By: Stephan Lensky (Zenna Consulting Group)

You may know Jason Lee for his serial entrepreneurism. He’s founded and exited two companies, DailyPay ($2B) and Salt Labs (recently acquired by Chime). In 2015, he invented earned wage access in his basement and built the earned wage access market. He is passionate about financial wellness and applying what he learned from his experience on Wall Street to ‘All Street.’

But there’s more to him than business success. Let’s explore what makes him a great friend, entrepreneur, and student and how he likes to spend his free time while remaining curious about … well … everything!

1. Jason started his High School Juggling Club (Pics or it didn’t happen! Better yet, a demonstration!)
2. He reads four newspapers every day, starting with the NY Post. He also reads The Wall Street Journal, The NY Times and The Financial Times. He never watches television, unless you want to count tuning into Paw Patrol with his three kids!
3. He has danced with Brittney Spears. She doesn’t know it, but he does!
4. When Jason was a kid, he wanted to be an auto mechanic or a stand-up comedian.
5. He was a very good student. In the 4th grade, the final project for his science class was for a Science Fair. His teacher, Mrs. Locke, provided a few ideas for the science fair, including an abacus. Jason’s parents were immigrants, working hard to better themselves and their family here. He didn’t have any tools in his home, so he made an abacus all on his own. When he got to the science fair, all the other kids had much more sophisticated projects that obviously required parental assistance. 

When Jason got his science grade, he got a “B.” He asked Mrs Locke why, and she told him he had gotten a “C” on his project. He asked why only a “C”? Hadn’t he done the assignment? She answered, “Those were examples, and examples are average. A ‘C’ is average.” What did Jason learn from that experience? Two things. One, you have to go above and beyond, no matter what people say. And two, nepotism is a real thing (!).  It was clear that parents were the ones doing most of the projects!

1. What does Jason claim is the number one defining quality of a friendship? Loyalty.
2. Jason demonstrated an entrepreneurial approach to solving problems for those around him, even from a very young age. When he was 8 years old, Jason’s older brother had to raise money for a school trip by selling thirty $1 boxes of peanut M&Ms. The day before the money was due, Jason’s brother had sold only one box—to his parents. Jason took the entire case from him, walked around their neighborhood, and sold every box of M&Ms for $2, netting him $29 in profit.
3. One work principle that Jason lives by? “I should only do the things that only I can do. Because, in fact, there are things that only I can do. If someone else can do something, they should be doing it.”
4. The most important quality of an entrepreneur is self-awareness – to know what you know and to know what you don’t know. The second most important skill is listening and genuinely evaluating what someone else is saying. The smartest person in the room listens first and talks last.
5. An ideal piece of advice that Jason received during his career? “Make three best friends at work. We spend a lot of time at work, and it’s much better if you have three legitimate best friends to support one another and have a shared vision and purpose.

Feel more informed about Jason Lee now? Good. You’ll be a hit when you can rattle off these 10 fun facts at your next party!

Published by Mark V.