You probably know Ryan Van as the growth marketing, startup legend and one of the faces of Earlywork.

But I know him as a friend well-versed in all forms of EDM (hardstyle, trance and email too).

He’s helped startups go from 0-1, done sales for Sydney FC, founded The Marketing Insider (blog + podcast) and helped scale Earlywork’s annual revenue from $0 to over $1 mil.

Yet he’s one of the most generous, genuine and fun people that you’ll meet.

I had a blast chatting to him about entrepreneurship, lifelong mindsets and transforming lives at Earlywork.

Catch the full Q&A below.

Q&A

Though you’ve worked in plenty of different industries, I noticed the roles always have something to do with growth. Where did your passion for growth start, and what’s the most surprising learning regarding growth that you’ve experienced?

To answer this question, you first have to understand how I perceive passion is started. 

As for growth, my “passion” only really started in the field when we were getting Earlywork Academy off the ground – when I had around 2-3 years of growth experience under my belt.

Up until then, I was undecided if I wanted to specialise in growth as a skill set but what tipped me over was the positive feedback loop I got from acquiring our first students in our Tech Sales School.

As for my most surprising learning? 

It’d definitely be that growth is simple when you think about it in first principles. 

Who is your target customer? What do they care about? How do I reach them?

That’s it.

I no longer consume much content on different frameworks or fancy hacks because they tend to cloud my judgement – simply learn by doing.

Remember, the art of growing a business has been around for centuries, not just in the last 20 years.

What compelled you to start The Marketing Insider, and what was the impact on yourself and the marketing community from creating the podcast and blog?

I started The Marketing Insider towards the end of 2020. 

I was working a part-time role in marketing at a startup and was underloading on university.

The combination of that + the ongoing lockdowns meant that I had some time on my hands.

So, I started The Marketing Insider as a tool to network with other folks in the marketing space (as I was still undecided on the industry) whilst sharpening my skills in building a newsletter, podcast and website from scratch.

As for impact on myself, it opened my eyes to what marketers were doing across a myriad of industries.

As for impact on the marketing community, I’m not too sure if it did too much hahhahaha.

Could you describe some of the most transformative experiences you’ve helped people achieve through Earlywork, and the impact it’s had on you as a result?

For a bit more context, Earlywork is Australia’s first tech sales school.

Myself and three friends started the company in late 2022.

Since then:

• We’ve helped 100+ fellows into software sales roles from uni grads to truck drivers

• Raised a $1.5M VC Round

• Grown to a team of 9 amazing human beings

• Moved into our first ever office (bye bye WeWork)

Most transformative experiences:

For anonymity, I’ll remove the names but keep the companies the same.

Story 1: From Physio with no business degree to global software company with paid onboarding in New York

Story 2: From social housing to first family member in a full time corporate role

Story 3: From freelance photographer to role at a global software company & making friends that he’d end up inviting to his wedding!

Check out our Wall of Love if you’d like to see the stories of 100+ other fellows.

What’s a dream you had as a child that has stayed with you to this day?

What were early barriers to pursuing your biggest dreams, internal or external? What mindsets, habits and strategies helped you overcome them?

From my experience, the biggest barrier is not acting on your curiosities for the fear of what the people close to you will think.

I’ve discovered that this is often the underlying reason why people don’t pursue their dreams (assuming they have the necessary privilege and resources to do so).

It’s natural for this to happen because as humans we crave belonging, and straying from the beaten path leads to potential alienation from your current friends.

How to overcome this?

Change your mindset.

Chase what you’re curious about by yourself and the right people who are at a similar life stage will come into your life.

If you could capture the attention of every single person for thirty seconds, what would you say?

Live a life that makes you fulfilled.

Take the time to understand what makes you fulfilled.

Is it money? Is it being active? Is it having a successful career?

Only you know the answer, and there’s no right or wrong answer.

Society is always espousing that having a successful career is the key to a fulfilling life, but many folks haven’t had enough introspection to understand that it actually doesn’t make them tick – you don’t want to reach the top and then be left feeling empty.

I hope you enjoyed my chat with Ryan!

You can connect with Ryan here: 

• Shoot me a connection request on Linkedin! I’m on there way too much for my own good so you’ll likely get a reply.

You can check out Earlywork here:

• If you’d like more general info on what we do, check out our website

• If you’re currently job searching and want to learn more about software sales, come along to one of our free weekly online workshops about it.  

And as always,

Keep dreamaking.