Youtube - Stephen Messer - Collective[i]

Stephen Messer built LinkShare with his sister in the late 90s and sold it to Rakuten after 10 years. Now building Collective[i], an AI platform that makes professional networks actually usable. Early years were brutal. Lived in one apartment, shared two computers on rotating shifts, worked on the main server because they couldn't afford a backup. First investor pitches spent an hour explaining what the internet was before talking about the business. Revenue stayed flat for six years. They charged 2% per transaction and needed massive volume before it worked. Michael Dell called on a Sunday night. Stephen thought it was a prank for 30 minutes until Dell started asking technical questions. That partnership changed everything. His advice: ignore most startup content and find your own way. Skills from one successful company don't automatically transfer to the next. Different problems, different timing, different solutions. Never live above the second floor - the emotional swings will make you want to jump out the window.