Have you ever wondered why it’s good to teach your kids chess? They’ll turn into our interviewee!
Today’s interview is with Rafi Chowdhury who I was drawn to because he has a title that I couldn’t turn my eyes away from.
“Experienced Growth Hacker”.
I love growth! Even better, hacks sound easy or at least lucrative! So I chased him down to get his ideas on how we can grow our finances quickly. Starting companies, computer hacking, pyramid schemes? I don’t know what’s coming but I bet it’s awesome.
Meet the Mind Over Matter interview series
I am a big proponent of focusing on what works best and the best things don’t waste your time. You, readers, are busy people with big aspirations and I want to help you succeed quickly without sacrificing your sleep.
Whether succeeding is early retirement or enough riches to have a team of assistants tailing you around, I want to rocket you there quickly with financial tactics!
With that in mind, I think I know the best ways to invest, make money and save money. BUT the world is a big place so I’m always looking for people to change my mind. I figure what could be more mind-altering than opinions from people doing “out there” work.
So I hunt down people who should have different ideas and hope they wow me.
It’s called the mind over matter series because everyone has objects but I want to discover the knowledge that’s worth far more. Also, the concept of mind over matter is something I live by.
Here goes!
1-Minute Elevator Speech: Who are you and why do I care?
I’m Rafi Chowdhury and I’m the founder of Chowdhury’s Digital. I help companies generate more revenue via web traffic generation and personal branding. Plus, I write for Huffpost, Business.com, Business2Community and others. On the side I am an Expert-strength chess player and LIVE casts his chess games on Facebook.
[MrFYFE: I’ve always been fascinated by chess and chess players and even more so after reading Josh Waitzkin’s book. I keep picking up chess but then I end up dropping it. It seems like a long slog to get to a ‘decent’ skill level and I end up quitting after I do something boneheaded 😛
High-level chess skills are on my life’s todo list…some day!
It see it’s even impacted your work strategies. NEAT! https://www.business.com/articles/chess-tips-for-startup-leaders/]
What led you down this path? Why aren’t you doing something ‘normal’?
I started out in online marketing when I launched RafiChowdhury.com and was playing around with [business] traffic generation strategies via content marketing. Since then I have been consulting with venture-backed startups on traffic generation and branding.
[Why not do something more normal?] Well, by going with the norm I will become the norm. There is no fun and excitement in that, right? I think life is more fun when we do creative things and learn from the experiences.
How are your techniques/methods special and better? Explain the magic in <10 sentences
In a small market like Memphis, TN, there are way too many people who are choosing to go the route of being mundane. Too many people in the city are choosing to work a blue collar job. Even those who do go to college and finish are taking jobs that are not cognitively tasking. I took a different approach.
I wanted the challenge of not knowing what comes next and trying unique and creative things anyway. That is what I started several companies right after college including mycampushacks.com, and now Chowdhury’s Digital. I think going places where no one has gone and leaving a trail behind is far more exciting than traveling in charted waters all your life and always wondering what uncharted waters feel like.
[MrFYFE: Totally agree here but I do like to play to my strengths which involves a lot of knowns (that’s where I make money. Then the goal is that’s lucrative enough that everything else can be a pile of unknowns].
What are the 3 most common pieces of advice you find yourself giving?
Save and invest money. Live off of 50% of your income. Do the things you enjoy even if they pay less. Love your neighbor as you love yourself. Read and learn constantly.
[MrFYFE: Preach it. Hallelujah!]
What’s been your most surprising finding in your work?
I have come to learn how little in control of ourselves we are. All of our decisions are made subconsciously. We are merely puppets to our genetics and environmental factors that shape who we are and how we think and act.
[MrFYFE: Wow, that took a turn! I’ve always been a big believer of nurture (instead of nature) but as I see my kids grow up I am seeing traits develop that I can’t explain without some genetics :P]
What #1 piece of advice would you give someone just starting out on their explosive growth path? (Assume the person has a good job, some money, is smart and doesn’t have a pile of time to #HustleGrind).
Find someone who has done exactly what you want to do and think of creative ways to get involved with that person’s projects. Eventually, you can trade your knowledge and expertise to get theirs. It’s all about building positive win-win relationships with people when it comes to starting out in business.
I think one of the best ways to get started in a field is to find the most successful person you can find who is willing to give you their time and get them to invest in you. It turns out that people like those who they did the most for, instead of the other way around. So, the more you can get someone to invest into you and then return the favor by investing into them, the better chance you have of that person trusting you and caring more deeply about you.
It strengthens the relationship a lot more. So, my advice here is to find influential people and show interest in their work and find ways to get involved. Eventually, once trust is built, you can tell them more about your ideas and get them involved.
[MrFYFE: I have been realizing this more and more. I practice stealthy success but getting people into your corner is so incredibly useful.
Tim Ferris once said something he’s get’s more benefit from 1 good relationship than 100 mediocre ones (on something to that extent…I’ll never find that quote]
How are you going to change the world? Charitable, professional, anything goes!
I am focused on creating educational systems and models that allow people to discover what they enjoy and give them a platform to put their capabilities in one specific area so that they can become an Expert in that one specific domain and help others. I do this by blogging and educating others at conferences and public speaking gigs.
If you had Scrooge McDuck levels of money what would you be doing right now?
Using it to build teams of people who are on a mission to help others find their true satisfaction in life by discovering their life purpose.
[MrFYFE: A team of people looking for the purpose of life. Sounds like a Elon Musk funded think tank.]
How did your parents influence your success? (As a parent I really want to know how to help my kids more)
They taught me basic economics, morals, values, ethics, and culture. I think those are core concepts that shaped me to become who I am today. Faith in God did the rest.
[MrFYFE: Ah so the lesson here is teach your kid everything. That sounds hard 🙁 ]
Your top book recommendation and why? On any topic!
Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari. I think this book will open your eyes to how our society functions today and what has caused it to function this way and how it will function in the future.
[MrFYFE: I have only heard amazing things about this book and I have never read it BUT I did read this (huge) summary: https://neilkakkar.com/sapiens.html. Efficiency!]
What’s the best way to get more of you?!
By reaching out to me via email: rafi1220@gmail.com. Also, if you’re an entrepreneur let me know if you are interested in being interviewed on my Facebook show on facebook.com/rafichowdhury.entrepreneur
Thanks so much for offering up your thought Rafi! I am with you on the quickest path to success is to latch onto a more successful mentor. Now we all just need to go find those people. 🙂
