2/14/22 – Episode 32
Alex Ryden is the Founder and CEO of Guest House, a staging company that creates beautiful spaces anyone can shop with furniture from premium brands. Before Guest House, Alex was a powerhouse in the advertising industry and founded a leather bag company, his first company that he started his best friend. Today, Alex and Emily chat about how he pivoted his in-home showroom into Guest House, how his view of entrepreneurship has changed, and why the journey is a rollercoaster.
About Alex Ryden:
Alex Ryden received his B.A. in Communications and Global Studies from UC Santa Barbara. He started his career as a writer with TEN, then went into copywriting, working with Vapor Studio, Factory Design Labs, Blinker Inc. and freelance (for big brands including Lyft, Amazon, Spotify, Facebook). He co-founded Age Carriers in 2014 and Guest House in 2019. He also invests in companies and is a mentor with Denver Startup Week.
In this episode with Alex, you’ll learn:
- How his experience with copywriting for big brands helped him in his own entrepreneurial journey
- Lessons he learned from Age Carrier’s flop
- What the early stages of Guest House looked like out of his home
- How he approached fundraising for Guest House
- His advice on how to deal with rejection- “remove the ego and just listen”
- How his view of entrepreneurship has changed
- Why he describes his journey as a rollercoaster
Mentioned in this episode…
Companies:
Guest House
Age Carriers
People:
Alex Ryden
Chris Erickson
Liz Giorgi
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