❝Story02:00
Nathan Chan Drifted Through School and Work Before Finding Direction
Nathan describes moving through school, university, and an IT support job without much ambition or excitement. Personal growth work helped him decide he wanted a life he could be proud of and work he genuinely enjoyed.
- He rarely tried at school and did not achieve strong grades
- His degree and corporate IT role felt more accidental than chosen
- Personal growth began before Foundr
- Direction developed gradually rather than through one sudden mindset shift
“throughout life i just kind of drifted”
“i wanted to become a person that had a life that i was proud of”
#personal growth#career#purpose
❝Story08:30
How Men's Work Helped Nathan Clarify His Identity
After reading The Way of the Superior Man, Nathan explored workshops and retreats focused on men's work. He found them confronting but says they gradually gave him more clarity about who he was, who he wanted to be, and where he wanted to go.
- The book helped him examine purpose and his understanding of male identity
- He had felt more like a boy than a developed man
- Workshops were challenging and confronting
- The benefit was gradual clarity rather than an immediate transformation
“it just gave me more clarity around who i am who i want to be and where i want to go in life”
#identity#masculinity#self-development
❝Story11:30
An Eight-Week Europe Trip Exposed the Cost of the Wrong Career
A long Europe trip gave Nathan a sharp contrast with his IT support job. The dread of returning became the signal that he needed to change direction, prompting further study and a determined attempt to move into marketing.
- The trip took place in his early twenties with his best friend
- Returning to work produced an excruciating feeling of dread
- He did not condemn IT support generally; it simply was not right for him
- He responded by studying for a master's degree in marketing
“there was this extreme dread that i didn't want to go back”
“that's when i knew i had to make a change”
#career change#travel#marketing
❝Story14:00
Repeated Job Rejections Led to the Project That Became Foundr
Nathan invested heavily in a marketing degree but still could not secure internal or external marketing roles. Feedback that he needed a website or project to demonstrate his passion pushed him toward online marketing and a digital magazine side project.
- Three internal marketing applications failed
- External marketing interviews also produced no offer
- One interviewer suggested creating a website or project as evidence
- The side project combined his technology skills with marketing
“it'd be really cool if you had some sort of website or project that you could show how passionate you are about marketing”
#job rejection#portfolio#side project
❝Story15:00
Foundr Began as a $2,000 Digital Magazine Experiment
Nathan bought digital-magazine software on a credit card while earning about $50,000. The concept shifted from horse racing to entrepreneurship, and interviews with online-business builders convinced him the information deserved a wider audience.
- The software cost $2,000 on a credit card
- The first concept was a horse-racing magazine with his housemate
- When the housemate could not continue, Nathan chose entrepreneurship
- The magazine launched on March 5, 2013 and made five dollars
“i put 2 000 on my credit card and bought the software”
“i started interviewing people and that's when i realized i need to share this with the world like this information is gold”
#foundr#side hustle#origin story
❝Story18:30
A Trademark Lawsuit Forced the Foundr Rebrand
A major US business magazine sued Nathan's young publication for trademark infringement. Help from a former Intrepid colleague enabled a practical resolution: change the name to Foundr, whose unusual spelling later became a distinctive brand asset.
- The legal threat arrived when the side project was still small
- An ex-lawyer at Nathan's employer helped him work through it
- The resolution was a name change rather than abandoning the publication
- The missing e made the new brand distinctive
“was sued for trademark infringement by one of the biggest business magazines in the states”
“we just changed the name to founder and that's why it's founded without the e”
#trademark#branding#resilience
❝Story29:00
Foundr's First Team Was Contractors and Family Favors
Nathan needed specialist help from the first magazine issue because he was not a designer. He combined a paid designer and writers with proofreading from his mother and technical help from his father, then hired his first full-time content employee around early 2015.
- A designer contributed from issue one
- Nathan's mother copy-edited and proofread
- His father helped with technical work
- Contractors preceded the first full-time hire
“i started working with the designer from issue number one and that was critical”
“i was calling in all favors”
#hiring#contractors#team building
❝Story27:30
What Jeff Bezos Wanted After Achieving Extraordinary Wealth
Nathan recounts Scooter Braun asking Jeff Bezos what more he could want when he already had immense monetary success. The reported answer—continued evolution—challenged the common belief that one future financial milestone will make everything complete.
- Scooter Braun shared the exchange with Nathan's community
- The question focused on what remains after extreme financial success
- Bezos reportedly prioritized evolution
- Nathan connects the story to curiosity and lifelong development
“i just want to evolve”
“he just wants to learn he just wants to develop he just wants to be curious”
#learning#wealth#growth