Do not worry so much about the future, you just have to focus on the tasks you have in front of you.
David grew up in the south of Venezuela. Near the amazon and the Angel Falls the highest waterfall in the world. He founded in 2011 what it is today the biggest fitness community for latin America and Spain.
He is an IT engineer and SEO Expert. And he currently splits his time between FullMusculo and SEO for startups.
Where did the idea for FullMusculo come from?
The idea for FullMusculo came to me after I finished my IT degree. I didn’t want to work for some else so I was decided to start something by myself.
I was frustrated because I had no money. But I realized I had a playstation 3 was not using anymore. So that’s when I decided to sell it an get a bit of money.
But I wasn’t sure of what to do with the money.
A few weeks later when I was trying to buy some sports supplements I realized that nobody was selling them on the internet. Well to be honest, just one awful website was doing it.
What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?
Days are not too long for me because I usually sleep a lot, at least 9 hours.
I am usually up at 9:30 am and have breakfast if I am not fasting. After that I sit in front of my laptop and start answering emails and checking some analytics for the site.
Then after midday I eat my lunch. Then head to the office, coworking or coffee shop for 4-5 hours of nonstop working from my PC.
After I am done with the coffees and my computer screen I go out to walk and head to the gym for a couple of hours.
And I make my day productive by making a list for all the things I should accomplish for that day and that week.
How do you bring ideas to life?
First step: I walk. This is where I usually get most of my ideas: walking.
Then I write them down, prioritize and execute them in order.
There is nothing glamourous about it, is just a list with things I should do with my team.
For me the easy part is to come up with the idea and then the hardest part is to bringing that idea to life.
What’s one trend that excites you?
In the SEO space I think the increase of voice search is really exciting because is changing everything we know about search engine optimization.
Just think about new generations where their searches will be done entirely with their voice. And then you think: how in hell are we going to monetize our sites if everything it saying by some robot voice: Alexa, Siri or google home.
And startups should adapt to these changes.
What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?
Stop worrying. Every time I have stop worrying about something magic happens. Don’t know why but ideas start to flow when I stop worrying about a subject.
What advice would you give your younger self?
This is related with the above. Do not worry so much about the future, you just have to focus on the tasks you have in front of you.
Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.
I don’t think you need money or a plan to start a business. I started without money and without a plan.
The constantly changing world will make you to adjust and change your path a lot. It will force you think of new ways of selling, sharing and creating content/products/services or whatever you are monetizing.
As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?
Work, just work. Motivation and creativity will not appear while you are sitting on your coach at your parent’s home.
You just need to keep moving forward and you will find out somehow a long the way. Eventually you get somewhere and you will need to start again the entire process. But never stay sited on the couch waiting for something to happen.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?
Collaboration. If you think the other brands and companies are your competitors you are probably screwed.
If you hold hands and start collaborating you will reach your goals faster.
What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?
After a few years selling sport supplements the economy started to change in my country. So i went bankrupt. I was left with no money and no business.
And was then when I decided to start a community instead just an online store.
Four years later FullMusculo is the biggest fitness community for latin America and Spain.
What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?
One business idea? The idea is nothing. Even a child could have an awesome idea. The difference is in the work you are willing to put in.
What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?
$16 on new headphones. $29 on new socks, shorts and t-shirts. And $1.99 buying the kindle book version of Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu.
What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive? How do you use it?
SEMRush and AHRef because both help me to study my and my clients sites.
What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?
I thing you should start reading Tim Ferris 4 hour’s work week if you want to start your own business.
What is your favorite quote?
It’s About What You Have, Not What You’re Going to Get
Do not focus on the things you are going to get because you might lose what you have.
Key learnings:
• Just focus on working every day.
• Do not celebrate and congratulate yourself too much.
• Enjoy what you have right now.
• Do not wait for the perfect plan to start.
Connect:
David Deponte on LinkedIn:
Carlyn runs the day-to-day publishing operation here at ideamensch and interacts with our awesome customers and entrepreneurs. She is likely editing this with a cat on her lap.