Passion Series: Mike Williams a.k.a Yoroomie, Founder of Studiotime
"One of the first though was simply understanding that "big ideas" start small and building a company is a test of endurance and perseverance. "
Mike is usually pretty easy to spot out in a crowd. Tall, skinny, strawberry blonde, dressed in black, and always wearing his signature piece, his hat. This day was no different, except as Mike crosses the street towards me, he seems to be missing that signature piece.
The shoot on this day takes place in Mike's neighborhood of none other than Santa Monica, California. The day couldn't be anymore perfect for a Sunday in early May. Sun is shining, palm trees are swaying, and people are on their way to Yoga. After a brief photoshoot and a cup of coffee at Bodega, we head out in search for some dope locations to shoot. We didn't get too far before we turned around towards Mike's apartment to grab that signature piece of his.
I haven't known Mike for too long, but one thing I do know about him is his passion for music, fashion, tech, and startups.
Images by Mark Mendoza - Would you mind introducing yourself, and telling us who Mike Williams is?
Mike Williams - I think the easiest way to describe myself would be a serial entrepreneur. I'm also a very curious person and lifelong learner through doing. I've started a few companies (some that I've raised capital for and some bootstrapped) and two of them have been acquired. More recently, I've sort of transitioned away from feeling like I have to build and operate companies myself to investing in others by investing in some incredible founders and startups. I've found that this has maximized my time commitment to learning ratio and have invested in 15+ startups so far. With all of this, I'm very interested in the intersection of tech and music, along with democratizing access to goods, services, and spaces that peer-to-peer marketplaces enable.
IbMM - How did you get your start in Tech?
MW - I've always been obsessed with computers and online communities (such as message boards back in the day), so I sort of fell into tech or what you could call the world of startups. In middle and high school I was teaching myself how to build forums, online stores, and marketplaces, which resulted in my first company during high school. This was a curated e-commerce experience for high-end cycling goods. It's progressed from there as I learned how to really turn these projects and passions (some could say obsessions) into companies. A few years after that I started a company that I think was where I really broke into tech. I raised some capital for a company called Codeity, so I had investors, a bigger team (employees), and 500+ customers that used the platform I was running. It was acquired about two years after I started it.
IbMM - How does tech make you feel?
MW - That's really a great question! I think it makes me feel like there are no boundaries to creativity and my thoughts are guided by possibilities and not limitations. Not only that, but since I have sort of a programatic mindset, it makes me deconstruct my initial thoughts or ideas, then sort of engineer or piece them together. For me, I think that is the beauty of tech or being able to build things is that a seemingly wild idea is actually possible. Not only that, but you can see it come to life by building it with very little resources.
IbMM - What has been your biggest accomplishment thus far, or proudest moment?
MW - I would say a moment that I'm very proud about is when I launched Studiotime (which has been called the Airbnb for music studios) and the first artist booked a music studio, which helped build their career through the session and who they met there. I'm so focused on building products (apps, websites, chatbots, marketplaces, etc) that sometimes it's easy to forget that tech does enable and help people in real life. When it's your idea or you're the one that takes a vision to a product that helps improves someone's life or their passion, it's really an amazing feeling and sense of accomplishment. I think this moment in particular stands out to me though since I didn't have much conviction in what I built, so when it worked it started to take off, it was a really crazy feeling.
IbMM - What was the hardest lesson you learned on your journey so far?
MW - Oh man, I have so many hard lessons that I've learned! One of the first though was simply understanding that "big ideas" start small and building a company is a test of endurance and perseverance. When I was super young and starting companies, I would try to jump ahead with parts of the business such as building, hiring, scaling revenue, and pretty much everything since I was so eager to see what I was working on move as quickly as possible. If it didn't move at the pace I thought it could or should, I think I gave up too soon and did not persevere to reach the end goal. Now, I have a bit more realistic approach to things and also more patience. I still like to move fast, but not unrealistically. Sort of along the same lines as this, I try to channel all my creativity into what I'm focused on and not get distracted by other things that are less of a priority.
IbMM - I know you're involved in more than just tech, what else do you have your hands in?
MW - I do have quite a bit of interests outside of tech. I'm obsessed with fashion, art, and design in general. Since I am such a creative person and love learning and studying others in areas that I'm interested in, I do find myself sort of involved in projects that are in these other areas outside of tech. Right now though, I'm sort of in low commitment mode with these since I usually find myself being sucked in more and their tech, product, and development needs increasing the more I work with projects. I try to be in more of an advisor or even just helping out role instead for these now. This also allows me to enjoy them more!
IbMM - If you could tell your 18 year old self anything, what would it be?
MW - I think I would tell myself to be more patient or that over the next few years or know that I would learn to become patient. I'm not sure if at 18 years old I would listen to myself now though haha.
IbMM - What's one piece of advice you could give for anyone wanting to do what you do?
MW - My main piece of advice would be to master one skill. With one skill, you can build from there and not only adding skills, but build up on success from this one skill. If you are looking to perfect a skill (which is a constant pursuit and refinement), then I also recommend having the best mentor or teacher as possible to help with this. Being able to have guidance along the way is invaluable and also learning from others mistakes, successes, and learnings. It's really a cheat code in my opinion.
IbMM - Do you have any aspirations?
MW - I have tons! One of them that is quite ambitious though is actually to start an impact incubator and accelerator at some point down the road. I do realize that I am quite privileged and can probably at some point take the frameworks I've used to build companies, network, and resources to build something that helps on a impact scale that is much greater and significant then building startups myself.
IbMM - Do you have any personal mantra's, or favorite quotes you always reference?
MW - I'm often known to say "living the dream" when people ask how I am. I think this really embodies who I am though in that I try to be the most positive person and influence I can be, along with surrounding myself with others that do the same.
Mike, thank you so much for your time and willingness to do this interview with me. I am super stoked to see what more you have to accomplish and can't wait to see Studiotime blow up!
Follow Mike's Journey:
Twitter twitter.com/yoroomie
Instagram instagram.com/yoroomie