From Engineer to Tech Educator: Damien Schreurs' 12-Year Entrepreneurial Journey

In this episode of Career Spotlight, we sit down with Damien Schreurs, Founder and Explainer-in-Chief of EasyTECH. After an 18-year career as a Fortune 500 research engineer, Damien transformed his passion for technology and teaching into a successful business helping solopreneurs and professionals master their digital tools.

From his base in Luxembourg, Damien shares how he strategically transitioned from corporate life to entrepreneurship over 2.5 years while maintaining a 70% role at his engineering job. Today, he runs a thriving tech training business and hosts the Macpreneur podcast, and their newsletter, where he helps Mac-using entrepreneurs optimize their workflows.

Key Discussion Points:
- Engineering to entrepreneurship transition strategy
- Building a sustainable business model through IT training
- Leveraging part-time arrangements with employers
- Systematic approach to business development
- Time-saving technology optimization techniques
- Evolution from B2C to B2B service delivery
- Integration of AI in business processes
- Managing career transitions with minimal risk

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Creators and Guests

Host

Michael Bernzweig

Michael Bernzweig is a tech entrepreneur and podcast host. He founded Software Oasis in 1998, pioneering software distribution. Now, he connects businesses with top tech consultants and hosts the Software Spotlight, Career Spotlight, and Consulting Spotlight podcasts, providing valuable insights to professionals.

Guest

Damien Schreurs

Damien Schreurs is the Explainer-in-Chief of EasyTECH, a company providing IT training and coaching on topics such as Apple products, Microsoft Office, Cyber Security, and AI. In parallel, Damien hosts the Macpreneur Podcast, which features practical tips, effective strategies, and insightful interviews.

What is Career Spotlight?

Looking to transform your career or break into tech without traditional experience? Career Spotlight is your weekly guide to navigating successful career transitions in today's dynamic job market. Host Michael Bernzweig, founder of Software Oasis, brings you practical strategies and inspiring stories from professionals who have successfully pivoted their careers. Each episode delivers actionable advice on breaking into tech, building transferable skills, and landing opportunities in today's most promising industries. From career changers to recent graduates, discover proven pathways to launch your new career without expensive degrees or years of experience. Get insider tips on resume building, interviewing, networking, and positioning yourself for success in tech and business roles. Whether you're considering a career change or seeking advancement, this podcast provides the roadmap you need. Subscribe now to join thousands of career changers and get weekly guidance on transforming your professional future.

Michael Bernzweig (00:03.124)

Are you ready to transform your career and break into the tech industry, even without traditional experience or degrees? Looking for an affordable, practical path to launch your professional journey?

Welcome to Career Spotlight, your weekly guide to career transformation and success. Your host is Michael Bernzweig, who in 1998 launched Software Oasis as one of the first platforms enabling businesses to download, license, and deploy software instantly across their networks with a single click. Today, Software Oasis has evolved into one of the leading communities helping career changers and ambitious professionals launch successful careers in tech.

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I'd like to welcome everyone to this week's edition of Career Spotlight. I'm your host, Michael Bernzweig, and this week, pleased to be joined by Damien Schreurs. He's with Easy Tech and also a fellow podcaster and host of Macpreneur. So with that, welcome to the podcast, Damien. Thank you for having me, Michael. Yeah, fantastic.

Damien Schreurs (00:27.15)
Thank you for having me, Michael.

Michael Bernzweig (00:31.518)
Just a fun little footnote, I know you and I actually met a little over a year ago back at a email marketing connection get together. And I know we've stayed in touch ever since, but really a very interesting career trajectory that you've had. And I can see from a lot of the questions that came in from the audience before the episode and.

We'll see what comes in over the episode that there's a lot of interest in tech careers and what they're all about and how to traverse that journey. So I was hoping maybe you could start by sharing with us a little bit about your own personal journey and a little bit about easy tech and what you're doing today.

Damien Schreurs (01:21.164)
Yeah, so I'm actually trained engineer. I'm a physicist engineer. And I've had an 18 years long career for Fortune 500 research and development company. So it's an American company, but they have their second biggest R &D center in Luxembourg. And basically, I...

I joined them as soon as I got out of university. yeah, so it was, I was doing modeling, tire modeling. So it's a big tire manufacturer. And yeah, what's funny is that when I was at university, and I remember it was the last year of university, we had a entrepreneurship class.

Michael Bernzweig (01:57.726)
Modeling, tire modeling, it's a big tire manufacturer.

Michael Bernzweig (02:04.03)
Yeah, what's funny is that when I was at university...

Damien Schreurs (02:15.436)
And remember exactly where I was in that amphitheatre when I had this like haha moment that one day I will have my own company, one day I will be my own boss. And but I don't know, maybe some of the listeners may relate, but I'm a pretty driven person and I...

Michael Bernzweig (02:26.656)
Oh, that's fantastic.

Michael Bernzweig (02:38.004)
I'm a pretty driven person and I had decided that I would be an engineer when I was 15 years old. And so when I was at the North Carolina University for me it was three I think, maybe three or four. Nine years after that decision I didn't see myself suddenly change course.

Damien Schreurs (02:41.91)
I had decided that I would be an engineer when I was 15 years old. And so when I was at the last year of university for me was when I was 23, I think, 23 or 24. So nine years after that decision, didn't see myself suddenly change course. So I was really, really happy to actually become an engineer.

Michael Bernzweig (03:05.716)
I was really really happy to actually become an engineer and that company was very good at offering training and also for me here in Europe they were very accommodating as well with the work-life balance and because I'm a learning junkie

Damien Schreurs (03:11.438)
that company was very good at offering training. And also for me here in Europe, they were very accommodating as well with the work-life balance. And because I'm a learning junkie, I'm a continuous learner. Even though I was in that

Michael Bernzweig (03:34.29)
Sure.

Damien Schreurs (03:41.592)
career, engineering career, because in the back of my mind, I had this idea, one day I will have my business, I got the approval to leave earlier, two days per week, to be able to do a management class, a business management course. And it was a two year program and after an evening program.

Michael Bernzweig (04:03.016)
business management course and it was a two year program and after an evening program and so for two years three times per week so two times between Monday and Friday and a complete Saturday morning so two evenings and a Saturday morning I did this management program, master management program which gave me

Damien Schreurs (04:11.114)
And so for two years, three times per week, so two times between Monday and Friday, and the complete Saturday morning, so two evenings and a Saturday morning, I did this master in management program, which gave me a good idea of what it would mean to do some marketing, to...

we looked at finance, how to run a company from the balance sheet and stuff like that. And that gave me a good idea of what it would mean if one day I had my own company. But it took many, many more years before I actually pulled the plug and started my own company.

Michael Bernzweig (04:57.652)
and but it took many many more years before I actually pulled the plug and started my own company actually I didn't quit the 9 to 5 like that so what happens is I'm a pretty risk averse person

Damien Schreurs (05:11.094)
I didn't quit the 9 to 5 like that. So what happened is I'm a pretty risk adverse person. so I, again, this company, I can only say good things about the company I was working for because I expressed my desire to start a company and then I asked them, is it possible if I start the company on the side?

Michael Bernzweig (05:22.708)
And so, again, this company, I can only say good things about the company I was working for because I expressed my desire to start a company and then I asked them, is it possible if I start a company on the side and work part-time, continue working part-time? And initially I wanted 50 % part-time. they said, no, we stay with you.

Damien Schreurs (05:40.014)
and work part-time, continue working part-time. And initially I wanted 50 % part-time, but I said, look, no, we still need you. And they agreed to a 70 % part-time arrangement. So I was working.

Michael Bernzweig (05:52.948)
Wow, so you were in a really good position you had the runway to get started and the opportunity

Damien Schreurs (06:03.051)
Exactly.

Exactly. so if I can give some advice, an advice to the listeners is yes, try to find a way to continue working for your current employer. So if you're in a transition kind of thing and you want to have your own business, see if the employer is okay with you doing it on the side. Normally I should...

Michael Bernzweig (06:18.068)
if you're working for your current employer, so if you're in transition category, and you want to your own business, see if the employer is okay with you doing it on the side.

Normally, it was not allowed. When I looked at my contract that I signed in 1997, it was...

Damien Schreurs (06:33.614)
It was not allowed actually because when I looked at my contract that I signed in 97, it was black and white written that there was no way that I could work for somebody else. So that did not allow. What was in my advantage at the time was that because that engineering job was all about tire manufacturing.

Michael Bernzweig (06:41.958)
Sure.

Damien Schreurs (07:00.83)
And the thing that I wanted to do, the business that I created, EasyTech, is all about IT training and coaching. There was no competition, right? It's not as if I would have been working for Pirelli or Michelin or something like that for a big competitor, It was completely different industry.

Michael Bernzweig (07:12.884)
Sure

Damien Schreurs (07:29.27)
And so, yeah, so we, I had still had to sign a addendum to my contract. And that was actually a yearly change, right? It was a yearly agreement. They agreed for one year at a time. And there was a clause that said that if my performance would be below what they expected, they could revoke, right? That...

Michael Bernzweig (07:31.986)
Right

And there was a clause that said that if my performance would be below what they expected, they could revoke that ability for me to understand. Interesting. So you were able to come up with a very structured understanding that allowed you to have that transitional period and worked on both ends. So I think that's a great learning lesson for anybody listening to this who may be thinking, you know, I want to, you know,

Damien Schreurs (07:57.806)
ability for me to have my business on the side.

Damien Schreurs (08:08.302)
Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernzweig (08:18.01)
better my life, my career, I want to make a change, you know, rather than just sticking with where you're at, where you may not be happy or what have you, you know, kind of push the boundaries and find some other opportunities. And it's interesting, you know, I think I remember back to my business school days and I actually attended university here in the United States, Babson College, which is known for

entrepreneurship and I can remember freshman year sitting in our lecture hall entrepreneurship 101 and the professor said listen everyone that's here I know you're not going to hear a word that I say but if you decide to start a business which I know all of you will he said the chances of you making it are very slim

slim to none, he said, and I want to let you know that unfortunately, before you figure out if it's going to work or not, it's going to take you three years. And at three years, you're either going to be successful or you're not, and then you're going to move forward from there. having, like you suggested, the opportunity to really have a ramp up and not jumping out of an airplane without a parachute on.

That's a great transition. So today, can you describe a little bit about Easy Tech and what you do? Because it's obviously many years later, and I think you made it past that trial phase. So I think things are going to be moving forward.

Damien Schreurs (09:55.758)
Hmm.

Damien Schreurs (09:59.182)
Yeah, first to echo what you saying, it took me two and a half years before actually leaving the company. So it was in 2013, March 2013, that's when I actually incorporated the company. I created, I incorporated an LLC, the equivalent of an LLC if you want, here in Luxembourg. And it's only in September to...

Michael Bernzweig (10:26.388)
And it's only in September 2016 that I completely stopped being a record. So two and a half years, that was necessary for me to feel confident that I would be clients, that I had come up with a profitable pricing structure.

Damien Schreurs (10:28.686)
2016 that I completely stopped being an employee and became entrepreneur 100%. So two and a half years, that was necessary for me to feel confident that there would be clients, that I had come up with a profitable pricing structure and pricing methods. And that also, that would be something that

Michael Bernzweig (10:54.804)
And also that could be something that I enjoy doing because you can have as many ideas about being an entrepreneur, free and so on as you like. Once you the boss, it's a decision after decision. don't need to be this, the decision fatigue is.

Damien Schreurs (10:58.582)
I enjoy doing, right? Because you can have as many ideas about being an entrepreneur, being free and so on as you like. Once you are the boss, it's decision after decision. don't need to be... Decision fatigue is... Or you cannot live with decision paralysis, right? You need to decide all the time.

And also you need to be comfortable having no one telling you what to do because some people say, I wish someday I would be able to call all the shots. Yeah, but when you are your own boss and you have so many things to do and you have to decide, OK, in which direction do I take the company? What do I do today? And so on. Yeah, that's tough. That's tough.

Michael Bernzweig (11:39.924)
Yeah, at the end of the day, you can have all the great ideas in the world, but your new boss, your customers are the ones that tell you, know, with their mind and their money, whether or not they like the

Damien Schreurs (12:03.267)
Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernzweig (12:09.918)
that you have and I think that is the key to it.

Damien Schreurs (12:13.934)
Yeah, as you say, we think we are our own boss, but if we don't pay attention, the clients become our bosses. And the more clients we have, the more bosses we have as well. yeah, so when I started the company, didn't know much. I knew I wanted to help people with their technology.

That was the premise of me starting the company, to demystify technology, to help people be more comfortable with technology. But I didn't know exactly how I would do that. And so these first two and half years, when I had a steady paycheck, I was able to experiment. I was able to find different kinds of clients and different kinds of services that I could offer.

Michael Bernzweig (12:57.544)
when I had this steady paycheck, I was able to find different kinds of clients and different kinds of services that I could offer. And that allowed me to say, this, yeah, okay, I'm going to have to continue. This one, so much. This one, too much travel. This one, not enough profitable.

Damien Schreurs (13:12.114)
And that allowed me to say, this, yeah, OK, I would like to continue. This one, no, not so much. This one, too much travel. This one, not enough profitable. Yeah, not profitable enough, and so on. So I was able to really have a direction. And the thing is, so some people might be familiar with Steve Jobs coming back to Apple.

Michael Bernzweig (13:25.556)
Sure.

Damien Schreurs (13:41.006)
in 1997. And it was a mess, right? They had hundreds of products. They themselves, they didn't know what they were selling. And so Steve Jobs says, let's divide a piece of paper into four quadrants, right? And let's get B2B, B2C, consumer professionals, and laptop and desktops. Basically, let's have four.

Michael Bernzweig (13:50.932)
They said they didn't know what they were selling. So C-Click says, let's divide a piece of paper into four corners, right? And let's get B2B, B2C, consumer professionals, and laptop and desktop. So basically, let's have four computers. I want to see all my products on one...

Damien Schreurs (14:10.094)
for computers. I want to see all my products on one table. And so I took the same idea and divided again B2B, B2C, and then training and consulting. I was not sure which one I would prefer to do. And I managed to find a client and a gig in three of the four quadrants. So training B2C and consulting B2C.

Michael Bernzweig (14:15.348)
Right.

training B2C and consulting B2C but only consulting B2P. I never found a gig where I would do training for companies. But from the three that I found, basically I enjoyed B2B training but what happened is it was difficult for me to find clients and all the clients that I had...

Damien Schreurs (14:39.214)
but only consulting B2B. I never found a gig where I would do training for companies. But from the three that I found, basically, I enjoyed B2B training, but what happened is it was difficult for me to find clients. And all the clients that I had, they all expressed, can you come at my house to help me with my tech at home? And I said, okay, let's all let's...

Michael Bernzweig (15:01.076)
They all expressed, can you come to my house to help me with my tech? Okay, so let's go to B2C concert. Let's do that. And I did that for a while, but then I realized that those clients, and you see, it took me two and half years to realize that when I helped a client, I wouldn't hear from them after two, sometimes.

Damien Schreurs (15:09.068)
Let's go to B2C consulting. Let's do that. And I did that for a while, but then I realized that those clients, and you see it, it took me two and a half years to realize that when I helped a client, I wouldn't hear from them after two, sometimes three, sometimes four years. Right? So it was, it's not a one shot, but it's very low frequency thing.

Michael Bernzweig (15:29.172)
It's not a one-shot, but it's very low frequency. So what happened is that I joined a local business networking organization, and this organization and the members in my chapter, they helped me actually pivot the company, pivot business networking from B to C, consulting to B to B.

Damien Schreurs (15:37.218)
And so what happened is that I joined a business networking organization and this organization and the members in my chapter, helped me actually pivot the company, pivot EasyText business model from B2C consulting to B2B consulting. And that was more repeatable.

Michael Bernzweig (15:56.692)
This was more of a piece it.

Damien Schreurs (16:06.669)
Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernzweig (16:24.946)
you know, physically where you are and do a better job of pronouncing your name than I did with my American accent.

Damien Schreurs (16:32.504)
You

Yeah, I'm in Luxembourg. I'm located in Luxembourg. And so when I started, I've only had local clients, right? People in Luxembourg. Luxembourg is a very small country. 660,000 inhabitants, the entire country.

Michael Bernzweig (16:38.046)
Yes, so I'm in the server. And so when I started, I only had local clients.

Wow and we're physically is the country like how I was a positioned in in Europe

Damien Schreurs (17:03.54)
And yeah, the country is a pear-shaped country stuck between Belgium on the left, Germany on the right, and France underneath.

Michael Bernzweig (17:19.092)
Okay, got it, got it, and then obviously not far off from Spain, I'm sure. You're getting squeezed in the middle, right? Too funny, I love it, I love it.

Damien Schreurs (17:24.062)
And yes, Spain is below France. But if you can spot Belgium, France, Germany, and you look at the intersection of those three countries, you will spot a small... Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

Michael Bernzweig (17:44.946)
And what, just for any world travelers, what do you love about living there?

Damien Schreurs (17:50.998)
Luxembourg, yeah, it's a very, even though it's, so I don't know the latest figures, but if you look at GDP per capita, so GDP per person, per inhabitants, it's one of the top, in the top three, right? It's as rich as Switzerland and other countries like that. So it's a country where,

Michael Bernzweig (17:57.934)
don't know the latest figures, but if you look at GDP per capita, so GDP per person, it's one of the top three. It's as rich as Switzerland and other countries. So it's an answer, but actually there are a lot of workers from the neighboring countries.

Damien Schreurs (18:19.776)
Actually, there are a lot of workers from the neighboring countries, right? Because there are a lot of them. So from a tax perspective, it's very attractive for businesses to set up shop in Luxembourg. VAT also is slightly lower than the neighbors. And there are not a lot of inhabitants.

Michael Bernzweig (18:28.056)
Okay.

Damien Schreurs (18:49.934)
So basically there are not enough people to fulfill all the jobs that are required, especially in healthcare and in the industry. Yeah, exactly. To give you a rough estimate, 300,000 people cross the border to work in Luxembourg, right?

Michael Bernzweig (18:53.466)
Interesting so opportunity

Wow. Well, we... I love it. Well, anybody listening to Career Spotlight that's looking to take that journey, we may have a few people reaching out to sleep on your couch for the first few weeks.

Damien Schreurs (19:17.966)
Luxembourg suddenly jumps from 600,000 to 900,000 people just because they need people from abroad.

Damien Schreurs (19:37.673)
Hahaha.

Damien Schreurs (19:41.581)
Yeah.

Michael Bernzweig (19:41.66)
So yeah, so let's get back to, obviously you talked about that journey from B2C to B2B with the training and the consulting. As far as maybe a day in the life of what you might be doing for any of your B2B clients in terms of training and or consulting, what does it look like?

Damien Schreurs (20:05.56)
Yeah, just to finish off the different pivot that I have done, I've done another pivot is to go from B2B consulting to B2B training because I realized that yes, even though there was less churn and more repeatable business on the B2B consulting side, the issue is that I realized that I became the IT person of the company I was working for. And the thing is my clients were

Michael Bernzweig (20:08.932)
Sure.

It was like hey Damien help us out with this

Damien Schreurs (20:35.116)
let's say 10 employees maximum, right? Very small businesses.

And basically they didn't have enough staff to take care of the IT systems. So I became the IT guy. And whenever anything happened, right, the printer would stop, would have an issue with the toner. Exactly. And I hated becoming a firefighter, right? I wanted to have my own company and be my own boss to have...

Michael Bernzweig (21:03.924)
And they say when you're starting a business you have to do things that don't scale and you have to do everything but at some point you have to niche down to what it is that you want to focus on and move forward with and it sounds like that was your journey.

Damien Schreurs (21:10.456)
freedom of my time, right? I wanted time freedom.

Damien Schreurs (21:28.886)
Yeah, yeah. so, and that's where that's my last pivot was in 2019. And that's when I started offering training, IT training for small to medium sized enterprises. And actually, I'm also now working as a subcontractor for very large governmental agencies. So I'm training today, I'm training people who are civil servants who work for the police, for the army.

Michael Bernzweig (21:33.62)
And that's when I started offering training, IT training for small to medium sized enterprises. And actually, I'm also now working as a subcontractor for very large governmental agencies. So I'm training today, I'm training people who are civil servants, work for the police, for the army, for all the communes here in Luxembourg.

Damien Schreurs (21:58.99)
for all the communes here in Luxembourg. And since I started working for that governmental agency, I've trained more than 600 people in Microsoft Office. Yeah, Microsoft Office training. That's also today's the bread and butter. It's Microsoft Office training. And I'm obviously trying to pitch to

Michael Bernzweig (22:03.654)
Wow, yeah, so you've found your space.

Damien Schreurs (22:28.718)
to offer as well artificial intelligence, intro training here in Luxembourg, because I think there is a need, right?

Michael Bernzweig (22:37.02)
Interesting, yeah, and I think the biggest thing that I hear on the episode was so many different guests in so many different categories. With AI, and I think for our community especially, there's so much going on and so much happening so quickly, everyone's head is spinning. They're wondering, where do I even begin? And we've actually put out an AI training course

Damien Schreurs (23:00.302)
Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernzweig (23:07.024)
for the community which is actually launching next week. But I think a lot of the magic behind AI is really the ability to, everyone looks at AI and they're like, it can write all kinds of great things. But I think the magic behind AI is the ability to draw insight from massive sets of data that are just not possible.

by humans, you know, I mean, at the end of the day, if you have, you know, hundreds of thousands or millions of data points, you know, you could spend from now until forever trying to, you know, pull that together and draw our insight from it, whereas AI can do that in moments, seconds.

Damien Schreurs (23:34.542)
Mm-hmm.

Damien Schreurs (23:53.154)
Hmm.

Michael Bernzweig (23:53.264)
And obviously with what we've just heard about DeepSeq over the last few days, I think it's even more timely. So yeah, AI is here and changing the trajectory of our world.

Damien Schreurs (24:07.692)
and where I see AI fit in as well, because there's something we didn't talk about, but I've been able to run my business for more than 10 years, right? Because, yeah, in March, it will celebrate the 12th anniversary of EasyTech. I have only had a virtual assistant for a few months. That's it, right? And the reason why I was able not

Michael Bernzweig (24:34.468)
And the reason why I was able not to need to hire is not that I'm against having people. The first business decision I made when I started in 2013 was to have an accountant. So I immediately outsourced accounting and things. That's great. That's smart. But for the rest, because I'm a techie, I was able to really concentrate and find ways to go to

Damien Schreurs (24:37.134)
to need to hire. It's not that I'm against hiring people. The first business decision I made when I started in 2013 was to have an accountant. So I immediately outsourced the accounting and think part, the debt finance part, outsourced immediately. But for the rest, because I'm a techie, I was able to fully automate and find ways to automate my business.

really be able to have enough time to still work on the business rather than 100 % in the business. And where I see AI helping today is actually incorporating that into the automation that I already have. I'm using a tool, maybe it has been already talked about in previous episodes, Zapier, right?

Michael Bernzweig (25:06.132)
Sure.

Yeah, all of the business process automation tools are gaining AI components to what they're doing because it's just so much intelligence that can be integrated into automations. And I know even before jumping on this episode, we're both podcasting. From this end of it, the volume of steps involved in going from recording

Damien Schreurs (25:39.018)
Exactly.

Damien Schreurs (25:50.958)
Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernzweig (25:59.154)
to getting the content out there are many. And I think for any podcaster that's not using some form of automation to get the content out there, it's a big mess because a lot of technology does exist. And at the end of the day, the quality of the...

Damien Schreurs (26:12.878)
Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernzweig (26:21.638)
interviews, the quality of the content, all of that is important. But from the audience standpoint, I don't, from the feedback we've had, people wanna hear the content, they wanna hear all of the unique perspectives. They just want the content to arrive magically. And I think the important part is figuring out how to make that happen. So I think.

using a lot of AI even in what you and I are doing is important.

Damien Schreurs (26:52.534)
Yeah, thanks to AI, I've been able to go from an audio-only podcast to a video podcast and produce more output in less time than before. So it's unbelievable.

Michael Bernzweig (27:07.092)
in less time than we have. Yeah. And I think the other detail that's interesting is, and I think you were alluding to this earlier, AI agents. That's something that you're hearing more and more of over the last few months where specific functions are performed by very, very specific AI agents. And I think...

That's something that is just fascinating. mean, I think, you know, if you look at the different roles and different things that we all do in our day-to-day work, think AI can, you know, fit into a lot of those roles. But I think that the common misconception is, hey, you know, I'm going to get replaced by AI. And I don't think that's the reality of it. I think at the end of the day, AI is a great tool.

it's something that can help to enhance what you're doing and maybe take away some of the more menial tasks. But I don't think that it, you know, and possibly elevate what you're doing in your day-to-day position. But I don't think it's replacing anyone. And I think that's a really common misconception. my take on it.

Damien Schreurs (28:25.838)
Yeah, I think we won't be able to avoid that outcome, unfortunately. the way I look at it, and that's one thing that I explained in one of my, well, in the AI intro course that I'm offering now is, if you look at the past, if you look at 10,000 years ago, 100 % of whatever we do,

Michael Bernzweig (28:28.813)
I think we won't be able to hold.

So the way I look at it, and that's one thing that I explained in of my, in the AI intro prototype. Hopefully now, if you look at the past, if you look at 10,000 years ago, 100 % of whatever we do, so 100 % of the tasks were done by humans, whether they were.

Damien Schreurs (28:54.862)
So 100 % of the tasks were done by humans, right? Whether they were manual or, so it was manual labor or pure cognitive tasks, right? And you could imagine a continuum, right? That goes from zero to 100, zero, it's no cognition at all, right? So you learn so well how to...

Michael Bernzweig (29:03.1)
manual labor on pure cognitive tasks. You could imagine a continuum that goes from

Sure.

Damien Schreurs (29:22.794)
use a hammer that you don't think about using the hammer. And so you have from no cognition, no cognitive skills to 100 % cognitive tasks. And when the Industrial Revolution came, what happened is that the first half, the left half of that graph suddenly became automatable with machines. So what humans were able to do

Michael Bernzweig (29:35.962)
when the industrial revolution came what happened is that the first half, the left half of that craft suddenly became automatable with machines. So what humans were able to do and only humans could do it because it required manual labor, most of the manual labor was replaced by machines.

Damien Schreurs (29:51.274)
and only humans could do it because it required manual labor, most of the manual labor was replaced by machines. And basically, if you look at the last industry where we still have humans, a few humans, is farming. to do the same amount, to produce the same output as before, we need fewer humans.

Michael Bernzweig (30:01.052)
And basically if you look at the last industry where we still have humans, a few humans is farming, right, to do the same amount, to produce the same output as before, we need fewer humans. What will happen with AI is the same for cognitive classes. And so, so if you imagine like a bell curve.

Damien Schreurs (30:19.648)
what will happen with AI is the same for cognitive tasks. So if you imagine like a bell curve, that's what's happening. So we had a half bell curve where as soon as it was a lot of cognitive tasks, we didn't have any... Yeah, we had calculators and we had computers, but that was mostly it. Now with AI, a lot of the low-level cognition...

Michael Bernzweig (30:29.32)
That's what's happening, right? So we had a half-bent credit curve where as soon as it equals a lot of competitive class, it didn't have any... Here we had calculators and we had computers, but that was mis-muted. Now with AI, a lot of the low-level competition competitive class will be replaced by AI. And so, yeah, there will be things. I think we will lose... Some people will lose their job.

Damien Schreurs (30:48.734)
cognitive task will be replaced by AI. And so yeah, there will be things I think we will lose. Some people will lose their job because we will need fewer humans to do stuff that requires cognitive abilities.

Michael Bernzweig (30:58.952)
Because we need more heroes to do stuff like this. But I think there'll be new jobs created that people will transition into. Exactly.

Damien Schreurs (31:09.39)
Exactly, yes, exactly. And I read this number. 40 % of the jobs today did not exist. There is a 40-60 kind of thing. I don't know. I think it's 60 % of the jobs that exist today did not exist 40 years ago.

Michael Bernzweig (31:14.356)
I wrote this number 40 % of the jobs today did not exist there was a 46 % economy so I know

I think 60 % of the jobs that exist today, they do exist 40 years ago. Yeah, no, and that makes a lot of sense. So if you were to wind back to when you first started your business and that whole transition from employee to entrepreneur, and you were thinking back, what were some of the biggest challenges you had in your first years?

Damien Schreurs (31:55.726)
Yeah, believe it or not, because I'm an introvert, right? And I don't think it's fully solved yet. It's prospecting, right? The prospecting is one of the most important tasks that an entrepreneur or a business owner needs to do, especially when starting the business. And you need to be out there. That's the...

Michael Bernzweig (32:01.983)
Sure.

And you need to be on there. That's the thing. Yeah, so and you're not alone. mean, you know, a lot of individuals that are great in providing whatever kinds of consulting or training services they're providing are fantastic subject matter experts in doing what they do, but maybe not.

Damien Schreurs (32:25.166)
That's the thing.

Michael Bernzweig (32:47.45)
as proficient at onboarding new clients. So that's a great question. How did you end up onboarding your first clients?

Damien Schreurs (32:58.582)
Believe it or not, it was through my network, right? My first client is my wife who finds him. My second client was my accountant. Yeah, referrals, yes, exactly.

Michael Bernzweig (32:58.932)
So referrals basically and through through your existing network. Yeah You know and and that's so interesting the You know for for growing our newsletter, you know a lot of

the initial subscribers to the newsletter that we have came from friends, from family, know, from existing contacts and then...

Damien Schreurs (33:35.438)
Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernzweig (33:38.59)
you know, kind of grew from there, from referrals to, you know, it's the six degrees of separation, I think they say, you know, obviously if you're putting out quality content and research and all of that and just getting good information out there that adds value to the internet, I think, you know, people will share that content and, you know, it does eventually take on a life of its own through virality, but.

You know, it sounds very similar to how you got up and running. So as far as like your perspective and background in engineering, what do you think that brought to your business, you know, in terms of IT training? What do you think that laid the foundation for?

Damien Schreurs (34:28.704)
things, right? So there's one thing that I believe or it has is something that I've had for a very long time since I'm young. I've always loved sharing my knowledge, right? So I always have that. I'm, if I could summarize myself as a tagline, I would be a continuous learner and a passionate educator, right? Five words.

Michael Bernzweig (34:51.412)
Sure.

Damien Schreurs (34:58.69)
Damien Schreurs is that, right? I'm a continuous learner and passionate educator. And I've been for my whole life. Right? So the fact that I'm doing today IT training makes total sense, It's fully aligned with who I am at my core. But then comes my engineering career and also engineering.

Michael Bernzweig (35:22.458)
engineering career and also engineering education because I did engineering school that helped me a lot to be, how do you say, to be systematic. I'm very well organized, I'm very process oriented and especially through engineering school, you learn to solve problems.

Damien Schreurs (35:26.912)
education because I did engineering school. That helped me a lot to be systematic. I'm very well organized. I'm very process oriented. And especially through engineering school, you learn to solve problems. You become a master problem solver.

Michael Bernzweig (35:51.24)
you become a master of problem solving. And that is an invaluable skill in our course.

Damien Schreurs (35:55.82)
That is an invaluable skill when you are an entrepreneur because guess what you face every day? New challenges.

Michael Bernzweig (36:01.14)
Guess what you face every day. You can try to induce. Right, right, no, that makes sense. So for our audience, many of whom are taking deep dives on podcasts all day long while they're doing what they do, I'm sure many of the listeners in our audience are Mac aficionados. So your podcast, Macpreneur,

Obviously you're focused on both Mac and entrepreneurship. know, that sounds like where the name, where the Genesis came from, but can you highlight a little bit more of what listeners might hear listening on your podcast?

Damien Schreurs (36:43.022)
So the current season, season six, will give the listeners something, a kind of conversation that we have right now, right? It's a very nice conversation that I have with other fellow solopreneurs who cannot imagine running their business on anything else than a Mac, an Apple computer. And so basically we share tips and I'm also very interested in discovering their...

Michael Bernzweig (36:43.476)
Sure.

Damien Schreurs (37:10.836)
Mac journey, how do they get their first Mac, what's their current setup, and I'm always eager to learn new hardware that they'll be using that I've never heard about, or also apps and workflows. So the goal of the podcast is really to help fellow solopreneurs be more efficient, save time, save money.

Michael Bernzweig (37:25.784)
about or also apps and workflows. the goal of the podcast is really to help industrial entrepreneurs be more efficient, save time, save money, really their business.

Damien Schreurs (37:40.568)
running their business on Mac. And when I started, Macpreneur, it was mostly, so I started as a mix of interviews and solo shows, then it morphed into solo shows where I really try to share as much knowledge as possible, especially on the automation side. But then I realized that, yeah, being able to also...

Michael Bernzweig (37:43.636)
When I started, MacConnor was mostly, so I started with a mix of interviews and solo shows, then merged, and I get morphed into solo shows where I really try to share as much knowledge as possible, especially on the automation side. Then I realized that, yeah, being able to also share.

Damien Schreurs (38:10.094)
share experiences and tips between solopreneurs was also useful for my audience. So that's why I'm doing that for the moment.

Michael Bernzweig (38:20.084)
Yeah, it's interesting. I'll share with you in the early days, you when I launched software Oasis back in 1998, goal was to have our entire network on Mac. And at the end of the day, trying to make that a reality was not possible because so many of the

Business solutions just did not exist on Mac, know, a lot of the backend tech, but today it's obviously a very different world. So if you were to look at some of the principles of what you're teaching and sharing with your community of clients, what would you say have been some of the most valuable?

Damien Schreurs (38:45.432)
Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernzweig (39:05.524)
principles that you've shared with your community that have helped them to get ahead in their businesses.

Damien Schreurs (39:17.102)
So one thing that is a pet peeve of mine is that oftentimes people have limiting beliefs and they think that technology is difficult or complicated, but it's not. It's not as complicated as they might think. And the question is to have

good guy to get to have a good teacher. And this is where right that's being in IT being being an IT professional could be a curse or could be something positive right because not all IT professionals are also good educators right so that's that's one thing. And so finding somebody who not only is good with IT but can also explain

Michael Bernzweig (39:47.924)
This is where being an IT professional could be a curse or could be something positive. Because not all IT professionals are so good at it. So that's one thing. And so finding...

Sure.

Damien Schreurs (40:14.766)
with easy and without the acronyms and without the jargon. That's what people should be looking for. And another thing for me is...

Damien Schreurs (40:36.898)
there is lost time, hidden lost time in mundane things. Right? So before, in the past, we had... So before the Macintosh, actually, it was... There was no mouse, right? There was no graphical user interface. It was the keyboard and especially the function keys. And that was the interface. And then came the mouse and somehow...

Michael Bernzweig (40:37.182)
There is lost time, hidden lost time in mundane things. So before, in the past, we had...

Michael Bernzweig (41:04.484)
And that was Xerox originally wasn't it?

Damien Schreurs (41:08.096)
Exactly, was like Xerox Pack that Steve Jobs saw the mouse for the first time and then incorporated that into the Macintosh. now we take for granted that we have a graphical user interface, we use the mouse or we use a trackpad and so on. But very few people realize how much time they lose moving the cursor around and clicking and dragging and stuff like that.

Michael Bernzweig (41:21.704)
Now we take for granted that we have a practical user interface, we use the mouse or we use a trackpad and so on, very few people realize how much time they use moving the cursor around and clicking and dragging and stuff like that.

Damien Schreurs (41:38.594)
Whereas keyboard shortcuts, right? It's like the pendulum. Actually, we should not leave the keyboard alone. We should actually use as many keyboard shortcuts as possible. then the next step that I see, and also where people lose a lot of time, is anything that is repetitive in the typing, whatever repetitive typing they do.

Michael Bernzweig (41:38.868)
Whereas keyboard shortcuts, like the pendulum. Right. Actually, we should not leave the keyboard alone. We should actually use as many keyboard shortcuts as possible. then the next step that I see, and also people lose a lot of time.

Michael Bernzweig (42:04.724)
is anything that is repetitive under typing, whatever repetitive typing name, it can save a tremendous amount of time. Not when they do it, but in aggregate. So if you look at how much time you can save in a year, in two years or five years, it's huge.

Damien Schreurs (42:08.866)
they can save a tremendous amount of time. Not when they do it, but in aggregate. So if you look at how much time you can save in a year, in two years, in five years, it's huge. Right? Every time you need to type your email address or any long URL or stuff like that, or canned responses,

Michael Bernzweig (42:28.052)
So any copying and pasting or templates or things like that that you can integrate are huge.

Damien Schreurs (42:38.526)
using a tech.

Damien Schreurs (42:42.54)
Yeah, yeah, and so the...

starting to save time on a computer it doesn't matter if it's a Mac or PC, it doesn't matter it can be very quick you can save a lot of time very quickly with very little and small tweaks and obviously if you want to go further then you need to level up the tech or the tools that you use but at the beginning it's a very easy slope

Michael Bernzweig (42:56.102)
it can be very good you can save a lot of time very quickly with very little and small tricks and obviously if you want to go further than you need to level up the tech and the tools that you use but in the beginning it's a very easy trick

Interesting. So I think that'll add a lot of value for a lot of our listeners. So I'd be remiss if I didn't finish with a couple of questions from the audience that were submitted ahead of the podcast. So one question that came in over and over again, Apple constantly evolving in terms of the whole ecosystem and the solutions and things that are coming to market and new tech and all of that.

Maybe even more so than than we see in other parts of tech How how do you stay up and stay current with everything that's going on?

Damien Schreurs (43:55.68)
Yeah, basically I'm listening to podcasts and I'm following blogs, multiple blogs. yeah, I don't have much choice. And as I said, I'm a continuous learner. So I love that. I'm using a tool. Yeah. So I'm still using an RSS feed reader. It's called Feedly.

Michael Bernzweig (43:56.03)
Yeah, basically I'm listening to podcast.

Michael Bernzweig (44:04.34)
Yeah, so really getting immersed in the whole community. Yeah.

Damien Schreurs (44:26.326)
And I do that three or four times every day. I spend 15 to 30 minutes on Feedly and I go through, I think at the end of the day, I go through thousands of articles and I don't read them all, but I see the headline and some of them I will read the articles and most of them I will...

Michael Bernzweig (44:28.782)
Sure.

Damien Schreurs (44:56.012)
I will pack them, will put them in an Apple note somewhere that I can refer to afterwards. But that's how I get, yeah.

Michael Bernzweig (45:01.748)
Yeah, and everybody's approach is different, but and I'll wrap up with this question. So if you were providing some advice to individuals taking your same career trajectory, maybe starting off in engineering and making the transition to consulting or training, if you were to bullet point a few pieces of advice, what would that be?

Damien Schreurs (45:30.638)
So something I would redo in a heartbeat was to give me the time to explore while still having a steady paycheck, right? I would do that and I recommend that to everyone. I know that's not the advice. Some people say burn the bridges, burn the ships.

Michael Bernzweig (45:32.254)
we do in the heartbeat was to give me the time to explore while I'm still having a steady vision. I can do that and I recommend that to everyone.

I know that's not the advice. Some people say burn the bridges, burn the ships. yeah, it may work for them. And I think it's based on the personality of the person. But that was not my jam at all. But if I would...

Damien Schreurs (45:57.64)
And yeah, it may work for them. And I think it's based on the personality of the person. Right. It's not, that was not my jam at all. So that's one thing. But if I, if I would have the chance to, to redo something or to do something differently is I would have changed the criteria or the, the, yeah, the criteria for me to

quit completely the day job. So my criteria was having enough money in the bank to sustain me for 18 months without salary. That was my criteria.

Michael Bernzweig (46:44.294)
I love it, love it. anyways, yeah.

Damien Schreurs (46:45.91)
And, but, but I would change that. would, I wouldn't do that anymore. I would do make sure that you are able to get at least 50 % of your salary recurring, right? That you have enough clients and enough repeatable business that when you quit your job, you will have at least 50 % of your salary covered.

Michael Bernzweig (47:11.636)
you will have at least 50 % of your salary covered. Even with the money in the bank, just in case. Yeah, that sounds like really smart advice. So anyways, Damien Schreurs with Easy Tech and the Macpreneur podcast. Thank you for joining us on Career Spotlight today. And from this end, obviously we're going to leave a link in the show notes.

Damien Schreurs (47:14.766)
even with the money in the bank, just in case.

Michael Bernzweig (47:38.174)
for anybody that would like to either subscribe to the podcast or to your newsletter and we'll leave that in there for you. Anyone that would like to keep up on all of our podcasts, we have Software Spotlight, Career Spotlight, and all of the different podcasts in our ecosystem or anyone that would like to be on our newsletter, just go to softwareoasis.com.

backslash subscribe and you can learn about everything we have going on here. And our third podcast is Consulting Spotlight. anyone in the consulting space, definitely check that out. That is our newest podcast. So Damian, thank you for that deep dive today. I think that was great.

Damien Schreurs (48:27.885)
Yeah, thank you very much Michael, it was great.