Pangolia / Hepper
At 19 years old, Simon Treulle heard about an SEO conference happening in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Rather than dismiss the idea as impractical, he made a bold decision: he bought a plane ticket and left his home city in Denmark to immerse himself in a community of entrepreneurs. This single decision to prioritize being around the right people would become foundational to his eventual success.
In Chiang Mai, Simon found himself surrounded by mentors and friends who weren't afraid to give him tough love. Early in his time there, he was invited to a Korean barbecue with two of his good friends. What should have been a casual meal turned into a critical business intervention. "They pretty much grilled me on my business," Simon recalls. "Because my business was pretty much failing at that point."
Simon's friends didn't sugarcoat the problems—they confronted him directly about his strategy. "They were like, 'Hey, why are you overpaying for content? Or why are you doing it this way?'" The feedback was hard to hear. Simon had already spent a couple of years working on online marketing and content strategies, and being told his approach wasn't the path to success was difficult to swallow. "I was super overwhelmed," he admits. "I've been working for a couple of years on this online marketing and content stuff and here I am sort of being told that what I do is not really the way to get success with it."
Despite the sting of the criticism, Simon listened. The mentorship and accountability from his Chiang Mai circle proved instrumental to his growth. Today, Simon has built a team of over a hundred people and operates multiple successful businesses including Pangolia (a digital media site) and Hepper (an e-commerce pet furniture brand). He attributes much of this success not to a single breakthrough idea or tactic, but to the decision he made at 19 to surround himself with people who could challenge him and push him toward better strategies.
- •Simon's willingness to physically relocate to be near experienced entrepreneurs gave him access to real-time, honest feedback that corrected his failing strategy before it consumed more resources.
- •The tough love from his peer circle forced him to abandon expensive, ineffective tactics (overpaying for content) and pivot to more efficient approaches, directly improving his business unit economics.
- •Building businesses in a tight-knit community meant he had immediate accountability and mentorship, reducing the trial-and-error cycle that typically slows early-stage founders.
- •His commitment to community over isolation meant he could scale from one failed venture to operating multiple successful companies (Pangolia and Hepper with 100+ employees) by learning from others' playbooks.
- 1.Identify a geographic hub or online community where people in your target domain congregate, then commit to spending significant time there in person or actively engaging before launching your startup.
- 2.Deliberately seek out 2-3 people ahead of you in your field and invite them to regular check-ins (weekly meals, monthly reviews) where you explicitly ask for critical feedback on your strategy and spending decisions.
- 3.When you receive harsh criticism about your approach, treat it as a data point requiring immediate pivot rather than a reason to defend your current path—document the specific feedback and test alternatives within 2 weeks.
- 4.Once you stabilize one business, use the relationships and credibility built in your community to launch adjacent ventures, rather than starting from scratch in new communities.
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