, Bloomberg. Like, damn, that's super cool. never met a reporter or an investor before I moved to New York City. Like, there were there were some in in Toronto, but, like, not to the scale that New York has it. And I and and so they they honestly just reached out and they were like, we love what you're doing. Can we cover it? And I started just being friends with them and building relationships with them. And now I'm on more of an active push to get press. and to get a bit of publicity because of a of a very specific visa I'm trying to get. And so I've I don't have Forbes. I have fortune and, I have some other pieces coming out in the next few weeks. Yeah. That should be exciting. But, I I just want to press. I I never really cared about publicity in the past. Like, on Twitter, I'm Anan, on, like, Instagram, like, name's there, but, like, I'm, like, I don't really have pictures of my face or anything. So I'm making that shift to becoming more of a, like, bit more of a public person because I've realized, like, needed to to build a brand into with where I'm headed. Like, that's absolutely critical. In terms of, like, driving, you know, leads, I don't think the press actually did anything for in terms of driving attention to to my events. It's more so when I pitch sponsors and when I tell people about what I do, I'm like, hey. Like, I was featured in fortune and, you know, these other magazines, and it just gives me a layer of legitimacy. Honestly, the that this week in startups pod, I didn't even know what it was. I thought it was just like some small pod, and my friend, like, Rachel. She's like, do you wanna speak on this thing? And I'm like, yeah. Sure. Whatever. It's gonna be fine. Like, I'd love I would love podcasts in general. And then I saw that I got, like, almost a hundred KVs and everyone at the event was like, congrats. I'm like, I'm like, what? Like, what is this thing? And so that, you know, that was very flattering, but it was never an intentional until, like, now.

Andres Sanchez [00:22:18]:

Awesome. And then one Forbes, if you're listening, get this guy on a magazine, get this guy an article, because I think everybody else is noticing that this is an awesome trend. I think there's something special about these events like that. I don't know if right now people are, like, noticing but it'd be really cool to look back, like, 10 years later and be able to say, like, you had your fingers in a ton of these relationships, a ton of these companies because That's the cool thing about, like, people. Like, you bring 1 a plus player to the table who could transform a company. Most likely, that founder's not gonna give you the credit. and hopefully they would, but you changed the company's trajectory with an event and, like, what a cool job to be able to host fun parties and have them make these massive impacts to companies, individuals. And, I mean, I'm just I can't think of, like, a more fun thing to do. And maybe it's because I'm from Miami and I like partying and I like going out and I love the networking thing. So it just kind of fits perfectly into what I enjoy, but, man, I can't think of, like, a more entertaining thing to do and be able to say, like, that what a what a cool thing to walk into a room and say, like, oh, what do you do for a living? I throw tech parties It's like, oh, what is that? And it's like, oh, no. A lot of people come to these things. A lot of C suite level people. And, like, yeah, it's just, man, like, I'm I'm a little bit fan girl in here. Like, it just seems like such a it's some such a fun thing to do. It's a lot of fun.

Andrew Yeung [00:23:38]:

I always yeah. It's tough.

Andres Sanchez [00:23:41]:

I always like to bring up, like, everybody always talks about the amazing things. What are some of the hard times that you've had with this? like, what are maybe some of the struggles or maybe a story that something went wrong? I think that's always interesting for people to hear because it's not always sunshine and rainbows when we're running these companies. Yeah.

Andrew Yeung [00:23:57]:

For anyone who's, like, hosted an event before, they know it's it's hard. It's a hard thing to do because one, it's expensive. There's a lot of infrastructure needs. You need money. You need a venue. You need people to come. There's a lot of dependencies. You know, you you don't just need one you go right, you need probably, like, 5 things to go right that are all disconnected from each other. And then the second thing is there's a lot of logistics, and it's a very deeply you know, operational thing to do. Like, the skills are operational. And so most people spend months just planning one event. I, like, very early on, like, figured out, like, what the bottlenecks were and, like, try to automate as much as I could as possible. And so that's how I'm able to do, like, 5 a month. And I think if I really tried, I could probably do, like, 20 a

Andres Sanchez [00:24:35]:

Like, there's

Andrew Yeung [00:24:36]:

I don't think there's any point to doing Tony a month, but it's, you know, I've done over a 100 events and and honestly, it doesn't ever get any less stressful. Like, there's a lot of planning required. There's a lot of steps. There's a lot of people you have to speak with at every part of the process. And I've tried to outsource a bit of that, but it's still, like, you show up to the venue. What could go wrong? So much stuff. It could rain. I do a lot of my events at rooftops. It could rain. I'm surprised, you know, I've never been reigned out on before, and I've done, you know, probably 30 rooftop events. There's one explanation.

Andrew Yeung [00:25:02]:

--

Andres Sanchez [00:25:03]:

in Miami. Don't do an event in Miami over the summer because it ranges just about every day. So I don't want I don't want you to lose your streak.

Andrew Yeung [00:25:10]:

Yeah. Yeah. I'm nervous now because I'm not gonna wait because I got 1 next Wednesday over a thousand people, and I'm like, I hope it doesn't rain. There's no end to recover. You know, I have a venue to back up just in case. But that's what I mean. You gotta, like, lock up a backup venue in a place like New York City where, like, everything is booked out all the time, and it's not cheap. And yet, you know, events just a hard business. And there's a lot of, like, little hard things, but the hardest part is seeing live feedback. And so if you go to a event, imagine a hundred people and you just see people walk in and leave and they're like, this sucks. not to be there and endure that and stay till the end and see multiple people do that. So the live feedback is really discouraging, and it's not even actionable. Someone just leaves, and I never see them again. And I see them unsubscribe. I'm like, there's literally nothing I could do there. So that's that's the hardest part. Live feedback.

Andres Sanchez [00:25:52]:

And how do you because I agree that that's super tough to swallow sometimes because at the end of the day, like, it's something you personally built. You personally put together. You put your brand behind. how do you

Andrew Yeung [00:26:02]:

deal with something like that? I've come to terms that if you let's use it as example. If you walk into a room of ten people,

Andrew Yeung [00:26:08]:

6

Andrew Yeung [00:26:08]:

of them won't care about you.

Andrew Yeung [00:26:09]:

2

Andrew Yeung [00:26:09]:

of them will love you. and 2 of them will hate you. And that that that's like the just the distribution you have in at at scale in in any scenario. So I'm like at a thousand person event. Like, there's gonna be maybe 1 or 200 people that just hate it. And it's just not for them. It's just bad product fit. And I just keep that heuristic in mind whenever something happens. I'm people are gonna hate it, but also people are gonna love it. And most people won't care. And that that's helped me a lot. There's always gonna be haters out there. You know, what I've realized growing a bit on Twitter is that there are, like, really strange hateful and, like, weird people out there. Like, I this guy, like, I don't know if it was guy, but this random Twitter or non would comment on all my posts. and just, like, insult me and and that my attendees and and call us, like, nerds and stuff. And I'm like, first it was kinda funny, but then they kept doing it over and over and getting else getting worse. It's blocked it. at first, I was like, hey. Like, it's kinda funny, but, like, it's not funny anymore. Like, it's it's getting old. Like, can you, like, do something else? Like, you know, I still Yeah. I back it, but do something more funny. And he was like, no. And then as I blocked him and he created a new account, it continues to do that. I'm like, people can just be really weird. And I I just don't understand what the intention there is at all. So I just realized, like, when you see people at scale, like, I realize, like, some people are really weird, and just double on same route.

Andres Sanchez [00:27:15]:

Yeah. I always wonder how some of those people because even I don't have a huge following, and I still get people like that who come and and bother me. And I'm just like, man, you'd be such a better person if you put this much effort towards something positive or like a job or something that is impactful to society. Like, go do something. And, yeah, I think it's just a part of the game. So two things there were 1, what is, like, the end goal for these events? Like, do you want an Andrew Young in every major city running these events What is the goal to monetization? Like, is it just gonna be sponsors? Do you think you'll ever charge people to get in for more exclusive events? Let's get a little more into the business Yeah.

Andrew Yeung [00:27:53]:

I'm still exploring with the, you know, I I understand the problem, which is oftentimes, especially in this world, like, really high people, ambitious people, and and also just good people, find it hard to meet others in isolating cities like New York City. And I was talking to someone who has been to, like, 6 of my events, and they've met and I surveyed them interviewed them and they they were like, I'm I'm at

Andrew Yeung [00:28:12]:

15

Andrew Yeung [00:28:12]:

friends from your events. I didn't get to stay in touch with them. I'm like, wow. That's amazing. I'm like, how would you meet these people before you went to my events? And they were like, oh, maybe, like, on, like, alumni events that happens once a year or maybe, like, a wedding or through my personal network, but, really, there's nowhere else. Like, you don't sew house and 0 bond. They're not like communities. They're they're venues. You pay 240 bucks a month. You get a cool venue, but nobody talks to each other. If you've been to a So house, which I'm sure you have nobody, like, talks to each So it's not a community. And so anyone who started off as a community has pivoted into quickly monetizing through food and beverage, which is like a 0 bond and a sew house majority of their money comes from, like, the actual hospitality business, not the community business, and any community that's been ventured back to scaled out of control and sort of ruined the elements that made them an amazing community in the first place. And so I think that's all up to the founder and and the operator that building that business and how much they care about the profit versus the the people in the community. And, obviously, I'm not being like, I'm not starting enough for profit, but there was a balance there. And I think, you know, I've done this for 2 years, 100 plus events. You know, a lot of people have done it really just for free. And I wanna continue to to be on that mission, and I think there are ways to make money that aren't ruining it for the attendees. And so sponsorships one, you know, I see a media arm as part of another, you know, writing expands into maybe a pod like you, like maybe TikTok, like video, that kind of stuff, And then there's there's probably, you know, I'm connected with all these GPs at these incredible funds and all these C suite at, like, $1,000,000,000 companies. I'm like, maybe there's a fun play there or platform play, which is just connecting people at the highest level. People, founders who are raising money, founders who are hiring talent, founders who are trying to find a fractional CFO, just providing that platform scale to connect people and and building a business model out of that. And then, of course, the the events, which, you know, at one point, I might start charging if it's a, you know, all inclusive yacht party. I'm gonna try to It just depends what it is. And right right now, the offering is just, oh, you got a rooftop and you don't get a drink or anything, but it's free. And so as I improve the offering, I'll have to scale up, you know, how I sort of charge people or how, you know, what I need from the attendees to to make the event possible.

Andres Sanchez [00:30:09]:

It's been really impressive just to watch you. Like, the amount of thought that you've put into all of this and the level of detail that you've put into even the smallest decisions. Like, this is why I'm not charging. This is why I haven't scaled out to, like, a massive operation. And for anybody listening, this is really important, like, at any level or at any business that you're doing. The quickest way to go down the wrong path is to start making impulse decisions or quick decisions because you'd be surprised in business, something very small can have a massive effect on your results on your image. on your branding. I love how just calculated you are. And, like, we just met right now, but I'm that's just what I'm feeling from the way that you've described everything. Very calculated, very mature, Bigger picture. And you know what? I always struggle with people because I'm somebody who thinks way out in front, like, and that sometimes is a problem for me. Like, I'm calculating things down like, 6 years from now. This is what I need to be doing, and this is how I'm gonna get there. And what's great, but sometimes it's a little too much, but it's very important to have a wider view. Like, so many people, especially now. It's just like, all I care about is what's in front of me right now and what's in front of me for the next week. And then it's like, when you back away and look and think about this decision I make right now, what does it set me up for in 5 months? Not in 5 days. And it's like, oh, maybe it's not the right decision right now. Let me do this. And you find that you just so many more doors have opened up when I shifted my mindset to that instead of, like, this is great right now. Like, I'm gonna do it now. And it's like, alright. Well, doing that now was great for 5 days, but it just blocked me from these 3 or 4 things that I could have done five 6 months from now. Just honestly an absolutely amazing story. The way that you've built this up, the way that you've started from moving around a lot, to grounding yourself in New York and immediately building a branded community off it is extremely impressive. So thank you so much for sharing that with us. Like, I think there's so many nuggets that people will get from this interview that they can take and apply to anything that they're doing, which is extremely important. Something I always like to ask at the end of every episode. I would just like to take the conversation a little bit outside of business and see what's going on upstairs for you. And that's what are you excited about in the near future?

Andrew Yeung [00:32:20]:

You know, I think a big trend has been a New York Times article that came out about loneliness and the loneliness epidemic, and everyone's you know, Brian Chaski was talking about how his goal is to build, you know, Airbnb is about community, you know, and at at its very core. It's to bring people together through, you know, accessible housing and travel options. And so as a result of that trend, I've seen so many incredible startups, you know, get funded and sort of scale up their model around bringing people together, whether that is a social club or tech infrastructure and app or tool. I'm excited to see where this goes because I think and, you know, this answer is is more business related, but I I think the last 2 years have just been so hard in the last 3 years have been so hard on people. And especially for new grads or people in a transitionary point of their lives who had to go through that remote first era, they're now struggling to build relationships or deeper connections, and the stats are out there. Like, 1 in

Andrew Yeung [00:33:11]:

5,

Andrew Yeung [00:33:11]:

it might just be male adults in the US don't think they have a close friend. And there's a huge wave that is and it's not AI. It's not a tech wave, but it's it's a sort of a human it's a core human truth wave, which is, we we need a way to sort of bring ourselves together and and gather and and collaborate and and gather to grow together in a excited to see what happens. And then I'm I'm sort of building something, so I'm excited to see what I what I do in the next 6 to 8 months. I think it's, like, it's gonna be a turbulent time. And I've, you know, I got this whiteboard behind me. I just got it because my head is constantly spinning because I'm thinking about this thing, and I can't I was texting my founder friends at 2 AM last night because I just can't get off mind. So I'm excited to see what I build to contribute to this trend, but of also the overall wave that everyone is contributing to, I think, is gonna be a very pivotal and impactful time in in our society, one of the most impactful times in in, like, in the last 10 years. So that's gonna be really cool to watch and and be a part drop the mic right there.

Andres Sanchez [00:34:02]:

What a great answer. I am a huge advocate for community. My companies that I had built previously were built all on communities. I have set it on multiple podcasts. I think that customer service departments are gonna be, irrelevant, and it's gonna be just communities and customers advocating for the brand, and that's gonna be enough. So I think that's a great shift. I think you're at the tip of the spear right now headed in the right direction. That whiteboard is super cool, by the way.

Andrew Yeung [00:34:28]:

I

Andres Sanchez [00:34:28]:

might ask you after where you got that because I'm looking to add something like that for myself because I agree. There's

Andrew Yeung [00:34:33]:

2, 3

Andres Sanchez [00:34:34]:

in the morning, and my brain's working like it's 12 in the afternoon. And I just had my second cup of coffee. So, Andrew, where can people find you, where can people connect with you. I always write really awesome descriptions. I gotta cater to the lazy people that don't read them. So maybe plug your socials out loud so people can follow you, interact with you.

Andrew Yeung [00:34:51]:

Yeah. Twitter is at Andrew Young, a n d r u y e u n g. My Instagram is at Andrews Mixers And my website is www.andrewsmixers.com.

Andres Sanchez [00:35:04]:

Awesome. Andrew, this has been an absolute pleasure I'm so excited to get to see what you build over the next few years and hopefully develop a relationship with you and and attend some of these events. Yeah. Thank you again for coming on the show. It has been just absolute pleasure, and I think people are gonna get so much out of this episode.

Andrew Yeung [00:35:19]:

Thanks for having me. Super fun. Great job running the pod, and I'm excited to see you when it goes live.

Andres Sanchez [00:35:24]:

Awesome. Thank you.