Lost and Founded Series – Jeffrey Liu

Taking GuavaPass to new heights with the launch of GuavaPass Melbourne.

Jeffrey Liu, Co-Founder and CEO of GuavaPass, truly walks the talk. He’s a fitness enthusiast building a fitness startup and community, and who punches bags, does headstands, and peddles to the beat in high-energy spin classes while doing his job. Little wonder why his favourite movie is Rocky – it’s the perfect combination of grit, fitness, and dreaming big.

People say you are “Jeffrey Liu, Co-Founder and CEO of GuavaPass". Who do you say you are?

A fitness enthusiast looking to build an awesome community of healthy living.

Best moment in your startup life. It was so good you wanted to fly BusinessClass somewhere with someone, and pop open the most expensive bottle of champagne there.

Getting our first GuavaPass customer. It's the strangest feeling to see something you've thought about on a piece of napkin become a reality. I actually had butterflies when we launched on the first day and didn't know whether to be excited or fearful. I was probably both.

What secret did you hide from your co-founder or partner or parent for the longest time? Why?

I cry a lot in movies. It's quite opposite of the image of keeping it together I portray in other settings.

What's the most eccentric thing about you? If VCs found out, they wouldn't have signed the term sheet then. But hell with that now.

I really, really like fast, sporty cars. And skydiving.

Have you ever cried? Or what was the lowest, crappiest moment in your start-up life. You wanted to give up everything. You wanted to kill someone. (During your startup career of course) Tell us more!

See #3. The worst moment in my startup life was realizing we had to let go of a bunch of people the next day (this was at my previous startup). It was extremely hard walking around and looking them in the eye knowing what would happen the following day.

What are you up to today? What gets you up in the morning?

We are in the early innings of building a truly awesome company (GuavaPass) that will help consumers discover the best premium fitness studios in their city (Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Dubai, Melbourne, Sydney, Shanghai).

What we are doing is so interesting that I can't wait to wake up every morning to get started! It's fun interacting with our studio partners, customers, and working alongside a rock-star team where everyone is talented, fun, and supportive.

How do you keep yourself physically and mentally fit for start-up life?

Well... I do work at a fitness-oriented startup. We take group fitness classes as a team quite often, so although I work long hours, I get to punch bags, do headstands, and peddle to the beat in high-energy spin classes as part of my job. I actually get really fit from doing my job!

Offer a life hack (or two) to a young founder.

You can do so much more with just a simple 20-minute nap (but no more than that). It beats coffee, taking supplements, and just about anything out there. We have a guava green bean bag so you can nap in the office...

Movie or song that best describes you.

Rocky.

I will never look anything like him! But the movie is about dreaming big and going the distance... what I feel everyday on my journey in life.

Favourite quote.

Stay hungry. Stay Foolish.

- Steve Jobs

Who and what inspires you?

Elon Musk.

He could have retired after selling PayPal. Yet, he decided to build Tesla and SpaceX and almost went broke when he bet his entire life savings to turn both around. The rest is history. His passion and dedication to his causes are extremely remarkable. He makes the impossible possible.

Tell me about Jeffrey Liu in 2030.

Taking a trip to the moon? Who knows!

The world keeps getting more and more interesting. I see myself tackling really interesting world problems while also spending time with family. And perhaps I would be known as Professor Liu somewhere...