Michael Liu

Founder 👾 Community Builder | Director @Aceocial | Chair @TorontoTechFest

[Michael Liu @truestselfML]

@andruyeung Would love to chat more on this @andruyeung

[Michael Liu @truestselfML]

@frankt002 This is awesome!! 🙋‍♂️

[Michael Liu @truestselfML]

And for my founder friends based in NYC, I have a piece of advice: don't just take our word for it, the proof is in the pudding. Head on down to 23 W. 20th St., bring a friend or two, and don't forget your swim wear 🩳👙. You won't regret it.

[Michael Liu @truestselfML]

For my Toronto friends, share here your own Othership experiences 🔥🧊👇

[Michael Liu @truestselfML]

On this third year of hosting our annual @othership_us event for the startup community around @CollisionHQ I want to show my thanks and appreciation to Robbie for his continued kindness and inspiration.

[Michael Liu @truestselfML]

What does it mean to be resilient?

In the late 2000s, a burnt out banker shot his shot and built his first startup. He received support from his family and his friends and grew the company to 100 people. Then things took a turn for the worst.

[Michael Liu @truestselfML]

What's most incredible is that through it all he has remained humble, community focused, and always willing to lend a hand.

[Michael Liu @truestselfML]

In just three short years, I have borne witness to his journey: from his first sauna/ice bath in Toronto, to the success of his breathwork app, to now three physical locations with an international reach.

[Michael Liu @truestselfML]

This was in 2021 when I first meet the incredible @robbiebent1 through the @beondeck program.

[Michael Liu @truestselfML]

He had dreams of opening up his first physical space, building a mindfulness app, and fostering a bustling community of wellness minded people who help each other become healthier and happier together.

[Michael Liu @truestselfML]

In just 8 weeks his Whatsapp group 5x-ed from 200 to 1000 people, investors were clamoring to help support him.

[Michael Liu @truestselfML]

This got so popular that soon he started hosting ice baths in his backyard for his friends, bootstrapped his garage into a bath, sauna, tea lounge, and built a thriving community of enthusiasts who started dropping into his classes on a nightly basis.

[Michael Liu @truestselfML]

Sometimes it's not the hand that you're dealt, but what you do afterwards that matters. Instead of giving up, he picked himself back up, took up meditation, moved to San Francisco, and started teaching meditation to others at conferences in the morning while working a day job.

[Michael Liu @truestselfML]

The business was in rough shape. He lived in terror of letting down those who trusted and invested in him the most.

And then it happened: the business failed.

Those things that were the most precious to him, credibility and success, were gone. He had hit rock bottom...

[Michael Liu @truestselfML]

writing a startup starter guide to TO with Yoran Beisher,

covering:
- key people
- events
- communities
- workspaces
- startup programs
- active VCs
- housing

comment below any persons/orgs/info that should be included in this guide (contributors get shoutouts) 👇

[Frank Chen @frankt002]

Any creators in Toronto want to hang out in a cool spaceship escape room?

Hosting one this Sunday, @aceocial is covering the cost, free to attend.

DM me or comment if you are interested!

[Michael Liu @truestselfML]

Sometimes when you take venture dollars...

Create $80B in value -> gets fired 🤔

But in all seriousness, @sama is amazing. Wherever he goes from here, that will be the next powerhouse!

[Eric Lay @itsericlay]

toronto rooftop power pitch🏠

@aceocial is hosting a proptech event @chezlavelle

We're packing the space with real estate professionals, developers, proptech founders, and proptech investors, come join us🤞

🗓️8pm, thurs, nov 9th

[Michael Liu @truestselfML]

@ELVEricLay @aceocial @ChezLavelle This is going to be awesome!

[Michael Liu @truestselfML]

@floguo Don't change! If you start filtering the first draft, you'll lose all the best bits.