Your Happy Hour - May I Motivate

Episode Date: May 8, 2026

In this episode, we introduce our new theme for the month - "May I Motivate" and we chat with Justin Anderson - New York-based investor and advisor in early-stage high growth companies who shares his inspiring journey from his own entrepreneurship to empowering authentic entrepreneurial community. He also reminded us of the importance of finding the right motivation, cultivating practical habits, tuning out the noise and building effective methods to success and to embrace and celebrate any “failure” along the way.The Feels is all about having those honest conversations, the power of community for personal growth and taking those actionable steps towards being our authentic selves.Thanks for tuning in! Keep it raw and real out there xYHH is produced by swartkat.co - captured via riverside.fm & shared via rss.com.

It's the Friday feels and we're back with your first sip of the weekend. You're now tuned in to this week's episode of your happy hour. I'm your host Nicole Carmine and it's amazing to have you here. Joining me this week as we uncover the truths about being a human and a working professional. What are you up to this Friday? Well, whatever it is, this moment is just for you. Welcome back to another episode on the Fields podcast. We are now in the month of May.

And that means a new theme, a new theme that is called May I Motivates. And I think it's a really important topic to talk about motivation and how we end up allowing ourselves, giving ourselves permission to do things in the world. and what that means for us in terms of achievement. We've spoken a lot about this in different ways already this year. And just to take a moment to say, how is it possible that we're already in May? I cannot believe it. This year is just flying by.

And today I have such a privilege to welcome someone to kickstart this journey of this theme with us. And it's taking me back to my days in New York, where this podcast actually started the concept of it. And a big, big welcome to you, Justin Anderson, to the field space and your happy hour podcast. It's really great to have you here. I met you at a rooftop party in New York one day, and here we are.

So it feels like a lifetime ago. Yeah, it's incredible. I mean, really, it's great to be here. It's great to be with you on the podcast today. I'm excited. Yeah, thanks for sharing here. And I want to give it like a quick update of, I know you've had such an incredible life. And I think you can tell your story better than I can.

But I mean, you've been an investor, you've been an advisor, you've worked with so many like early stage companies helping them grow. You're working at Solidia, if I'm saying it correctly now, for many years. And I know you've also kind of just worked across a diversity of companies. and industries, which is super interesting. And also, a lot of them being like Fortune 500 clients, which I can imagine is really been quite exciting. So maybe just take us a little bit through, like, how did you become who you are today and what you're doing?

And, yeah, what's the journey then? That is a great way to start, I guess. So, you know, I've had, as you mentioned, a very career, but it's all really been centered around entrepreneurship ever since I could remember. You know, I was a very much an early entrepreneur, an annoying kid who was enterprising, looking to, you know, figure out a way to sell something or build something. But, you know, I guess I'll pick up in high school where, you know, I was, you know,

not to date myself too much, but this was kind of a wild wild west or the long tail of proliferation of websites. And so I was doing a lot of web development way back in the day. So I built this a little bit of an empire and went to a really great college. And while I was in college, it was a really great school known for finance. So everyone around me was going to investment banking. I knew as an entrepreneur at heart, but I'm like, you know what, let me see what this fuss is about. So, you know, I had the privilege of spending a couple of summers working on Wall Street, which was great.

Because sometimes the best, you know, career advice you can get in lieu of finding something that you really, really enjoy is finding something that you don't enjoy. And I would put that those summers of investment banking. Not that, you know, the people I met were incredible. It's a really dynamic industry. And there's certainly people who I know are dynamic bankers. But it just wasn't really putting me in the position to leverage my skill set. And I just had this bug of entrepreneurship. I wanted to build something. So, you know, here comes my senior year. And I'm thinking through, all right, you know, I could go back to Wall Street. street or do I want to do something else. And a consulting company, a boutique shop in New York

called Aquis Consulting Group, was doing some on-campus recruiting. And there was an opportunity to be kind of on the ground floor of Saladio where I'm at today. And so I thought about it for a minute. And I realized this was kind of a natural fit for me. It was an opportunity that was right at the intersection of finance and entrepreneurship. That's venture capital. And I think that, you know, for me, you know, this was well before, you know, startup culture had become so mainstream. So this was something that, you know, I had studied in school, but was generally, genuinely curious and passionate to, you know, really explore this industry. So that kind of fueled it. But I didn't really start on the investing side, to your points before, about the various nature of my career.

I did start on the consulting side, which gave me a lot of opportunity to do a lot of traveling, to work within a lot of large Fortune 500 companies, really understanding how strategic decisions are made from the top down in a lot of different industries. And during that time, it was a very dynamic time in the economy. So between 2008 and we'll call it 2010. And so you get to see a lot. And at the same time, the startup ecosystem in New York was really starting to bloom. And we were able to take advantage and start to really build community and culture, which is something that is important to me personally. And so I've just been in a position where, you know, for the last 18 years,

I have fresh challenges in areas that I'm passionate about. And, you know, as I look back and, you know, I was thinking at the time, these decisions weren't as obvious to me as they were, as they are right now. And, you know, obviously, I think it's an experience that really helps me today and the work that, you know, I spend my time with now. It's amazing. I love how you just kind of, like, followed the open doors. We were talking to a guest recently, and she was talking about, like,

open, follow the open cracks, you know, and it's like, when you do that and what life presents you at the time and if it aligns for you, then it's great that it's kind of led to this, this journey that you, that you've been on. So what does the theme mean to you? Like, may I motivate in your journey? What does motivation kind of look back for you? Yeah, you know, it's interesting, you know, to me, there's a few things that are important that motivate me. One, I just, I have, my own personal mantras and one that I truly believe is how you do anything is how you do everything. And so, you know, there are times where, you know, I, you know, much rather not take the late meeting or, you know, get up early to take the early flight to meet with the founder who this is the only

time they can meet. But it's not, it doesn't align with like my, just my standard, my way of doing. Like if someone were to say, you know, I work with Justin, that should mean something. At least to me it does. And so I try to be motivated by, you know, delivering, you know, as much of myself as I can't in, you know, the conversations and the work that I do, which is great. But, you know, I also, it's not that I have anything to prove, but I'm in this pursuit of wisdom, if that makes sense. And it sounds kind of ethereal, but, you know, it's really, for me, it's been like this journey of understanding that, like, you know, you learn more in failure. You, sometimes, you know, when you're on a hot streak, let's say, and everything seems to be working, that can also be just as scary is, you know, when things aren't going well. And so you try to, over time, I frame that out of, you know, just the scoreboard of when.

and losing. And it's me more about, am I, is the method right? Am I doing the right things? And that's what motivates me. It's perfecting, you know, the method. And so, you know, that's, you know, it's a journey. Obviously, as, you know, AI and a lot of technology is keeping these challenges fresh, certainly. But, you know, that's a big piece of what drives me. And then, you know, one last thing I'll say, which is kind of an overarching bit of recent motivation is my daughter. My wife and I welcomed into the world. I think it's a whole different ballgame when you start thinking more about legacy. And I'm not old enough where that's at the forefront of my mind.

But I'm literally looking into the eyes of my legacy and that motivates you. And so I'm learning a lot about how profound that motivation. is, but it is, it is a joy. It is definitely a joy, fatherhood. I love, I love that. And congratulations on your new daughter. And I can only imagine what that must feel like, you know, it's definitely it, yeah, it changes how you probably take each step in the world and how you make your decisions. But I really like what you said about method, because that's a word that I don't often think about. in this context, you know, a lot of, it feels very practical and it's so, as much as it is ethereal, like you mentioned, you know, and as much as a lot of what motivates us is divine kind of

guidance in some way and talks to the softer things, I think there's a very practical way about approaching life that aligns to you. So I really like that you, that you mentioned that. and what's kind of like been your, do you have things that you, like you said, your mantra is like your motivations that you talk to yourself to cultivate that method? Like what does that look like when you build the method? That's a great question. I mean, I think, you know, again, I tend to lean more into the pragmatic or the practical. And for me, it's about solid habits. And I don't mean, you know, certainly folks have routines and things. But I mean habits, how you train your thinking, you know, how you examine problems, how you respond to adversity. Those are, those type of habits,

I think, is what really trains, you know, outcomes to be more aligned with the effort. You know, for me, it's, you know, I, I try to consume a lot of knowledge. I, you know, I try to, you know, learn from, you know, folks who have really done what I do well and, you know, really try to draw in from folks' experiences. But, you know, there's a lot to be learned from listening and paying attention. And I think in a world where there's a lot of noise and you're constantly trying to, you know, drink from a fire hose, if you will, it's like, You know, how, you can't just be a consumer. You have to start to think for yourself and define a unique perspective on how you live your life.

And that's something that I think it's hard to do, it sounds so like normal and obvious, but it's hard to do when you're constantly fed, you know, noise. And so, you know, training your habits, you know, training your thinking, you know, those are things that I think really help, at least for me, my focus and keeping, you know, the tenacity. I think there's so much noise these days. I mean, maybe I'm also dating myself, but I didn't grow up with social media either.

And so it's like, you know, you have to kind of adjust now to the way it's not like you're just buying the newspaper when you want to. It's there. You know, you can open that, I guess, or not. But I want to zone into what you were saying about listening. I'm sure you're such an amazing listener

Because when you're working with startup and in venture capital and people who are building something, you really have to kind of hear what it is that they're needing or wanting to do. And I guess going from idea to being in the world and building that successfully, like, what does that look like? And what motivates those people that you've worked with in startup? Because that's, I mean, I think everyone who's going to be listening is we're like, please just tell us how do we build venture capital for our businesses, you know? That is, no, that's a fantastic question.

I think, you know, listening is truly a complex skill, if done well. And when I'm listening to, you know, let's say a pitch from a startup or, you know, listening to a founder kind of talk through a challenge, I'm not just listening to the words. I'm also paying attention to how they're communicating, you know, and what they're telling me, what they're not telling me. And those things kind of help inform, you know, my approach. And, you know, I think the tough part or the nuanced part, particularly in a lot of the work that I do, you know, I used to describe it in kind of this way. It's getting people to do that thing that they don't want to do.

And so to do that, it's not just hearing, you know, what someone's issue is or challenge or, you know, what they're trying to solve. it's also understanding what's important to them and communicating that goal back to them in a way that aligns, you know, whatever my feedback's going to be. So it comes from this place of, I heard you. I know why you're saying what you're saying, or at least I think I do. And this is what's leading me to my thought. And I think a lot of times, particularly in, you know, venture capital, there isn't the right type of feedback. a lot of investors don't really care to match the energy, for lack of a better word.

You know, it's more so, hey, you know, it's not a fit, you know, it is a fit or whatever. And so, you know, actively listening, you know, paying attention to those cues, I think helps me communicate more authentically, I should say, with our founders and generally. Yeah, yeah, that makes sense. And I think that's also what I felt with you. I remember the first time, and only time we've made in person. I shared a lot of my entrepreneurial ideas with you at the time, that they were so fresh, and I didn't really know what I was doing.

I just lost my job, so I was figuring out life. But I felt like you were really listening, you know, to what I was saying, and I really appreciated that. And it's those kind of moments that make you feel empowered as an entrepreneur, too, you know, to be able to go do the things that you want to do in the world. But I love what you were saying about, like the things that you're saying about, like the things that you don't say because I think there's so much in entrepreneurship that you have to do but you don't want to and it's just it's so hard to get your mind around that

and then get motivated to do those things but but if you get it right if the right wording and structure and motivation for lack of a better word is there you will do them with a joy of full heart you know because it's part of a journey so I think that's such of critical job that you have in getting more and more startups out there. And what's been like the biggest challenge for you and what you see in your work and getting through that? You know, this is something I've been talking about lately, even among my peers as investors. What's kind of tough, particularly in the venture capital business, it's one of the few

businesses where failure is a part of the model where, you know, if I'm going to make 100 bets, 80 of those are going to fail. And I'm writing that check, you know, smiling in the eyes of the founder, hoping they succeed, but knowing, you know, the odds are against them. And it's, you know, there's that piece, but there's also, then the work that I'm doing is failing, you know, and connecting some bit of acceptance of you are failing 80% of the time, but you should be winning at least, you know, 20 to, or, you know, we'll say 10 to 20% of the time as well. And so, you know, that, that for people, you know, maybe like me who are kind of type A and very, you know, don't like to lose, competitive, you know, things like that, that took some time for me. You know, I'm, every time I'm

investing, I'm expecting, you know, great things. things from this portfolio. Obviously, I know they can't all be, you know, winners in the home run sense, but I am expecting founders to deliver on, you know, what they say they're going to deliver on. And I think the tough part is sometimes, you know, you're doing everything right, you know, you're working with the right folks, you know, you've tested your thesis, and, you know, the market humbles you. And that's, that feedback. loop, I think is really, you know, again, it's humbling. But what I, I guess what I've started to really enjoy about it is seeing the response, seeing founders, you know, have that, you know,

this is one of the more, you know, I'll pick my words here, traumatic experiences a founder can go through is pivoting, you know, severely or shutting down a business. And I think it's even more, you know, courageous for them to turn around, give me another call and say, hey, I need to write another check and the next thing I'm doing. But I love it. To me, it's like you're either insane or brilliant or both. And, you know, there's still a lot for us to learn. So that's been the hardest part is just reconciling, you know, failure as this concept of, you know, not winning. But really, it's just part of the journey. I'm really needing to hear these words today, so thank you.

It's definitely one of the hardest things I've tackled, and I think all entrepreneurs will feel this. And I think it's often the type A people who do go into being a leader and entrepreneur and all of that, and then that's like really hard to accept that, you know, you have to pivot, you have to make changes. But often those are for the better. And I love that you love what you do.

Like I feel like it's such a blessing because, you know, a lot of people won't face with these kind of hardships in work. We'll kind of walk away from that. But you're passionate about that, you know, and that's what drives you as well in your life. So I really, I think the startups that you're working with are obviously very privileged to have you on their side because I don't know if anyone will write a second check.

So that's really, it's amazing. Yeah, I know. I appreciate that. I think, you know, building a business is hard. And I think a lot of founders, what's really tough, even going back to the noise conversation is, you know, if you're a founder, you feel like you're constantly bombarded with, oh, so-and-so's round is closed, or this company got acquired,

or all this seemingly success. But what I tell founders is, you're seeing the headline. You're not seeing the years and years. years of the failures, the pivots, the, you know, tough conversations, the missed payrolls, you know, whatever it was that was part of that journey. Or in a lot of cases, you're not, you know, what you're missing is that the guy who runs that fund is this founder's uncle or, you know, there's some other context that, you know, it's not, you just, you don't fully get it.

And so, you know, I tell my founders to run your race, you know, make sure that you are focused on what you can control. and, you know, the market will tell you. And, you know, if we, again, if you perfect the method, then, you know, eventually the outcomes will show up. That's so true. And, you know, comparison is, like you were saying, like it's the worst thing you can do really for yourself.

And then a lot of people are motivated by that, but I don't know if that's a lasting, sustainable motivation in any way, you know. It's a slippery slope. And I think for a lot of founders, who are driven by competition, I think that's healthy. But if you're driven by envy, that's dangerous. And so, you know, I think for some founders, you know, there's a really easy gut check in terms of what's motivating your decisions.

That's an emotion that I think as a founder you really can't afford to not have in check. Yeah, that's true. It's like really going back to why you started, what you started, and loving that along the journey. so otherwise you will quit quite easily I'm sure like you say that it will it will burn the candle will burn out and that's it yeah and that's okay and that's okay you know there's tons of opportunities out there yeah 100% and I want to take a quick moment to to talk about you know the things that we they motivate us and have gratitude for that and we have a little section called the gems which we do each week

And it's just a moment to say, like you were saying now, the things that we feel alignment with, or maybe that's happened in your week that you're like, oh, I learned something from it, or I want to celebrate this. And for me, it's been, wow, it's been quite a week of unexpected changes and surprises in so many ways, of things just kind of like ending, you know, leaving my life. And for the best, I find that often universities, It's a bit like when I met you and I lost my job. You know, it's kind of little things like that happen now.

And it always aligns you back to the path you're meant to be on. And they're a little bit like mirrors to you in terms of where you're at. So that's kind of been a dream for me this week. It's just accepting that again and seeing that, you know, these things are never negative. They just gifts along the way. So, yeah. What about for you?

What's happened in your week? As I was thinking through kind of my week on a few things, I had some perspective of a very good friend of mine who's a wheelchair user, but recently, he's actually one of my very best friends. He had an accident recently. But, you know, we've been busy and, you know, life and all that. But we went out to catch a comedy show that featured disabled comedians. And, you know, the show was funny, and it was great, it was good hanging out with him and catching up. But what really stood with me was that room was the most inclusive room I think I'd ever been in New York. And what I mean is there was a community of folks who all seemed to know each other,

who all had a shared appreciation for the arts and comedy. I just, I was completely taken aback by like, I did not realize that, you know, you've got these comedians who are, you know, making light of all different aspects of living in New York and all this. But also, like, folks who are in various degrees of, you know, disability or ability, all kind of enjoying this. I'm like, wow, you don't, this is like a rare experience that you don't really see. and you know you give this feeling you know I walk in rooms and I'm like how does the business work here how do these things work and I there's one room I was like this is complete alignment like this is complete like there is community there's purpose there's a mission there's commerce which is important and and it's a community that I don't think gets a lot of you know mainstream focus or attention and so

it all kind of took me back and I felt It was one of those moments, and I'm sure you had many when you were living in New York, like, wow, this is such a dynamic city. You know, it's only in New York that you get moments like this. So had a great time. And that kind of seemed to me was that, wow, there's still real authentic community, despite all the, you know, social media noise and all that. So you need those reminders, you know, not enough people really interact in public with strangers.

And I actually do think that as, you know, something we all. can do a little bit better, you know, to help, you know, engender more community. But I digress that. That's what's stuck with me for the last week. No, no, you're not digressing. It's very on point, and it's very much up the fields alley, because exactly that is what we're building as authentic working community. Whatever working might mean to anyone, you know, out there in the world.

And I love that. I think that's amazing. And more of that in the world. I mean, there's a lot of art here in Paris, but I've never actually seen that either. You're right, New York is just full of surprises. That's amazing that you had that. Thank you for sharing.

And I also want to give a little shout-out on that point to a people place from space that has the fields. And we always do this every week. And I'm going to do something a little different this week. And it's not a person, it's not a place or a space, but it's a being. And I want to give a little shout-out to my dog, Gracie. and she does have her Instagram account, which is very inactive, but we can tag her. But she's just such behind-the-scenes motivation for all of this.

And she has taught me so much about, you know, getting up every day and being motivated to, like, be joyful and to live life fully. So, oh, feeling emotional, just mentioning her. But I guess it's a bit of how you look at your daughter. So she's a bit like that for me. But yeah, she needs a shout-out. She has so many beautiful fields. And she has seen all the podcasts. Every time I have a podcast, I say, I'm going to do a recording.

And then she goes into the room. She understands, you know. So she's a big part of this community. And I hope to take her to more fields events here in Paris and other places around the world as we travel. A big shout-out to her. And then I also want to do a quick shout-out to our partners. who help us along this journey and make this possible, and that is RSS.com,

who are just a beaeders in the world, and they've also given our audience a beautiful discount. If you are interested in creating a podcast and sharing it, you can let us know, as well as Blender Bums, which is relevant for you, Justin, as you're traveling and might need some nutritious snacks in the US, they more US base,

but they have amazing snacks, and they've also given our audience a 20% discount when you order with the fields. And very lastly, BNE SIM, which is the best network ever SIM, that I've been using since I started traveling really, and it's been a life-changing travel sim that's around the world.

So reach out to us to learn more about the discounts with them. Thank you so much, guys, for making this journey possible. And then I have one last question for you. And that is, what is in your stack? So that's our reading list. And every week we ask someone for some book recommendations. And the stack is available on the website if you want to go check out the other guest recommendations.

Maybe it's a book that you haven't read or that you've read and loved and you'd like to recommend. So yeah. Yeah, I mean, it's a great question. I've been, I usually actually read a lot of autobiographies or like, you know, stories of biographies on people's lives, people that I admire or, you know, have faced interesting challenges. But I'm not going to recommend any of those. I feel like that's just my niche. But one book I actually just finished a couple of weeks ago.

That was really interesting for me. And I actually really allowed on, like, comparison, thinking, and, you know, really running your own race in terms of, you know, spending money on things that make you happy. it's this book called The Art of Spending Money. And it's a really insightful book. I can get you the author, but he's done a few really great books as well. And so the book is really about, you know, thinking about the psychology behind spending money.

As a matter of fact, the author wrote the psychology of money. His name is escaping me right now, but I'll get it to you. But it's a really great book. that really helps you think about why you make the decisions. And it's not about, you know, what you're buying, but why? You know, why you buy the things you buy? And so for me, it was kind of really interesting to read a book like that because it talks really more so about recognizing your motivations, your emotions,

and what drives you to spend money. And I learned a lot even about myself in that book. I'd recommend it, definitely. Amazing. I love it. I definitely want to read that one. I'm adding that to my now very growing stuck as well. Thank you for recommending that.

And yeah, for everyone listening out there, I wonder what you're feeling about motivation and what's that bringing up for you, you know? Where are you being feeling motivated or not? What pivots do you need to make in your life? And it's okay if you have to be open to that. And just a huge thank you to you, Justin, for coming on and sharing so openly about your life.

journey and about what motivates you and everything that you were able to share with open heart today. I really, really appreciate it. It's been so lovely to catch up with you again. This is great. Nicole. Thank you for having me. If you haven't just yet, follow Friday Fields on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and LinkedIn. You can share with us all your feels this week by tagging us at Fridayfeels.com. And you can also find the website at that handle. And now, as you ease into this weekend, take a moment. Celebrate who you've become, what you've overcome, and what is yet to come as you do the crazy and cool things that you do as the authentic you.

You know, the truth about life and work is that it's hard. But the beauty is this global working experience that you're in while we are not together. So keep connecting. empowering and inspiring this week. And of course, keep it raw and real. Until next time.