Zuck turned down our pitch, changed his mind, and we made $745 mil

14 snips

Jan 21, 2025

Guest

Mike Lazerow

Guest

Kass Lazerow

In this engaging conversation, Mike and Kass Lazerow, serial entrepreneurs behind Golf.com and Buddy Media, share their fascinating journey from pitching early Facebook to mastering social media marketing. They discuss innovative strategies that revolutionized brand engagements and the powerful lessons from their successful exit to Salesforce for $745 million. The duo also touches on the importance of mentorship, overcoming entrepreneurial distractions, and their transition into content creation, offering valuable insights for aspiring entrepreneurs.

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ANECDOTE

Early Facebook Pitch

Mike and Kass Lazerow pitched Mark Zuckerberg about advertising on Facebook when it had only 200 employees.
Zuckerberg, focused on growth, initially dismissed the idea.

INSIGHT

Buddy Media: A Platform, Not an Agency

Buddy Media wasn't an ad agency but a software platform.
It empowered large brands to manage and target their Facebook presence effectively.

ADVICE

Event Marketing on a Budget

Secure thought leadership opportunities at events.
Negotiate for multiple sponsorships, maximizing brand visibility.

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E566: Mike and Kass Lazerow are serial entrepreneurs and investors best known as the cofounders of Golf.com and Buddy Media, the leading social media marketing platform that sold to Salesforce for $745 million.

With a lifetime of stories from decades of building, Mike and Kass have supported close to 100 early-stage startup founders.

They served as angel investors and advisors to Scopely, which sold to Savvy Games for $5 billion in 2022, and Liquid Death, the canned water company whose “evil mission” is to make people laugh and drink healthy beverages, all while reducing plastic pollution.

They’re also early investors and advisors to Meta, early investors in Tumblr, and Gary Vaynerchuk created VaynerMedia in their conference room.

They have recently written a book called: Shoveling Sh!t: A Love Story About the Entrepreneur’s Messy Path to Success which you can pre-order at www.shovelingshit.com.

This is a fun episode, you’re going to love it.

Follow them at: https://www.instagram.com/kassandmike/ https://www.youtube.com/@KassandMike/videos https://x.com/kass_and_mike https://www.facebook.com/kassandmike/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/kassandmike

Compact Keywords - have buyers find your brand when they need it most: https://compactkeywords.com/

00:00 Pitching Mark Zuckerberg: The Early Days of Facebook 02:31 Building Buddy Media: The First Social Media Management Platform 06:16 Innovative Marketing Strategies for Startups 11:27 Compact Keywords 13:00 Their Crazy Business Relationships 18:46 Company Culture 34:55 Golf.com and Early Ventures 38:44 A New Business Idea 41:14 Facebook’s Game-Changing Decision 41:42 Buddy Media's Rise and Salesforce Acquisition 42:11 Negotiation with Salesforce 45:46 Impact of Facebook's IPO on the Deal 46:39 Life at Salesforce Post-Acquisition 51:25 Angel Investing Adventures 53:02 Lessons from Successes and Failures 56:21 Mental Health Crisis Among Entrepreneurs 01:00:01 Focus and Avoiding Shiny Object Syndrome 01:10:45 Being Competitive 01:12:59 Content and Social Media Insights 01:17:39 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

The Edward Show. Your daily digital marketing podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/

#digitalmarketing #startups #angelinvesting #ycombinator