#21 - Karl Swanepoel: empowering freelancers, building impactful startups

Today's episode is with Karl Swanepoel, CEO of Revolancer. We have discussed multiple topics ranging from how freelancer websites are doing things wrong, how Revolancer empowers freelancers, starting your own business, connecting with the right people, and much more! 00:00 Intro 00:42 Karl's introduction 01:00 What is Revolancer and what they offer? 01:43 What is the role of a CEO? 02:47 Cultural difference between a startup and a company 03:46 Finding the right people to work at your startup 07:10 Advice on starting your own startup for someone entering the field of entrepreneurship 15:14 Advice on finding the right people to ask for advice/mentoring 18:04 Revolancer's seed round + procedure of getting a seed round and investment advice 27:32 Why would someone aim to secure funds from an investor? 30:49 Karl's adventures starting BuySellJobs at age 15 33:07 Karl's adventures being the youngest-ever brand ambassador for Britain’s largest business conference, The Business Show 34:40 Founding RocketBlast Digital and how agencies should be fair with their clients 38:51 The role of a CMO (chief marketing officer) and steps to help a startup get noticed in the public 42:42 Karl co-founding Leapinto (non profit organization) with Kevin Mansell-Abell where they helped students with their career concerns by connecting them to industry professionals and opening their eyes to the real work world. 47:34 Karl's adventure managing The Watch Face, a watch oriented magazine which he managed from age 16 till 18 49:51 Karl's advice on how can someone market themselves online 52:47 Did growing up in different countries affects Karl's view on doing business? 55:23 Studying artificial intelligence + consideration of leaping into AI 56:59 Mental health question 01:01:38 Outro I really enjoyed recording this episode with Karl! If you are interested to connect with Karl then please consider following him on LinkedIn! LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/karlswa/   Karl's Website - https://karlswanepoel.com/about/ Video: https://youtu.be/FJ_aiSMxWPg Audio: https://podcast.reconfigured.co If you are interested to stay up to date with upcoming podcast episodes then consider subscribing to our newsletter! We release every Wednesday interesting articles and podcast episodes releases, available at https://www.reconfigured.co/newsletter Follow us on: Website: https://www.reconfigured.co Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/reconfiguredco Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reconfiguredco YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@reconfiguredco Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reconfiguredco LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/reconfiguredco/