Creator Lab - interviews with entrepreneurs and startup founders

Mubashar Iqbal aka Mubs is a prolific creator. He was Product Hunt’s “maker of the year” + has built 90+ products including Pod Hunt + Founderpath Watch + subscribe on YouTube: https://youtu.be/CHYNoO6jRiY Let us know what you think on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bzaidi https://twitter.com/mubashariqbal   Five Things You'll Learn: knowing when to take on a new project vs calling it quits why “founder-product-fit” is as important as “product-market-fit" example business ideas + how to validate their potential how NoCode tools can get your idea off the ground how to avoid procrastination, stay motivated + deal with fear Time Stamps 00:00:00 Introduction 00:02:43 Who is Mubs? 00:07:48 90+ Projects 00:17:18 Most Important Factor When Taking On A New Project 00:19:13 Founder-Product Fit 00:23:55 Knowing When To Move Onto The Next Project? 00:27:31 Dealing With A Lack of Energy + Enthusiasm 00:29:12 How to Sell Your Projects 00:31:29 How To Value A Business 00:35:23 Business Idea Examples 00:39:54 Our Business Idea Lists 00:42:25 How To Validate An Idea? 00:45:20 Bilal's Idea: Real Estate + Airbnb Tool 00:49:58 Pros + Cons of NoCode Tools 00:52:34 FounderPath – SaaS Debt Funding 00:56:05 How Nathan Latka Pitched Mubs + Equity vs Salary 00:57:07 "Pay Is Not Always Financial" 01:01:27 Future Of Remote Work 01:03:26 Avoiding Procrastination + Dealing With Fear 01:06:54 Understanding Your Why 01:08:58 Wrap Up

Pomp is a partner + co-founder of Morgan Creek Digital. He hosts a top 10 podcast, has an audience of ~400k followers on Twitter + writes a daily letter to 80,000 investors. Watch + subscribe on YouTube: https://youtu.be/stlcZjTawvs Let us know what you think on Twitter: @bzaidi @creatorlabfm @apompliano Five Things You'll Learn: actionable ways to grow a Twitter, YouTube & e-mail audience subscriptions, ads + the future of media monetization “digital art” + emerging trends to invest in the pros, cons + innovation of "rolling funds” staying motivated + perspective gained from serving in the army Timestamps: 00:00:00 Intro 00:02:12 Who is Pomp? 00:04:13 “Having an Audience is the New Currency” 00:06:08 Building an Audience is Hard Work 00:07:32 One Platform At A Time 00:11:48 Pomp’s Daily Routine + Staying Consistent 00:15:30 How To Get Twitter Followers 00:16:58 “Twitter Is What Linkedin Should’ve Been” 00:18:01 Links Hurt Virality 00:20:53 Behind The YouTube Algorithm 00:23:47 Editing For Social Media 00:24:52 How Pomp Grew His YouTube Channel 00:27:40 Writing Eye-Catching Headlines 00:30:36 Podcast Discoverability 00:32:06 Complete vs Perfect 00:35:52 “Trigger Fingers Turned To Twitter Fingers” 00:37:48 Navigating Platform Risk + Organic Reach 00:40:26 Future Of Monetization: Substack, Subscriptions + Ads 00:42:14 Investment Approach 00:44:13 Pomp’s 4 Rules To Wealth 00:48:21 Investing in Digital Art? 00:52:13 Why Use A Rolling Fund? 00:55:22 If Money Was No Obstacle… 00:58:08 Perspective Gained From Serving In The Army 00:59:52 Wrap Up

Dr. Emily Anhalt is a psychologist, co-founder + chief-clinical officer of Coa, a mental fitness platform + community. She’s conducted research with prominent psychologists + entrepreneurs on how leaders can improve their emotional fitness. She's collaborated with companies like Google, Asana, TEDx, NASDAQ, Bloomberg, + True Ventures Watch + Subscribe on YouTube: https://youtu.be/8n4F_mS79gs Let us know what you think on Twitter: @bzaidi @creatorlabfm @dremilyanhalt @joincoa FIVE THINGS YOU'LL LEARN: (1) how to be proactive about your mental health + emotional fitness (2) identifying + dealing with anxiety (3) actionable tips to deal with imposter syndrome (4) dealing with co-founder breakups (5) survivor guilt, sublimation + other psychological concepts that may impact your life TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Intro 00:02:09 About Emily + Coa 00:06:41 About Anxiety 00:10:04 Difference Between Depression + Anxiety 00:11:45 Where to Start with Therapy 00:14:19 Where to Find Therapy 00:16:59 Dealing with Anxiety 00:19:21 Trust Future You to Deal with Future Problems 00:20:25 Identifying Triggers for Anxiety 00:21:29 Healthy and Unhealthy Reactions to Adversity 00:24:22 Common Work Conflicts 00:28:12 Survivor Guilt 00:30:28 Does Gender Play a Role in Conflict Resolution? 00:33:11 Co-Founder Conflicts 00:38:02 Co-Founder Breakups 00:39:20 Imposter Syndrome 00:45:08 How Childhood Experiences Influence The Present 00:48:13 Affordable Therapy For All? 00:49:36 Wrap Up

Sam Parr is the founder & CEO of The Hustle, an 8 figure media business. They have 1.5mil people subscribed to their daily email newsletter + are on track to hit 8 figures in revenue with their paid newsletter, trends. Sign up for trends here: https://trends.co/?ref=11694 Five Things You'll Learn: how he’d build an audience differently today starting a paid newsletter business + finding talented writers copywriting + persuading people through the written word incentives + the future of media being emotionally stable while having a chip on your shoulder Let us know what you think on Twitter: @bzaidi @creatorlabfm @thesamparr Timestamps: 00:01:58 Intro 00:03:10 Sam’s Hot Dog Stand 00:07:53 The Hustle + Trends 00:11:01 Finding Great Employees + Writers 00:14:19 “The Dumbest Millionaires are in Real Estate” 00:15:50 Equity Splits In His Business 00:18:06 “Buzzfeed + Vox are Horrible Companies” 00:20:24 Subscriptions + Ads 00:24:23 Ad Incentives + Fake News 00:25:42 Free vs Paid Products 00:27:52 Example: Start a Million Dollar Paid Newsletter 00:34:20 Biggest Mistakes in Starting A Newsletter 00:34:46 Finding Traction 00:37:35 “Give People What They Need, Not What They Want” 00:38:37 Paid Ads For Growth + Sponsoring Dave Portnoy 00:40:04 Giveaways For Subscriber Growth 00:41:43 Paid Newsletters Category Ideas 00:44:24 How Copywriting Helped Sam Meet His Wife 00:47:01 AIDA + The Funnel 00:49:55 How To Write A Compelling Headline? 00:52:55 Finding Ideas To Write About 00:55:07 Editing + Content That Resonates 00:59:09 Platforms + Distribution: E-Mail, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Tik Tok 01:04:37 Platform Risk – Owned vs Rented Channels 01:07:44 YouTube Algorithm: Views vs Time Spent 01:08:35 Sam Interviews Bilal: YouTube Growth From The Inside 01:11:25 Seeing Android Grow From 4% to 80% Market Share 01:13:42 Being Emotionally Stable 01:18:12 Dealing With The Chip On Your Shoulder 01:20:50 Chilling On 50 Mil

Jack Butcher is the founder of @VisualizeValue, a Twitter/Instagram account he's grown to 100k+ followers in less than 2yrs. His business brings in $100k+ month with 99% profit margins. Five Things You'll Learn: building an audience from scratch transitioning from selling services (time) to products (value) how to tell better stories leverage, compounding + other ideas that changed his world view naval’s tweetstorm on building wealth Let us know what you think on Twitter: @bzaidi @creatorlabfm @jackbutcher @visualizevalue Timestamps (YouTube) https://youtu.be/bwBYNQGiOXo 00:00:00 Intro 00:01:49 Jack's Background 00:05:08 Naval's Tweetstorm 00:09:23 $100k/mo + 99% Profit Margins 00:11:27 Starting Visualize Value 00:15:16 Communicating Complex Ideas 00:17:37 Building an Audience from Scratch 00:22:09 Difference Between Twitter + Instagram Audiences 00:27:28 Constraints + Creating Consistently 00:29:49 Keeping A Brand Fresh 00:30:49 "Good Advertising Wears In, Not Out" 00:34:00 Finding Your Own Voice 00:36:54 Power of Visual Content 00:37:38 One Platform At A Time? 00:42:03 Platform Risk + Organic Reach 00:47:52 Jack's Creative Process 00:57:08 Lessons In Storytelling 01:02:45 How to Stay Consistent 01:08:07 Joe Rogan's First Podcast 01:10:17 Internal Motivation 01:11:30 The Future of Visualize Value 01:14:04 Behind The Mind: "Seek Wealth, Not Money or Status" 01:20:16 "Do You Love The Poor or Hate The Rich?" 01:23:49 Understanding Leverage 01:26:26 Employee vs Owner Mindset 01:30:30 US vs UK culture 01:36:17 "When You're Finally Wealthy, You Realize It Wasn't What You Were Seeking in the First Place" 01:39:19 Wrap Up + Book "The Almanack of Naval Ravikant": https://amzn.to/34uy7aE

Who is Josh? Josh Clemente is the founder of Levels. He’s a mechanical engineer, CrossFit L2 trainer + previously leads teams at Hyperloop + SpaceX where he developed life support systems for astronauts going into space. In this conversation, we discuss the importance of optimizing your metabolic health, how software can drive behavior change + the future of health tech. Full video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/3B1RJvlff74 Topics We Discuss what is metabolic health + why is it important? stories from working with Elon Musk at SpaceX & Hyperloop why you should monitor your glucose the myth of the “balanced diet” know who to trust when it comes to nutrition science actionable advice on improving nutrition, exercise, sleep + stress how software can help drive behavior change Full Time Stamps (YouTube) 00:00:00 Intro 00:01:21 Welcome 00:02:26 What is Metabolic Health? 00:03:54 SpaceX 00:06:28 Hyperloop 00:08:21 Inspiration for Levels 00:17:17 The Myth of a Balanced Diet 00:21:29 Why You Should Monitor Glucose 00:25:07 Knowing Who To Trust On Nutrition? 00:27:52 Using Levels 00:36:50 Price Per User + Team 00:44:55 Funding Levels 00:47:04 The First 3-6 Months 00:50:52 Branding + Finding An Audience 00:54:03 Marketing Lifestyle Apps 00:57:25 The Future of Health Tech – Integrating Health Data 01:02:18 Collecting Health Data + Influencing the Health Care System 01:06:56 4 Parts of Health: Nutrition, Exercise, Sleep + Stress 01:15:08 Wrap-Up

Subscribe + watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/42U2VfWp2Go Let me know what you think on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bzaidi Who is Jim? Jim McKelvey is an entrepreneur, glass-blowing artist + philanthropist. He’s most well known as the co-founder of Square, the financial payments company he started with Jack Dorsey (founder of Twitter). Jim also co-founded the non-profit “Launch Code” and he’s an independent Director of the St. Louis Federal Reserve Jim’s book, The Innovation Stack, is available for purchase. Or sign up to the email list at the bottom of this post to win 1 of 5 copies we’re giving away to listeners Topics We Discuss: the origin story of Square Square's 14 part "innovation stack" that allowed them to win in this tough market reducing the cost of a card reader from $1000 to $0.97 going up against Amazon + winning examples of innovation stacks from other companies the unbanked + underbanked his thoughts on digital currencies invention vs innovation entrepreneurship vs owning a business if "billionaires should exist" + his "billionaire moment" why being a billionaire ≠ happiness Book Giveaway We’re giving away 5 copies of Jim’s book to email subscribers, details here: https://www.creatorlab.fm/jim-mckelvey-square-co-founder/ Timestamps (YouTube) https://youtu.be/42U2VfWp2Go 00:00:00 Intro 00:00:49 Welcome 00:01:50 Early Career as a Glassblower 00:03:10 Meeting Jack Dorsey 00:05:59 Beginning of Square 00:10:59 Underserved Markets 00:15:13 Studying a Market for Something That Doesn’t Exist 00:19:03 The Unbanked + Underbanked 00:24:49 Square’s Innovation Stack 00:28:21 Invention vs Innovation 00:30:21 Getting Square's First Users 00:33:38 What Were The Large Existing Players Missing? 00:42:22 The Delusion of Innovation 00:45:26 How Square Went Up Against Amazon + Won 00:50:43 Entrepreneur vs Business Owner 00:52:32 His “Billionaire” Moment 00:54:52 Being Treated Like a “Walking Wallet” 00:56:33 Should Billionaires Exist? 01:00:21 Industries That are Ripe for Innovation 01:05:30 Digital Currency 01:08:13 Advice on Investing 01:10:30 "If you inherit wealth, you're not rich" 01:12:24 Being Rich ≠ Being Happy 01:13:44 Philanthropy 01:16:39 Dealing with the hardest period of his life 01:19:33 Wrap Up Thank you to our partner   This week's episode is supported by InstaSleep Mint Melts, the drug-free, convenient sleep aid.   They’re easy to take without water & melt in your mouth like a mint. They’re designed to help you fall asleep faster & wake up without feeling groggy in the morning.   If you’ve had issues sleeping like I have, try them out - available at select Walgreens stores and their website: www.upgradeyoursleep.com

Subscribe + Watch on YouTube:https://youtu.be/JcJIvhXdbt0 Let me know what you think on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bzaidi Who Is Kat Cole?   Kat is one of the most impressive business leaders in America. Fortune magazine named her on their 40 under 40 list & her story is often cited as an example of the “American Dream”.   She worked her way up from being a waitress at Hooters aged 17, to an exec at 26 and a president at 31.   Today, she’s the president of a parent company doing $4-5bil in sales in 60+ countries, across 6500+ locations. Their 7 brands including Cinnabon, Carvel & Jamba Juice.   In this conversation you’ll learn how she thinks about growth, adapting products to emerging trends, using brand partnerships to grow & the factors that go into expanding internationally.     Five Things You’ll Learn Lessons In Leadership – how to establish credibility, even as a young leader, to lead a team through any situation. Emerging Trends + The Innovation Adoption Curve – how she thinks about adapting to emerging trends for brands like Cinnabon + Jamba Juice. Finding your place on the innovation adoption curve while holding onto where you came from. Impact of Lockdown On Malls + Airports – how recent events have impacted their 6500+ locations in malls + airports, and where she sees opportunities International Growth – the factors you should think through when expanding internationally, stories of mistakes made, and examples of situations she navigated in Argentina, Turkey + UAE Brand Partnerships – controlling your brand when expanding with partners, and when to consider licensing vs franchising vs joint ventures   Time Stamps (YouTube) 00:00:00 Preview 00:02:04 Welcome 00:05:01 From Waitress to Vice President of Hooters 00:08:41 Invaluable Lessons In Leadership 00:14:18 “I’m Friendly, But Not Your Friend” 00:16:49 Blending Humility + Confidence 00:20:57 Scale + Revenue of Focus Brands 00:22:12 Case Study: Turning Around Cinnabon 00:29:23 Opportunity = When Your Company Says “No” 00:33:03 Approach To Testing New Products 00:35:10 Adapting to Trends: Jamba + Cinnabon Example 00:42:11 Jamba + The Innovation Adoption Curve 00:48:54 Mall Traffic In 2020 00:51:47 Prediction On Airport Traffic 00:53:22 Increased Search Demand For “Near Me” + “Delivery” 00:54:35 DTC vs Third-Party Delivery Services 00:57:25 International Growth: Hooters in Argentina 01:01:11 Importance of Cultural Context: Turkey Example 01:04:47 International Context – Asking the Right Questions 01:06:29 Factors To Consider When Expanding Internationally 01:12:08 Growing Through Licensing, Franchising + Joint Ventures 01:14:51 Brand Partnerships – Controlling Your Brand 01:17:34 Wrap-Up Thank you to our partner   This week's episode is supported by InstaSleep Mint Melts, the drug-free, convenient sleep aid.   They’re easy to take without water & melt in your mouth like a mint. They’re designed to help you fall asleep faster & wake up without feeling groggy in the morning.   If you’ve had issues sleeping like I have, try them out - available at select Walgreens stores and their website: www.upgradeyoursleep.com

Who Is Ryan? Ryan Begelman co-founded Summit Series, described as “TED meets Burning Man” & “The Davos of Gen Y” by Forbes They’ve become known for hosting incredible events with thousands of leading creators like Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos & Jessica Alba. Summit acquired Powder Mountain, America’s largest ski resort after pre-selling the opportunity to their community. Ryan also bought into Bisnow Media, became CEO & sold for a reported $50mil+, all without venture capital. What You’ll Learn Part 1: Business Frameworks + Backstory Framework For Business Ideas – a technique to generate ideas: marketing, monetization + markets Bootstrapping + Buying A Mountain – how they pre-sold an idea to their community to buy a mountain for $50mil + why you should consider bootstrapping too Joint Venture Waterfalls – applying a concept from private equity to real estate + businesses Dealflow – four ways to think about generating deal flow: hunting, trapping, farming, trading Replacing Yourself – how to find, hire & train someone to replace you Part 2: Holistic Entrepreneurship, Philosophy + Mental Fitness Redefining Wealthy + Holistic Entrepreneurship – creating a well-rounded, fun & meaningful life through entrepreneurship “Software For The Brain” – train your brain for mental fitness, developing awareness + neuroplasticity Practical Philosophy – concepts from greek philosophy, Buddhism & stoicism to help you be less reactive + less annoyed The Story of the Chinese Farmer – a parable about nature + grounding yourself in truth Ego – is wanting to leave an indelible mark on humanity a form of ego or something to strive for? Time Stamps (YouTube) 00:00:00 Preview 00:01:54 Welcome 00:04:16 Summit Series 00:10:12 Buying A Mountain 00:12:18 Revenue & Size of Summit & Bisnow Sale 00:15:28 Holistic Entrepreneurship: The Trap of Venture Capital 00:22:43 Life Cycle of Real Estate Investing 00:25:34 Joint Venture Waterfalls 00:31:22 Business Idea Framework 00:34:42 Pickleball Example 00:41:01 Finding Trends 00:42:39 Dealflow: Hunting, Trapping, Farming, Trading 00:47:20 Hiring Someone to Replace You 00:50:43 Part 2: Mental Fitness, Philosophy & Holistic Entrepreneurship 00:58:16 Mindfulness 01:05:53 Developing Awareness 01:08:30 The Story of the Chinese Farmer 01:11:14 “Don’t Be the Tree Limbs, Be the Trunk” 01:14:12 Assumptions and Biases 01:17:02 Dropping Your Concept of Right and Wrong 01:18:48 Appeal of Stoicism: Controlling What You Can Control 01:22:56 Training Your Brain 01:24:36 Getting Out Of The Worst Phase Of Your Life 01:28:37 Relationships Aren’t for Happiness 01:32:11 Dealing with Ego 01:34:00 Training Himself To Complain Less 01:35:40 Is Making An Impact On The World Driven By Ego? 01:37:30 Avoiding Unsolicited Feedback 01:38:22 Alternative To Jumping To The Solve 01:39:13 Wrap-Up   Thank you to our partner   This week's episode is supported by InstaSleep Mint Melts, the drug-free, convenient sleep aid.   They’re easy to take without water & melt in your mouth like a mint. They’re designed to help you fall asleep faster & wake up without feeling groggy in the morning.   If you’ve had issues sleeping like I have, try them out - available at select Walgreens stores and their website: www.upgradeyoursleep.com

SUMMARY: In this episode, we discuss the world of micro private equity, buying existing companies with little money down & the philosophy of becoming an owner. Ryan has a growing portfolio of 7 products, including fomo.com, a popular SaaS Shopify app. He’s doing 7-figures in revenue, all while living a nomadic life traveling the world, coding on-the-go & making music. SHOW NOTES:https://www.creatorlab.fm/ryan-kulp-fork-equity/ WATCH + SUBSCRIBE ON YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/yEaKaxRgjlQ WHAT YOU'LL LEARN: importance of ownership of your actions + becoming an owner in a business building from scratch vs buying an existing company thinking through career transitions + knowing when to leave your job how to work with a romantic partner partnering with investors to buy companies his opinion on self-funding vs raising investment why job security isn’t about the company you work for breakdown of his first 6 figure acquisition why someone would sell a business in the first place, and what to look out for what is seller side financing + how can you use it to buy a company with little money down SBA loans + how you can use one to acquire a company dealing with people who have negative energy scaling a team beyond yourself   TIME STAMPS FOR VIDEO:https://youtu.be/yEaKaxRgjlQ 00:00 welcome 01:42 why ryan landed in korea 04:46 learning languages 05:57 not pitching 08:43 ryan's background 09:31 learning to code + becoming an owner 11:40 bootstrap vs venture capital 15:07 pros + cons lists 17:14 raise to make your vision bigger 18:51 nuance + balance from extremes 22:42 importance of becoming an owner 25:33 54 side projects + 7 companies 28:13 7 figure revenue, 70% margin 28:49 running a business with a romantic partner 34:27 knowing when to leave your job 45:52 job security + your own skillset 48:42 why buy vs build from scratch 51:57 do I need money to buy? 53:22 buying fomo.com with no money down 59:23 how to value a small business 1:03:23 what is seller side financing? 1:04:33 what is a clawback provision? 1:05:33 why would someone sell a business? 1:07:43 "it's too good to be true" 1:11:32 two types of people, which one are you? 1:14:27 dealing with negative energy 1:16:36 debt vs equity to buy companies 1:18:01 using SBA loans to buy companies 1:26:26 business returns vs real estate vs stocks 1:27:31 be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful 1:29:57 partnering with investors to buy a company 1:32:59 scaling a team beyond yourself 1:37:32 being conservative in tech 1:39:47 types of luck 1:43:28 what's stopping you?