From 3 Near-Bankruptcies to $4M Investment and Blooming in The US In-Game Advertising Market with Andris Merkulovs, CEO of Monetizr

Having $87 in bank account while being in San Francisco with one mission - figure out overnight how to get money and survive. Years later, Monetizr has raised $4M from “Change Venture”, “Ludus Ventures”, "Techstars,” and multiple angel investors. This is a story of fighting for survival as a unique startup, finally seeing some signals and taking over the US In-Game advertising market, life changing leadership lessons, and the meaning of work-life balance for CEO of Monetizr, Andris Merkulovs. Overview of the topics: 00:31 Welcome CEO of Monetizr Andris Merkulovs 01:07 What is Monetizr? 2:30 Figuring out how to survive 5:19 Figuring out why to survive 7:18 Co-founder dynamics 9:10 Back to basics - talk with customers! 9:51 It is okay to feel tired 10:28 Pushing up the hill, vision 12:18 Using investors to open the doors 15:16 Importance of using your resources efficiently 18:37 How to make decisions that lead you to your goal 22:00 Communication, Collaboration and Leadership 27:57 Changing leadership within the company 29:36 Growing as a leader - Smartest person in the room 35:56 Sharing experience: Startups and potential of accelerators 38:46 Importance of mentorship and Cocoon Program 40:25 Being a better husband 41:26 Work-life balance 44:18 Why choose Monetizr? 46:15 Having a heart in what you are doing Welcome to Inner Power Particles podcast. Here we talk with entrepreneurs and leaders about their challenges and lessons learned to improve their inner strength. We do this to share their journey and knowledge with you so that you can improve as a leader and a person. Resources: To learn more useful tools for CEOs and C-level managers ➡️ ⁠https://www.cocoonprogram.com/resources⁠ Follow Andris Merkulovs CEO of Monetizr ➡️ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrismerkulovs/ Follow Farhad Niyoz CEO of Cocoon Program ➡️ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/farhadniyoz/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/farhadniyoz/ X: https://twitter.com/FarhadNiyoz