Balancing side projects with full-time work

In this episode of Growthmates — The Creator’s Path, Kate Syuma speaks with Felix Haas — entrepreneur, designer, investor, and team member at Lovable.

Felix shares why entrepreneurship is not about owning a company — but about taking ownership of your life. They discuss designing your career intentionally, hiring founders (even as employees), why side projects matter, and how visualization can change your trajectory.

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👉 Partners who support Growthmates

• Mobbin — the largest UX & UI reference library for real product inspiration: https://mobbin.com/

• Obi by Cor — AI-powered onboarding voice assistant for modern product teams: https://bit.ly/3NaMzyF

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Welcome to Growthmates with Kate Syuma — Growth Advisor, ex-Miro. This season, The Creator’s Path, explores unconventional journeys of designers, founders, and builders redefining what it means to create — especially in the age of AI.

Growthmates is where top product and growth leaders share real strategies and insights to help you turn ideas into successful products. Learn from experts at Dropbox, Adobe, Amplitude, Canva, and more in deep dive interviews with Kate Syuma, ex-Miro Head of Growth Design and founder of Growthmates.

🔗 Find more insights on growthmates.club and follow on your favorite platforms for more episodes.

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Key highlights from this episode 👇

• We discuss why distribution compounds faster and more powerfully than credentials in today’s creator economy.

• We explore the shift from selling your time to building leverage that works for you even when you are offline.

• We unpack how showing up consistently creates opportunities that you could never have predicted in advance.

• We examine why creators may become the strongest founders in the next wave of entrepreneurship.

• We talk about what it actually takes to play the long game without burning out or losing direction.

• We explain how building an audience becomes a form of strategic optionality for your future.

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Follow Growthmates updates on:

Growthmates website with “The Holistic Growth Playbook”: https://growthmates.club

Substack Newsletter (for instant inbox delivery):

https://www.growthmates.news/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/growthmates-podcast/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/growthmates/

X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/kate_syuma

Where to find Kate Syuma:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ekaterina-syuma/

Newsletter: https://www.growthmates.news/

Where to find Felix Haas:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/felixhhaas/

Personal page: https://fh.design/

X (Twitter): https://x.com/felixhhaas

Lovable: https://lovable.dev

Mastering Lovable Playbook: https://designplusai.com/p/mastering-lovable-playbook

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What we covered:

(00:00) Introduction and Stockholm as a tech hub

(03:15) Felix's unconventional career path with 18+ positions

(08:42) Starting a company at 18 without fear of failure

(13:25) What it means to have a founder mindset

(18:01) Being the CEO of your own life

(22:47) Side projects making you better at your main job

(27:04) Designing roles that don't exist yet

(31:03) The power of visualization and manifestation

(36:14) Making decisions over avoiding them

(40:18) Why startups should hire founders

(45:20) Enabling others to discover their creative potential

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For sponsorship and other inquiries, reach out to hello@growthmates.club

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Get full access to Growthmates with Kate Syuma at www.growthmates.news/subscribe