Meet Jose Li: Entrepreneur & Dad

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jose Li and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jose, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
I consider myself a calculated risk taker. I believe the higher the risk, the higher the reward, and vice versa. There are some things that are worth risking for, and others, because life is too short, are not. Leaving a nice Corporate America job to start 71lbs has been a huge risk decision for me. The trade-off of being able to make decisions in a shorter amount of time was worth the risk. I’d like to think that we learn every step of the way, so taking a risk/making a decision/taking an action are worth more than not doing anything. I wake up in the morning, and -for the most part- want to get going with work! Something that I could not have said that often back in Corp America. We either accomplish the outcome, or learn through our mistakes. The risk of not doing, and having the regret of ‘what if/what would have happened’ is for the most part, too high to not do.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
We are in the business of giving (mostly) unexpected money to our customers. Through refunds or savings, most companies are owed/overpaying on their shipping costs. It’s a tough dynamic as we are always trying to keep the shipping carriers honest. Given that there’s only 2 big players, FedEx & UPS, and they are huge, for the most part, they carry leverage with their customers. Our mission is to help customers save money on shipping, and help them understand their shipping costs better. We are proud to serve thousands of customers saving them nearly $50MM in shipping costs.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Most likely a combination of food and views. South Florida has both! Probably somewhere near the ocean, with either seafood or Peruvian or some Latin places to eat. Nice stroll/drive by South Beach, Midtown, and Fort Lauderdale.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Definitely a few people: Andy is a former boss who took a chance on me and allowed to try a number of things at work. He provided wisdom, guidance, mentorship, and resources I had no idea existed for someone in Corporate America. I was fortunate to have a personal branding coach to work on my self-awareness, done Improv to enhance my communications and public speaking, among many others.  Linda helped me become aware of my strengths, weaknesses, personal brand, I learned about communication styles and preferences, how other people prefer to communicate, and adapting/adjusting to people’s personalities. My team at 71lbs has tolerated many of my shortcomings, helped me become a better person and leader. My Forum mates and colleagues at EO have helped be a great sounding board to difficult personal and professional situations.

Website: 71lbs.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/josemli10/
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/josemli
Twitter: @71lbs
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/josemli/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpQQQ697mVXBwL4WngOVy1A/videos