Podcasts about Digital video

Next in Media spoke with Larry Allen, VP & GM Data & Addressable Enablement at Comcast about the challenge in getting everyone in media to speak the same language when it comes to targeted TV ads. Allen also talked about why he think the TV business needs to ditch identifiers for old school household data, and why he thinks that media companies are ready to work together to broaden the TV ad pie.Takeaways:Addressable TV is Evolving – It's no longer just about traditional cable ad slots. Today, addressable TV spans streaming, connected devices, and multi-screen environments

In This Episode You Will Learn About:  EMBRACE a life of authenticity   How to be your BEST self on camera   Developing your brand messaging  The M.E.S.S.Y framework  Resources: Website: www.kimrittberg.com  Join Raise Your Revenue With Video!  Listen to Mom's Exit Interview  Email: kim@kimrittberg.com  LinkedIn: @Kim Rittberg  Instagram: @kimrittberg Youtube: @kimrittbergcontent Get 50% off your first box plus free shipping at factormeals.com/confidence50off with code confidence50off. Get 10% off your first Mitopure order at timeline.com/CONFIDENCE. Download the CFO's Guide to AI and Machine Learning at NetSuite.com/MONAHAN Head to AirDoctorPro.com and use promo code CONFIDENCE to get UP TO $300 off today. Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at shopify.com/monahan Cancel unwanted subscriptions and reach your financial goals faster at RocketMoney.com/CONFIDENCE. Call my digital clone at 201-897-2553!  Visit heathermonahan.com Reach out to me on Instagram & LinkedIn Sign up for my mailing list: heathermonahan.com/mailing-list/  Overcome Your Villains is Available NOW! Order here: https://overcomeyourvillains.com  If you haven't yet, get my first book, Confidence Creator Show Notes:  Being the most confident version of yourself is the BEST way to succeed in business! No matter who you are, it's normal to feel nervous when it's time to sell yourself and get in front of the camera. Taking the leap of faith to start filming video content will help you connect with your audience and GROW your business! Video strategist and award winning content expert, Kim Rittberg, is here to help us perfect our brand's messaging and share our stories with confidence! It's time to STOP worrying about how you might look or sound and just START today.  

Need advice? Trouble with girls? Strange questions about your addictions? Anonymously send questions for us to answer on the next episode by clicking this link! Support the showFollow our Instagram: @swallowdaddysSubscribe to Youtube: @swallowdaddysFollow RJ: rj_sainsFollow Drew: drewbockkindof (deleted instagram due to gross incompetence)Join Patreon for Early Access and Bonus Content: Help Us

Next in Creator Media spoke with Aditi Rajvanshi, Head of Strategy - Portal A, about what mistakes brands continue to make when working with creators, why YouTube is quietly pushing for content that scores well on 'viewer satisfaction' and the idea that some brands may want to move away from contributing to 'brain rot.'Takeaways:Portal A's Niche in Content CreationPortal A specializes in premium, elevated storytelling for brands, creating marquee brand properties that focus on long-term growth and brand engagement rather than mass-scale advertising.Shift in Brand-Creator DynamicsBrands now view creators as essential marketing channels rather than transactional tools, fostering deeper, long-term partnerships that emphasize authentic collaboration.The Power of Content MarketingSuccessful branded content focuses on storytelling and providing value to audiences, distinguishing itself from traditional promotional ads. Multi-Platform StrategiesDiversification across platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram ensures resilience against changes in platform performance or regulations. Mid-Tier Creator GrowthSupporting emerging and mid-tier creators represents a significant untapped opportunity, as this group can uniquely connect with niche audiences and drive authentic engagement.Evolving Creator RolesCreators no longer rely solely on single platforms. Instead, they tailor content for multiple platforms, balancing experimentation, scalability, and community building to enhance their careers and partnerships.Guest: Aditi RajvanshiHost: Mike ShieldsSponsor: VuePlannerProducer: FEL Creative 

In our final episode of the year, join us as we reflect on the best moments of TellyCast in 2024. Featuring exclusive interviews with Guns N' Roses legend Slash, Joe Sugg, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Omid Djalili, Jane Root, Evan Shapiro, Patrick Spence, and many more, this episode takes you behind the scenes of some of the year's most talked-about productions.From blockbuster TV drama “The Crow Girl” to industry game-changers, discover stories, insights, and the moments that defined the content industry this year.Support the showSubscribe to the TellyCast YouTube channel for exclusive TV industry videosFollow us on LinkedInConnect with Justin on LinkedINTellyCast videos on YouTubeTellyCast websiteTellyCast instaTellyCast TwitterTellyCast TikTok

Join us behind the scenes of the TellyCast Digital Content Forum at BFI Southbank, where digital leaders share their strategies, innovations, and insights into the ever-evolving world of digital-first video. Featuring Gerrit Kemming (Quintus Studios), Serena Jones (The B1M), Dan Biddle (Meta), Ed Lindeman (TikTok), Josh Bloom (Twitch), Lucy Luke (Snapchat), Neil Price (YouTube), and more.Discover how platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Twitch are shaping the content landscape, why digital documentaries are thriving, and how creators are connecting with global audiences. Don't miss this deep dive into the intersection of traditional broadcasting and the digital creator economy.Support the showSubscribe to the TellyCast YouTube channel for exclusive TV industry videosFollow us on LinkedInConnect with Justin on LinkedINTellyCast videos on YouTubeTellyCast websiteTellyCast instaTellyCast TwitterTellyCast TikTok

Fran Wills, CEO of the Local Media Consortium, discusses how digital video has become the go-to news and information source for a growing number of people and what that means for local news. Visit the It's All Journalism website to find out how to subscribe to our podcast and weekly email newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

TOM JOHNSTON THE DOOBIE BROTHERS ‘THE LOST INTERVIEWS' with RAY SHASHO EPISODE 15 INTERVIEWED FEBRUARY 17TH 2013   The Doobie Brothers are one of those bands that we've depended on, year after year, and expect to see performing invariably at outdoor music festivals, pavilions, arenas, casinos and bike week events across the nation. The group has been exhilarating audiences for decades yet appear timeless onstage. One of the principal reasons for the longevity and success of the Doobie Brothers has a lot to do with an unmitigated affection shared between the band and its audience. It's been an amazing love affair that has persevered for over forty-two years. When the Doobie Brothers finally call it quits … rock ‘n' roll will probably call it quits too.  Tom Johnston is the voice, lyricist and guitarist on numerous classic hit recordings by the Doobie Brothers. Inspired by listening to R&B music on the radio, California native Johnston started his first band at 14, eventually broadening his musical horizons by singing with soul and blues groups. After moving to San Jose to finish college, Tom met Skip Spence, original drummer for the Jefferson Airplane. Spence introduced Johnston to drummer John Hartman. Spence was also a founding member of Moby Grape which had a major influence on the Doobie Brothers. Tom Johnston, John Hartman and bassist Greg Murphy formed the power trio “Pud.” When “Pud” unraveled, the evolution of the Doobie Brothers began to take shape. While living in a home dubbed as their “musical headquarters,” guitarist Patrick Simmons and bassist Dave Shogren joined the group. The band quickly generated a huge following in California. In 1971, the Doobie Brothers launched their self- titled debut album, The Doobie Brothers on the Warner Brothers label with legendary producers Ted Templeman and Lenny Waronker. The first track on the album, “Nobody” penned by Tom Johnston, would later resurface in 2010 on their latest release, World Gone Crazy. Their second studio album Toulouse Street (named for a street in the French Quarter of New Orleans) introduced new bassist Tiran Porter and second drummer Michael Hossack (Navy Veteran). The album spawned the Tom Johnston penned classic hits, “Listen to the Music” (#11 Top 100 Billboard Hit -1972), “Rockin' Down the Highway” and “Jesus Is Just Alright,” (#35 Billboard Top 100 Hit -1973) written by Arthur Reynolds (1965) and performed by The Byrds (1969). In 1973, the Doobie Brothers released, The Captain and Me spotlighting some of the bands most memorable classic rock tunes penned by Tom Johnston … “Long Train Runnin'”(#8 Billboard Hot 100 Hit) and perhaps the bands anthem song, “China Grove” (#15 Billboard Hot 100 Hit). The Captain and Me also featured a guest performance by future Doobie Brothers and Steely Dan guitarist Jeff “Skunk” Baxter. The Doobie Brothers fourth studio album, What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits released in 1974 spawned the Tom Johnston penned songs, “Another Park, Another Sunday” (#32 Billboard Hot 100 Hit) and “Eyes of Silver” (#52 Billboard Hot 100 Hit). The album also featured Pat Simmons penned tribute to “The Big Easy,” “Black Water” (#1 Billboard Hot 100 Hit -1975). Stampede released in 1975 was the final album before Michael McDonald took over lead vocalist duties from an ailing Tom Johnston. The album featured the cover version, “Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me A Little While)” (#11 Billboard Hot 100 Hit -1975) written by the Motown team of Holland-Dozier-Holland. Subsequent albums …Takin' It to the Streets (1976), Livin' on the Fault Line (1977), Minute by Minute (1978) and One Step Closer (1980) featured a successful second incarnation of the band, which primarily consisted of Michael McDonald(vocals, keyboards) Patrick Simmons (guitars/vocals) Jeff “Skunk” Baxter (guitars, steel guitars), Tiran Porter(bass, vocals), John Hartman (drums) and Keith Knudsen (drums). *Tom Johnston played and sang “Turn It Loose” and “Wheels of Fortune” on the album Takin' It to the Streets. John McFee was added to the Doobie Brothers lineup in 1979 replacing Jeff “Skunk” Baxter and was featured on One Step Closer. After a successful run, the band's signature sound and direction became disillusioned. While working on his solo project, Tom Johnston rejoined the band for a Farewell Tour, and then the Doobie Brothers would call it quits as a band for the next five years. The reformation of the Doobie Brothers was contrived when the band's alumni were asked by drummer Keith Knudsen to perform at a concert to benefit veterans' causes. The band discovered that tickets were in great demand and soon embarked on a twelve-city tour.   In 1989, Cycles, the tenth studio recording by the Doobie Brothers, now on Capitol Records, witnessed the return of Tom Johnston and drummer Michael Hossack to the studio as a band. Tom Johnston's distinctive vocals returned, and the band re-established their musical roots. Subsequent releases … Brotherhood (1991), Sibling Rivalry (2000) and World Gone Crazy (2010). World Gone Crazy was the Doobie Brothers highest charting album since 1989 receiving rave reviews and featuring the longtime core lineup of Tom Johnston and Pat Simmons. The Doobie Brothers band functions like a well-oiled machine, touring consistently year after year and enchanting music enthusiasts worldwide. The current lineup of Tom Johnston (vocals/guitar), Pat Simmons (vocals/guitars), John McFee (guitar/strings/vocals), John Cowan (bass), Guy Allison (keyboards/vocals), Marc Russo (saxophones), Ed Toth (drums) and Tony Pia (drums)… represent a musical legacy that defines the quintessence of rock ‘n' roll and a band that we've always depended on throughout the years. The Doobie Brothers have sold more than 40-million albums worldwide. …So why aren't they in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?   Tom Johnston and the Doobie Brothers will be performing live as part of the Bands, Brew & BBQ concert series at Busch Gardens in Tampa on Sunday, February 24th. For tickets visit … http://seaworldparks.com/buschgardens-tampa/Events/Bands-Brew-and-BBQ or call 1-888-800-5447 for further information. Eagle Rock Entertainment recently released ‘Let The Music Play' –The Story of The Doobie Brothers on DVD, Blue-ray and Digital Video. -Available to purchase at amazon.com. I had the great pleasure of speaking with Tom Johnston recently about the band's current and future projects, family, and the future of rock ‘n' roll. Here's my interview with singer/songwriter/guitarist/and founding member of classic rock legends the Doobie Brothers … TOM JOHNSTON.   Support us on PayPal!

Marty and Eric share some of their tips for making digital videos for the classroom and as student assignments, including the variety of digital editing software used. Screencastpal Wevideo iMovie Movie Maker Powerpoint/Keynote to movie Adobe Premiere Pro Final Cut Pro Camtasia Filmora Davinci Resolve Movavi Lightworks ThePodTalk.net. TechSavvyProfessor

On the lates Whisper in the Wings from Stage Whisper, we are bringing you more coverage of this year's Rouge Theatre Festival. So make sure you tune in to meet and learn about more of the amazing artists that are part of this year's festivities!Rogue Theater Festival June 3rd-9th@ The Flea TheatreTickets and more information are available at roguetheaterfestival.comAnd be sure to follow our guests to stay up to date on all their upcoming projects and productions: Even When The Storm Comesby Ryan Vaughan@ryanvaughanactorandplaywright June 3rd-17th (digital stream)Digital Video on Demand: Scouts Guide to Conquering Your Childhood Fear by Austin Willard Andre Otabo (performing)@_austin_willard_@andre__otaborJune 3rd-16th (digital stream)Transylvania or The Weekend After Dracula Diedby Patricia Lynnpatriciamlynn.com@pattielynnlynnJune 4th @ 7pmScreamplay by Connor Wentworth@connor.wentworth@wentworthwritesJune 9th @ 3pm

On this episode of the MadTech Daily: Social Video to Grow 16% in 2024; UK Watchdog to Investigate Amazon and Microsoft's AI Relationships; Meta's Ad Tracking Under EU Scrutiny 

Find the transcript, show notes, and more on our Substack: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/eric-snowden Adobe has been the big wrench in our creative toolbox for decades. But there's a new tool shaking up our workflow —Generative AI. Eric Snowden, leader of Adobe's design team, sees a big opportunity for designers to extend and enhance the creative process by folding generative AI into each of our tools and we wanted to get his take on what's around the corner.  We spoke with Eric about his journey from Atlantic records during a period of upheaval in the music industry and what he learned there, to his time on the Behance product team and working his way up through leadership roles at Adobe. Eric leads a team of over 600 people, so we also talk about finding the right size for teams (and Amazon's “Two Pizza Team” framework), as well as how R&D works at Adobe. Bio Eric Snowden is the Vice President of Design at Adobe overseeing a multidisciplinary team of designers responsible for the Creative Cloud & Document Cloud suite of product and services. His team is responsible for the Digital Video & Audio, Digital Imaging, Design & Web, Documents, Mobile, Portfolio, and Services across web, desktop, and mobile surfaces. *** Visiting the links below is one of the best ways to support our show: Methodical Coffee: Roasted, blended, brewed, served and perfected by verified coffee nerds

More granular video classifications are replacing outstream video. But the move may devalue some inventory. Plus: GPTs are coming for contextual.

Commodore hits the skids, Sega bets big on entertainment centers & The emulation revolution is born!   These stories and many more on this episode of the VGNRTM   This episode we will look back at the biggest stories in and around the video game industry in January 1994. As always, we'll mostly be using magazine cover dates, and those are of course always a bit behind the actual events.   Alex Smith of They Create Worlds is our cohost. Check out his podcast here: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/ and order his book here: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/book   Get us on your mobile device: Android: https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly92aWRlb2dhbWVuZXdzcm9vbXRpbWVtYWNoaW5lLmxpYnN5bi5jb20vcnNz iOS: https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/video-game-newsroom-time-machine   And if you like what we are doing here at the podcast, don't forget to like us on your podcasting app of choice, YouTube, and/or support us on patreon! https://www.patreon.com/VGNRTM   Send comments on Mastodon @videogamenewsroomtimemachine@oldbytes.space Or twitter @videogamenewsr2 Or Instagram https://www.instagram.com/vgnrtm Or videogamenewsroomtimemachine@gmail.com   Links: If you don't see all the links, find them here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/100523595   7 Minutes in Heaven: Cliffhanger Video Version: https://www.patreon.com/posts/100523418 TV ad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EAfkdgcxb4 https://www.mobygames.com/game/23868/cliffhanger/   Corrections: December 1993 Ep - https://www.patreon.com/posts/december-1993-99076522 Ethan's fine site The History of How We Play: https://thehistoryofhowweplay.wordpress.com/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108255/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_3_tt_8_nm_0_q_super%2520mario%2520bro https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_64_Game_Pak https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RedOctane https://patents.google.com/patent/US20070232374A1/ https://www.mobygames.com/game/15033/donkey-konga/       1993: Sega goes all in on big arcades "(January 17, 1994). Sega plans amusement parks for ASEAN countries. Report From Japan. https://advance.lexis.com/api/document?collection=news&id=urn:contentItem:3SKM-Y8R0-004C-929W-00000-00&context=1516831. Yomiuri Shimbun. (January 1, 1994, Saturday). Sega, French superhero; open amusement centers. The Daily Yomiuri. https://advance.lexis.com/api/document?collection=news&id=urn:contentItem:3SC6-V1K0-001X-J1FP-00000-00&context=1516831." Play Meter Jan. 1994, pg. 2 https://www.facebook.com/sega.megapolis/   Blockbuster gets in on FEC biz Replay Jan. 1994 pg. 2 https://parkrovers.com/home/2020/10/18/blockbusters-failed-indoor-theme-park   VR, meet redemption, redemption, meet VR Play Meter Jan. 1994, pg. 2   Karaoke wars heat up in Japan (January 19, 1994). 'Karaoke wars' intensifies. Report From Japan. https://advance.lexis.com/api/document?collection=news&id=urn:contentItem:3SKM-Y8P0-004C-9293-00000-00&context=1516831.   NBA Jam beats records Play Meter Jan. 1994, pg. 2   Japanese recession hitting video game makers Play Meter Jan. 1994, pg. 18   SF2 Turbo ships a million units https://archive.org/details/GamePro_Issue_054_January_1994 p. 259   Acclaim numbers skyrocket https://archive.org/details/GamePro_Issue_054_January_1994 p. 259   Microsoft signs deal with Sega https://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/18/business/company-news-microsoft-will-supply-software-for-sega.html https://microsoft.fandom.com/wiki/Sega_Saturn#Microsoft_technology https://archive.org/details/NEXT_Generation_08/page/n25/mode/2up https://segaretro.org/Windows_CE   Namco signs on to Playstation Play Meter Jan. 1994, pg. 20 https://www.mobygames.com/game/company:1043/platform:playstation/sort:-date/page:1/   Sony reveals PSX stats https://archive.org/details/ElectronicGamingMonthly_201902/Electronic%20Gaming%20Monthly%20Issue%20054%20%28January%201994%29/page/n67/mode/2up   NEC reveals PCFX stats https://archive.org/details/ElectronicGamingMonthly_201902/Electronic%20Gaming%20Monthly%20Issue%20054%20%28January%201994%29/page/n67/mode/2up https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?PHPSESSID=cv914932bsf7di7a8k17n7oqoj&topic=1420.0 https://retrocdn.net/images/6/60/Edge_UK_004.pdf pg. 54   NeoGeo enters CDRom race https://retrocdn.net/images/6/60/Edge_UK_004.pdf pg. 9   Konix Multisystem is back!! https://retrocdn.net/images/6/60/Edge_UK_004.pdf pg. 7   Sega "delays" SegaVR https://archive.org/details/GamePro_Issue_054_January_1994 p. 259   Video Game monopoly inquiry begun in the UK https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-guardian-video-games-under-monopoly/77456435/ https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-video-game-monopoly-accusatio/92066281/   CDi finally gets Digital Video https://retrocdn.net/images/6/60/Edge_UK_004.pdf pg. 8   Atari test markets expanded https://archive.org/details/Aktueller_Software_Markt_-_Ausgabe_1994.01/page/n113/mode/2up   Edge fawns over Cybermorph https://retrocdn.net/images/6/60/Edge_UK_004.pdf pg. 60   Atari sues Sega https://archive.org/details/GamePro_Issue_054_January_1994 pg. 258   Lieberman bill a hidden threat during Senate hearings Play Meter Jan. 1994, pg. 2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993%E2%80%9394_United_States_Senate_hearings_on_video_games#Video_Game_Rating_Act_of_1994   ELSPA agrees on ratings system https://archive.org/details/amiga-computing-magazine-069/page/n13/mode/2up https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Association_for_UK_Interactive_Entertainment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PEGI   X marks the spot for CDRom drives https://archive.org/details/eu_BYTE-1994-01_OCR/page/n41/mode/1up?view=theater   Sony launches CDR https://archive.org/details/64er_1994_01/page/n8/mode/1up?view=theater   PCI becomes the new standard https://archive.org/details/Power.Play.N70.1994.01 pg. 112   Tandy expands retail presence https://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/13/business/company-news-tandy-will-hire-3600-adding-30-superstores.html   Apple adds DOS board https://wiki.preterhuman.net/Apple_Now_Ships_Macintosh_Quadra_With_MS-DOS_and_Windows_Compatibility https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh_Quadra_610 https://archive.org/details/eu_BYTE-1994-01_OCR/page/n24/mode/1up?view=theater   Mac gamers get Y2K preview https://archive.org/details/Electronic-Games-1994-01/page/n13/mode/2up   Chicago enters beta https://archive.org/details/eu_BYTE-1994-01_OCR/page/n23/mode/1up?view=theater   Novell gives up UNIX trademark https://archive.org/details/eu_BYTE-1994-01_OCR/page/n41/mode/1up?view=theater   Commodore numbers are bad https://archive.org/details/commodoreproxystatement1994/page/n4/mode/1up?view=theater https://archive.org/details/amiga-computing-magazine-069/page/n9/mode/2up   C64 emulator beta released https://archive.org/details/64er_1994_01/page/n1/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/64er_1994_01/page/n11/mode/1up?view=theater   Activision gets reboot fever https://archive.org/details/Aktueller_Software_Markt_-_Ausgabe_1994.01/page/n113/mode/2up   CES dominated by computers and games https://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/10/business/for-consumers-multimedia-shines.html   Compton announces patent grant https://archive.org/details/Computer_Gaming_World_Issue_114/page/n9/mode/2up https://www.nytimes.com/1994/10/31/business/patent-barred-for-compton-s.html   Race for digital distribution is on! https://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/19/business/company-news-in-terms-of-technology-viacom-might-have-an-edge.html https://archive.org/details/Computer_Gaming_World_Issue_114/page/n9/mode/2up https://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/18/business/company-news-gte-to-test-tv-services.html https://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/14/nyregion/data-highway-accelerating-in-connecticut.html https://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/13/business/company-news-digital-and-usa-video-in-market-test-of-new-technology.html https://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/11/business/company-news-u-s-west-adds-to-voice-and-video-network-plan.html https://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/24/business/the-media-business-hewlett-packard-to-get-big-pacific-bell-order.html Other People's Money - https://youtu.be/62kxPyNZF3Q?si=Ez5F8ZTi_j4dneQx   US government pushes for open super highway Play Meter Jan. 1994, pg. 2   Cable TV enters Internet age Infoworld January 10, 1994 pg. 3   Multimedia boom doesn't lead to hiring boom https://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/09/business/the-multimedia-job-mirage.html   Babylon 5 premieres https://twitter.com/straczynski/status/1751061515875348865   Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers are all the rage Playthings, January 1994 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mighty_Morphin_Power_Rangers   Anime is on the rise https://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/14/arts/home-video-868930.html   EC bans imperial measurements https://archive.org/details/PC-Player-German-Magazine-1994-01/page/n5/mode/2up   X-Men movie casting rumor is awesome https://archive.org/details/Aktueller_Software_Markt_-_Ausgabe_1994.01/page/n113/mode/2up     Worst Ad of the Month: Wolfenstein 3D - SNES https://retrogamingaus.com/4326/video-game-ad-of-the-day-wolfenstein-3d-2   Quotes of the Month: Virtual reality won't merely replace TV, it will eat it alive" Arthur C. Clarke https://archive.org/details/amiga-computing-magazine-069/page/n31/mode/2up     Recommended Links:   The History of How We Play: https://thehistoryofhowweplay.wordpress.com/ Gaming Alexandria: https://www.gamingalexandria.com/wp/ They Create Worlds: https://tcwpodcast.podbean.com/ Digital Antiquarian: https://www.filfre.net/ The Arcade Blogger: https://arcadeblogger.com/ Retro Asylum: http://retroasylum.com/category/all-posts/ Retro Game Squad: http://retrogamesquad.libsyn.com/ Playthrough Podcast: https://playthroughpod.com/ Retromags.com: https://www.retromags.com/ Games That Weren't - https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/     Sound Effects by Ethan Johnson of History of How We Play.     Copyright Karl Kuras  

In dieser Podcast-Episode tauchen wir in die neuesten digitalen Marketing-Entwicklungen ein: Meta führt fortschrittliche Markenschutz-Tools ein, um Produktfälschungen in Anzeigen mit KI-gestützten Tools zu bekämpfen und bietet einen erweiterten Brand Rights Protection Manager sowie ein neues Intellectual Property Reporting Center. Google revolutioniert das Anzeigenmanagement mit Gemini, einem KI-Tool, das automatisiert Suchanzeigen aus Webseiteninhalten generiert, um Kampagnen effizienter zu gestalten. TikTok experimentiert mit 30-minütigen Videos, um Content-Creators mehr Flexibilität zu bieten und mit Plattformen wie YouTube zu konkurrieren. LinkedIn stellt seine Lookalike Audiences Funktion ein und empfiehlt alternative Targeting-Optionen. Zudem zeigt eine Studie, dass Werbetreibende ihre Investitionen in Social Media und Digital Video erhöhen wollen, wobei die Qualität der Medien und Responsible Media-Prinzipien im Fokus stehen.

Mark Pesce returns to The Futurists with a report about weird and wonderful discoveries at the 2024 Consumer Electronics Show. Every year, 200,000 people converge at CES in Las Vegas to get a glimpse of the near future. Mark pushes far beyond mainstream press coverage to tell us about bleeding-edge progress in memristor chips, brain-computer interfaces, long-range drones, olfactory sensors, and the emerging category of “age-tech”. If you are interested in knowing where the puck is going next, this episode is for you! Books by Mark Mark Pesce: Augmented Reality: Unboxing Tech's next big thing. Polity Press, 2021. Mark Pesce. The Next Billion Seconds. Blurb, 2012 Mark Pesce, Programming DirectShow and Digital Video. Seattle, Washington, Microsoft Press, May 2003. Mark Pesce, The Playful World: How Technology Transforms our Imagination. New York, Ballantine Books (Random House), October 2000. Mark Pesce, Learning VRML: Design for Cyberspace. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Ziff-Davis Publishing, 1997. Mark Pesce, VRML: Flying through the Web. Indianapolis, Indiana: New Riders Publishing, 1996. Mark Pesce, VRML: Browsing and Building Cyberspace. Indianapolis, Indiana: New Riders Publishing, 1995. Introduction to Celia Pearce, The Interactive Book. Indianapolis, Indiana: Macmillan Technical Publishing, 1997. Brett King Co-Host, Founder, Speaker Brett King is a futurist, an Amazon bestselling author, an award-winning speaker, hosts a globally recognized radio show, is the Founder of the first mobile, neo-bank globally Moven, and in his spare time enjoys flying as an IFR pilot, scuba diving, motor racing, gaming and Sci-Fi. He advised the Obama administration on the Future of Banking, President Xi had his book on his bookshelf, and he has spoken on the future in 50 countries in just the last few years. See more podcasts here.

Doug Swinhart and Steve Thomson answering your questions with your tech on this Saturday we cover proton, Gmail vs. Yahoo for email options and we also cover PrivaZer when it comes to cleaning your PC. Doug also talks about IDrive as well for your backup server needs. We take your texts and calls to help serve your technical needs.

In this episode, we welcomed an industry veteran and trusted thought-leader, Mr. Derick Rhodes. Derick is Vimeo's VP of Marketing and is involved in a lot of initiatives including helping shape the platform's engagement with the creative community. In our conversation, we learn about Derick's roots, his early inspirations, path to making films — on through his current role at Vimeo. We also chat about Vimeo's latest solutions, his perspectives on A.I., and much more!The Making Of is presented by AJA Video Systems:Flexible color management and conversion with AJAAs color strategies evolve, AJA is advancing its tools to meet modern demands. Recent firmware updates bring ColorBox users an optional add-on license to expand Colorfront Engine processing options, and other improvements, while FS-HDR users gain Colorfront TV Mode and updates that support ARRI LogC4 transforms. Both solutions now support v1.6 BBC HLG LUTs. Visit aja.comReprise! 2023 HBO Camera Assessment Series ScreeningSaturday, July 29th, 2023 ZEISS Cinematography, SMPTE Hollywood Section and the Digital Cinema Society invite you to a special screening of the HBO Camera Assessment Series. The HBO Camera Assessment Series, started over 10 years ago, was created to assist producers, directors, and cinematographers across the entire Warner Brothers Discovery family to select the most appropriate capture system for their productions. The goal of these highly objective and format agnostic tests is not to determine which camera system is “best”, but which best matches the needs of each individual production. DCS Founder James Mathers will moderate a Q&A following the screening with the HBO CAS team including: Suny Behar, Director/DP, HBO Camera Assessment Series, 2011-2023, Stephen Beres, HBO SVP of Production Operations – HBO CAS Executive Producer 2011-2023, (WB-Discovery), & Erik Hansen, HBO VP Media & Production Services - (WB-Discovery). Register for free here! 9:00 AM Networking Reception, 10:00 AM Program Begins. Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences Linwood Dunn TheaterFeatured Film Book:Behind the Lens: Dispatches from the Cinematic Trenches, compiles nearly 100 of filmmaker Jay Holben's best articles from American Cinematographer, Digital Video and TV Technology on everything from camera technology and lenses to tips and techniques for better lighting. This collection provides the tools you need to take your work to the next level and succeed in the world of cinematic motion imaging. Take a look here!CSS Music is the go-to production Music Library for Hollywood and the entire Film, TV and AV/Video markets. CSS offers thousands of tracks in every genre and style — helping producers and editors score their latest productions with licensing to fit any budget, from Royalty-Free or needle drop to Gratis (free) for qualified projects. With its easy-to-use search capability, great service and high-quality music, CSS has continued to serve the community since 1982! Browse at cssmusic.com OWC Thunderbolt Go DockThe OWC Thunderbolt Go Dock is the first of its kind, full-featured Thunderbolt dock with a built-in power supply and 11 ports, for additional ease and connectivity while on the Go. It's a one-dock solution that works with all past, present and future Thunderbolt and USB devices and accessories. Check it out hereFeatured Event Preview: Cine Gear Atlanta | October 6-7th, 2023The industry's most renowned southern filmmaking community event will return this October to Atlanta's Trilith Studios with its hallmark exhibits, seminars and screenings! It's the event to attend to reconnect with colleagues, friends and collaborators. Stay tuned for more updates here!Podcast Rewind:July 2023 - Episode XI…The Making Of is created and hosted by Michael Valinsky.Reach out anytime at mvalinsky@me.com Get full access to The Making Of at themakingof.substack.com/subscribe

Our panel discusses potential uses for the new 360-degree Insta360 X3 digital camera as Rob Greenlee provides a first look.We also talk about Canada pulling ads from Facebook and Instagram and Meta not putting news stories on Facebook Canada, a new tool from Wix that enables website creation from AI prompts and the execution of the perfect marketing prank!

She was reluctant to be groomed for the role of Commissioner, but after spending an hour with Sonja Stills you will see exactly why she is the Commissioner of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.  In this episode, Sonja takes us through her journey in the sports industry. Including why she only asked for one promotion in the last 20 years, the value of being present in your current role and being vocal about your ambitions, why it's ok to ask for a promotion even if you've been in a role for less than a year, and why it's essential to not only have a seat at the table but also have a voice.    Connect with Jahaan:  Learn more about working with Jahaan and see if it's the right fit for you: https://JahaanBlakeAppointmentScheduling.as.me/LetsTalk Join Jahaan's VIP Email List: https://bit.ly/3yccwAP  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jahaanblake/ Email: jblake@jahaanblake.com Website: https://jahaanblake.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jahaanblake/   Connect with Sonja: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sonja-stills-265500126/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/commishstills/  Sonja O. Stills has been a respected, well-known staple within the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference for the past 20 years, and on Jan. 1, 2022, she took over as commissioner -- becoming the first female commissioner in the conference's history, as well as the first female commissioner of a Division I HBCU conference. With a proven track record of accountability, efficiency, and passion, Stills has risen through the ranks within the MEAC, beginning with her tenure at the conference in October 2002. Stills has made a name for herself among her peers and other industry professionals for her never-ending dedication to the conference and its student-athletes, ability to grow and innovate, organization, team-first mentality, and goal-achieving initiative. In January 2021, Stills was promoted to Chief of Staff/Chief Operating Officer of the MEAC. In her new role, she ensures that the Commissioner is carrying out the strategic objectives of the Council of Chief Executive Officers and the Delegate Assembly. Stills was the lead on all hiring, strategic and long-range planning, re-branding, and marketing, NCAA Name, Image and Likeness (NIL), conference budget, the renewal of the MEAC Basketball Tournament with the City of Norfolk, and all special events and activities.  Stills also created the MEAC's Esports program, a new, cutting-edge initiative that began in the summer of 2020, as the conference and world continued to deal with the progression of the COVID-19 pandemic. She took charge as the Director of Esports, serving as the key driver in developing regulations for the MEAC Esports Community and developing the MEAC's esports strategy. Her goal has been to enhance awareness of the MEAC's esports initiative by working with industry business leaders to encourage growth.  Much like overseeing the addition of Esports to the MEAC's portfolio, Stills looks to enter a new tenure for the conference while continuing to bolster the respect, traditions, and love of the MEAC. She looks to deepen the communication with the member institutions, alumni, fans, and community, to express the strong desire and support for the success and sustainability of the Conference that transparently articulates its vision and strategy. The intention is to create a collaborative process in which the “new vision” for the MEAC is a shared vision that is all-inclusive athletically and academically.   Before her appointment to Chief of Staff/Chief Operating Officer, Stills served as the Senior Associate Commissioner for Administration and Compliance (June 2012-21), Assistant Commissioner for Administration and Compliance (July 2008-12), Executive Assistant to the Commissioner (July 2006-08), Senior Woman Administrator (June 2006-2021) and Director of Compliance (October 2002-08). Prior to being named Commissioner, Stills elevated overall brand visibility for the MEAC. She negotiated over $683,000 in corporate partnership monies by working with major companies such as: iHeartRadio, US Marines, Home Depot, Hampton Roads Transit, JT Fisher Funeral Home, Priority Automotive, ESI, TowneBank, Glenmede Financials, House-Autry, CurtMont Food Services and Harley Davison. She assisted in negotiating a contract with Nike that brought over $9 million to member institutions. She operates with the financial interests of the conference; its member institutions and student-athletes are at the forefront for her. She designed and implemented the Athletic Eligibility Certification Review to assist institutions in preparing for the NCAA Academic Progress Program (APP) Data Review. She managed the budgets for the Conference Grant, Student-Athlete Opportunity Fund and Special Assistant Fund. She was instrumental in developing the MEAC Strategic and Long-Range Plan in December 2008, along with securing global creative agency 160over90 as the marketing company for the MEAC in 2020. In 2022, she oversaw the update of MEAC Strategic and Long-Range Plan. As the Senior Associate Commissioner, Stills provided supervision for Conference staff, including Compliance, Championship, Media Relations, Finance, Corporate Partnerships, Multimedia/Marketing, Digital & Video and administrative support staff. She took the helm and managed the operations of the Conference Office in the absence of the Commissioner, coordinated all ancillary events of the Conference (i.e., Football Press Luncheon, Basketball Tournament Tip-Off Banquet, Cheerleading Championship, Pre-Season Basketball Press Luncheon, etc.) and Mid-Winter, Spring and Summer Conference meetings. During the conference basketball tournaments, Stills provided guidance and insight while monitoring the NCAA Academic Progress Program (APP) for member institutions to implement the APP Seminar with NCAA Academic and Membership Staff. She also provided administrative support to the Commissioner for the Council of Chief Executive Officers and Executive Committee and conducted conference compliance workshops, reviews, and spot checks to ensure compliance with Conference and NCAA rules and regulations. She served as liaison to the conference's Compliance Coordinators, Athletics Academic Support staff, Alumni Directors and Constitution and Bylaws committees, as well as assisting with other conference committees.  Under Stills' guidance as the Assistant Commissioner for Administration, she coordinated the MEAC Cheerleading Championship — the only HBCU collegiate cheerleading championship. During her time as the Executive Assistant to the Commissioner, Stills provided direct support to the Commissioner, administrative support to the Commissioner for the Council of Chief Executive Officers and Executive Committee, managed the day-to-day operations and administration of the conference office, assisted the Commissioner by executing initiatives and special projects, evaluated functions, practices and the efficiency of facilities, and evaluated staff performance while providing leadership and guidance for personnel. As the Senior Woman Administrator, Stills continued to work in conjunction with the senior leadership team within the MEAC regarding women's issues and other issues that affect the membership. She coordinated the Senior Woman Administrators' Women in Athletics Professional Development Workshop, coordinated the selection of the MEAC Woman of the Year and served as the liaison to member institutions' senior woman administrators.  AT HAMPTON UNIVERSITY Before arriving at the MEAC, Stills served as Hampton University's Coordinator of Athletic Academic Support for four years, and for three of those years, she was appointed Senior Woman Administrator. While at Hampton, she created the university's first Athletic Academic Support Program and implemented the CHAMPS/LifeSkills Program. She provided academic advising, counseling, and assistance to student-athletes in areas of course selection, registration procedures, degree requirements, career planning, university resources and other related topics associated with academic performance for all sports programs. While serving as Senior Woman Administrator, Stills served as the highest-ranking female on the senior leadership team regarding the administration of the athletics department. She coordinated student-athlete and corporate partner banquets and events, oversaw the supervision of the cheerleading program, and assisted in coordinating event management during home football and basketball games with gameday operations, marketing, and will-call. A 1993 graduate of Old Dominion University, Stills earned her bachelor's degree in Human Services Counseling. While a student, she earned the Virginia Campus Outreach Opportunity League (VA COOL) Catalyst Award for creating a week-long community outreach program for the university. In addition, she served on the university's President's Advisory Committee on Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action and Diversity. In 1996, she received a Master of Arts in Counseling (College Student Work Personnel) from Hampton University. She would later go on to graduate from the Sports Management Institute in 2002 and the NACWAA/HERS Institute for Administrative Advancement in 2008.  PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS  Stills holds current memberships in the National Association for Athletics Compliance (NAAC), National Association of Academic Advisors for Athletics (N4A), Minority Opportunities Athletic Association (MOAA), Women Leaders for College Sports (WLS), National Association of Esports Coaches and Directors(NAECAD), and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated.  She also serves as a substitute for the MEAC representative to the NCAA Division I Council. Stills is a former member of the NCAA Legislative Council (2008-11), Coastal Collegiate Swimming Association – Policy Committee (2008-20), MEAC Senior Woman Administrators Association Chair (2002), and Touraine Condominium Association Board Member (1997-2020).    Music By:  Quanzaa   

Filmmaker Brendan Bubion, a Digital Video producer at KCET, has a passion for telling stories in local communities that often go untold or unseen. He discusses how to make impactful short documentaries, citing his own films, “Growing Up Behind Barbed Wire,” about the experience of two Japanese-American girls who were forced to live in incarceration camps during WWII and “Con Su Pluma en Su Mano,” about the life and work of LA Times journalist Gustavo Arellano.

TOMLINSON HOLMAN, the “TH” in the THX sound standard for theatres and devices, has served in technical roles to advance sound for film and television at companies including Lucasfilm, TMH, Audyssey, and Apple. At USC, Tom taught thousands of students over 25 years. He is also the author of Focal Press books “Sound for Film and Television” and “Sound for Digital Video.” Host Jason E. Squire is Editor of The Movie Business Book and Professor Emeritus, USC School of Cinematic Arts. Music: “The Day it All Began and it All Ended” by Pawel Feszczuk (License: CC by 4.0)

Joe Marino, Senior Vice President of Strategic Account Sales at Madhive, joins Cross Screen Media CEO Michael Beach to share his thoughts on the evolution of TV buying, the shift into buying digital video, and the challenges sellers face in this new environment.   Want the latest insights from around the video advertising industry? Subscribe to our weekly State of the Screens Newsletter here: https://content.crossscreen.media/sots-newsletter-signup

2,000+ Templates - Simple & FastFully customizable video. Whether you want videos for brand marketing, social media, or personal stories, you are in the right place!4,000,000+ Royalty-free Stock AssetsWith the help of millions of royalty-free gripping photos, videos, GIFs, and music tracks, you can boost your creativity and produce a blockbuster-level video. I have resources in the media library.Videos for Different PlatformsSupport exporting your video n different resolutions and ratios. It helps you make and edit landscape videos, vertical videos, square videos for YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and any other platforms.Video Online?Add Files Upload your files or choose from our massive stock media library.Make Edits Various tools and effects to make it look presentable.Export & Share Download your video in various ratios or directly share it online.Still have questions? Let's chat!Burning America: In the Best Interest of the Children?Mick, The Doctor of Digital, Smith mick.smith@wsiworld.comBurning America: In the Best Interest of the Children?https://burning-america.comAmazon: https://www.amazon.com/G-Mick-Smith/e/B0B59X5R79Also at Barnes & Noble, Walmart, and TargetLeave a message for The Doctor of Digital:https://podinbox.com/thedoctorofdigitalpodcastInstagram: burningamericacommunityPatreon burningamericacommunity:https://www.patreon.com/SmithConsultingWSITheDoctorofDigitalPodcastListen, subscribe, share, and positively review The Aftermath:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-aftermath-the-epidemic-of-divorce-custody-and-healing/id1647001828Substack:https://micksmith.substack.com/Commercials Voice Talent ||https://www.spreaker.com/user/7768747/track-1-commercialsNarratives Voice Talenthttps://www.spreaker.com/user/7768747/track-2-narrativesDo you want a free competitive analysis for your business?https://marketing.wsiworld.com/free-competitive-analysis?utm_campaign=Mick_Smith_Podcast&utm_source=SpreakerMake an Appointment:https://app.hubspot.com/meetings/mick-smithBe sure to subscribe, like, & review The Doctor of Digital™ PodcastSign up for the Doctor Up Your Life courseFacebook || Instagram || Twitter || LinkedIn || YouTubehttps://www.linkedin.com/in/gmicksmith/

In This Episode You Will Learn About:  Embracing a life of authenticity   How to be your best self on camera   Developing your brand messaging  The M.E.S.S.Y framework  Resources: Website: www.kimrittberg.com  Join Raise Your Revenue With Video!  Listen to Mom's Exit Interview  Email: kim@kimrittberg.com  LinkedIn: @Kim Rittberg  Instagram: @kimrittberg Youtube: @kimrittbergcontent Overcome Your Villains is Available NOW! Order here: https://overcomeyourvillains.com  If you haven't yet, get my first book Confidence Creator Show Notes:  Being the most confident version of yourself is the BEST way to succeed in business! No matter who you are, it's normal to feel nervous when it's time to sell yourself and get in front of the camera. Taking the leap of faith to start filming video content will help you connect with your audience and GROW your business! Video strategist and award winning content expert, Kim Rittberg, is here to help us perfect our brand's messaging and share our stories with confidence! It's time to STOP worrying about how you might look or sound and just START today.   About The Guest: Kim Rittberg is an award winning content strategy expert in TV, digital, video and audio! She's been featured by Business Insider, and spent 15 years as a media executive at Netflix, US Weekly, and People Magazine. Through her company, Henry Street Media Kim helps brands and professionals be better on camera and make authentic content to grow their businesses. As the host of Mom's Exit Interview podcast Kim inspires women to craft careers that work for them, instead of the other way around!     If You Liked This Episode You Might Also Like These Episodes: CREATE Strong Connections With Your Cues! With Vanessa Van Edwards The Lead Behavior Investigator At Science Of People Title  The KEY To Building Confidence Through Failure, With Professors & Co-Authors Wendy Smith & Marianne Lewis  Why NOW Is The Time To Take A Leap of Faith With Annabelle DeGrazio, CEO and Founder of Taja Collection 

This interview features Zach Blume, Co-Founder and President of Portal A.  We discuss how he built a 360 monetization strategy for an early Internet video series, launching one of the first branded content studios with his childhood friends, creating one of the most well-known and longest-running digital formats in YouTube Rewind, how Portal A ended up selling a minority stake to Brett Montgomery's Wheelhouse, why feeling like outsiders is central to their identity, and what's up next for the Portal A team.Subscribe to our newsletter. We explore the intersection of media, technology, and commerce: sign-up linkLearn more about our market research and executive advisory: RockWater websiteFollow us on LinkedIn: RockWater LinkedInEmail us: tcupod@wearerockwater.comInterview TranscriptThe interview was lightly edited for clarity.Chris Erwin:Hi, I'm Chris Erwin. Welcome to the Come Up, a podcast that interviews entrepreneurs and leaders.Zach Blume:We built a business model around it that included merchandise, ad revenue share, ticketed events, and sponsorships. And so we actually ran that show at a profit, even though it was early internet video web series. And the idea was to build an entertainment property on the web that could become multi-season, could eventually travel to TV, which it did. It later became a TV series called White Collar Brawlers. It was super experimental, and I would say, looking back on a fairly innovative for three guys who had really no idea what we were doing and had no training in any of this, we built an entertainment property on the internet that was profitable.Chris Erwin:This week's episode featured Zach Blume, Co-Founder and President of Portal A. So Zach grew up in Berkeley and had a self-described normal suburban life of sports and friends. Zach then went to University of Oregon to study political science and pursued an early career running local political campaigns in California. But an opportune moment reunited Zach, with his two childhood friends to create one of the internet's earliest digital series White Collar Brawlers.After some unexpected success, the friend trio then became the founding team for Portal A, an award-winning digital and branded content company. Some highlights of our chat include his 360 monetization strategy for one of the earliest internet video brands, what it takes to co-found a successful company with your friends, how they landed a strategic investment from Wheelhouse, why feeling like an outsider is central to their identity, and how they're building towards the next massive creator opportunity. All right, let's get to it. Zach, thanks for being on the Come Up podcast.Zach Blume:It's a pleasure to be here.Chris Erwin:From our conversation yesterday, amazingly, I believe this is your first podcast interview ever. Is that right?Zach Blume:It's true. A lot of interviews over the years. Some predating the podcast era, some during the podcast era, but I'm honored to be invited onto yours. I've listened to a bunch of episodes, and we'll see how it goes.Chris Erwin:Awesome. All right, so as is typical, let's rewind a bit before we get into the whole Portal A story, although it actually starts pretty early on. So why don't you tell us about where you grew up and what your childhood was like?Zach Blume:Yeah, I grew up in Berkeley, California, the son of two die-hard New Yorkers who had moved out to California. My dad was born in the Bronx. My mom was from Manhattan. They were part of the New York exodus to California, and I was the first kid in my family who grew up in California and, of all places, Berkeley, childhood filled with lots of sports and playing in the street and all that good stuff. And the really interesting tie to the Portal A story, obviously, is that I met my two co-founders when we were somewhere between four and five years old. The stories differ, but we met in kindergarten, and we're close friends basically since we were little kids and played a lot of basketball together growing up. And the court that we played basketball in was called Portal A, which eventually became the name of our company 25 years later. The founder story of Portal A is very tied up in the childhood story of all for all three of us. I live in Oakland now, so I didn't stray too far from home.Chris Erwin:Got it. I remember in doing a little bit of research for this episode, I was trying to look up Portal A parks around the US, and I kept finding some in Orange County, so I thought you were an NorC kid, but No, you're a NorCal kid.Zach Blume:I mean, I think if there's an opposite of Orange County, it would probably be Berkeley.Chris Erwin:That's probably right.Zach Blume:But the court was actually an El Cerrito, which is an adjacent town to Berkeley, and it still exists. It's still around, and we should probably go play some hoops over there, but we haven't for years.Chris Erwin:Yeah, that'd be fun. So I have to ask, what did your parents do?Zach Blume:My dad has a business background. He runs and, up until actually six months ago, ran an investment advisory firm helping individuals manage their investments. It was a small company, five to six employees, just a great business, really community based, all about relationships and helping people manage their life and their money. And yeah, it's taught me a lot about business growing up, for sure.My mom was a therapist. She's retired now. She was a private practice in Berkeley. They've known each other since they were 20. They actually both went to the Wright Institute, which was a psychology graduate school in Berkeley. My dad was a psychologist briefly for about six months before he went back into business. And my mom was a therapist for 25 years. It was an interesting mix of business and psychology growing up, for sure.Chris Erwin:Got it. And were there any siblings?Zach Blume:No siblings? I'm the only one and-Chris Erwin:Oh, only child. Okay.Zach Blume:Yeah, interestingly, five of my closest friends, all groomsmen at my wedding, were from that same kindergarten class where I met Nate and Kai, my two co-founders. So there's definitely been a brotherly nature of those relationships. And at this point, I kind of consider Nate and Kai almost like brothers. We've known each other for 35 years, and we've been in business together for over 12 years, so it's pretty deep. Those relationships run pretty deep.Chris Erwin:Was there a part of you early on where you thought you might go into business and finance or become an investment manager like your father?Zach Blume:So there was also a lot of political kind of conversation and learning in my house. I remember from a very early age, my dad, when I was like eight, he would try to sit me down and read the Sunday Weekend Review in the New York Times. And it was like torture for me. But I think it got in there somewhere.In college, I actually studied political science and, for years, worked in the political world after I graduated from school. And I really thought that was my path, and it was for many years. I worked on campaigns. I started managing campaigns. I worked for political communication shop in San Francisco for years. I kind of burned out on the world of politics. I've since been re-engaged in a lot of different ways. But when I burned out on politics, that's when I thought I was going to go into business.I left the political world, was studying to go to business school, doing all the GMAT prep, and that's when Nate and Kai came to me and said, "We should make a web series together." Because I had a three-month gap, and it sounded so fun. We had made some stuff together just for fun earlier on. And so, while I was studying for the GMAT, I joined Nate and Kai to make this web series in the early days of internet video. And that's kind of the origin story of where we are today is that that web series, it was called White Collar Brawler. It was totally weird and crazy and awesome, and it started us on our journey to where we are today.Chris Erwin:Got it. So going back even a bit further, I'm just curious because you met your co-founders, Nate and Kai, back when you were in kindergarten, as you said, four to five years old, when you were in middle school, or when you in high school, were you guys part of the theater club? Were you creating any types of videos for your classes? There's something about meeting people early in your childhood, particularly in digital media, that I think blossoms into different relationships. So was there any kind of through line early on where you were interested in media entertainment before getting into PoliSci, which as part of your early career?Zach Blume:Yeah, I think there definitely was for Nate and Kai. There was less so for me. So Nate and Kai started making, maybe not in high school, but in their college years, they both went to school on the East Coast. This is like 2003, 2004, 2005. They started making internet, video, and web series when they were in college. And Kai was a film major, so he had some training, and they started just playing a lot of comedic stuff earliest day pre-YouTube, so quick time player-type stuff.So yeah, high school, I'm not so sure college for sure for them, at least it started building. And then, right after college, the three of us, plus another friend, grabbed a flight to Hanoi, bought motorcycles in Vietnam, and traveled across the country, and we made a web series called Huge In Asia.So it was like a 30-episode comedy travel web series, kind of just chronicling our journey across Vietnam. And then, they went on, I had to come back to the States for some work, but they went on to Mongolia, China, Laos, all sorts of different countries across Asia. That's where it really started for us the idea that you could not be in the formal, either entertainment industry or advertising industry. You could buy a pretty shitty camera, have an idea, start producing content and build an audience. And that was 2006. So the interest in internet video as a medium really started there.Then we all went our separate ways, and all did kind of normal early career professional stuff, but that Huge in Asia as an idea and an adventure was really the starting point for us. So yeah, so I would say the interest in video and film and just the distribution of it online started college years, and then the year after, we went to Asia.Chris Erwin:Got it. So just to add some context here, because I think YouTube was founded around 2004, and then it was bought by Google around '05, '06 pretty shortly after founding. So when you're coming out of college, I think this is around a 2006 timeframe, as you noted, when you guys decided to go to Asia and to do this motorcycle tour, was there a goal of, "Hey, there's an explosion in internet video, we have a chance to build an audience and make money off of this?" Or was it just, "Hey, this seems like a really fun thing to do. We're just coming out of college, we're kind of this in this exploratory phase, we like spending time with one another, let's go do this and see what happens." When you were thinking from the beginning, what was the end goal of that project?Zach Blume:Much more the latter. I mean, it was purely experimental. It was all about the adventure. I think there was a sense that we were at the dawn of something new, and I think that YouTube, Vimeo, I mean all the other platforms in the investment of history at this point, but there was an explosion of internet video technology that was enabling people like us to start making stuff. So I think there was like a sense that something was happening. It definitely was not a money-making endeavor. In fact, it was the opposite. And it was really just to experiment and play and see where it took us.Looking back on it, 15 years later, 18 years later, whatever it is, I think it's 100% served its purpose. We got our feet wet. We started experimenting. We started learning what worked, what didn't work, what audiences responded to, what made us happy. It kind of gelled our relationship as young adults versus as kids. And we never would've known at the time, but it did 100% lead to Portal A, and that's to where we are now.Chris Erwin:Okay, yeah, I hear you. I think, looking back in retrospect, it was definitely a catalyst to the forming of Portal A and where you got to where you are today, but it wasn't because when you came back from that trip, it wasn't like, "Oh, let's found Portal A and let's get going." You actually entered into the political realm for two to three years before founding Portal A, right?Zach Blume:Yep. That was always my plan, and that was the career I was going to pursue for sure.Chris Erwin:So, but the seed had been planted, but yeah, in '06, for the next two years, you become a political campaign manager. What campaigns were you working on?Zach Blume:First campaign was a Congressional campaign in Southern California. That was actually my first job out of college. We got trounced by 22 points in a very heavily Republican district by Mary Bono, who was Sonny Bono's widow. We had a candidate that we really liked, and it was the 2006 election, so it was kind of the midway point or the later stages of, I guess, Bush's first term. And there was a ground swell of just whenever there's a presidential election, two years later, the other party is the one that's like kind of getting their grassroots organizing on.So it was definitely an exciting time. It was an exciting election year. I happened to work on a campaign that was in a... It was Palm Springs. It was like that area, heavily Republican area, but I learned so much, and I was running a third of the district, and I loved it. I loved organizing. I felt like I was on the right side of history and doing the right thing.That then led to this fellowship that I did called The Coro Fellowship. I met one of my best friends on the campaign who had done the Coro Fellowship, and it was a year-long fellowship in political and public affairs. Everybody listening to this podcast will never have heard of Coro, but in the political and policy world, it's well-known and well-regarded, and that was a great experience. I got exposure across a bunch of different sectors, including government, labor unions, business, nonprofits, et cetera.Out of that, I started managing a campaign for the California State Assembly in Richmond, California, with a candidate, Tony Thurmond, who is now the Superintendent of Public Education in California. So he's gone on to do pretty big things. He's an amazing guy.And that led me to work at Storefront Political Media, which was a political media and communication shop in San Francisco that, at the time, ran all of Gavin Newsom's campaigns. He was then the mayor of San Francisco, obviously, is now the governor of California.I ran the mayor's race in Houston, of all places, elected Annise Parker, who was the first lesbian mayor of a major American city. And she was a fantastic executive out in Houston and then had a bunch of different clients, including firefighters unions, individual candidates. Ultimately, I was working for a client that was leading initiatives that didn't necessarily align with my own political values. And that was part of what led me to say I was ready to move on from the world of politics. So it was a fantastic experience, I learned so much, but that's what kind of prompted me to want to go to business school, which is what I was going to do until Nate and Kai came along and said, "Let's make a web series."Chris Erwin:Yeah. When you were working on these political campaigns and also working with Storefront Political Media, which is a national communication media and PR firm, were you bringing some of your grassroots internet video tactics to help build community, to help build influence and sway some of these elections? Was that part of kind of some of the unique flavor that you brought to these teams?Zach Blume:For sure, I was definitely the internet guy at that shop. I mean, there were a couple of us, there was a couple of coworkers who were of my generation. This was just when kind of Facebook was becoming a powerful tool for communications pre-Instagram, pre all those other platforms we're familiar with now. I definitely brought my expertise in video and the distribution of content online to that work. It was an interesting time politically. It was just at the advent of the internet as a powerful communications tool for campaigns.Chris Erwin:So then you're considering going to business school, you take the GMAT.Zach Blume:I got halfway through the class, and White Collar Brawler, that series, came calling. It was all-consuming. It was so fun. And we produced the hell out of that show, and it got a lot of notoriety. We got a big write-up in the New York Times, like big-Chris Erwin:Give us the context for White Collar Brawler again. What exactly was that project, and what were you supporting?Zach Blume:The log line was basically what happens when you take office workers whose muscles have become dilapidated by sitting in front of a computer all day long and train them to become amateur boxers. It just so happened that the two White Collar workers that were the stars of the show were Nate and Kai. So it was very, kind of like meta, we were the creators, and Nate and Kai were also the stars.The experimental part of it was shooting and producing the series in real-time. So there was an experiential element to the show, meaning as Nate and Kai were training to become boxers, fans of the show could actually come out and train with them, run on the beach in San Francisco or go to a training session with a boxing coach. We had events happening throughout the course of the show. It eventually culminated in an actual fight, a licensed fight in Berkeley between Nate and Kai for the Crown. And we had, I think, 1500 people showed up to that site and paid tickets-Chris Erwin:Was it boxing, mixed martial arts? What was the actual thoughts?Zach Blume:No, just old-school boxing.Chris Erwin:Okay.Zach Blume:It was the real deal. And-Chris Erwin:I may have missed this in the beginning. Who funded this? What was the purpose of it?Zach Blume:It was partially self-funded. It was partially funded by a friend of ours who had sold, in the early internet days, had sold his tech company to Google in one of the early Google acquisitions. So he just privately financed, I mean, we're not talking about big dollars here, and we built a business model around it that included merchandise, ad revenue share, events, ticketed events, and sponsorships, which I was in charge of in addition to other things.And so we actually ran that show at a profit, even though it was just an early internet video web series. It was actually a profitable property, and the idea was to build an entertainment property on the web that could become multi-season, could eventually travel to TV, which it did. It later became a TV series called White Collar Brawlers. And so it was actually super experimental, and I would say, looking back on it, fairly innovative in terms of for three guys who had really no idea what we were doing and had no training in any of this, we built an entertainment property on the internet that was profitable.Back to the question, I mean, that's what distracted me from going to business school because I felt like, first of all, I was learning so much, I was having so much fun creating content with two friends, and you just had a feeling that we were onto something and we didn't know what that thing was. We thought we were going to be an original entertainment company that would just make shows like White Collar Brawler, but we knew there was something. We knew there was a lot of activity and interest in this space. And so that took up all my attention and then took up my attention for the next 12 years.Chris Erwin:I will say from personal experience it saved you a couple of hundred thousand dollars and a lot of agony of actually taking that test.Zach Blume:Right, exactly.Chris Erwin:And being two years out of the workforce, speaking from personal experience.Zach Blume:Right. I know, I know.Chris Erwin:So, okay. And look, this is interesting to think about how you guys, as a founding team, were gelling and coming together. When you guys started talking, "Let's do this White Collar Brawler show as a team," what was your specific role, Zach? What was it like? What are you going to focus on?Zach Blume:Yeah, I mean, it actually reflects the role that I now play and ended up playing when we turned White Collar Brawler into a business. So Nate and Kai are more on the creative side, the creative and production side, both had experience. They had both actually before me had left their kind of "normal jobs," moved to LA, and started making internet video with a vision for again, "We don't know what it is, but there's something going on here, and we want to be a part of it."They had background as almost as creators themselves and also some training, actually with the physical act of production. So Nate and Kai were always much more on the creative side and the production side. And then my role was kind of capital B business. I was responsible for sponsorships. I was responsible for the operations of the show. I was responsible for where we were going to have office space, all that type of stuff. Basically the business side of creativity, and that's the same today. I mean, it's kind of like, it was just a foreshadow of the roles that we ended up playing as we were growing Portal A. And we've always had a super clear and complementary division of labor.I would say when looking for business partners, I think that might be, I mean, your rapport and your ability to communicate is lots of things are really important, but making sure that each person, each principal has a clear role and that they actually like that role and can succeed in that role is I think one of the keys to business success. So we've always had very clear roles. We've always liked our roles and felt like we belonged where we were. That's how it started with White Collar Brawler.Chris Erwin:That's awesome. Yeah, I have to give you some real kudos because you take very early on in your career, and in the digital entertainment ecosystem, you take an IP concept, and you create a diversified, sustainable business model around it where you have revenue coming in from advertising, sponsorships, merch, ticket sales, that's what many different IP properties want to figure out today. And many struggle to do that.Zach Blume:The only we could've described it back then as well as you described it now, but yes, that's basically what it was.Chris Erwin:Yeah, you look around at one another, you have this culmination in a ticketed event where there's over 1500 people pay to see the fight between Nate and Kai. And so you guys look around at one another and say, "Hey, we got something here." Is the next step? Let's found a business, call it Portal A and start doing this at scale. Or did it kind of just naturally happen, saying, "All right, let's find the next project and see where it goes from there."Zach Blume:It was much more, again, the latter. I mean, we did know that there was something brewing; I gave ourselves, at the very least credit for that. Did not have a business model. We did not have a plan. We had a kind of a concept and an idea and a good partnership. And I think that was really important too, is just how well we worked together.When we came out of White Collar Brawler, we had this idea credit to Kai. I believe we really wanted to do a show about whiskey, that that was going to be our next piece of IP that we wanted to develop and the concept behind the show, again because we didn't want, we were just going to be doing original series built for internet video was basically a distillery tour type show, but with a twist where there would be a membership model involved. And for anybody who was in a... 99% of viewers would just watch the show for the entertainment value, any type of good travel show that built that type of audience. But 1% of viewers would subscribe to the show and get a drum of whiskey. For each distillery that we were visiting as part of the show, they would actually get samples in the mail, and it would be kind of a whiskey of the month model married to an entertainment property.And we were coming out of White Collar Brawlers, we were visiting distilleries, getting drunk, trying to figure out this model. And we were super hyped on it. We thought it was a really interesting way to monetize internet video through subscriptions. And we even got into the logistics of shipping, and we were really going down that path, and in the meantime, we were broke, we were like 25 years old and-Chris Erwin:That was my next question. How are you funding all of this?Zach Blume:Well, we paid ourselves an extremely nominal salary. I would call it a stipend when we were making White Collar Brawler enough to survive. And then, coming out of that, we were trying to do our whiskey show, but that stipend went away. So we were without income, really. I mean, I remember going to Bank of America at some point, and there was so little... This is one of our funny stories that we tell each other. I remember this parking lot moment where the three of us had gone to Bank of America, where we had this White Collar Brawler account, or maybe it's a Portal A account. I'm not sure. And there was, I think, less than $1000 in there, and it was one of those like, oh, shit-type moments, and I remember going out to the parking lot and being like to Nate and Kai because I was always kind of the rah-rah guy of the three of us. And just, I remember basically having to give a motivational speech about that we were going to be okay, that this is going to be okay, despite the fact that we had absolutely zero money in the bank.That was where we were at that point. We were trying to figure out this whiskey idea, and then all of a sudden, because of the popularity of White Collar Brawler and some big YouTube videos we had made to promote the series, we started getting some inbound interest from brands. And that was never in the plan. We would think about sponsorships on our original series from brands, but never creative service worked directly to brands, and our first phone call was-Chris Erwin:Explain that difference for the listeners. I think that's a good nuance.Zach Blume:Yeah, I mean, if there was a business model, the business model we were considering was building properties like White Collar Brawler that could be sponsored by, in the best-case scenario, Nike or by Everlast, the boxing company, or by Gatorade or that's who we were pursuing for what-Chris Erwin:So think of title cards and brought to you by et cetera.Zach Blume:Exactly. Or like sponsoring events or merchandise or all that type of stuff. And we had some success, not from the big brands, but we had some success on White Collar Brawler with sponsorships from more regional brands, or like there were some beer companies and some smaller merchandising startups that were part of the sponsorship mix.I will say that we sent out about 500 to 1000 sponsorship emails and got about five sponsors. So we worked hard at it. And so that was the model we were going to pursue even for something like the whiskey show. We were going to look for sponsors and brand sponsors in that way. We never thought we were going to build a creative services company, meaning brands, an advertising company effectively, like brands hiring us as a service provider to create content. That was never, ever something we thought about.We started getting these phone calls. I remember being in a car one time, and I got this random call from a number I did not know, and it turned out to be a marketing manager at the Gap. Her name was Sue Kwon. Shout out, Sue Kwon, if you're out there. She was our first real client after White Collar Brawler. And we started making videos for the Gap, as kind of like a little agency production company.Then we got some more calls. There was a Tequila company that wanted us to make a web series called Tres Agaves Tequila. They wanted us to make a web series shot in Mexico about the origins of Tequila. Then we got a call from Jawbone, which was a hot Bluetooth speaker company at the time-based in the Bay Area. They wanted us to make a music video featuring a bunch of early YouTube influencers or creators.So we started getting these, we called them gigs at the time because literally all we were trying to do is pay our rent and so we could make the whiskey shows. We were just trying to get a little bit of income coming in so we could actually go out and make our dream whiskey show. And there were fun projects, and we weren't making advertising. We were making content, and that was a big difference for us. We weren't making pre-roll ads or 30-second ads. We were making web series for brands and music videos for brands and all that type of stuff. And without knowing it, we kind of stumbled across an area that was in high demand, which was brands trying to figure out what to do on platforms like YouTube and social media with video. We had established ourselves as understanding that world.So that's the origin of our branded content business which became the core of our business for many, many years was just one-off phone calls, unexpected phone calls, taking projects as gigs to pay the bills, and just kind of doing our best and seeing where it led.Chris Erwin:Hey listeners, this is Chris Erwin, your host of the Come Up. I have a quick ask for you if you dig what we're putting down. If you like the show, if you like our guests, it would really mean a lot if you can give us a rating wherever you listen to our show, it helps other people discover our work, and it also really supports what we do here. All right, that's it, everybody. Let's get back to the interview.What was the moment where you felt it evolved from, "Hey, it's the three of us rotating between gigs, hiring freelancers as need be, to what became a business, which is called a systematized and efficient way to deliver consistent quality around a good or service."Zach Blume:I think the first year was the gig model. It was just a patchwork of projects in order to generate some form of income. The second year it started to feel real. There started to be a fairly steady flow of inbound interests, and then a kind of something we be started to become known for a type of content. It was kind of humorous, entertaining, felt like it was native to the internet and to YouTube.I think in that second year was when it started to feel like a business, and then some light clicked for me that we actually needed to do some business planning and thinking, and I had no idea what I was doing. I mean zero, negative. Negative idea what I was doing. But I had grown up where my dad was a small business owner, so I had some exposure, but I just remember being it was just like a vast sea of unknown principles and requirements that I had to navigate.Chris Erwin:How did you figure that out? Did you put together an advisory board? Did you call your dad? Were you calling some other friends in business?Zach Blume:One of our earliest advisors was not a business advisor. He was our sensei in some forms in the earliest days. And this is another shout-out to Steve Wolf, who you may know, who was on the executive team of Blip, which was one of those many early internet video platforms. He really helped us understand the space.We did not have a formal advisory board. We did not have a board. And it was truly trial and error. That's the best way I can describe it. It was just using our brains and figuring things out through mistakes and successes. It is a total blur looking back on it, but I think we were a good partnership. We had our heads screwed on straight, and we kind of learned how to operate.Chris Erwin:Another important part, too, is, like you said, when you all looked at your bank account, and everyone's face went white, but you were the rah-rah guy, which is like, "Hey, guys, we're going to figure this out. Where there's a will, there's a way." And I think that's a very important role. Shout to Steve Wolf. He was one of the execs that oversaw the AwesomenessTV network when I was there in 2014, 2015 timeframe. Super sharp guy, OG in the digital space. So not surprised to hear that he was a valuable advisor to you.All right, so then I think there's another pretty big moment where your business takes an even bigger step up. And I think this has to do with becoming the official partner for the YouTube Rewind project. The moment where you felt, "Okay, we're really onto something here."Zach Blume:Yeah, it was coincidental. We were introduced to somebody at YouTube in 2011 as a three-person team that was making internet video content and mostly on YouTube. And Rewind was just a twinkle of an idea. I mean, it was like there was a minor budget. It was basically a countdown of the top videos of the year. The budget was, I think, $20,000 in the first year to make Rewind. And we shot it in a small studio location. It was one of our earliest projects, and it was before Rewind became Rewind, the big thing that many of us are familiar with. It was a major validator for us to start working with YouTube directly as a client. And Rewind eventually became a project that defined our growth for many, many years to come. But it started very, very small.Chris Erwin:From that project. You've been around for now for 12 years, being founded around 2010. What did the growth in scaling part of your business looks like? With YouTube Rewind and other marquee projects, you're starting to get a sense of what are we actually building towards. Was there a point of view there or like, "Hey, we have inbound interests, we're working with brands and advertisers," all of a sudden we're working with publishers, and were you just kind of being more reactive or was it a mix of being reactive and proactive?Zach Blume:The best analogy I can draw is to kind of riding a wave. This may resonate with you, but I don't think we knew what was around the next corner or what the next thing was going to look like. We were just building momentum in those early years and taking each project as it came. We knew we had something. We knew we had a good partnership. We knew we were starting to bring some really interesting, smart people to the team, clients that were really willing to push some boundaries. And I was learning as I went along how to run a business, and Kai was learning, and Nate was learning how to create amazing content, and there was not a lot of foresight. It was mostly about riding a wave and seeing where the wave took us. Then doing a really good job. That was really important because every project, the success or not success for the project kind of dictated what the next chapter was going to look like.So we just focused on trying to build some good fundamentals for the business, trying to make sure we were profitable because we had to be and just making work that we were proud of. That's the extent of our planning, I think, was just what did the next three months look like and how do we keep riding this wave?Chris Erwin:Yeah, and that's something I think worth emphasizing for the listeners where it's, so often people will say you have to be super strategic in planning every single move and where is their white space and how are you going to beat out your competitors to get it? But I think when you are building a small business, and this is something that I reeducate myself on consistently with RockWater, it's really about the basics, which is know your core service offering and nail it and delight clients, from there, that's really the core foundation from where you grow and where other things can emerge. And I think that's a testament to really what you guys have done for well over a decade is you know your lane, and you operate so effectively within it that is now, over the past few years, created some other really exciting opportunities for you, your success in your lane led to the investment by Wheelhouse a couple of years back. So how did that come to be? Because I think that's a pretty big moment for the company.Zach Blume:That fast-forward a bit over years of misery and happiness and everything in between. We threw ourselves entirely into growing Portal A for the bulk of our 20s. It was all-encompassing, tons of sacrifices that were made to other parts of our lives, which I'm okay with looking back. I do think that 20s are a good time to throw yourself and just be completely focused and passionate about something like this. And we built that branded business. We diversified the type of clients we were working with. Projects got bigger and bigger, Rewind got bigger, and all the rest of our projects got bigger.Starting around 2016, we wanted very badly to return to the original thesis of Portal A, which was creating an original entertainment properties for the web. That's where it all started. And we had spent so many years working with brands, and it was fantastic, and it was a good business, and we got to make really cool stuff. But we had this hunger to return to the kind of to our entertainment roots in some ways. And we're not talking at that point about TV shows on broadcast, but about entertainment that was built for internet consumption.So we started taking steps back in that direction. As we were continuing to grow the branded business and expand in that area, we were committing ourselves to the original entertainment dream and started making shows horribly oversimplified what it took to actually start doing that again. But we started making shows again. We kept the branded business running and growing. And-Chris Erwin:When you started making shows, were you deficit-financing these yourself? So you were developing them internally and then taking them out as a slate to pitch and sell? Or were these being funded by other digital and streaming platforms that were going to put this content on their channels?Zach Blume:We were developing them internally, as a kind of a traditional development arm, and then taking them out to streaming and digital buyers. We were not doing the White Collar Brawler model, where we were building properties completely independently. So we did kind of slot in a little bit more into back into the entertainment ecosystem versus building our own properties, which that could be a whole separate conversation about the drawbacks and the benefits of that.So we were finding our way to making original series, again, we hired ahead of originals a guy named Evan Bregman, who's now at Rooster Teeth who's a good friend. And we started kind of trying to build that business again, and eventually, we started to feel like the branded business was running really well and growing year over year. We felt in order to take the next step forward on the entertainment side of our business. We needed a partner.So we had been a completely independent entire course of our trajectory. We were running a really good business at the time. It was very profitable, and the growth trajectory was really attractive, I think to outsiders. And so we started taking meetings with potential partners with the idea of strategically aligning ourselves to somebody who could level us up. We weren't looking for a sale. We were looking for truly a strategic partner.Chris Erwin:Were you running a formal process here where there was a mandate of, "We seek a strategic partner, we're going to take meetings over the next two months?" Or was it, "Hey, these relationships that we create in the industry, we got some inbounds, let's take these meetings with perhaps a little bit more intent than we would've a couple of years ago."Zach Blume:It was not a formal process in the sense that we had a banker or some advisor who was guiding us through it. But it was a process in that it was fairly intentional. Remember sitting down with Nate and Kai and listing out the players in the original entertainment world, whether that was individuals or production companies, mostly who we think would be good partners for us, and starting to navigate through our network to see who would be interested in talking. And the thing that I've found, especially in that period, which was 2017, '18 was when we were starting to have those conversations, it was a pretty hot period for digital media. I think there was a lot of consolidation going on. Our experience was once we started having a couple of those conversations, and people started to see our numbers and see the fact that we were running an actually profitable business that was growing year over year.It just like word got out, and it was a little bit of a domino. And so I just remember over the course of 2017, 2018, we took like 15 or 20 strategic meetings with potential strategic partners. Again, not running it through a banker or anything like that, but just kind of word of mouth. And it was a really interesting experience, and learned a lot about ourselves and about the space. And we just really clicked with Brent Montgomery and Ed Simpson, who were, at the time they, had sold their TV production company to ITV and they were working at ITV at the time but starting to think about what their post-ITV move was going to be, which would eventually become Wheelhouse and just to immediate connection with both of them on a personal and kind of business level.To them, we looked like a really smart partner. They felt like a really smart partner to us. And that's how that started. And there were other conversations going on at the time, but Brent and Ed and eventually Wheelhouse always felt like the right fit for us.Chris Erwin:From that first meeting with Wheelhouse, did they indicate in the room, "Hey, we want to do a deal, we're going to make an offer," or did it take a while to get there?Zach Blume:Well, this story I always tell about Ed, who everybody should know, Ed Simpson, he's an amazing guy, is that within five minutes of our first meeting he asked us, "Are you Butellas?" And I was floored. I was like-Chris Erwin:Gets right to the point.Zach Blume:I was like, we just shook hands. We were just getting to know each other, but I think honestly it's a testament to directness, and I think that actually really helped was kind of just getting our cards on the table from early days. And I think from the beginning. It was clear that Ed and Brent were looking for their first partners. Brent is also like no BS. He knows what he wants, he goes out and gets it, and the intent for an investment, a partnership of some sort, was clear from the very beginning. The eventual process took very long.Chris Erwin:How long was that process?Zach Blume:I think the timeframe from offer letter or LOI to signed paperwork was about a year. But I think there was a six-month or eight-month, even maybe even a full-year courtship before that. So the whole process from first meeting with Ed, where he asked us what our EBITDA was after shaking his hand, to signing paperwork and then collapsing on the floor because we were so exhausted was maybe year and a half, two years.Chris Erwin:Yeah. It always takes longer than people expect.Zach Blume:Yeah. It's incredible. And there were multiple points where that deal almost fell completely apart. In fact, I was sure it was done. It was toast. And what I've learned from other founders that I've talked to that have done deals, whether it's a sale or a minority investment or some sort of strategic partnership like this, is every time there's a deal, it almost fails twice or three times or more.It's just in the nature of things when there's two negotiators that there's going to be some moments of staring into the abyss. And I actually haven't heard of a deal that hasn't had that. So I learned that, in retrospect, at the time, they were hugely existential moments because we had put so much time and energy, and money into making this happen and having the deal almost fell apart multiple times was, it was really intense.Chris Erwin:Yeah. After having been a part of many M&A and capital raising processes throughout my career before RockWater when I was a banker, and then also at Big Frame, where I hired my old investment bank to represent us in a sale to Awesomeness backed by DreamWorks. And then at RockWater now, there's so many variables. You have different business models, you have different team cultures, you have leadership, you have investors, and to align on, are we working towards the same mission? Do we want the same thing in the future? Do we want the same thing now when we integrate? Where are we complementary? Will we actually succeed combined, or there alternative ways to do this? And I think it really is a special thing. We read a lot of deal headlines in the trade, so everyone thinks like, "Oh, deals get done all the time, it's easy."For all those headlines of the success, there's many, many more instances where deals have fallen apart that we don't hear about. I think the best thing that you guys had, Zach, was your BATNA, your Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement, but also your leverage. You had a profitable independent business. It was you, Zach, and Kai as the founders. You were growing, and you were profitable, and you could sustain with a partner or without a partner. And essentially, that led to a great deal for you guys. So it's awesome to say.Zach Blume:Yeah, it's true. I mean, we were not trying to parachute at our business in any stretch. We weren't trying to sell to then do an arm out to then leave. We were trying to level up, and I agree it was our ability to walk was good leverage for us, but we really wanted to do it because we really had committed ourselves to making this type of strategic move. I think it's very different when you're trying to capitalize on a moment in exit versus when you're trying to make an actual partnership to take the next step up in a business. And we just weren't ready to, and we still aren't ready to sunset Portal A.This is becoming our life's work. We are committed. We are always kind of doubling down on our commitment. Sometimes I can't believe I've been doing this for 12 years. It's unbelievable. And I hope that we do it for many, many, many, many, many more years.Chris Erwin:You found your magnum opus in the first company that you founded pretty rare and pretty incredible, right?Zach Blume:Yeah. I mean it's amazing, but it also puts a lot of pressure on that to fulfill a lot of parts of your being and or your professional desires. When you're focused on one thing for so long, as opposed to a lot of entrepreneurs who kind of jump or leapfrog from one thing to the next. We've had to come to grips with the fact that this is our baby, and it's continuing to be our baby. And it's a long play. It's a long run.Chris Erwin:This is actually a good segue to think about how this business is fulfilling to you, kind of over the past couple of years, some key changes that you've made of, how you're rewarding some of your most prominent team members, elevating them to partner and then thinking about what you want to grow into. So let's get into that. I look at your business. In your 20s, it was kind of the freshman segment of Portal A really starting to become into a real business. Then in your 30s, it's kind of like the sophomore years where you're starting to scale up and start to realize some pretty incredible success. And now you've got this incredible foundation.So not to aid you in front of everyone, but I think you and the founding team are entering your 40s over the next year or two years or so, entering the junior and senior years of your business. And for you guys to continue to be excited and fulfilled, tell us about some of the recent moves that you've made at the company and then where you want to go. What does that look like?Zach Blume:It's a great question. I wonder what happens after the junior and senior year sets. We're definitely at a different life stage, just on a personal level, then we were when we were on the treadmill moving 100 miles per hour in our 20s and in the kind of like the first half of Portal A and the deal with Wheelhouse was definitely like a marker, or maybe it was the dividing line between the freshman and sophomore era as you put it.First of all, I mean the last couple of years have been crazy, the pandemic, the election in 2020, there's been a lot of volatility in the world over the last few years, but what we're trying to do in the face of that volatility and kind of coming out of the Wheelhouse partnership, which again marked a new chapter for us is, create A on the business side sustainability and kind of consistency. And we've been able to do that. I mean, we've been profitable, consistent from a numbers perspective for many years, but it definitely felt for many years, we were running on a treadmill trying to keep up.And over the last several years, we've been trying to do as we enter into new periods of our lives personally, as we bring other people into the business as partners is create a business that doesn't feel like you're about to gasp for air and collapse at the end of every year, but actually create something that's sustainable and supports other parts of our lives that are really important to us. Family, having kids, all that type of stuff.I think on the business side, it's like, and I think we've done this over the last several years, but how do we move from sprinting to running at a good pace and building something that feels sustainable over the course of the next chapter of our lives as our lives change. And that's been really important, and you mentioned this, but bringing, we brought four new partners into the business. Our head of production, our head of business operations, our managing director, and our head of talent partnerships all had been with us for five to seven years each. And we made them partners a couple of years ago.We've invested in our team in a way that we always try to take care of people, but we truly doubled down on that over the last several years so that people feel like they're working at a place that they can work at for many years and feel very taken care of and part of a community, et cetera.Chris Erwin:Quick question on partnership front. So when you elevate these individuals to partners, does that mean there's a compensation bump but is also a bigger voice at the table for bigger strategic decisions for the company? What is the value exchange for that?Zach Blume:They went from kind of executives to partners. I mean, they're always executives, and I think what a partnership means is they participate in the profitability of the company. They participate in an exit. If there is a future, another deal on the horizon, they would have a stake in that. And then they have visibility into all aspects of the business and a seat at the table for really important business decisions around the type of work we take on, the type of things we invest in, the vision that we lay out for the company, the priorities for the year or for the next few years, et cetera.So it's been incredible, and I think it was a big moment. It was always Nate, Kai, and I sitting in a room, staring at each other's faces and trying to figure things out. And to bring in Robyn, Emma, Elyse, and Brittani, they're all so incredibly smart and powerful in their own ways, and it's just made our decision-making much more thoughtful, multifaceted, strategic, and I think intelligent, that group of three became a group of seven. That's been a major milestone and moment for us.So that was a big part of things. And investing in our team and doubling down on the team's wellness and creating a pace of work that was sustainable, not working over Thanksgiving, all that type, taking long breaks, giving days, all sorts of steps we've taken over the last several years to make Portal A sustainable business entity over many years.So that's number one in terms of what this chapter looks like. And I think number two is we just want to make good shit. At the end of the day, when we put ourselves in the future and try to look back on what will feel most valuable about this whole experience, what we make because we are a creative company is at the top of the list. So investing in the quality of the work that we do, investing in projects that may not be the most profitable or they may even not be profitable at all, but that are important to us creatively experimenting in new content formats, longer form, feature-length type stuff, short film, all sorts of getting back to kind of our roots in some ways as experimental content producers and investing in the quality of the work that we're making either on the original side of the business or on the brand side of the business that has become kind of central to our whole vision and identity is just this relentless commitment to quality.Chris Erwin:I want to touch on that because when we were preparing for this interview, something that we spoke about was, yeah, your commitment to creative quality and craft. Sometimes that is undervalued, sometimes that feels like it's going against the grain, and like you said, Zach, maybe there's a near-term impact where these new IP concepts, they're not profitable immediately, but there's actually long-term value to it where adherence to that mission keeps the leadership and founding team galvanized and fulfilled. It also keeps your business exciting for new team members that you want to recruit, building towards future opportunity where there can be much more meaningful revenues to generate in the future.So that's hard to do when you face kind of the near-term headwinds of those decisions, but you got to be steadfast in that it's clearly worked for you guys for over 12 years, and I think that that's just an important reminder that this is a founding value of our company and that's what's going to continue to drive long term success for the next 10, 20 plus years.Zach Blume:Everything you just said, I would like you to come speak to our company, and we can all talk about it together. I mean, that's exactly where we are at. What we'll define the next five, 10, however many years of this adventure will be the quality of the work that we're making. I don't want to speak too soon, and I'm going to knock on wood, but I feel like we've cracked the code on how to run this business well and how to find good people, take care of our people, take care of ourselves, find our lane and operate really well in our lane. And what's going to define the next chapter is how good is the stuff we're making. Is it something we're proud of? And that's both from a kind of, almost like, a spiritual or existential level, but it does layer back to business because we believe what will differentiate us is the quality of the work that we're creating. And so it will lead to new opportunity and new horizons when we're making really good stuff.Chris Erwin:Last one or two questions before we get into rapid fire and we close out here is, are there any current projects that you're working on or things that you're thinking about that maybe are good signals to the listeners of the type of things that you're going to be doing more of going forward?Zach Blume:One really interesting one is completely different from a lot of the work that people may know us for, but my partner Nate is developing a feature documentary. We've done one feature-length documentary, we did it with YouTube original called State of Pride, all about the origins and the genesis of Pride festivals across the country. And it's a beautiful film called State of Pride. It's on YouTube. Nate did a really cool, together with Portal A, did a really cool 30-minute documentary in 2020 about the response from the Trump administration to the first year of COVID.So we've definitely played with longer-form documentary projects. This project is called Fault Lines, and it is a longer-formed feature documentary about housing in America and about the shortage of housing in America, which is driving up housing costs for everybody. Kind of like the deep backstory on where that all comes from.No brands associated with that project. It's going to be financed by foundations and private funders, but we're really excited about it, and it's that kind of getting back to telling interesting stories, experimenting with new formats. It's not going to be the core of our business for the next several years, but we are going to be investing in those types of projects where we can kind of make a name for ourselves in new spaces.And then, of course, we're doing all sorts of cool stuff with our brand partners like big, splashy campaigns that are coming out later this year that I shouldn't talk about yet, but doing a lot of work with Target and Google and we have long-standing partners at Lenovo, the computer maker and all sorts of cool branded stuff. We have original shows in the pipeline.So I think the business mix for us is branded content. Again, nothing that we make should ever feel like a commercial, and if it does, we've failed ourselves and our partners. So content that is made in partnership with brands feels like something you'd actually want to watch. That's one pillar. The second pillar is original series. We just released Level Up, which is a show on Snapchat starting Stephen Curry mentoring a new generation of athletes. So there's all sorts of series like that that we're working on.Then this new area, which is short films, documentary feature films that we're investing in as a loss leader, like truly a loss leader, but as a way to diversify the type of content we're making and invest in quality like I was just talking about.Chris Erwin:That's great. You guys are doing a lot. Last quick question before rapid fire, how would you succinctly describe how your leadership philosophy has evolved now, being, call it 12 years into the Portal A business?Zach Blume:When you're building something, especially for us, we started from zero. We didn't come from the space. We didn't have any relationships. It was completely homegrown and organic. When you're building something, it's like you're captaining a tiny little ship in very rocky waters, and it is survival in some ways. I mean, it's both like I'm just picturing someone on the deck of a little dinghy in the middle of the ocean, just like yelling and surviving and getting thrown all over the place, and you're just trying to survive and make it through the first few years. And I think that was in many ways what leadership, just getting through the choppy waters and trying to grow and survive, was what it looked like for many years in the early days of growing our company.I think now that we've made it through those choppy waters and kind of established ourselves and built something that has a foundation underneath it. I really focus on sustainability and vision. And so that means creating an environment where people can be fulfilled creatively in terms of the people that they work with in terms of the pace of the work, both for the team that works with us and also for us, for ourselves. So creating that kind of a rhythm that feels not like you're like a tiny boat in a gigantic ocean and just trying to survive, but that feels steady and sustainable and solid. So creating that kind of consistency and strength, and that's one side of it. And then, for many years, it was just eat what you killed. And that was so many years of growing the company.Now it's like, "Okay, who do we want to be and who are we and who do we want to be?" And I think I spend so much time thinking about that and then communicating that back to the team and then repeating it over and over and over and over again and giving people something that they can understand and hold onto and feel like they're working toward a common cause has become so much more important now than it was when we were just basically in survival mode. So I think, yeah, sustainability and vision have become the most important pieces.Chris Erwin:I love that. Very well said, Zach. All right, so last segment from me giving you a bit of kudos at the end of this interview. Look, a lot of the people that I interview on the show, I've known for years, if not decades or more. I've actually interviewed people that I've known for over 30 years on this show. I've really only gotten to know you over the past. I think like two to three months through a handful of conversations. But I will say some of the kudos is it feels like I've known you a lot longer than that. I think we have a really shared sensibility, and I think that that's a testament to in this space.What I really like about being at the intersection of digital and entertainment is that there's just some really good people in it. And I think that's not the same from a lot of other industries that I've worked in. And I think you really embody that spirit. I think you really care about your people. I think you really care about your clients and your team and your partners, and that's really valuable. And I can even sense that in what the audience isn't hearing in between these segments is I really just love that note, how you are like the rah-rah spirit for your team. You've even been that for me, talking me up about me as a podcast host and supporting our content work where I'm going through a bit of my own existential crisis with RockWater on, I can feel that very positive energy from you, and I think that makes you a very, very, very compelling leader.Lastly, just to reiterate one of the points I made earlier, you have this extreme focus on your core service and product and on your team and doing right by your client partners. And I think that is actually shows incredible strategic focus and vision versus some really complex framework for how Portal A is going to take over the entire digital entertainment ecosystem with 10 different business models. You guys have nailed your core, and it's given you so much opportunity for what I define as the very exciting junior and senior years that are going to come for you. So massive kudos to you and the team for what you've built exemplary, and I look forward to many more conversations in the future.Zach Blume:Thank you. It feels like you understand us, and I really appreciate that. So thank you for that.Chris Erwin:For sure. Easy to do. All right, so to the rapid-fire, I'm going to ask six questions and the rules or as follows, you'll provide short answers. Maybe just one sentence, maybe just one to two words. Do you understand the rules, Zach?Zach Blume:Yes, I do.Chris Erwin:Okay, cool. All right, first one, proudest life moment.Zach Blume:Birth of my daughter.Chris Erwin:What do you want to do less of in 2022?Zach Blume:Worrying about the state of our union?Chris Erwin:Okay, what do you want to do more of?Zach Blume:Making work that we are proud of and stands the test of time.Chris Erwin:One to two things drive your success?Zach Blume:Focus and commitment, and loyalty.Chris Erwin:Okay, last three here. Advice for media execs going into the second half of this year and 2023.Zach Blume:Brace yourselves. I mean, I don't want to fear monger or create an atmosphere of angst or anxiety, but I definitely can see that there are headwinds ahead and many of us have been through these periods before, and we can make it through, but it's definitely a time to focus on fundamentals and be aware of your costs and brace yourselves for what could be a choppy period.Chris Erwin:Yeah, well said. Any future startup ambitions?Zach Blume:Not beyond what we're doing. I mean, if there's ever sunset to Portal A, I would love to get involved again in the political world. And we've done a lot of political work over the years through Portal A but at the moment, continuing to double down on what we're building.Chris Erwin:Got it. The easy final one for you. How can people get in contact with you?Zach Blume:I don't know, old school email, I mean, really old school, I guess, would be a landline, but email Zach, Z-A-C-H@portal-a.com, or you can find me on LinkedIn, but that sounds really lame, so just send me an email.Chris Erwin:Okay. I think LinkedIn is great.Zach Blume:No, I love Linkedin, but I just don't want to be the guy hawking his LinkedIn profile.Chris Erwin:Got it. All right, Zach, that's it. Thanks for being on the Come Up podcast.Zach Blume:It's been a pleasure, Chris. It's a great service to the digital media, community and world and really appreciated being here.Chris Erwin:All right, quick heads up that our company has a new service offering. We just introduced RockWater Plus, which is for companies who want an ongoing consulting partner at a low monthly retainer, yet also need a partner who can flex up for bigger projects when they arise. So who is this for? Well, three main stakeholders. One, operators who seek growth and better run operations. Two, investors who need help with custom industry research and diligence. And three, leadership who wants a bolt-on strategy team and thought partner.So what is included with RockWater Plus? We do weekly calls to review KPIs or any ad hoc operational needs. We create KPI dashboards to do monthly performanc

Martino Jerian is the CEO and Founder of Amped Software, widely recognized as the leading company for image and video forensics for public safety and national security, with customer in 100 counties worldwide. He graduated in Electronic Engineering at the University of Trieste (Italy) in 2005 (summa cum laude) with a thesis on forensic image processing and he founded Amped Software in 2008, widely recognized as the leading company for video forensics. He has extensive software engineering experience, designing and starting the development of the Amped Software products. He teaches as a contract professor in a few university courses related to investigations, forensics and intelligence, has published several scientific papers related to image and video forensics and also worked as a forensic expert in major judiciary cases.His current activities are mainly focused around the improvement of the relationship between science and justice during forensic investigations, the need for proper education and training on image and video analysis, and creating awareness on the challenges related to the proper use of video evidence, especially in relation to cybersecurity and artificial intelligence.Originally aired on July 7 2022

In this week's podcast, we'll be talking about video marketing and what you can do to ensure the optimum ROI. Video producers, marketers, content creators, and business owners alike will all be able to get beneficial tips and tools they can implement moving forward to ensure they are getting the best results! Join The Marketing Expedition Community Today!

There has been buzz around the growth of live video streaming consumption from broadcasters for the last couple of years. Sports content is obviously key to this market. In this episode we chat to James Young (Managing Director, Australia - Magnite) and Brett Islaub (National Digital Sales Manager - SBS) about new research that has been released on the Live Sports Streaming consumer as well as overall industry trends. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode: 2799 Dither and Digital Media.  Today, let's get digital.

Andrew Fredericks is a certified Forensic Video Analyst and the Co-Founder, CEO, and Technical Director for iNPUT-ACE: a video evidence software solution that is used by law enforcement agencies world-wide. Andrew continues to conduct forensic video analysis casework throughout North America and abroad. As a forensic video analyst, Andrew has been qualified as an expert and testified in various courts in the USA and Canada. Join us as we discuss some recent cases like the Kyle Rittenhouse case and the types of issues that can arise when considering digital video evidence. Originally aired: Dec 8, 2021

Article Source: https://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/crea... Written by Logan Baker indiedarlings.net indie darlings podcast : https://open.spotify.com/show/0PPHuIv... TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@knivesmonroe Facebook: www.facebook.com/KnivesMonroe INDIE DARLINGS 2022 COPYRIGHT INDIE DARLINGS LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED #KnivesMonroe #tiktok #IndieDarlings

Today we are talking to Eli Portnoy, the co-founder, SVP, and GM of Sense360. With an entrepreneurial spirit that started in high school, Eli always knew he wanted to be a part of the startup world. He's had two successful exits, both of which he says were great experiences. He's here to talk about how and why he exited his companies. He'll touch on the process of transitioning his 11-person company to a large, publicly traded company. Knowledge as Payment Eli's first business attempt came in high school, when he and a couple friends realized there were no concessions available at their school. The group brought their idea for a school store to the administration and were given the green light. Reaching out to suppliers, they were able to put together a store in just a couple of weeks. Eli says the store did phenomenally well, and while all the proceeds went to the school, he walked away with a lot of knowledge. The Entrepreneurial Itch Strikes Again Down the road, Eli found himself working as a product manager at Amazon. Working with the Digital Video team, Eli's job was to define the experiences across connected devices. Working closely with all departments, Eli learned how to influence people, which would be a great skill to have. While he enjoyed the experience, he was ready to start his own company. Researching different industries that he thought were interesting, Eli began the search for a co-founder. Once he found a worthy partner, Eli left Amazon and started Thinknear, a location-based mobile ad network. Knowing What You Know Now, What Would You Tell Yourself Ten Years Ago? Eli says, looking back, he wishes he would've taken bigger swings and bigger risks. He's always operated from a mentality of trying to minimize the risks rather than leaning into them. Knowing now how the markets evolved, he would've gone deeper. All in all, he would tell himself to stop focusing on what could go wrong, and start focusing on what could go right. Knowing What You Know Now, What Would You Tell Yourself Ten Years Ago? Eli says, looking back, he wishes he would've taken bigger swings and bigger risks. He's always operated from a mentality of trying to minimize the risks rather than leaning into them. Knowing now how the markets evolved, he would've gone deeper. All in all, he would tell himself to stop focusing on what could go wrong, and start focusing on what could go right. To Connect With Eli Eli can be found on LinkedIn or reached through their website, www.sense360.com. -- The Exit—Presented By Flippa: A 30-minute podcast featuring expert entrepreneurs who have been there and done it. The Exit talks to operators who have bought and sold a business. You'll learn how they did it, why they did it, and get exposure to the world of exits, a world occupied by a small few, but accessible to many. To listen to the podcast or get daily listing updates, click on flippa.com/the-exit-podcast/

Make better videos. It's our mission! In this episode, video business owner Peter McKinnon talks about 5 ways you can instantly make better videos. None of what Peter recommends requires you to buy extra equipment. By utilizing these steps you will be able to improve the overall quality, look, sound and feel of the videos you make right away.

We continue our controversial coaching series about an unconventional approach to church online. Access this entire coaching series as well as additional bonus content for free right now. Simply text your email address to 615.900.4461

We continue our controversial coaching series about an unconventional approach to church online. Access this entire coaching series as well as additional bonus content for free right now. Simply text your email address to 615.900.4461

In this week's episode of the AdTech Heroes podcast, we discuss digital video with Barry John, Head Of Sales Operations at Channel 4. Barry begins the episode by sharing more about his background in digital advertising. We learn that Barry has worked in digital advertising for 20 years, and he initially started in ad operations and digital display. He explains that his focus has been on progressing and understanding how to develop technological solutions. Barry then goes on to discuss how he and his team have developed their roles as the digital industry has changed. Viewing behaviours and patterns are discussed, and Barry explains how Channel 4 decides when to air certain shows. He also talks about how important programmatic advertising is in his day-to-day life working at Channel 4. Barry goes on to talk about the impending death of the third-party cookie and how it affects business at Channel 4, explaining that for them, it doesn't make any difference at all. Finally, the episode wraps up with Barry sharing what he would choose as his adtech superpower if he could. Learn all about digital video by tuning in to the latest episode of the AdTech Heroes podcast with Barry John, Head Of Sales Operations at Channel 4. Channel 4 We'd love to hear from you Schedule a call with one of our contextual advertising experts today at https://Seedtag.com

Starting a production company takes time and lots of trial and error. Let this podcast speed up that process for you by teaching you how to get video clients. In this episode,, video business owner Amanda Horvath, gives you her best tips for how to market your video production business so you can make videos full time. Amanda started her videography business in Los Angeles where the competition was steep. She tested tons of different tactics for getting clients, from cold calling to website tweaks to getting listed on Yelp. She walks through her top tips for Squarespace for videographers so you can optimize your website to convert. Her website advice for videography is super simple yet she promises it will help you get more clients for video work. Marketing videography isn't challenging, but it does take some thinking outside the box so think twice before you discount her ideas. It's time to learn how to get more clients for video work! Enjoy!

If you get in front of a client and your main selling points are price, image quality, and experience? Go on Craigslist right now and list your camera for sale because you're not gonna make it today. Why? This podcast offers the explanation.

We're doing something different this week, starting with episode 1 of a 5 part series getting into the topic of short form video production. Videos of cats, babies tasting lemons for the first time, food recipes — you name it, we love it. And when it comes to marketing Video content is one of the most influential forms of marketing out there. So, how can you leverage short form video content to grow your business? And what are some trends to look for? This 5 part podcast series gets into the details starting with TikTok.

it's not about your ability to edit video. It's not all about your video equipment. What are your videos really selling?

Are you a videographer doing marketing? Or a marketer doing videography? If you're a plain ol' videographer focusing on equipment sitting there wondering why you're not getting business, let this podcast be a HUGE wake up call.

Let's face it. Price communicates an expectation of quality. The higher the price, the higher quality we expect. We make assumptions based on price - and people make assumptions about us based on price. The amount you charge communicates the quality your customers should expect. So what's the right price for your clients? What impression are your rates giving your potential clients? And is it a good one?We take a look at 3 pricing models and what they say about you and which one you should be in.

Are hotel marketing videos the next secret cash cow for videographers? Unconventional ways to quickly start a tsunami of clients - even if your business is new. We answer a question about free and quick ways to clean up bad audio.

We're talking about the world of underwater video production on this edition with our guest Zach Whalen, an underwater camera operator for Blue world TV - the underwater science adventure series hosted by dynamic naturalist and underwater photographer Jonathan Bird.

Video related questions are delivered to us in various ways, email, voice and when we're live, just hanging out on social media apps. We compiled some great questions from wedding videographers for this week's podcast...they have some pressing issues that need attention so we decided to invite two professionals to help with some of the answers.

Making a film or video is an exciting prospect and there's a great temptation to get started as quickly as possible. However, any video worth making requires a great deal of planning and preparation, and that includes ensuring you comply with all legal issues...basically, covering your butt! On this week's podcast, we stepped into the Videographer room on Clubhouse where attorneys Laura Cosgrove and Kevin K. Ross-Andino from éclat Law, gave great answers to the top questions that are a thorn in a videographer's side when it comes to legal issues.

In this episode, we welcome Brett Cohen to the show. Brett Cohen is a marketing expert who specializes in digital platforms such as Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Biometrics, Digital Video, CGI Animation, and Live Event Activations. Additionally, Brett is the director of Live and Digital Production at Forbes. Brett has also started and produced a viral celebrity prank video with over 200 million views. In this episode, we discuss the major shift in marketing towards targeted adds. We also discuss AR and VR in marketing. How Covid affects what we buy and how we advertise. Make sure to check out our website for more content: https://www.pureconversation.com/​​​ Follow us on social media and our podcast channels: Twitter: https://twitter.com/Pureconvopod​​​Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/Pure-Conversat...​Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pure...​Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2sXNO8E...​Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast​​...

Mike Gaston is the President of Stage TEN Studios, and a creative and social provocateur known for "programming between the lines". We discuss launching a profitable poetry press and soon after declaring personal banktuptcy, selling his first music video to MTV, founding viral digital studio Cut.com, and how he'll shape the future of livestream media. Subscribe to our newsletter. We explore the intersection of media, technology, and commerce: sign-up linkLearn more about our market research and executive advisory: RockWater websiteFollow The Come Up on Twitter: @TCUpodEmail us: tcupod@wearerockwater.com--EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:Chris Erwin:Hi, I'm Chris Erwin. Welcome to The Come Up, a podcast that interviews entrepreneurs and leaders. Mike Gaston:This is going to sound insane. And I'm going to share this, but my thought was, is it possible to rob a bank and not go to jail? I'm like 19. Now when I'm thinking this way. And then I thought, yeah, I'll just take out a bunch of money on credit cards and then claim bankruptcy. And so like I took on all these credit cards and then I've just started traveling the world in a way that was just absurd. Chris Erwin:This week's episode features Mike Gaston, the President of Stage Ten Studios. Mike is a creative savant, who's known for programming between the lines. He had breakout success when he founded a viral digital studio, cut.com whose first video was about Grandmas Smoking Weed. You see, Mike is the ultimate provocateur, and he's been conducting social experiments since an early age. Like when just 20 years old, Mike launched a profitable poetry mag while apprenticing for an Irish poet. And then intentionally went into personal bankruptcy. Or when he created a music video for a friend's band, just for fun and ended up selling it to MTV. In Mike's current role at Stage Ten, he'll shape the future of live stream media. He talks about his recent work as well as some of his creative side projects at the end of our chat. All right, let's get into it. Mike, thank you for being on The Come Up podcast. So let's talk about where you grew up. What was your household like? What was your parental situation? Tell me. Mike Gaston:I grew up in West Seattle and my mom is an immigrant. She's from the Philippines. She didn't become a citizen until two years after I was born. And my whole family actually immigrated from the Philippines. So all my aunts, my uncles, my grandparents, my cousins, they're all here. And so had that very large Filipino side of the family around me. And then my dad, he's a white dude and he had a very small family that the only people I really got to know were my grandparents and then his brother and my cousin. But we weren't terribly close to them. And so the family was interesting. I had a bunch of essentially under five foot tall Filipinos about. So culturally, everything that I perceive was very much from a Filipino-American experience and not from the experience that my dad had. There wasn't a very strong kind of like a family philosophy or perspective from their side. But from my mom's side, my Filipino side, it was very strong. It pretty much informs everything that I think about today. Chris Erwin:When you mentioned that there was these the strong Filipino identity and cultural values, what were some of those that you remember growing up. Mike Gaston:Family is primary. It's also a very... It's a matriarchal culture. It's funny to say that because you look at authoritarians like Duterte, who actually is leading the country right now. And you're like, Oh, that seems very macho. And that's true. But it's really the women that do things like handle the finances. Chris Erwin:Interesting. Mike Gaston:And are really leading the family. And it's very common to never move out of the house, to live there forever and then your parents die and then you just take over the home. And so it's a very tight knit family structure, that's one. And then the second thing, which kind of I experienced growing up and then moved out of was this sort of mystical form of Catholicism. In Filipino culture, I felt like my grandmother practiced a magical form of Catholicism where it was like, everything was steeped in sort of miracles and possibility, right? I mean, this is a country where they crucify people, literally crucify people as part of holiday rituals in certain parts of the country. And so it's this sort of magical realism idea when it comes to religion. And that informed a lot of my early childhood. Chris Erwin:And when you say it informed a lot of your early childhood, because I'm also thinking to where you are today, which we'll get into, this like visionary in the media space and a point of view of the responsibility of creators. But what seeds was that planting in you at an early age? Mike Gaston:Honestly story. So I was fascinated by the stories that my grandparents would tell me and my mother would tell me. It was interesting because my dad converted to Catholicism as part of his wooing of my courtship of my mother. And he was never, I would call him a believer. I kind of think most Catholics are, it's very much like a more bureaucratic than it is like a belief to him. Whereas the Filipinos and my family is very strong believers in that kind of thing. And I remember as I was growing up, we would go to church every Sunday. And then right after church, we would go to the movies. And at some point, I want to say, when I was around eight or nine, I somehow convinced my parents that we should stop going to church and only go to the movies, which is probably why I make videos now. And I'm not a priest. Mike Gaston:But it's just something, there's some weird connection that was happening there between this religious communal experience that I was having in church. And then the kind that you have in a dark theater, staring at a screen with a bunch of people experiencing different states of emotional catharsis, right? Somehow I attached a more profound meaning to my experience with movies than I did with my experience in the church. Chris Erwin:And as you matured, maybe your sense of, Oh, I have to go to church to have the theater experience. And then you realize, and I think there's some parts of this story that will come out even more later, I don't need the church. I can just go right to the theater. And I think that comes up about you thinking about some of your coursework in school and saying, "Well, some of this coursework is great and some of it is not, I don't need it." Mike Gaston:Yeah. That just general sort of obnoxiousness definitely found its way into my schoolwork too. Chris Erwin:And so thinking also about your character as you kind of grew up and as a teenager and going to high school before you went off to college, reading some of your blog posts, you described yourself as a scared of everything extrovert. Tell me a little bit more about that. Mike Gaston:I've pretty much always been comfortable in social situations. I don't mind meeting new people, although it does have a tendency to impact me energy-wise. But any new scenario that I was in would instantly hit me with a kind of anxiety. There's just sort of a discomfort that comes with suddenly being presented into a new situation. Anytime I had to meet new people, initially, I would be kind of really timid about it. I was sort of in a corner, kind of a bit of a wallflower until I got acclimated to the temperature of the room. And then suddenly I was in the center in some way. And maybe it was certain aspects of my family life or in the early days we moved a bit around. There was so much attention from my mother's side of the family that I felt always like there's a spotlight on me. Mike Gaston:And so that made me kind of shrink into myself. So I would be freaked out a lot about different scenarios that I would be put into. But at the same time, once I got again, acclimated to the temperature, it wouldn't be tough for me to perform suddenly. But yeah, initially I would be freaked out by a lot of things, pretty often actually. Chris Erwin:Did you feel that people sought your attention or sought to interact with you? Because I look at you now and people seek you out for, they want to hear your point of view. They want to hear you speak, at conferences, at summits and for you to attend their events, but you don't always immediately engage. And so curious, going back, did you feel that social groups were like, "Hey, this is an interesting guy. We want to interact with him." Or did that attention not exist? Mike Gaston:So this is strange given it feels like a backdoor brag, but it's not intentional. I was friends growing up, I could be friends with literally anybody, with all the different kids. But I was popular among the popular kids, but I wasn't necessarily a popular kid because I didn't behave like a popular kid. I didn't behave in a way where I was seeing differentiation between me and other kids. So I was friends with a lot of kids. And then for some reason I would end up popular among the popular kids. I think maybe it's, I just knew from very early age, I would ask myself what I wanted. And then I would only just do the things that I wanted. And I think that that creates a gravity that people are attracted to because I think a lot of people don't ask themselves what they want or are uncertain about going after the things that they want. And so it's attractive when you see it in other people. Chris Erwin:So what did you want back then? Like in your teenage years. Mike Gaston:I wanted you to know why, why we did any of the things that we had to do. So I want to say when I was about 12, I became friends with this kid named Jorge Morales he was a really smart dude. The things that he would read was far beyond what everybody else was reading. He was a multi instrument kind of like musician. And he was unpretentious about all the things that he was really interested in, but he seemed so brilliant. And he was the one who introduced me to philosophical thinking in different types of philosophies. And so as a result of that, I instantly became, over the course of that year of seventh grade, I would say, I became really introspective, really reflective. And then what happens as a result of that is I was just suddenly in a question state where I was just trying to understand what are the things that I wanted? Mike Gaston:And I was trying to understand the why's behind the decisions that people were making, especially when you're a child, right? When you're a child, you're subject to what other people want of you, right. You have very little agency over the things that you want. Chris Erwin:Yes. Mike Gaston:And when you become a teenager is when most of that conflict starts to kind of arise. And it's because you're starting to feel your own agency, it's in a conflict with your parents' and their expectations. Well, that happened way earlier for me, that happened before high school. And that's largely because I was asking those questions all the time of what do I want, why do I need to do any of these things? And that became a lot more a macro sort of philosophical point of view for me going on. Before that, before I had discovered philosophy is more tactical, things would come to me and then I would just question it. I had a natural sort of questioning sort of personality. And again, I think there's a thing that happens with kids where you're told so often, your life is so prescribed to you that you're kind of go on a track. You do the things and you don't even know why you're doing any of the things. You're just doing it because that's the expectation. And I was never like that. I was always asking questions my whole life. Chris Erwin:This manifests in a story about your coursework in high school, you rejected one of your courses, tell me about that. Mike Gaston:Yeah. This was actually happened in seventh grade. This is actually before high school. But as I was asking those questions, I started thinking about... My mother again is Filipino and there's that cliché, the Asian tiger mom is not a cliche. That's just real to me. So she was very aggressive with my education, well, before I even got into kindergarten. So I was reading at three and I was writing full on essays before I got into kindergarten. And so by the time I was in kindergarten, everything was slow. Everything was crazy slow to me. Because for her, she was always trying to get me ahead. She wanted me to go to the best high schools, go to the best college, have the best job. And I remember around some of, when I was starting to have like a larger sense of myself and a larger sense of applying this questioning sort of personality but to my entire life. Mike Gaston:I started asking why I had to do any of these things, why do I have to get A's in all these classes? And so then I just started reshaping my world with experiments. And so I was like, "Okay, well, what if I just got A's in everything except this class that I don't really like." And that class was a religion class. Because I was going to private school. And I was like, I've been studying religion for eight years now. I'm in seventh grade. I had gone to Sunday school before I was even in kindergarten. This all feels really repetitive to me. How about this? I'm just going to do the tests. I got a D in that class. I do great on the test. And then I would just not do any work. Chris Erwin:How did that feel to get a D because you probably had excelled in school? Mike Gaston:Satisfying. Chris Erwin:Satisfying, okay. Mike Gaston:It felt liberating to get a D. Chris Erwin:Which probably frustrated your parents who were like, "Oh, you should be disappointed." And they're seeing you elated. Mike Gaston:Oh, yeah. My mom was very unhappy because she was like, "This is easy. Why are you going to getting a D?" This is the class that everyone gets an A in, why are you getting a D in this class? And I was like, "Well, if everyone gets an A and it's clear that I can get A's, why do I need to do that for this class? Well, what is the purpose of this?" And then she would say things like, "You're jeopardizing your chance again to a good high school." And I was like, "Well, then what happens after that?" If I get into a good high school, then it's about a good college and it's about a good job and then I die. I was literally, I would just go to the end of everything. What is the end effect of literally everything that is to that moment. Mike Gaston:And then I was like, "This doesn't seem like a track I want to be on." And my dad, again, because he was more transactional about his relationship with religion. I remember driving with him in the car and he was like, "Yeah. So you got a D." And I go, "Yeah." He's like... He just turned to me, he's like, "Whatever." He's like, "It's not a big deal." And I'm like, "Exactly." It was this moment where I was like, "It isn't a big deal." And so it became a thing where I had started to seek out moments of failure because I wanted to experience it. I wanted to experience what it was like to not meet my own expectations or meet my parents or meet anybody else's. But the way I started to approach it was different. In that instance, it was me not doing things that I knew I had to do in order to achieve something. Mike Gaston:And what it became was I started to seek out failure by doing things that were much harder and it felt impossible. And it was like, well, I'm just going to do this thing and then try and then get comfortable with that feeling. Chris Erwin:Yeah. It feels like you're a provocateur where there's the societal and cultural foundations. And you're like, if I poke at this crack, does that destabilize anything? And if so, does it actually change my life in a meaningful way or not, or change the end state in a meaningful way. And I think it's a very fast way to learn to provoke. Mike Gaston:It absolutely is. It was one of those things where I was just trying to find the boundaries to, everyone has a shape to their life. And it's one that they construct for themselves because we're all kind of editing our lives on our own. And I was like, what is the boundaries to this thing? What could it actually look like? What if I just started doing these things and stopped doing these things, or I start doing these things and stop doing these. Do any of these things matter? We invest meaning in so many, of the things that we're doing. And I was kind of in a constant state of questioning that. And just asking why. Chris Erwin:From there, there is a traditional path that does take place in the beginning of your career. You go to the University of Washington, and then from there, you end up at Boeing, a big company. So I'm curious to hear, just touching on University of Washington. What were the intentions there? Mike Gaston:Actually, out of high school, I didn't want to go to college at all. My plan was to go on a walkabout, but my mom was so disappointed with the idea that she had invested so much of her personal identity into my future success as an academic that I had to go to college, that I actually went to Seattle University for a year. And while I was at Seattle University, my grandfather, my white grandfather, my dad's father, he was in the midst of dying from diabetes and they had no help. So after school and before school, I would go to his house and I would help him. I would help my grandmother, I would help take him to the bathroom. I would help shower him, wipe his ass. He was literally... He couldn't walk, he couldn't... He was blind, had no feeling in the left side of his body. Mike Gaston:And he was literally falling apart. And I was the most depressed I'd ever been just like sort of a witnessing this and being a part of it. And I told him one day, I was like, "I got to leave, man. I can't be... I'm not happy in school. Because I don't want to be in school right now. And I can't do this." And he's like, "Yes, you need to leave." And I was like, "I'm just going to leave." So then I just started leaving the country and then I left the country for awhile and I didn't return for a couple of years. And then when I finally returned, that's when I went to UDaB. Chris Erwin:So when you were leaving the country, were you enrolled in any academic programs or no? Mike Gaston:No. I just left. So I would travel around Europe and I would meet up with friends in Mexico, in different countries. And then I found a mentor and apprenticed with him in Ireland, lived on his farm on the Southwest Peninsula and just study poetry. So I actually met him when I did a study abroad in Ireland. It was like a two week study abroad program. And he was a professor on that program and he was an Irish poet who had been born in Boston. So he had like dual citizenship. And then he would occasionally go and teach at Wesleyan University. And when I was traveling around, I ended up on his doorstep and I was like, "Hey, is it cool if I hang out here for a bit?" And then a bit turned into well over a year. Chris Erwin:So you lived on the farm? Mike Gaston:I lived on the farm and I was so broke. I would have to fish for food every day on the beach. And he was broke as hell too. Because he was... I mean, he's a poet. There's this thing about John? His name was John O'Leary. He was so broke. I remember when creditors would call him and they would demand he pay for bills. One of the last times I was there, he goes, his response to them was, "Now here's the thing. I'm going to tell you what I tell every creditor, I have a fishbowl and in the fishbowl are all my bills. Every month I put them in there. And then once a month I dip my hand into the fishbowl, I twirled it around and I pull out a bill and that is the bill that I pay for. Now, if you keep calling me, I'm going to put you out of the game." And then he just would hang up on them. He was a total character. He was a total character. Mike Gaston:He was such a wonderful weirdo. He looked a little bit like Walt Whitman's corpse on acid, incredibly skinny with crazy wild hair and that kind of thing. And and he was brilliant. He was the type of guy you could start reading from The Unabridged Shakespeare. And then he could just pick up without looking at it. Chris Erwin:It must have been, despite living in near poverty, having to fish for food every day, a very special experience, because I believe that you try to start your own poetry, newsletter or business, knowing you having experience of how difficult the business model is. And you did end up in bankruptcy, but you did it anyway. Because you're like this felt right. Mike Gaston:I don't know what happened like it. Part of my leaving the country a lot, initially when I was leaving the country a lot, I would do it in that sort of romantic nomadic kind of way that everyone who reads Jack Kerouac on the road kind of does where they go out and they're like, "Okay, I'm going to sleep with homeless people in the Gare de Lyon, and I'm going to eat nothing, but like baguettes because it's cheap and really cheap wine or whatever. And I'm going to try like hop on trades and then get off before anyone tries to get me to buy anything." And that gets real old, real fast. After the first many months of doing that, I kind of cracked, so this is getting to the bankruptcy, but what happened was I had a thought to myself and this is going to sound insane. Mike Gaston:And that I'm going to share this, but my thought was, is it possible to rob a bank and not go to jail? So this is, I'm like 19 now when I'm thinking this way. And then I thought, yeah, I'll just take out a bunch of money on credit cards and then claim bankruptcy. And so what I did, that's literally what I did. I took... Chris Erwin:Legal robbing, yes. Mike Gaston:That was legal robbing. And it was one of those things where I was just like, why not? And so I took out all these credit cards and then I just started traveling the world in a way that was just absurd. I didn't have luggage with me. I just had a Jansport backpack. And then if I needed clothes, I would buy it. I would stay at really nice hotels instead of the hostels that I was sort of surviving in. And then when people asked what I did, I would say things like, have you ever seen Doogie Howser? And they go, "Yeah." And I'm like, "I'm not saying the show is about me." And then I would just let it hang. And then I got to a point where I was broke and that's when I was living with the poet. And I was like, now I have to survive by fishing for food. And I had a little bit left over towards the end of my journey there with John. Mike Gaston:I was like, "I'm going to start a poetry press." And that's what I did. And I started this poetry press. And at first, it actually made money. It actually made money. And it's because I would find people like John who actually had a really great following and sell the books at these readings and I would set up tours. And I actually created kind of an independent bookstore distribution. Chris Erwin:Is this in the United States or is this in Europe? Mike Gaston:Both. Where I would do things in the United States and Europe. Chris Erwin:Wow. Mike Gaston:So the books would be in Shakespeare and Company in Paris and they would be in City Lights bookstores in San Francisco. And I would get it in all these places. Chris Erwin:How old were you? Mike Gaston:I was 20. It was kind of crazy because the more I would do things, the more people would buy into it. And so it came to a point where I had professors in all these different institutions hitting me up to publish their work because I was publishing really legit poetry by people that I had met in Europe and different things. And so suddenly they were like, "Well, this guy he's publishing stuff." And so it was very easy for me to find people whose work was actually meaningful within these circles. And I'm 20 and I don't know what the hell I'm doing. I'm just sort of doing it. And then I started going a little bit too crazy and started publishing people who literally didn't have any audience, but I just really appreciated their work. I want to say the first two books were profitable. The next two books broke even, last four books, it was negative dollars in a big way. And that's when I claimed bankruptcy. Chris Erwin:Thinking back to your earlier childhood stories where you wanted to poke the foundation and see what happens when things fail, did you are pushing this business, like how hard can I push this? Mike Gaston:Definitely moments where I was like, "Where are the boundaries again in this scenario? Can I continue to publish books and make money here?" So there was some of that, but largely the desire was I just really respected those writers. And I wanted to see that work get created. Even if I knew that the likelihood of making money was low. Chris Erwin:Another parallel from your early years is rejecting the certain institutions or coursework, but then going to university and then you start to go in different paths and try different things out and travel and go live on a farm and write poetry and start a poetry business. And then you go to Boeing, more like a traditional path again. So how did you end up there? Mike Gaston:Okay. So I claimed bankruptcy and then I decided to go to University of Washington and finish up school. It was one of those instances where I no longer felt like I had to go to school. It was this choice I was making and it was okay. As long as it was a choice I was making. And once I graduated from there, I got into grad school. I was going to go study Shakespeare at St. Andrews in Scotland. My wife now, who was my girlfriend then, got into Cambridge to get her Master's in Philosophy and History. And I was dead broke. I mean, I had claimed bankruptcy a few years before then. I had been paying my way through college. I had taken on two jobs at one point. I would go to UPS very early in the morning, take classes, then work at a sub shop late at night to pay for everything. Mike Gaston:And so I was totally broke and she goes, "One of us should probably have a job." Right. And I go, "Well, you got into the better school. You go to Cambridge and then I'll go get a job." And I applied to Boeing as a joke. Both my parents were working at Boeing at the time. And I had told myself my entire life, I would never work there. But they were hiring. And so I showed up and I was the only one, I remember that it was like this mass sort of they were doing tons of interviews and it's because for years, Boeing had been doing layoffs. And so there's this giant gap between where they had a bunch of people who are about to retire and they had no middle career people because they had laid them all off. And so then they were trying to like backfill with a bunch of young people. And I was the only one who kind of didn't want a job there. And the only one not dressed like they were applying to be on the apprentice. And then I got hired. Chris Erwin:It's like office space, like the less interested you are, the more appealing of a candidate you become. Mike Gaston:So one thing I'll say, here's a little bit of a story when I was offered the job, I was so stunned that they offered me the job because I'm an English major, right. And at the time, I have been told over and over again was that business people get business degrees. And so I didn't think this was going to be a thing. And I remember they called me and they go, "We'd like to hire you for this position. This is their HR department." It was like $42,500 a year to start or something. And this was back in 2004, I think. And that's a lot of money to a person who's been broke, literally his entire life. And so, but my instinct in that moment was to push it and kind of fuck with it. And I go, "Well, that's great. I really appreciate the offer. But I'll be honest with you. When I took the interview, I had a different number in mind." Mike Gaston:I'm literally making all this up off the top of my head because I was just stunned they even called me and they're like, "What are you thinking?" I was like, "Well, I was thinking more like 50,000." And then they came back at like 45 or something like that. And I was like, "Okay." And then I took the job, but it was one of those things where I was just sort of making it up as I went along. And then when I met with my boss for the first time I asked him, I was like, "Why did you hire me?" And he goes, "Your poetry press." I was like, "Really? You mean the thing that utterly failed?" And he goes, "Yeah, absolutely." And I go, "Why?" Mike Gaston:And he goes, "You actually understand something about business that the majority of your colleagues who are new here don't because you actually ran a business where you actually had to create contracts, negotiate that with artists. And also with universities, you had to create a distribution system for your books. You had to literally create tours for your authors. You created a budget for yourself." It was one of those things where it was a... And I was like, "Dang, you're right." I actually did learn a lot just doing that. Chris Erwin:You're at Boeing, but then fast forward, because I want to start setting up the story about you founding Cut and your entertainment drift. You do pull the rip cord at Boeing in a pretty interesting way, that includes pushing the quote unquote red button. Tell us about quitting day and pushing the red button. Mike Gaston:So I was at Boeing for a few years and it became a thing where I was just generally unhappy. There was enough novel problems at Boeing that I'd be interested for awhile. But what made me unhappy was that, this leads to me quitting was that I remember my boss came to me one day and he goes, "Mike, we're having some serious problems with this specific type of part that I was responsible for." Right? I was responsible for a contract that was worth millions of dollars. And there was a specific part that was constantly getting damaged in the factory. And that was impacting everything. And I was like, "Well, let me go investigate that." And I didn't know what I was doing. So my instinct was to then go and essentially create, what I learned later was a lean initiative where I would bring in all these different people who were a part of this whole flow, this process flow in the factory and to understand what was happening. Mike Gaston:And during that, we discovered that where the damage was occurring, why it was happening and how to fix it. And then we created a proposal for fixing it. I got promoted. I was saving the company lots of money. Fantastic. Three months later, my boss came to me and he's like, "Mike, we have this problem that's happening in the factory." And I was like, "Oh, really weird. So let me go investigate." I went investigated it. And I told him, I go, "Glenn, I literally solved this several months ago." Oh you did? I'm like, "Yeah, dude, you promoted me." And I go, "Here's the proposal." He's like, "Oh, fantastic. This is great." And then he left, I would continue to do different work. And then several months later he came to me. He was like, "Mike, we're having this thing. That's happening in the factory." Mike Gaston:I was like, "What is going..." And then when I research, I go, "Glenn, several times now I've solved this. This happened probably four times. And I've felt like I was going insane." Finally, my counterpart on the vendor side of it and I were talking and he had originally been at Boeing and now he was working at this supplier and he's been in this industry for like 30 years. And he goes, "Mike, Mike, Mike, here's the thing, buddy. This is a problem within this airplane since it's been created. And it's over a decade now that they've had this problem. And the thing that you came up with is exactly the solution that a handful of us came up with almost a decade ago." I'm like, "Why am I still solving it?" And he was like, "It's the machine. This is like the inertia of a large machine, like a company like this, where people are changing." Mike Gaston:There's a lot of heuristic stuff in a company like this. And it's very easy for things to kind of fall through and for stuff to get ignored and he was like what happens is, "Every now and then there'll be a new young guy like you who comes in, who discovers the problem, will fix the problem. And then it doesn't get fixed or it'll be fixed for a little period of time, then it'll get broken again." And that was so insane to me that I had been spending a good, over a year now solving the same problem over and over again and it not being fixed. That was like, I have to get out of here. Chris Erwin:Yeah. Mike Gaston:I have to. I feel like I'm in a time loop and I need to leave, but I felt bad. I felt bad because my whole life I've been told that I'm like a quixotic temperamental creative. And that part of me getting a job at Boeing was also sort of like a proof point to Jenny, who's my wife's now family that I wasn't just a crazy romantic artist. I could hold down an actual job that people have. And so I was like, is there a way to get fired? That would be interesting. So I actually tried to get fired, but I made rules for myself for getting fired. I was like one, I have to continue to do my work and I have to do it well, that's one. But two, I can't do anything that would be obvious to get fired. I'm not going to do drugs at work, I'm not going to bring a gun to work. I'm not suddenly going to become like abusive towards people and those types of things. Is it possible to get fired just through non-sequitors? Mike Gaston:Just by being strange. So I would do things, I remember again, the vast majority of the workers at the time were these older white men. And I would do this because I would enter into the restroom. I would apply lipstick on my lips just to see how they would respond. I would busk in the hallways, like with a guitar, I would stand on my desk and rock out to Andrew W.K. Don't Stop Living In The Red. Now, mind you, I'm doing my work at the time. I'm still doing it and I'm doing it well. I'm just being strange. I would do things like I would go to different offices and sit in conference rooms and wait. And then people would show up and then I would run the meeting without telling anyone who I was. Mike Gaston:So I'd be like, "Okay, let's begin the meeting." And I would go, "Let's go around the room. Everyone tell me who you are, how long you've been at Boeing, what your position is." And then I'd point to people. And then they would tell me, and then I'd write notes and I had to assign action items and then I had to leave and I never see them again. Chris Erwin:It seems that you wanted immediate reaction. Because everything you had done in your prior life that you talked about was you do something and there's an immediate result. Mike Gaston:Yeah. Chris Erwin:You hire writers that are not popular. And then you start bankrupting the company, right. You reject coursework, you get a reaction from your mother. So at Boeing is you solve this problem. You're expecting them to be like, "Okay, great recognition." But more of, okay, things are now going to change. That's not happening. So you're like, okay, at this culture, you have to find ways to actually provoke and get reaction. So did you get the reaction that you wanted? Mike Gaston:No, the thing is there would be no reaction. I would do these things and I would get weird stares or things like that. But mostly people were afraid of me or it felt like that. It felt like there was a weird intimidation. And I think part of it is that when you're working in a company like Boeing also, there's a lot of rules. There's rules for literally everything. There's a million rules in they're called PROS, PROS. And there is a PRO for literally every decision that you have to make. And it became a thing where I would say I wanted to get something done and someone would say a PRO about why it couldn't be done. And I became so frustrated by that because I wanted to see things get fixed and changed and I want to see things improve that I just started making a PROS. Mike Gaston:So I would say something in a meeting, I'm like, "This is something that we have to do." And then someone goes, "Well, according to PRO5236, we can't do that for these reasons. I'm like, "Well, actually PRO2348 supersedes PRO5236 because it says that we have to do that. And the thing is no one reads the PROS, man. So I could say these things and then people will be like, "Oh, I guess we have to do it." And then I would get shit done. And it was one of those things where I was like, I have to kind of work outside the system to get things done. The way I quit ultimately was where I was like, "Gosh, I seem to keep doing well at my job and I'm not happy here. I'm just going to leave." Mike Gaston:And at Boeing, their internal intranet and it's called... I think it's called toll access. I can't remember. But there was a big red button on the intranet and it was a self terminate button where you press that button, you were self terminating. And I wrote one day I just press the button. And then I instantly got a call and it was from HR and they go, "Is this Michael Gaston?" Yes, this is. Okay. Well this is Boeing's HR. And we noticed that, did you press the self terminate button? I go, yep. Oh, do you want to self terminate? And I'm like, "That's why I pressed the button." And then they go, "You do realize that once this goes through, it's very hard to turn this around." And I go, "I don't want to turn around. I want to self terminate." Mike Gaston:And then they try to make an argument for why you should stick around. And I just told them that I wasn't interested and this went on for a very long time. And then eventually they got the hand and that's how I fired myself. I literally pressed the eject. Yeah. Right after... So I got married about a year or two years and still working at Boeing. And I was hanging out with a friend of mine who was at my wedding and he used to be in a band called Minus the Bear. And I told him one day I was like, "I got an idea for a music video." And he goes, "Great, but you've never made a music video." And I go, "Well, I'm going to make a music video anyways. And I'm just going to make it. And if you like it, great. And if not, no biggie." Mike Gaston:They were touring at the time. So it didn't matter. And then I went, I created a treatment for it and I hooked up with a friend of mine who was in the New York film industry, but then had moved to Seattle. And then he hooked me up with a really great director of photography. And I brought him over and we made this music video and then I gave it to the band and they all dug it and the label dug it and they showed it to MTV and MTV loved it. And they were like, "Yeah." Chris Erwin:Was the band in the video? Or was it just the- Mike Gaston:No. Chris Erwin:-Music and... Okay. Mike Gaston:Yeah, no, it was for a song called Throwin' Shapes. And it actually starred my wife and one of my good friends and they play these two kind of opposing basketball players who aren't actually playing basketball. They're fake playing basketball on the street. And then they battle. And then the label like, "Yeah, we want to buy this." And so I sold it to them and then it was on MTV. And I was like, why don't I just do this? Why don't I just make videos? Because the first thing I made went on MTV. Chris Erwin:And you had never created any videos prior to this? Mike Gaston:No, I'd love movies. I'd love videos. I grew up in a time where it seemed impossible because equipment is expensive and I didn't go to film school and it felt like outside my reach. But in that instant, I was just like, well, whatever, I'm just going to go make one. And I remember talking to my friend who was in the New York film industry and he would tell me all the things I couldn't do. And I was like, "Well, I'm just going to do them anyways." Right. And then we got it done. And he was like, "How did you do that? How did you..." And I was like, "Well, nothing's really impossible, right? You can pretty much do anything." The hardest thing to do is to decide that you're going to do it. And then you just do it. Chris Erwin:You just fast forward to an end state that you want. And you don't worry about, what are all the different structures or the normal ways for how people would achieve this. You're like, "I'm going to find a way, I'm creative and I'm going to talk to people and I'm going to get it done." And you did. So this starts what I described as you hit the red exit button and you start the entertainment drift. And you're at a few different companies for pretty short stints of time, like one to three years, CBS, Rogue Scholar, Stripes39 and then SFST. And I think some of these companies are related. So during this period tell me... It seems that you're seeking something out or wanting to learn something. What was going on during those years? Mike Gaston:Once I made the decision that I was going to leave Boeing and do videos, the next thing that occurred to me was that I don't know how to do videos, right? I had made a thing and I had sold it, but that... I wasn't suddenly invested with a ton of confidence and about how to do any of these things. And when I was discovering at that moment was actually what my voice was. I'd always wanted to be a writer and tell stories, but I was circling in on the types of stories I wanted to tell and the reasons behind it. But what was still kind of opaque to me was the hows, how to actually get it done. So then my instinct was to just do as many things as possible. I started working for free on a ton of different projects, just to understand how other people ran sets and shoots and then taking jobs at different places. Mike Gaston:It was part of that same kind of instinct. I read every book, I would take jobs, I was taking in inputs to synthesize my own kind of perspective on how I wanted to make anything. Right. Chris Erwin:You always had an output focused mind. So at these companies were you also having an impact? Mike Gaston:To some degree, the thing is part of the reason why I would leave was because I wasn't satisfied necessarily with the impact that I was making. I was having an impact, but it always felt too slow to me in some of these places where... Like CBS, one of the places I worked at was at CBS Radio Seattle, where I worked for a show called the Bob Rivers Show, which was a National talk show. And my job as the video production manager. And there was only so much that you can get done as a video guy at a radio show. And so even though I was having an impact, it wasn't super satisfying. And so then once Bob was moving on from his contract with CBS Radio Seattle, it was clear to me that I had to move on too. And that's when I went and started a nonprofit focused on the digital humanities called Rogue Scholar. Mike Gaston:And I did that and much like my poetry press, that was a no-profit company, made a significantly negative profit. And after doing that for a little over a year, I needed to make money. Again, and I took a job at Stripes39. And this one was interesting because Stripes39 was a startup in internet marketing. And it was the first place that I worked at where suddenly people would listen to me. The CEO would listen to what I was saying. And it was jarring. It was jarring because I had been so used to being kind of like feeling frustrated because I would point out all the things that need to be fixed and how I would fix it. And no one would listen. And finally, there was a guy who I remember telling him, this isn't how I would run a creative side of your company at all. Mike Gaston:And then he was like, "Really?" I go, "Yeah." And then he took me into a room and then spent three hours whiteboarding with me about how I would do it. And then he basically was like, "Go and do that." I was stunned. I was suddenly in an environment where people would listen to me and that changed everything. Number one, it made me a lot more circumspect about the things that I was saying. Suddenly when people are paying attention, you can't get away with the feeling like, "Oh man, I have all these great ideas and no one's listening." Suddenly you have to really examine are these ideas great at all? Because they are listening. Chris Erwin:It's like, crutch to ready yourself for dismissal saying, "Oh, I can say all these big ideas, but no one's going to listen to me. So I'll just... Too bad for them. I'm just going to go on to the next thing and throw out some big ideas." And then all of a sudden they're saying, "No, Mike, this is great. Now do it." And so now this is a new muscle of execution responsibility. And you're getting what you wanted, be careful what you wish for. Mike Gaston:Absolutely, Boeing was formative because I learned a lot about how to create processes in a place and also to work within a large organization. And as much as I was a total brat, when it comes to things I was trying to get away with, I was still doing my job. I was still doing work. And I learned a lot there about project management and about moving things through something really bureaucratic. When I go to Stripes39, it's the exact opposite of Boeing, right? Boeing makes products that last for 40 plus years and that are heavily regulated. So they have nothing but red tape. Then you go to the internet and you're doing internet marketing. And these are for products that lasts for about 30 seconds, right. And then you have to make an entirely new thing. And then you're doing it in a startup where there's literally no process. Mike Gaston:And so one can be paralyzing because of the weight of the amount of buy in that you have to have. And the other one can be paralyzing because all there is, is opportunity with no checks and balances. Chris Erwin:It's chaos. Mike Gaston:And so it's like... It's chaos. And so there was an instance where I was like, "Whoa, people are paying attention." And then what happens is you level up way faster in a world like that because you have to. You suddenly have to be like, "Okay, the things I do have a real impact. So how do I make sure that I'm doing things that have a real impact and not just be the guy who's readying himself for, you said for dismissal, but the guy who knows, well, they're going to hold me to these things." So I actually have to execute on it. Chris Erwin:So you start executing against his vision and what happens? Mike Gaston:So the company ended up turning into a startup studio and they would incubate different business models and then invest in them and Salil, the president of the company early on, knew that he wanted to invest in video. And we got to talking and that's kind of where SFST came out of. He knew that you wanted to invest in video, but we didn't have a business model that we were committed to. So SFST was kind of essentially a creative studio. We were doing for other companies, what we had been doing up to that point for Stripes39, which is create content that would help those companies get to number one on Google. My task at the time was to create viral content for brands like InsuranceQuotes.org and Medical Billing and CodingCertification.net, which is like pushups. If you can make something go viral for a company like that, you can pretty much make it for anything. Chris Erwin:Say if the product or the company wasn't super appealing to you, did you enjoy the challenge of like, "I'm going to make you a really cool video." Mike Gaston:Always. To me, they were just interesting problems to solve. And again, this goes back to this belief that nothing is impossible. So it was fun. It was fun to think of these as exercises. Like, okay, well, how do I get this thing to go viral? How do I make this thing? And then every time we would make something, it would appear on like Gizmodo or some other large site. I feel like I'd won something. Chris Erwin:Yeah. But then it seems that you want to solve more things, but you need more time, more resources and focus to do that, which then seems to be a precursor to the co-founding of Cut.com. Tell me about that transition. Mike Gaston:So Cut was interesting. Because after a year of doing this sort of like creative work for other companies and in that first year we were profitable, but I was not happy. I wasn't happy having to do service work for other companies that I didn't feel really got it. And Salil wasn't happy because he wasn't interested in investing in a production or creative agency. When you're a startup studio, you're investing in products that you're hoping is going to scale to such a degree, that's going to become a billion dollar company. We were at an impasse about what we wanted to make. And I remember having a very specific conversation with him. He was friends with a guy named Matt Inman who created the Oatmeal. And then he created Exploding Kittens and has had massive success in translating his IP into actual products that people want to buy. Mike Gaston:And he would talk about Matt all the time. And I told Salil, I was like, "Listen, you would never invest in Matt, in reality. Matt could never do what he is doing now in your system because you have a very rigid perspective on how things get done." Salil is I think he's a very smart person. I think he's one of the most logical rational people that I met in this industry. And he has like a very specific framework for getting things done that make it difficult for, I think, outliers to exist in his world, which is funny for a guy who essentially creates companies that deal in vitality, right. Chris Erwin:Yeah. Mike Gaston:And I told him, you would never invest in a Matt, and I think that was a dare to him. Because he was like, "Well, what do you want to make?" I was like, "I think if we want to make a company that's focused on media, then it should be about making things that are premium because ultimately what's the point of doing videos, if you don't want them to be premium and actually have an impact on people." The way everyone is doing videos right now, does it make sense to me? And so I told him, I was like, "If you want predictable sources of revenue, don't make videos. Go be a plumber, go buy a bunch of funeral homes because people are always going to die." But for you doing videos, it doesn't make sense to try to eke out money for views through advertising. It's all diminishing returns. Mike Gaston:I'm like, "What you have to do is create content of such supreme intrinsic value to the audience that they end up paying for it or things related to it because it's part of their universe." And he was like, "Okay, go do that." You know, Salil he's a very much a prove it guy. So he was like, "Okay, prove it. I'll give you six months of runway." And at that time I was just like, I doubled down on that. I go, "If I can't make something that's going to go viral, that's going to speak to this editorial vision that I claim to have in a month, I don't need six months. I need a month to do it." Right. And he's like, "Okay." And then within a couple of weeks I made a video called Grandmas Smoking Weed for the first time. And then it seemed like every week after that, me and my co-founders Jason Hakala and Blaine Ludy, we would just keep making formats that would somehow hit the zeitgeists. Mike Gaston:And very quickly after that, we got a lot of interest from a bunch of different companies to invest in us or buy us. And then after that Salil largely trusted my vision for what I wanted to create and then gave me the runway for the rest of the year before I went out to go raise money from Comcast Ventures and Compounder and Sky. Chris Erwin:How did you feel with this success? Was it validating, was it exciting or was it also in a way, could it be interpreted as frustrating where it's like, Oh, maybe I didn't provoke or think bigger and maybe I got to change that. What was going through your head? Mike Gaston:It was validating, I had spent so much time sort of arguing for these things and then as we were doing it, it was like we were proving out exactly what I was saying. And then the attention was validating, but honestly, I wasn't worried about whether or not the vision was big enough. I was more concerned about how were we going to continue to keep executing against it. Right. I had created a model that was completely dependent on the idea that we could always create outliers. Chris Erwin:Yeah. Mike Gaston:And we were doing it and it was just a matter of like, okay, now how do I get to the next level? How do we scale this in some way? Another part of the model was this idea of use the internet as a place to kind of rapidly prototype formats, see if there's an audience and then find ways of leveraging that in some way. And that second part, the leveraging it, was a much harder thing to figure out than the first thing. I was kind of blown away at how our instinct for creating things that would spread was kind of on point, just about everything we were making was killing it. And then it was a question of like, Oh, shit, how do we actually exploit any of these things? Because everything that we're making is doing well, how do you prioritize how you want to then turn that into a revenue stream. Chris Erwin:Yeah. Mike Gaston:And that took a couple more years. Chris Erwin:And did you enjoy thinking through how do we scale this up and spending more time on that part of the business? Mike Gaston:At first, at first, yeah, because it's novel problems. The thing is it's really difficult to get bored in a startup because things are changing so fast, things are moving so quickly. And so every new thing was delightful until it stopped being delightful. When it stopped was when I took a step back and I started examining the things I was focused on and it occurred to me that for a couple of years now, I had stopped asking myself what I actually wanted. My whole life, I had been asking, what do I want, why am I doing this? Why is any of these things happening? I become a lot less reflective on that. And I, instead it was more like I was just solving problems. A problem would introduce itself to me and then I would figure it out and it would be novel and interesting. And then a new one would show up and then I would approach it like that. Mike Gaston:But then when I kind of like woke up for a minute and I looked at what I was doing and I thought is this even what I want anymore? And then I realized that it wasn't. And then I had been sort of distracting myself with the momentum that comes with a startup. Chris Erwin:A startup is all consuming. And then I think with the responsibilities of, I have a team, people that rely on me for employment, investors that are looking to me for return and premium of the capital they've given me, that responsibility you get lost in it. But it is clear that you have this ingrained code in you that is always asking what else or how can this be different? It's interesting to hear that you felt that, Hey, something's missing here. And it's the fact that you're not able to ask yourself these reflective questions. And I think it was when I first met you, I was reaching out to you on behalf of a client we were working with, I got to know you. I saw you at the YouTube summit. You came to some of our events. Chris Erwin:And I remember you said, "Chris, my role is changing. I was just a creative and now it's management and fundraising and I'm on this speaking tour." And I sensed that there was this inner turmoil where you weren't sure, you were like, "I guess this is like the path, I'm doing these new things because there's success here. But is this the success that I want? I'm not sure if this is for me." Mike Gaston:You're literally articulating exactly what was going on in my head, in terms of suddenly I had found myself on a track. Like the person that I thought I was, the person who was sort of like avoiding tracks, suddenly found himself on one. Chris Erwin:Yeah. Mike Gaston:And I'm like looking around being like, "Is this even what I want?" Everyone's telling me, this is what I should want. The company is successful. It's making money, it's profitable. We have all this traction. It seems like opportunity is everywhere. And at the same time, I'm like, "But is this even what I want?" And then I was like, "No, this isn't what I want. There's all these things that I don't like about this. And I don't want to perform this role anymore." It felt like I had solved something and it was no longer interesting to me to continue down the path because I could see where the end point was. There was like real existential crisis happening for more than a year before I eventually left the company. Mike Gaston:And people think all the time, they were like, "Well, you're the CEO of a company that you founded, shouldn't you be able to do whatever you want." I'm like, "No, that's not true. That's not true." When you're really the leader of a company, you're actually beholden to a whole lot of people. You're beholden to all the people that work for you, all the people that invest in you. And then all those tangential people who are around you also, who are kind of invested in your success. And so up to this point, my mom didn't know what I did, right. She did not understand anything. But she understands that there's a name of the company that I founded on a building. She understands that there's a lot of people who work there now for me, she understands that everything that I'm making is appearing on the news and various other things. Mike Gaston:And so it becomes a thing where everyone's so invested in this idea of success that you're creating. And you're like, "Ah, it's my job to prop this up. It's my job to continue to kind of keep this thing moving." And it felt like a trap. Chris Erwin:So I think I got a sense that you did start to act out a bit. Similarly to when you were at Boeing, I remember, I think I may have first met you in person at the YouTube summit in Venice and immediately thought you were a very smart guy, unique point of view, but you felt introverted. And I knew you were about to speak on stage. Wasn't sure if that energy was going to translate, but it definitely did. Mike Gaston:Thank you. Chris Erwin:And I think I remember you speaking, you approached the topic with a really unique point of view and everyone at the summit was talking about your talk after the fact. And then I think there was another talk that you gave at VidCon. I was not there for that. And I think you had been tasked with just talking about building a content business in the new digital economy. And I think the expectation was just talking about me, and I'm making it very tactical, but you commandeered the reins and you went in a very different direction talking about creator responsibility to the audience, to viewership. Mike Gaston:Yeah. Chris Erwin:And so it seems like, from these experiences that this inner turmoil was starting to come out of you, is that right? Do you agree with that? Mike Gaston:No. That's kind of right. I mean, I think there's a... I can't help it, honestly, I can't help. But yeah. I was telling this to Melinda Lee, who I work with at Stage TEN and I go, the difference between how she operates and how I operate is little, is different and neither is good nor bad. Although, maybe you could say that mine is flawed. Companies can be complicated, incredibly complicated and there could be tons of entanglements that make it difficult to get anything done. She is so effective because she knows how to create a path around and through entanglements to get to the thing that she is trying to get done. And I can do that. I can totally do it and I have done that, but I'm kind of like... It almost feels like a mental health issue. Mike Gaston:I can do that for a time, but when I hit a certain entanglement, my instinct isn't to try to find a way around it. My instinct is to literally untie the knots. It's to literally make them untangled. And that is, can be self-defeating, right. Because that's philosophical and foundational and is trying to really get everyone aligned in one way. And so when I would go and have these talks, I wasn't interested in doing the things that I knew, what are the best practices for a talk, right. Okay, I got to speak this quickly and I have to move around the stage and I have to you know, Gary V it up in some way, and I got to put it in very simple terms for people and it's got to be incredibly tactical and practical. And instead when I wanted to do was be more introspective and reflective around the why's and the wants that we all have when we're creating any of the things that we're creating. Mike Gaston:And try to give people some kind of framework for developing their own principles around it. That's really all... I was like, "I'm more interested in that." I'm not interested in optimizing this talk in a way that somehow gives me more credibility with this audience. All I'm interested in now is just articulating for them how I perceive things. And then maybe it strikes, or maybe it doesn't. I don't know. Chris Erwin:If you want to build a sustainable business model, instead of telling people, "Spend this much money on production, put out these types of videos that are optimized for X, that you can get programmatic and direct sales and also build out some DTC channels." What you're saying is that's just a bunch of tactical knots. And the way that we can really untangle this from the top is, here's how to have a creative vision. Here's the creativity that the world needs today. And if you focus on that, you will find success for yourself, for your team and for your audiences. So start bigger. Mike Gaston:Yeah. I literally walked them through the questions that I asked in order to then set out, making a company. Because the point is that if you give people a hundred best practices to deploy, then you actually haven't set them up for success. Because if everyone does those things, then all they're doing is competing with each other, which doesn't give you the traction you think it does, right? Like early days at Cut, I remember Salil who's the president Startup Studio. He wanted me to copy what Buzzfeed and Upworthy was doing. And I remember asking him why. And he goes, "Well, they have all the money. If they have all the money, that means they're hiring the data scientists and the technologists who are essentially creating the tools to help them to predict virality online. Our job is just to draft off their success because you're small and you can do that really quickly." Mike Gaston:And I said, "I don't know, in the history of anything where a smaller force has somehow defeated a larger force by copying the strategies and tactics of the larger force." It doesn't make any sense to do that. My point in some of those talks that I gave was to give people a path where they weren't actually competing with each other, they were competing to create relevance for the audience. Because that's the only thing that matters. Chris Erwin:I liked that because there's also a sentiment that all of you are special. All of you are very capable. Now find your own way and we can all win. Mike Gaston:No, it's absolutely is. I mean, again, this goes back to even raising money. I remember talking to Sam landman at Comcast Ventures. And initially he was like, "Mike, we're not investing in advertising plays." And I go, "This is great because why in God's name would I make a company that orbits something nobody likes." And he's like, "Well, I don't understand what are you making then." I go, "I'm going to make something of such intrinsic value that people are going to pay for it or things related to it." And I go, "I don't need to be Mark Zuckerberg. I don't need to consume the internet in a world where there are billions of people watching videos online every day, I need a million people giving me 10 bucks a month. Can I do that?" Mike Gaston:And that's the truth. If you're creating a media company, you don't need billions of views. You only need that, if you're making like 0.001 cent on every view. What you need is a cross section of people who are invested in your success because you are creating something of value for them. And so they were paying for it. Chris Erwin:You fire yourself, you write a blog post about it. And I want you to give us the summary. And then we're going to talk about what you're doing at Stage TEN. And we'll close with some rapid fire. Mike Gaston:At the end of last year, I became probably the most frustrated with my position. And there had been tension between the things I wanted to do and my board and mind you, my board is actually very... They're probably most flexible and adaptable board you can possibly think of. It's just the things I want to do were not the same as what they wanted. And so it came to a head where I was like, "Yeah, these are things that I need to happen or else maybe I should go." And then out of that, they're like, "Well, what if we did things like this? And could it look like that?" And I'm like, "Nah, I really can't. I got to go." And that was really tough

Chas Lacaillade is the founder and CEO of Bottle Rocket Management. Chas took a big bet on the digital video revolution, and now builds businesses for some of the most exciting creative talent from New Hollywood. We discuss why he left a prestigious talent agency to sell water pumps, Louisiana roadtrips, and how he converted a $5,000 bank loan into a multi-million dollar business. Full episode transcript is below.  Subscribe to our newsletter. We explore the intersection of media, technology, and commerce: sign-up linkLearn more about our market research and executive advisory: RockWater websiteFollow The Come Up on Twitter: @TCUpodEmail us: tcupod@wearerockwater.com--EPISODE TRANSCRIPTChris Erwin:Hi, I'm Chris Erwin. Welcome to The Come Up, a podcast that interviews entrepreneurs and leaders. Chas Lacaillade:I had my Jerry Maguire moment where I called all my clients and said, "Am I your manager? Am I your manager? And if so, this is my new endeavor, I'm going out on my own." It was terrifying. I took out a $5,000 loan from Chase Bank to live, and there was no interest for the first 18 months. Chris Erwin:This week's episode features Chas Lacaillade. Chas took a big bet on the digital video revolution, and now he builds businesses for some of the most exciting creative talent from New Hollywood. Yet Chas's career has a lot of twists and turns, and includes a lot of early disillusionment to be honest, like when he left a prestigious Hollywood talent agency to sell water pumps. But Chas's ambition eventually pays off. A Louisiana road-trip inspires a new career and soon after he turns a $5,000 bank loan into a multi-million dollar business. So Chas is a close friend of mine, and he's known for telling you like it is. It makes for fun listening. All right, let's get into it. Chris Erwin:Quick heads up, that my interview with Chas was recorded back in December and prior to COVID. Chas, welcome to the podcast. Chas Lacaillade:Great being here. Chris Erwin:Before we go through your entire entertainment story which is an impressive one, let's talk about some of your early days. Where did you grow up? Chas Lacaillade:I grew up in Lincoln Park, a neighborhood in Chicago which is very picturesque, very walkable. I attended schools in the neighborhood. All my friends lived in the neighborhood and it was great. I just had a really magical childhood, to be honest. I walked through Lincoln Park to my school, on winter days I'd walk through this enchanting, snow-covered park back home from school, and I'd have lots of time to review what I'd experienced that day, and what was going on in my life, and what I wanted to do. And I think that meditative time was really helpful for me in getting in tune with my thoughts because your teenage years are so frantic, and there's so much insecurity. You know, it took me about 40 minutes to get home probably, or between 30 and 40 minutes to walk home from school, and so- Chris Erwin:"Up hill both ways-" Chas Lacaillade:Yeah. Chris Erwin:... as my father used to say. He was also from Chicago- Chas Lacaillade:Yeah. Chris Erwin:... which was considered a pretty flat neighborhood overall. Chas Lacaillade:Yeah, and dodging crossfire from enemy combatants. And so, just walking home gave me some contemplative time, it was very therapeutic, that probably a lot of kids don't get. Chris Erwin:So in these meditative moments, were you thinking about your future career and that you were planning to start something, or was it more of like the whimsical child fantasies and fun back in the day? Chas Lacaillade:Well, I was a big reader as a child, so I read a lot of fiction and nonfiction, and I consumed a lot of biographies from basically, the age I could start reading. And biographies on a really wide range of people. So I remember when I was 12, reading Muhammad Ali's biography, and then Ayatollah Khomeini's biography. Chris Erwin:Wow. Chas Lacaillade:Just a real span of people because I was interested in a lot of different points of view, and the more I became exposed to what was out there and the different ways to obtain leadership, and fame, and infamy, and repute, and accomplishment, the more I became fascinated with what was possible if you just created a path for yourself. Chris Erwin:Yeah. Chas Lacaillade:And so, a lot of my thoughts were dedicated just to reviewing what these people who really impressed me, how they got to where they did. And how I could chart a path for myself that would employ my personal interests, that could hopefully some day lead to me being successful and known. Chris Erwin:Through many of our conversations over the years, there's a strong sense that you are highly ambitious, and that you really strive to overcome challenge. And I know that you often share with me, different biographical stories from magazines, something that you're reading in Esquire or GQ, or we will compare notes about Shackleton's journey to the Arctic. Chas Lacaillade:Yeah. Yeah. Chris Erwin:And I think these stories really resonate with you. I see this as a precursor to starting Bottle Rocket dating back 15, 20 years. Was there entrepreneurs in your family, your mother and father, siblings? Chas Lacaillade:Touching on what you were saying about these people that I've always been very impressed by, fortunately my parents exposed me to a lot of different ways of life. And I remember visiting William Randolph Hearst's mansion and just being so blown away by the scope of what this guy built, and how he lived, and his lifestyle, and the indoor pool and the outdoor pool. And all the art and architecture that he had imported from around the world, and how he'd customized this lifestyle. And so, I was so thrilled by that ambiance and the glamor of it. You know, how could I not be curious about how he provided this, and how he made this possible for himself? And so that lead me to familiarize myself with his accomplishments. And so once you know who somebody is and how they did it, and in this case he was very entrepreneurial, right? He created a newspaper empire and there's little he wouldn't do in order to achieve success. Chas Lacaillade:And so exposure to things like his mansion, or The Breakers in Rhode Island, and Providence, Rhode Island. I would go tour the Vanderbilt's mansions with my family in Rhode Island too. So just, I got exposure to these really impressive families. And my parents, my mother and father, would tell me how Cornelius Vanderbilt made his fortune, how he created a shipping empire. Or how Randolph Hearst created a newspaper empire. Chris Erwin:It's essentially made these stories accessible to you. Chas Lacaillade:Yeah. Chris Erwin:They grounded them in saying, "These are normal people-" Chas Lacaillade:Right. Chris Erwin:... "just like you and I, and so this is attainable if you have the spirit, and the intent, and drive to make it happen." Chas Lacaillade:Right. Chris Erwin:Is that like what you're processing of these stories and exposure? Chas Lacaillade:That's how I internalized it. It was also just like, "This is a pretty fascinating place. It's basically a museum, it's also a house. And it's indicative of a lifestyle that is pretty much bygone." And different people are going to take that in differently, but the way I interpreted the whole experience on all those occasions was like, "This is what's out there. If they did it, you can do it." Chris Erwin:I like that. Instead of looking at it and saying, "Oh, I can never achieve that," and then there's pangs of jealousy and frustration, it's, "Wow, if I hold myself big, there's incredible opportunity in front of me." Chas Lacaillade:Yeah. Chris Erwin:So let's fast forward. You find yourself in LA in 2006, and you're starting as an agent trainee at ICM Partners. So, what lead to the decision to join entertainment, overseeing and representing talent? Did you perceive it as, "This is the way to pursue your big ambitions"? Or, "Hey, this is just a key building block in learning, and I have a structured trajectory that I'm planning"? What was that thought process? Chas Lacaillade:Well, I'd always been really enamored with the world of entertainment, and Hollywood, music, they are areas that have fascinated me from a very young age. Consumed movies, and television, and music at a very high volume ever since I could remember, because I had an older brother and sister who could turn me on to different artists, and actors, and directors, and writers. So I felt like that was the path for me, and so basically I started my career out in an advertising agency in New York. Basically, I felt like I was spending a lot of time and effort at making a distraction and an impediment to what people really wanted, which was the TV show or the movie. I didn't want to make the advertisement before the movie, or the advertisement between blocks in the television show, I wanted to make the show or the movie. Chris Erwin:And just clarify for the listener, did you say that you worked in an ad agency in New York prior to ICM in LA? Chas Lacaillade:Yes. So my first job was at an ad agency that was called Euro Rscg, it's now known as Havas. It's like a worldwide advertising conglomerate. Then I worked on the Volvo and Charles Schwab accounts. I produced Volvo's first Super Bowl commercial, featuring Richard Branson. And I took a DVD of that and I sent it to the mail room basically, at ICM, and I got an interview and it worked out. Chris Erwin:And so you were at this precursor to Havas, for under a year? Chas Lacaillade:I was there for two years. Chris Erwin:So then you go to ICM- Chas Lacaillade:Right. Chris Erwin:... likely stars in your eyes, saying, "I don't want to just be the advertisement or the media spot, I want to help actually create the content." Chas Lacaillade:Oh yeah. You know, at ICM they wrapped Woody Allen, and Dr. Seuss estate, all these really luminaries like Halle Berry, Samuel L. Jackson, Guillermo del Toro, really famous directors and screenwriters. And was I so impressed by the luminaries that were represented at ICM, and I thought, "This would be a great place for me to gain experience and learn the ropes of the entertainment business." And it was. Chris Erwin:So the experience was what you expected? Chas Lacaillade:Yeah. You know, obviously you get a dose of reality. When you're young you don't know how hard it's going to be, and all the humbling moments that lie in store for you, and you want success much more quickly than it's likely to happen. And impatience can sometimes just frustrate how you're enjoying and processing things because you want more money, or you want more respect, or you want to be acknowledged, and truthfully, you're just another assistant, or you're just another guy fetching coffee. And you want to be seen as more than that, but until you prove yourself, you're not more than that. You are a means to an end. Chris Erwin:Something that is interesting about the agencies is that they attract ego, and I think it's something that they want. They want people coming in with confidence, with great ambition, yet at the same time there's a clear culture of, when you're there, you're in training mode, you have an incredible amount to learn. So you have to put that ego aside and say, "It's time to be a sponge." It's time to absorb from all these people that have been working for a lot longer than you have, so that you can then learn to be like, start to paint your own way. It seems like there's a unique duality there. Chas Lacaillade:I had a lot of ego and a lot of ambition, and I was humbled very quickly and- Chris Erwin:What was one of those humbling moments that you remember? Chas Lacaillade:I remember I had this really tyrannical boss, and there's no way I would've been able to accomplish what I did, subsequent to working at ICM, without his mentorship, but he used to tell me, "I'm your mentor and I'm your tormentor." Chris Erwin:That's funny. Chas Lacaillade:And he definitely did not go easy on the tormenting part. He'd tell me to do many things simultaneously, to the point where it was untenable. Like, he'd tell me to call a list of people, while composing letters to different clients, while scheduling his next lunch or his next dinner, and all of this stuff he would command me to do at that moment. At that moment. Which is physically impossible, but he didn't have any patience for any other alternative. And he also expected me to "be his brain." So he would be in the middle of conversations, he'd often have lapses of memory and he would snap his finger right before he began a sentence, which he was unsure if he could finish because he didn't know if he could remember the information. Chris Erwin:So, snapping his fingers is like an audio cue [crosstalk 00:11:12]? Chas Lacaillade:He'd snap at me hundreds of times throughout the day. Chris Erwin:No. Chas Lacaillade:So there's your first example of being humbled. He'd be on the phone with a client or a buyer at some studio and he would be embarking on this story, and he would snap at me and I would have to know what the next word in the sentence would be. Chris Erwin:You're expected to anticipate? Chas Lacaillade:Yes. And so he taught me anticipation. He made it crystal clear that if I couldn't anticipate his needs, then there's really no place for me working for him or at the company. You know, really top-tier client services anticipating what the talent is going to need, how the situation's going to present itself, how to navigate really difficult landscapes. And so, yes, it was self-serving for him because I was basically there to make him look good, but at the end of the day if you're a talent representative, you are there to make your talent look good. And so it was great training for that. Chris Erwin:I've heard a lot of the trainees and agents, sometimes they come from a place of fear about assuming the worst, so you always have to prevent or be in defensive mode. Chas Lacaillade:Right. Chris Erwin:But I think the best agents, and this is also good business practice for anyone is, you can also assume the best, and be opportunistic and say, "What's around the corner? What are people not thinking about? What are people not wary of that can be incredibly exciting for my talent? Can be incredibly exciting for my business?" As well as, "What is a major threat? What is a risk?" And I think, again, having that duality's important versus those that just solely come at it from a place of fear. Chas Lacaillade:Right. Exactly. And those are the people that succeed and rise most quickly, are the people who don't adhere to just status quo, and there's very few of those people in any industry. I remember being at a meeting and somebody saying, "You know which client at William Morris generates the most revenue?" And everybody thought it was Quentin Tarantino or Bruce Willis, and the person who posed the question said, "Emeril Lagasse." And he said, "This chef was unknown to most of the world five years ago, become a complete juggernaut, and has got all these lines of revenue. And the person who discovered him from William Morris and who's been helping forge opportunities for him, they're booking more revenue for him than anybody else." Chris Erwin:Wow. Chas Lacaillade:And that was an eye-opening moment for me, and that's something I really took close note of. And I thought to myself, "How can I go outside the confines of what everybody else is doing, and forge a path that will allow me to ascend higher?" I only had scant knowledge of him until that moment, and then of course first thing I did after that meeting was look him up. And then, "Who is my Emeril Lagasse? What is the avenue that's being unexplored right now?" And of course you're in a peer group that's incredibly ambitious, and incredibly intent on being successful, and oftentimes not generous with their expertise of information because any information that you get that is valuable, that diminishes their position and their value. And you're as valuable as what you know in that business. Chris Erwin:When you are entering markets where there is massive awareness about the opportunity, or where everyone is talking about it, there is less head room to grow into. Chas Lacaillade:Right. Chris Erwin:I think there's less profit and revenue to be created. And so it's time to be contrarian. It's also time to say, "You know, what is maybe not popular?" Or, "What is a risky bet, but that I'm going to take with the right amount of risk profile and I'm going to go forth?" And I think it's people and leaders that have that mindset, they usually have the biggest winnings. Chas Lacaillade:Right. But then, a lot of Hollywood's very traditional. The irony is that it's where all this cutting-edge entertainment and expression is generated, but at the same time the leadership and the hierarchy doesn't always encourage asymmetric thinking. And so, in fact, most people are incredibly defensive and incredibly insecure, and are adverse to taking risks. So, the only way you're going to be successful is by taking risk, and the least likely way to be acknowledged is by being different, so it's a struggle. Chris Erwin:You were at ICM Partners for a few years and then you left, what was the reason for leaving ICM? Chas Lacaillade:You know, I basically got a point there where, the WGA strike of 2008 was really tough, and that stagnated wages and it slowed everything down in the entertainment industry, in terms of opportunity and promotions. And you get to a certain point where you're like, "What am I doing to do with my life? I don't want to be just another person walking the halls here, slowly inching my way forward." And the culture at that time, it was just like, "Everybody, do what they're told." You know, that's pervasive culture, regardless of where you are. After four years of grinding and playing by the rules that had been laid out, it felt like it was time to just explore a different way of life. Chris Erwin:So, explore a different way of life? Chas Lacaillade:Yeah. Chris Erwin:So that seems to capture maybe a lot of things that happened over the next few years? Chas Lacaillade:Yeah. Yeah. So I'd always been very environmentally conscious, and really interested in sustainability and renewable energy, and I thought, "Maybe I'm not attaining the success I had always envisioned for myself at this stage in my life." Chris Erwin:Going back to the earlier part of our conversations where you're visiting the Hearst Castle- Chas Lacaillade:Right. Chris Erwin:... and learning about the Vanderbilts, and saying, "Wow, there's all this potential." Chas Lacaillade:Right. Chris Erwin:So you take a moment after a few years into our career, and you realize, "I don't have the success that I want." How did that feel? Chas Lacaillade:At that time I was 30 years old and I feel like if you're sane, you start to question yourself. I'm still a confident person, I'm still a very driven person, but I was beginning to wonder if my confidence and my drive were going to necessarily yield an impressive outcome, or any sort of meaningful outcome. Like, maybe I was just going to be just another guy locked into a 9:00 to 5:00 subsistence life? And maybe I wasn't as impressive and driven as I thought I was? Chris Erwin:Did that scare you? Chas Lacaillade:Oh, yeah. Definitely. That's a very unique kind of terror because it's not fleeting. It's not momentary. It's ongoing, doesn't leave you even when you sleep. It's with you when you're awake. It's with you when you're asleep. It changes your demeanor. It changes your outlook. It changes how people see you because you're questioning your very essence. You don't know if you're capable or, at that point, I didn't know if I was capable of doing what I always thought I was capable of. And so basically, at the same time I wasn't going to stop. You know, the only way forward was to push on. Chris Erwin:I think what you're getting on that's interesting is that, your planned trajectory and your fast rise had become part of your identity, that's how you knew yourself. And all of a sudden you're saying, "There could almost be a paradigm shift in my life. And if this is not my identity, then who am I-" Chas Lacaillade:Right. Chris Erwin:... "what's my purpose?" Chas Lacaillade:You know, I was used to being identified as keen, and hardworking, and talented, and then I had to look at myself in the mirror and say, "Well, if I'm those things, then why am I 30 years old and have a few hundred bucks in the bank?" Because people with those characteristic generally have a little bit more to show for them. And so I figured, okay, I'm running into a bit of a wall here, in my life and in my career, I need to do something where I can hopefully apply my drive and get something more out of it. And so, basically I got a job at a renewable energy company- Chris Erwin:Change industry's entirely. Chas Lacaillade:Change industry's entirely. And all these friends and family who'd seen you really work hard at something, in my case was in Hollywood, they say, "Good. Great." You know, "Happy for you," but you detect a little bit of doubt in their voice and you can't help but be unsettled by that. And you're 30 years old, I was 30 and I was like, "Oh my god. I'm basically starting from the bottom." Chris Erwin:Yeah. And I think that could also be a downward spiral where you think that there's doubt in your peer's voice about you, or their thoughts about you, but is that reality or is that just your perception and you're whipping yourself? Chas Lacaillade:I think it was reality, I think people were skeptical. But I would also say that, as you get older you realize that everybody's insecure about themselves, and so that could also be their lack of belief that they could do it. And so when they hear that you're going to switch fields, and you're going to do something completely different, in some cases what they're thinking is, "Well, I can never do that, so how's he going to do it?" Or, "I don't know anybody who's done that, how's he going to do it?" And what you need to take faith in is that, look, if you're determined and you have a game plan, it doesn't matter if they don't know anybody who's done it or if they can't do it, you can do it. Everything is doable. If there's a problem, there's a solution, so that's the way I approach things. Chas Lacaillade:And I got a job at a renewable energy company based out of Orange County, it was in Costa Mesa, and I had to commute from West LA to Costa Mesa five days a week. Chris Erwin:Wow. Chas Lacaillade:I mean, my office was essentially a garage in Costa Mesa, I mean, it was dark. Chris Erwin:So you show up- Chas Lacaillade:Literally and figuratively. And my peers were nothing like ... I wasn't interacting with these entertainment luminaries who are ... Tom Cruise wasn't on the phone. It was just basically old guys who were selling water pumps to plumbing warehouses, so talk about a total shift in gears. And my job was head of national sales, so when I wasn't in the office I was meeting with different plumbing supply warehouses and distributors throughout the nation, and getting them to carry our product, which I did very well. I increased the distribution and footprint of the product dramatically, like over 10 times. And I drove sales for this company, and I established a reputation with a group of people that I never thought I would know. Chas Lacaillade:And I say that I could not of started Bottle Rocket without my time working at ICM for that really hard boss, and I also couldn't have started Bottle Rocket had I not been head of sales for this company selling a product. It's a lot easier to sell a glamorous movie star to a studio that already wants to work with her, than it is to sell another water pump to a plumbing warehouse that has to carry it on the shelf. Chris Erwin:Did you believe that you learned these sales skills from any of your peers or the leadership at this company, or did you just have to figure it out on the go? Chas Lacaillade:You have to be open to your environment. You have to pick up cues. You have to see what people respond to. You have to read and listen to people who are experts in the field. So, there's a lot of sales manuals I read, and techniques I tried to pick and employ. Chris Erwin:Any sales seminars, weekend seminars, courses? Chas Lacaillade:No, I didn't do those so much, but obviously YouTube videos. And sales is so much about people and your relationship to people, and luckily I had developed an ability to really relate to a broad array of people, and broad range of people. And if you lead with sincerity and humor, generally, then at least you can open up somebody's receptivity to whatever message you want to convey. Chris Erwin:And the fact that you were looking at YouTube videos back then, it's just interesting to think about where you then went next. Chas Lacaillade:Right, isn't that funny. Yeah. Chris Erwin:Because you ended up at Fullscreen, but did you go right to Fullscreen, a multi-channel network, after selling water pumps, or was there another stop in between? Chas Lacaillade:Basically, I'd been working at this restaurant in West Hollywood all the while, just to pick up extra revenue. So I was definitely hustling, hustling hard to made ends meet. Chris Erwin:So you're full-time and part-time work in this period? Chas Lacaillade:Yeah. I had an epiphany when I was on a sales trip to Louisiana, and I was driving around the Bayou of Louisiana with this manufacturer's rep who was my conduit in Louisiana, distributing the pumps, and he said, "What did you used to do before you were selling pumps?" And I told him about my career at ICM. And he said, "Hold on. You and I are driving around Louisiana in 95 degree heat, trying to sell friggen water pumps, and you used to talk to movie stars and screen writers? What the hell is your problem?" He's like, "I would give up everything to start at the company that you left." He's like, "If you can leave this and go back to that ... And if you don't love this, which nobody does ..." Chas Lacaillade:He's like, "This is a means to the end. I put food on the table for my family, myself. I've got a daughter and this is how I pay for my life. You don't have any of those commitments. You're not married. You're single. You're young enough to go back to it." He's like, "If you love it like it sounds like you do, go back." This guy's name was Dustin [Ubray 00:23:08], shout out to Dustin Ubray. Chris Erwin:Thanks, Dustin Ubray, for pointing Chas on his new path. Chas Lacaillade:Yeah, and- Chris Erwin:So you hear this- Chas Lacaillade:And I'm like- Chris Erwin:... and what goes through your head? Chas Lacaillade:And I'm realizing like, you know what? I'm always going to care a lot about the environment and sustainability, but the real truth is, this is not the life I envisioned or that I want. And I was open to it and I gave it a go, but I don't see this unfolding in a way that's going to make me happy. And it's always important to explore things and really give them a sincere look, but if it doesn't feel right, you cannot be reluctant to pull the ripcord. And a lot of people are scared of starting over, and so much of success boils down to your ability to start from scratch and just persist. Chris Erwin:So in that moment, did you feel any regret where you were like, "Oh my god, I made this big change in my career and it seems that it was off to the wayside, and now I've got to get back on track"? Or did you interpret it as, "Wow, this was a really special moment, I learned a lot, and now I'm going to go back into entertainment, find a new opportunity space, but I'm further energized to do it"? Chas Lacaillade:Yeah. Chris Erwin:What were you feeling? Chas Lacaillade:Well at that point, so now I'm 32, and I'm like, "Okay, the sand's going through the hourglass on me, and I'm going to do another pivot to I don't know where. I don't know who's going to hire me." And I've got some explaining to do next time I sit down at an interview because I've got some accomplishments under my belt, but they're two wildly different and divergent fields. So people are going to be curious, some people are going to be skeptical, and I'm going to have to prove myself in the room and I'm going to really have to prove myself ... if somebody gives me a chance, I'm going to really have to bust my arse for them to have faith that they made the right decision. Chris Erwin:But you had confidence that you were going to be able to do that? Chas Lacaillade:I had confidence I was going to be able to do it, but back to what we were discussing with people not wanting to take risks, HR departments are not known for being open-minded. They want to look at that resume and they want to see identifiable qualities that will give them insurance if they make a hire that doesn't work out. And so, I didn't have this, and so what I depended on was getting in the room. It was like, if I get in the room, I've got a strong chance at getting the job, but just getting in the room is tough. Chris Erwin:How did you get in the room for Fullscreen? Chas Lacaillade:I had a- Chris Erwin:Did you pick them or did they pick you? Chas Lacaillade:I had a really close friend from ICM who was best friends with the head of production at Fullscreen, and Fullscreen was a startup, and they had- Chris Erwin:Yeah, what was Fullscreen, for our audience? Chas Lacaillade:Fullscreen was a multi-channel network known as an MCN, which is basically, Fullscreen's raison d'etre was "we are going to collect a broad range of YouTube channels, and sell advertising against those YouTube channels." That's a really broad overview of what they did. And so the money that Fullscreen made was, the revenue source, was advertising on YouTube. Chris Erwin:Got it. Chas Lacaillade:That's how they made money. They had a few dozen employees. They had some venture capital investment from Peter [inaudible 00:25:59]. So yeah, a good friend of mine knew they had production there, had a production. Put my resume in the mix for a role, I went in to interview, they needed somebody just to work with these YouTuber's. I had a background in entertainment and I really, really emphasized that. Chris Erwin:Yeah. Chas Lacaillade:And my background was legitimate, and it was quality, and I had worked with a lot of people, and I had good references. Chris Erwin:So you had ICM on your resume- Chas Lacaillade:Yeah. Chris Erwin:... that's instant pedigree in entertainment. Chas Lacaillade:I had references, and if they wanted to call anybody, that a lot of people liked me or were fond of me, and my work ethic was there. So at that point, a lot of people from the traditional entertainment world didn't respect YouTube, and didn't see it as a viable commercial avenue. Chris Erwin:And why do you think that was? Chas Lacaillade:They basically regarded it as a distraction, as not a competitor to TV, and radio, and film. And just for very low cost entertainment that people didn't pay for. Chris Erwin:Yeah. One of the things that I heard myself, because I was also part of the multi-channel network eco system where I first started, big frame, a wish like Fullscreen had, venture capital backing, and then also had funding from a Google originals channel program, from Google itself, and then on to AwesomenessTV. And from a lot of traditional Hollywood they would say, "These digitally native creators, they're not used to hearing the word, no. They just had this unique moment in time where they started publishing videos on YouTube or a social channel, and then they got famous." And it felt very strongly that unless you were in the annals of these MCNs, or working with these next-gen talent, you don't understand the amount of hard work, the amount of time and the commitment to the audiences that they created for themself, and the brands that they created for themself. So, I hear you on that. Chris Erwin:Chas, you're at Fullscreen and this is the job that you had right before founding Bottle Rocket, and remind me what was your role while you were at Fullscreen? Chas Lacaillade:I was the head of talent sales. Chris Erwin:Was this a division that you actually founded at the company? Chas Lacaillade:Yes. So basically what happened at Fullscreen was, I was hired to be a "talent manager," and we had a sales department and division at Fullscreen. You know, I was talking to the talent, I was working with these YouTubers. This is early, this is 2013. They would get offers to promote products for 5,000 or 2,500 bucks, and the big YouTuber's case like $10,000, and I said, "You know, I've got experience in talent representation, let me secure and negotiate these opportunities for you." So I close a deal for a talent to promote a product, and sales caught wind of what I was doing, the sales department, and they said, "Listen, it's not your role to do any sort of sales activity here at Fullscreen. We are the division and the department that's dedicated to that. And the threshold for any deals that our talent participates in is $50,000. If it's not $50,000 or above, it's not worth Fullscreen's time. You know, if it's less than 50K, we pass on it." Chris Erwin:So, they're telling you to stay in your lane- Chas Lacaillade:Right. Chris Erwin:... and here's your lane by the way, what this looks like, and let us do our thing? Chas Lacaillade:And if it's less than 50K, decline. And I said, "Well, there's a lot of money between $1 and $50,000, we're leaving a lot of money on the table, and that's really important for our clients, that's how they pay their bills." And they said, "Listen, if it gets to 50K, hand it over to us and we'll take care of it." Kind of a pat on the head. And I found that incredibly shortsighted, and I was not deterred for a nanosecond. And I- Chris Erwin:Yeah, let's focus on that for a second. So, not deterred. So, other people might hear that feedback, get really frustrated, but then just say, "Okay, I've been told to stay in my lane, this is what I'm going to do." But you did not react like that. Was it potentially a catalyst for you? Chas Lacaillade:Yeah. No, it absolutely was. So I'm like, "I know how to do this. I see the opportunity here. These people are really creative, they have really large audiences. They've got a really special unique relationship with that audience, and this is something that nobody's doing, so I'm going to do it." And I went up to the business affairs office. I was on the second floor and I said, "Please make me a two-page template that I can repeat and just swap out names, and print out information." They made a two-page deal template for me, and I proceeded to create my own world basically, and owned a division, an army of one, where I would source a deal, secure and negotiate the deal, and close it, and invoice for it, and Fullscreen's 10% would just go to Fullscreen's accounting department. And the sale division didn't like that, but I was providing a service to all the talent that was in the network, that became undeniable. Chris Erwin:Now you're running around as a team of one- Chas Lacaillade:Right. Chris Erwin:... was this exciting for you, while also- Chas Lacaillade:Yeah, absolutely. Chris Erwin:I mean, it must have been awkward at the same time because then within the same walls of the building, there's people frustrated with your behavior, yet you're like, "Wow, I just found this goldmine and I'm going after them." Chas Lacaillade:Yeah, I didn't care about them. You know, they weren't my friends and I wasn't impressed by them professionally. I didn't think that they were good at their jobs. I didn't think they knew their product. To be an effective salesperson you have to know our product, and none of these people watched YouTube, none of them had relationships with the YouTubers that they were tasked with selling. Chris Erwin:Got it. Chas Lacaillade:To work in this space, you have to be able to pick up the phone and call the talent and say, "I've got this opportunity for you, is this exciting to you? How would you integrate this product into your content?" And you have to have a conversation with them. And if you don't any sort of rapport with that talent, then good luck. And so, I had developed a rapport with this talent. I knew how advertising worked. I could speak that language very fluidly, given my experience at the ad agency in Manhattan. I also knew how to deal with talent via my experience at ICM. I knew sales, via my experience at the renewable energy company. Chris Erwin:It's like all this is coming together. Chas Lacaillade:So all these three really separate experiences unified in this really elegant tapestry, that set me apart, made me unique from my peers at Fullscreen, and allowed me to really confidently stake out my claim, and so that's what I did. At this point I'm 32 years old. Had I been 25, I might've been a little bit more intimidated. But because I knew what I was doing, I had a very clear vision for the future and how I was going to use my skillset to drive value and create value for the company, I was able to rebuff all the feeble pleas and objections that were being posed by my peers who were threatened. Chris Erwin:Did this moment feel like a very unique inflection point where all my past career experience, my capabilities, my learnings, my mindset, it's like, "This is happening now in my early 30s." Going back to that identity of "the world is my oyster." Right? Chas Lacaillade:Mm-hmm (affirmative). Chris Erwin:It's like what you were thinking when you were in high school in your early days. Chas Lacaillade:Right. Chris Erwin:And did you feel like in this moment it's like, "This is it"? Chas Lacaillade:Yeah. So it did feel like that, and I felt like, "Look, the money's not big now, but everything has to start from somewhere." And also, I was synthesizing all of those biographies I'd read of Sam Walton starting out Walmart with just a Five and Dime store here, or then he built to three "Five and Dime stores in Arkansas and Memphis, and these outposts that were in these rinky-dink towns, but no one else was building there. And what I felt was, I'm building stores where no one else is, and I'm going to get customers that no one else is going to get. And by the time that everybody wakes up, I'm going to have more stores than anyone else. And so I moved very quickly and I thought, "Look, I don't know where this is going to go, but this is something that's valuable, and interesting, and engaging, and I'm developing a reputation internally as somebody who's got a clear point of view." And people are attracted to and drawn to someone with a point of view and an idea on how to create value. Chris Erwin:It's clear that you are no longer at Fullscreen. Chas Lacaillade:Right. Chris Erwin:You now are at a company that you founded, Bottle Rocket Management. Chas Lacaillade:Right. Chris Erwin:When did you found Bottle Rocket? Chas Lacaillade:So AT&T bought Fullscreen in 2015, and at that point Fullscreen was not intent on being in the talent representation business and I was. And I had my Jerry Maguire moment where I called all my clients and said, "Am I your manager? Am I your manager? And if so, this is my new endeavor, I'm going out on my own." Chris Erwin:Was that scary to do that? Chas Lacaillade:It was terrifying. I took out a $5,000 loan from Chase Bank, and there was no interest for the first 18 months. Chris Erwin:And what was that loan for? Chas Lacaillade:To live. So- Chris Erwin:Pay rent, food- Chas Lacaillade:Pay rent, my rent was $1,200 a month, so I figured I could get by for a quarter, three months- Chris Erwin:Wow. Chas Lacaillade:... if I just had one meal a day, didn't do anything on the weekend, no bars or entertainment, or movies. Basically, ate one meal a day, and paid my internet bill, and paid my rent, I could get by for three months. Chris Erwin:So this is extreme focus. Chas Lacaillade:Yep. Chris Erwin:Your job during these three months is, I got basic financing in place and now I'm going to build a company, and it's going to win. And you have your horse blinders on? Chas Lacaillade:Yeah. Chris Erwin:What happens over those three months? Chas Lacaillade:And so, I was able to pay the $5,000 back within 45 days- Chris Erwin:Wow. Chas Lacaillade:... and had no debt, and I'd closed enough deals that I knew I was going to make enough money to live in that year, in 2015. So, Bottle Rocket started March 1st, 2015 and all the clients I represented at Fullscreen formally, decided that they wanted to line up with me and I built a business. So from a one-bedroom apartment in Venice, I just sat there and called people all day. Chris Erwin:You knew 45 days in, you had something? Chas Lacaillade:Yes. Chris Erwin:You look at your business now, the business that you have from a revenue point of view, and volume point of view, is a lot larger than a lot of other next-gen management companies. What was that next inflection point where you're like, "Okay, I don't just have something here, I have something really special"? Chas Lacaillade:I think it's when I started needing to bring on staff. You know, I'd been doing everything by myself. Chris Erwin:And when was that? Chas Lacaillade:It was 2017, and now we've got a staff of five, including myself. You know, what I'm really thrilled about it how busy everybody is, and how the environment feels really entrepreneurial, really light. I feel like if you have a sense of lightness within the company, and joy, that people are going to put forth discretionary effort, they're going to give you that extra ... whether it's talent, or whether it's the buyer, or whether it's your own colleague, if they know that you're coming from a place of reason and you're a good person, you're just going to get more out of everything and everybody. Now, there's a lot of challenging encounters, there's times when points of view collide and you still have to be firm, and you have to have faith that your position is legitimate. And perhaps somebody wants something from you or from your client that is unreasonable, that's where the challenge is. How do I create customer delight and value for this person, whilst still maintaining my position? Chris Erwin:As you think about how you energize in your business, and you continually refine your leadership and your management philosophy, how do you do that? Is it through reading? Do you have like a mastermind's group? How do you come into your business every day and push yourself to be better for your clients? Chas Lacaillade:Personally for myself, you've got to nurse your mind with new points of view, and you've got to read, and you've got to stay current. Personally, I read the Wall Street Journal, which is not exactly cutting-edge technique. Chris Erwin:While on the bike at the Bay Club? Chas Lacaillade:Yep. Yep, I read the Wall Street Journal every day. One of my professors at USC Business School said, "If you want to be smarter, read The Wall Street Journal every day." Very simple piece of advice and I took it to heart, and I feel like it's very helpful. You know, basically I want to get information from places that aren't the internet. You're definitely a more well-rounded individual if you're not just sighting whatever was on Apple News that day. So I read the newspaper every day. I read fiction and nonfiction. You've got to keep your vocabulary relevant and sharp, and your mind dynamic, and reading different pieces of information and literature, it helps you do that. Because so much of being interesting to others, is being interested in what other people are doing and how the world's working. And so, if I'm interesting to my peers and people that I want to do business with, then that's already a head start in the right direction. And so, that's how I keep it fresh. Chris Erwin:You raise a good point because if you're just reading the same industry pubs that everyone's reading, which it's good to be current, but if you're just in Variety, and Hollywood Reporter, and Tubefilter all day, you're not giving your mind space to breathe. And so when you say, "Mind, body, spirits," so it's out of being an avid reader, how do you also energize your body and your spirit? Chas Lacaillade:You know, sometimes I surf, as you know. I play soccer at a rec sports league. I play basketball with some friends occasionally. I'm very active, it's just important to me to be out there moving. And the spirit and the body are very closely linked, so I feel like if I'm running or playing a sport, then my spirit is being nourished. Chris Erwin:I'm not sure if you're going to enjoy me sharing this story, but yes, Chas and I, we have skied together many times at Sundance and Park City. We've also surfed many times here in LA. And I will say, I think the last time that we went and surfed at Malibu at Second Point, Chas was really excited to get in the water, he hadn't been in in a bit. As we're walking to the beach, I just look at his surfboard and I'm like, "Okay, there's normally three fins on a surfboard, but I only see two on yours, Chas. What's going on?" You're like, "Yeah, it's immaterial, don't worry about it." I'm like, "Okay," thinking you need three fins, but all good. Then we get to the beach and Chas says, he's like, "This wetsuit is so uncomfortable, it's so tight in all these weird places. What's going on here?" I'm like, "Is this a new wetsuit? You've had it before, right?" He's like, "Yeah. No, it's the same one, but this is just weird." Chris Erwin:I thought to myself and I was like, "All right, I remember a similar conversation the last time we surfed." And then I look over at Chas, right before I say it, Chas says it, he goes, "I think this wetsuit's on backwards." And so the suit was on backwards, but what I loved was that instead of Chas being like, "Oh, I'm going to go walk back to the car and change it," or, "I have to go get another fin," you were just like, "I'm getting in the water. I'm fine. You know, I don't care what people think, let's go," and we went right into it. And I think that was a great reflection of how you approach life- Chas Lacaillade:Yeah. Chris Erwin:... and business, and friendships. You're just like, "I'm doing what I'm doing, and I'm happy with it-" Chas Lacaillade:The wetsuit- Chris Erwin:... "and I don't care what anyone else thinks." Chas Lacaillade:The wetsuit being on backwards is not going to change the waves. Chris Erwin:Yeah, exactly. Chas Lacaillade:The board's there, the wave's there, I'm here. All the necessary elements for me surfing are present, so ... I was in the water and some dude's like, "Your wetsuit's on backwards." I was like, "I'm clear on that. I know that." I think I spaced out in the moment, I think I was caught up in conversation. Hadn't had my caffeine dose and idiotically put my wetsuit on backwards, but then I was just like, "Ah, you know what?-" Chris Erwin:Maybe it's a reflection- Chas Lacaillade:... "It's not going to slow me down." Chris Erwin:You're so in the moment and you're so present, you didn't even know your wetsuit was on backwards. You know, so maybe that's a good thing, maybe more people need to have that happen to them. All right, so before we get into our rapid fire round, last question on Bottle Rocket. What are some of your 2020 goals for Bottle Rocket and the team? What do you look forward to? Chas Lacaillade:I want to develop relationships with new buyers that we haven't worked with previously, that's really important to me. You've got to keep exploring opportunity with the marketplace and developing new relationships. And then, definitely signing new talent that's exciting and dynamic, and that's going to raise and elevate the perception of Bottle Rocket. And hopefully growing the Bottle Rocket team, so that I continue to have peers that inspire me and feel energized to come to work. Chris Erwin:When we talk about new talent, because we were talking a bit before this, you're not just a digital talent management company, you're next-gen. To prove that point out, you've signed traditional talent, you've signed also writers, you've diversified across your entertainment roster. Which I think is great and it's interesting to see how when you have that diversity of talent, they can work and collaborate with one another- Chas Lacaillade:Right. Chris Erwin:... which really fuels your own internal business. But are there any certain types of talent that you are specifically seeking out in the new year? Chas Lacaillade:What I want to identify and what I'd love to represent, are people with really unique points of view and unique skillsets. YouTube, there's a lot of derivative content on YouTube, and herd mentality is pervasive in all forms and genres of entertainment and media. But when you really strike gold is when you've got that person who galvanizes an audience because of who they are and how they see the world, and how they interact with the world. The Will Smith's of the world, ELiza Koshy, Ellen DeGeneres, Oprah. And so you want to find that person or people who have a magnetism about them that's undeniable. Chris Erwin:Well, we wish you a very prosperous 2020. Chas Lacaillade:Thank you. Thank you. Chris Erwin:So, we'll go into the closing rapid fire questions, how's that sound? Chas Lacaillade:Great. Chris Erwin:All right. So these can be just quick, two to three sentence answers. If you want to be even more brief, we're open to that. Looking back on your career, what would you say your single proudest moment and accomplishment is to date? Chas Lacaillade:The day I started Bottle Rocket Management, March 1st, 2015. Chris Erwin:What do you want to do less and more of in 2020? Let's start with less. Chas Lacaillade:Worry. Worry, there's no form of progress when you're contemplating what's going to go wrong, or whatever may happen will adversely affect you. You've just got to believe. Chris Erwin:Rapid fire follow-up to that, what do you worry about the most? Chas Lacaillade:Delivering for my clients and my team. Chris Erwin:What do you want to do more of in 2020? Chas Lacaillade:Well, I definitely want my team to feel inspired and really excited to be at Bottle Rocket. And I want them to have personal wins, so that they feel like it's not just a company where they work for me, it's where they work for themselves and they're developing their own reputations. Chris Erwin:Entrepreneurial advice. What one to two personal characteristics do you think have primarily driven your success? Chas Lacaillade:Say, persistence. Persistence is definitely the main identifiable characteristic that's helped me. And humility, just accepting that you're going to have to prove yourself and people aren't going to hand you the biggest, juiciest opportunities off the bat. And so, you have to be humble and prove yourself. Chris Erwin:We talk about persistence a lot, where there's ebbs and flows in the business cycles and your own individual business, and with your team, but if you just are always showing up everyday, there are going to be these incredible moments for you to take advantage of. But if you're not showing up, it's not going to happen. Last few questions here. How do you best take advantage of things you can't control? Chas Lacaillade:I think you've just got to be clear. You've just got to figure out what your position is and how you see things. Articulate that to whomever is necessary, and be open-minded. Chris Erwin:Okay, last two. Quick shot advice for media professionals going into 2020? Chas Lacaillade:Try to schedule as many meetings with people that you're curious about, and want to meet and want to know, and sit down with them wherever they are, and make yourself available. Chris Erwin:Last question. How can people get in contact with you, Chas, the CEO and founder of Bottle Rocket Management? Chas Lacaillade:My email address is chas@bottlerocketmanagement.com, spelled out. Chris Erwin:We'll also include that in the show notes. Chas Lacaillade:Excellent. Chris Erwin:Well, this has been a delight, Chas. Great to have you in today. Chas Lacaillade:Thank you. Chris Erwin:See you around at the next surf sess. Chas Lacaillade:Right on. Chris Erwin:Wow, I really enjoyed that conversation with Chas. Like I said in the beginning, he is a total straight shooter and tells you like it is, and that really came across. I don't know if you guys felt this, but when he started talking about founding Bottle Rocket and leaving Fullscreen, in the room you could see and you could feel his energy just ramping. It was exciting. I thought that was a pretty special moment in our conversation. The excitement of an entrepreneur. So a few quick things on your radar, our next podcast will feature Christian Baesler, the President of Complex Media. He is a young media savant, with a very impressive career track record. Fun facts about Christian, he was born east of the Berlin Wall, and in the same week that the week came down. Pretty incredible. And when he was right out of college at a big international media company, he was tasked with overseeing a digital division, and they needed a digital website network to be built, Christian just built it himself. Impressive stuff. Chris Erwin:Second thing on your radar, listeners, is that our company RockWater, will be hosting a live stream media and selling conference in 2021. Likely in the first quarter in March, we don't know exactly what it's going to look like yet, but we will bring together great speakers, good programming, and we're looking for people who want to get involved. So if you're interested, you can email us at TCUpod@wearerockwater.com. Stay tuned for that. All right, that's it. Thanks all for listening. Chris Erwin:The Come Up is written and hosted by me, Chris Erwin, and is a production of RockWater Industries. Please rate and review this show on Apple Podcast. And remember to subscribe, wherever you listen to our show. And if you really dig us, feel free to forward The Come Up to a friend. You can sign up for our company newsletter at wearerockwater.com/newsletter. And you can follow us on Twitter @TCUpod. The Come Up is engineered by Daniel Tureck. Music is by Devon Bryant. Logo and branding is by Kevin Zazzali. And special thanks to Andrew Cohen and Sean Diep from the RockWater team.