Lead It Like Lasso
Home
About
About Us In The News
Masterclass Book Shelf
Resources
Newsletter Book Resources Blog Podcasts
Thundergong! 2024
Log In
← Back to all posts

Curiosity #24 - Melissa Kwan - Doing the right thing

Mar 19, 2025
Connect

🏆 The Quiet Power of Doing the Right Thing

🎤Quotable Quote: "Doing the right thing is never the wrong thing." — Ted Lasso

It’s a line that seems simple—until you realize how often the world tells us otherwise. But this week’s guest, Melissa Kwan, lives this mantra in business and life. From building three companies without outside funding to redefining what success looks like, Melissa reminds us that integrity isn’t a strategy—it’s a standard. Hear what she has to say...

Leadership Rules | Melissa Kwan

 

Melissa is the co-founder and CEO of eWebinar, a game-changing tool for automating webinars — and a three-time bootstrapper who built her companies without a dime of venture capital. She’s a digital nomad with a home base in Amsterdam, a global citizen, a truth-teller, and a relentless advocate for designing a life where happiness comes first — not as an afterthought.

In this edition of Weekly Curiosities, we explore how Melissa pairs grit with grace, how she leads with integrity, and how she’s building a life-first legacy (spoiler: it’s not about building software, it’s about building community).

🔍 Here’s what you’ll discover when you tune in:

  • Why Melissa believes bootstrapping is both an art and a mindset — and how she learned (the hard way) which strategies to ditch even after spending $130K.
  • How to know whether your startup strategy is bold... or just delusional.
  • The truth about personal branding: Why being “Your Founder Next Door” may matter more than being on TechCrunch.
  • Why integrity isn't just how you treat people — it's the extra 2% you put into your product when no one’s looking.
  • How taking a break (and then fighting your way back to discipline) can actually sharpen your leadership edge.
  • What legacy really looks like — and how Melissa’s community-building passion fuels everything she does.

More Musings


🍪 Biscuits with the Boss:

“What’s something you used to see as a strength that you now realize was a blind spot?”
Melissa shares a raw moment from early in her career—a humbling reminder that confidence without self-awareness isn’t leadership, it’s noise. What’s something you’ve had to unlearn?


🏅 Whistle. Whistle.

Alright, listen up. Here’s your Roy Kent reality check for the week:

It’s not about working more. It’s about working with meaning. If you’re building something worth believing in, then every choice—every email, every edit, every delay—is either adding trust or eroding it. Melissa said it best: “Integrity is not just how you treat people. It’s the extra 2% you build when no one’s watching.”

So ask yourself: Are you showing up with intention… or just showing up?


📚Beard’s collection: (and some books Melissa might like ;))

📖 Jarvis, Paul. Company of One: Why Staying Small Is the Next Big Thing for Business. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2019.


A must-read for anyone rethinking what growth should look like. Jarvis challenges the startup status quo and explores how staying intentionally small can lead to more freedom, impact, and sustainability. Melissa’s bootstrapped mindset and focus on life-first leadership align perfectly with this philosophy.

📖 Sivers, Derek. Anything You Want: 40 Lessons for a New Kind of Entrepreneur. Portfolio, 2015.


Short, wise, and refreshingly honest, this book is a powerful reminder that business should serve your life—not consume it. Sivers shares lessons from building (and selling) CD Baby without outside funding, making it a natural match for Melissa’s approach to entrepreneurship and values-driven decision-making.

📖 Zander, Rosamund Stone, and Benjamin Zander. The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life. Harvard Business Review Press, 2000.


An inspiring exploration of leadership through the lens of creativity, reframing, and possibility. The Zanders challenge readers to see the world differently and lead from abundance rather than scarcity. Melissa’s focus on mindset, integrity, and redefining legacy makes this a book that would likely resonate deeply.

 


🌎 This week in Here - There - Every F’ing where

In case the internet was broken at your house, we wanted to make sure you knew...

What leadership lessons do you think Ted will handle in this season?

Speaking of leadership lessons - we were very lucky to get to talk to Phil Freidhoff of TANG about Season 2 | Episode 11 Midnight Train to Royston. Listen in! 

S2 | Ep11 Midnight Train to Royston

 

Barbecue Sauce!

Marnie & Nick


🎁 Bring a Friend to the Weekly Curiosities!

Who in your life might smile with some curiosities in their inbox? Who might be a good guest for one of our podcasts? (Would you? Let us know!)


Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe for free, and check out our full archive of newletters at leaditlikelasso.com

Note: If you purchase through the links above, we may earn an affiliate commission. There is no additional cost to you, but it helps us keep this newsletter free. We appreciate your support!

 
 
 

Responses

Join the conversation
t("newsletters.loading")
Loading...
Curiosity #49 - Time for the Biscuits
🎤 Quotable quotes:“People don’t bond over PowerPoints. They bond over stories, laughter, and a little shared awkwardness.” Which was your favorite: Ted handing out little plastic army men to his players as good-luck charms? Ted showing up at Rebecca’s office with a pink box of biscuits every single morning? Or the time he made the team play a goofy “rom-communism” game to remind them that ha...
Curiosity #48 - When Preparation IS the Opportunity
🎤 Quotable Quote “Success is where preparation meets opportunity.”— Dr. Roderick Sams   This Week’s Curiosity: When Preparation Is the Opportunity Dr. Roderick “Rocky” Sams didn’t just sneak into a Michael Jackson concert... he snuck his way into leadership greatness by doing one thing over and over: preparing for opportunities that didn’t even exist yet. In this energizing ...
Curiosity #47 - The One About Legacy
🎤 Quotable quotes: "It’s entertainment, sweetheart. Football’s our vehicle. That and caring for the people around you, nobody’s ever been better at that than you." — Lee Corso   This past weekend, ESPN said farewell to Lee Corso, the heart and soul of College GameDay. For nearly 40 years, Corso turned Saturday mornings into a ritual, not with stats or strategies, but with laug...

Subscribe to Weekly Curiosities Newsletter

Footer Logo
About In The News Masterclass Book Shelf Newsletter Book Resources Blog Podcasts Thundergong! 2024 Privacy Policy Terms and Conditions
© 2025 EBNix, LLC

Join Our Free Trial

Get started today before this once in a lifetime opportunity expires.