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In this episode, Jessica Dickler, a personal finance writer for CNBC, joins hosts Matthew Patrick and Audrey Wheat to tackle social media's impact on financial education. How have platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and LinkedIn become go-to sources for financial advice, especially for Gen Z and millennials? Is this a perilous path, or a great new way for new generations to learn financial wellness? Tune in to discover how social media is reshaping the landscape of personal finance.
Today's episode is packed with M&A talk, how one YouTuber succeeded at the creator economy, why Twitch is still losing money and an autonomous vehicle company that is making a comeback.First up, Rebecca took a look at fintech giant Stripe's acquisition of four-year-old competitor Lemon Squeezy. The buy will allow Stripe to beef up its merchant of record selling “in a big way,” according to Stripe CEO Patrick Collison. Deal terms weren't disclosed, but Lemon Squeezy has a reputation for turning down other offers, including a $50 million Series A. The company's founder said he was holding out for the right partner to take the business to the next level, and apparently Stripe was it.This comment led Rebecca to explore the idea of M&A as an exit strategy. Does this practice create perverse incentives in venture capital, where investors are becoming more risk-averse and looking for a surer path to regaining capital, at the long-term expense of competition? Other startups have turned down such opportunities so they can go it alone. Just look at Wiz's decision not to get acquired by Google for $23 billion, something we discussed on last Friday's episode. Next, Rebecca touched on MatPat, the first big YouTuber to successfully exit his company, Theorist Media. Matthew Patrick turned his successful video series, The Game Theorists, into a full-fledged media business called Theorist, with 40 million subscribers across channels. But he was getting tired of the ceaseless content uploading, and found a way to convince investors that the business could go on without him. Now, he's in Capitol Hill educating politicians about what creators need to succeed as small businesses. Speaking of creators and acquisitions, Rebecca pulled up a Wall Street Journal report that found that after 10 years, Twitch is still losing Amazon money. Amazon bought Twitch for $1 billion in 2014, but the company still isn't profitable. And will it ever be? Twitch in 2023 generated about $667 million in ad revenue and $1.3 billion in commerce revenue, but that accounted for less than 0.5% of Amazon's total 2023 revenue. Amazon defended its buy, saying Twitch has a long-term path to profitability. But broader trends that seem to favor short-form videos over watching someone play an entire video game live say otherwise. Finally, while we're on the subject of comebacks, autonomous delivery startup Nuro is gearing up for one of its own. Nuro has been quiet for the past year or so after two big rounds of layoffs. Once the darling of the AV industry with over $2 billion in funding from high-profile investors, Nuro was burning money fast as it tried to scale and commercialize all at once. Now, Nuro is back with better AI and a new vehicle, the R3, which it will be testing later this year in the Bay Area and Houston.Equity is TechCrunch's flagship podcast, produced by Theresa Loconsolo, and posts every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. For the full episode transcript, for those who prefer reading over listening, check out our full archive of episodes over at Simplecast. Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. Bryce Durbin is our Illustrator. We'd also like to thank the audience development team and Henry Pickavet, who manages TechCrunch audio products.
This week, we're coming with another 'TWO part' @EchoChamberFP https://www.instagram.com/echochamberfp/ edition, on top of everything else!!! Just four films, but 'Part ONE' has an animatronic horror from Blumhouse & Universal Pictures, then an underwater horror from Anamorphic Media, Filmgate Films, Metro Films, Orogen Entertainment, Signature Entertainment. Netflix has a new action adventure thanks to Thunder Road Films & Lady Spitfire. PLUS, we have a new drama via Peccadillo Pictures & Giant Pictures. In 'Part One' we have: Five Nights at Freddy's Watch Review: Here. https://youtu.be/lLDxsFaKxHE UK Theatrical Release Date: 25th October 2023 US Theatrical Release Date: 27th October 2023 US Digital Release Date: 5th March 2024 UK Digital Release Date: 21st June 2024 Director: Emma Tammi Cast: Josh Hutcherson, Wyatt Parker, Piper Rubio, Elizabeth Lail, Matthew Lillard, Mary Stuart Masterson, Kat Conner Sterling, David Lind, Christian Stokes, Joseph Poliquin, Grant Feely, Asher Colton Spence, David Huston Doty, Liam Hendrix, Jophielle Love, Tadasay Young, Michael P. Sullivan, Lucas Grant, Theodus Crane, Matthew Patrick, Cory Williams Running Time: 109 min Cert: 15 Trailer: Here. https://youtu.be/0VH9WCFV6XQ?si=ZJbV7hOyFRlthlO0 Website: Here. https://www.uphe.com/movies/five-nights-at-freddys ------------ Trigger Warning Watch Review: Here. https://youtu.be/ptE_0owpzfA Digital Release Date: 21st June 2024 Director: Mouly Surya Cast: Jessica Alba, Mark Webber, Anthony Michael Hall, Alejandro De Hoyos, Tone Bell, Jake Weary, Gabriel Basso, Kaiwi Lyman, Nadiv Molcho, Peter Monro, Stephanie Jones, James Cady, Jerry G. Angelo, David DeLao, Hari Dhillon Running Time: 106 min Cert: 15 Trailer: Here. https://youtu.be/MnHTLh6ruW0?si=gTy_Vrnz1PhSI7EI Website: Here. https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/trigger-warning-jessica-alba-release-date-photos-news ------------ The Mattachine Family Watch Review: Here. https://youtu.be/GVl5FVqPOQw 2023 Seattle International Film Festival: 12th May 2023 US Digital Release Date: 4th June 2024 UK Digital Release Date: 24th June 2024 Amazon Italy & Japan Digital Release Date: July 2024 Director: Andy Vallentine Cast: Nico Tortorella, Juan Pablo Di Pace, Jake Choi, Emily Hampshire, Cloie Wyatt Taylor, Heather Matarazzo, Carl Clemons-Hopkins, Annie Funke, Colleen Foy, Garrett Clayton, Jack Perry, Anny Elizabeth Rosario, Roze JC Zepeda, Olabisi Kovabel, Will Von Vogt, Anthony Lee Medina, Matthew Postlethwaite, Matthew Jacob Ocampo, Mateo Montez, Khalilah Joi, Jude Friedman, Alice Prime Running Time: 99 min Cert: 15 Trailer: Here. https://youtu.be/wwZoZIZWuJg?si=qtG4YcXSQWg4bSP1 ------------ The Last Breath Watch Review: Here. https://youtu.be/-pZYGyzEDwQ Digital Release Date: 1st July 2024 Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: 1st July 2024 Director: Joachim Hedén Cast: Julian Sands, Alexander Arnold, Jack Parr, Kim Spearman, Erin Mullen, Arlo Carter, Maxime Durand, William Erazo Fernández Credit: Anamorphic Media, Filmgate Films, Freebie Films, Picaro Films, Signature Entertainment Genre: Horror, Thriller Running Time: 96 min Cert: 15 Trailer: Here. https://youtu.be/IPq4x5PKqLE ---------------- *(Music) 'Da Joint' (Instrumental) by EPMD - 2020 --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/eftv/message
Hadestown is coming to The Stranahan Theatre, and Stage Door had a chance to talk to The King of Shadows, portrayed by Matthew Patrick Quinn The American Theatre Guild is thrilled to present HADESTOWN, the winner of eight 2019 Tony Awards® including Best New Musical and the 2020 Grammy® Award for Best Musical Theater Album. This production is part of the 23–24 BROADWAY IN TOLEDO SERIES and will take the Stranahan Theater stage February 20–25, 2024. “Scorching! Stunning! Both unmistakably timely and irresistibly entertaining.” Catey Sullivan, Chicago Sun-Times Tickets to HADESTOWN are available for purchase at BroadwayInToledo.com and StranahanTheater.com. Group ticket savings for 10+ are available by contacting Groups@ATGuild.org. PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE: February 20, 2024 7:30 p.m. February 21, 2024 7:30 p.m. February 22, 2024 7:30 p.m. February 23, 2024 8:00 p.m. February 24, 2024 2:00 & 8:00 p.m. February 25, 2024 1:00 & 6:30 p.m. Become a fan of Broadway by following us on social media: • Facebook: @BroadwayInToledo • Instagram: @bwaytoledo
Mark and Veronica FINALLY return after a short Christmas Hiatus to visit family, and with their return tell stories of the strange creatures encountered in Ireland, as well as saying goodbye to beloved Husband, Father and Theorist... Matthew Patrick. Meeting Halfway is a weekly podcast featuring LSMark and Veronica as they interview creators and artists that have been both life-long and contemporary inspirations for their collective creative worlds.You can also find weekly episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts!LS Mark https://www.youtube.com/c/LSMark https://twitter.com/LSMark_Veronica https://www.twitch.tv/veronicaandjelly https://twitter.com/veronicandjellyIntro music by: Nick OlmozProduced by Screenwave Media https://screenwavemedia.com#meetinghalfway
Spidey and Bren talk about the Switch 2 spec leaks, Matthew Patrick of Game Theory leaving YouTube and if his sadness was legitimate, and "Influencers" on YouTube as a whole and how arrogant they can be.
Matthew Patrick and Chase Davis join us from The Well Church in Boulder Colorado. These guys have stood tall and firm in their faith, no matter the opposition they've received from activists, school board members, city councils or even their own neighbors. But it's not all a battlefield - these guys tell you how to live out your faith in a way honoring of Christ, in an area that is known for being progressive. Join the banter and the fun today on the Self-Evident Podcast!
For this edition of Overdrive Radio, DAT Freight and Analytics' Chief Marketing Officer Jeff Hopper, who's been with the company now for decades, notes the undeniable spike in double brokering, in identity theft and hop-in, hop-out "take the money and run" and other schemes that has led to a doubling of staff in DAT's compliance department as well as a host of other in-process security enhancements there: https://www.overdriveonline.com/business/article/15542218/dat-steps-up-fight-against-freight-fraud-but-is-it-enough DAT's not alone, of course -- competitors at Truckstop.com have been doing similar things when it comes ID'ing the various types of “bad behavior” and working with the good guys out there to put a stop to it where possible, in no small part thanks to the efforts of a myriad of small business truckers to raise the temperature around the issue of double brokering and other fraud: https://www.overdriveonline.com/business/article/15541639/the-third-parties-following-truckers-around-freight-networks Among those is Matthew Patrick, with GMH Transportation. Regular readers may recall his two-part "The double-brokering slow burn" at OverdriveOnline.com a couple weeks back: https://www.overdriveonline.com/overdrive-extra/article/15543642/double-brokering-scourge-how-it-works-how-to-fight-back The stories outlined a year and more's worth of efforts undertaken to identify some of the bad actors and take action to get them removed from the platforms where they ply their “trade.' DAT's Jeff Hopper in today's episode of Overdrive Radio called it all organized cyber crime, really. Before our talk with Hopper featured in this episode, we share a particular case that Patrick sent along earlier this week at about the same time we were getting ready to talk to Hopper. The case involved two different examples in which two different brokers' loads were double-brokered by a single entity, the “Cheetah Import and Export” broker, MC# 1477261. What stood out to Patrick was that in each double-brokered load case, Cheetah offered considerably more to move the load than what the original brokers offered a carrier, suggestive of a company in what Patrick calls the “take the money run” phase of a double broker's evolution. You know the story if you've read Overdrive over years now -- run up as much in revenue as you can, stiff all the carriers, and disappear into the ether when the bond is cashed and canceled: https://www.overdriveonline.com/business/article/14897461/broker-scams-owneroperators-and-fleets-need-to-be-aware-of Over the course of the last few days, it looks like that particular broker's bond company has notified the feds of impending cancelation -- a bond that was effective starting in early August this year is now set to cancel September 29, flagged in FMCSA's Licensing and Insurance public portal as such. We called the bond company the morning of Friday, September 1, and they noted five claims for nonpayment already, the largest of the claims for $5,000. Attempts to contact the broker by phone for comment yielded only a day's-long busy signal. Email then sent to the entity's primary contact laid out all of these details and asked if the company planned to respond to claims on the bond. That gleaned only a short response in an unsigned return email from a rep with the display name "Gevork Sulian": “What are you talking about? What happened? We are 1 year in this industry and never had a problem with our carriers.” As far as Matt Patrick knows, despite having filed complaints against this particular company, they were still able to post loads on DAT as of Friday. DAT reps assured that that they are investigating the complaints, but be forewarned if this company comes calling, or you run across any company's overly high rates on the boards. Scams abound, as Jeff Hopper further emphasizes in today's edition of Overdrive Radio.
TODAY! Mike and Massey welcome Matthew Patrick, a Lead Pastor of The Well Church. If you have kept us with us or Revive Church recently you'll love this church, whose been getting backlash by the LGBTjh@bd7eu#f community and standing for governmental involvement. Tune in and find out!
Matthew Patrick Quinn talks to John Reid. He plays Hades in HADESTOWN- now playing through June 4 th at Altria Theater.
Episode 116 of “The Steve & Crypto Show” and part 3 of our Seattle Crypticon hype train continues with, you guessed it, more Crypticon talk! We shine some light on the celebrity guests you can expect to see at this weekend's horror stacked event including our guest for this episode, Matthew Patrick Davis aka “The Mother” from “Barbarian”. Listen to this episode and it just might be the final “nail in the coffin” that you need to finalize your spooky Seattle weekend trip. We hope to see you there! Get all the details at crypticonseattle.com! Listen up for this episode's trivia too!! We are excited to be part of the Deluxe Edition Network. Check out this awesome collection of indie podcasts at www.deluxeeditionnetwork.com If you've been enjoying The Steve & Crypto Show, and want to support your #3rd FAVORITE PODCAST, you can do so in the following places: Promote The Steve & Crypto Show and look really freakin' cool doing it with some merch: www.etsy.com/shop/SteveAndCryptoMerch Get exclusive content on Patreon: www.patreon.com/stevecrypto Buy Me A Coffee: www.buymeacoffee.com/stevecrypto Join the Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/stevecryptoshow And of course be sure to follow Steve and Crypto Zoo on social media @thestevestrout and @cryptozoo88 both on Twitter and Instagram! Thank you for your support! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/steveandcryptoshow/message
This week Matthew Patrick Davis calls in to talk about his role as The Mother in last year's "Barbarian" and the dark YouTube rabbit holes he went down to research it. He also talks about starting in comedy and how it affected his role in horror. Check out Matthew's other work at his site: Matthew Patrick Davis Films: Barbarian (2022), Terrifier 2 (2022), The Tunnel (2011), The Wild Child (1970), The Mask (1994), Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988), Jeepers Creepers (2001), Tusk (2014), Welcome to Derry (TV) Hey, we're on YouTube! Listening on an iPhone? Don't forget to rate us on iTunes! Fill our fe-mailbag by emailing us at OverlookHour@gmail.com Reach us on Instagram (@theoverlooktheatre) Facebook (@theoverlookhour) Twitter (@OverlookHour)
This week, we’re celebrating our 200th episode in style with a review of Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. Many thanks to our beloved guests for joining us in the festivities: Matthew Phillip Michael “Tepi” Mclaughlin, Dale Anthony Alexander, Harry Oliver McLafferty, Grace Roisin Pooley-Cooper, Thomas James Broderick, William Neil “Barry” Blackburn & Matthew Patrick … Continue reading "Episode 200: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery"
Actor Matthew Patrick Davis joins us to talk about the hit film "Barbarian." Hear how crazy the audition was, and what it was like transforming into the terrifying "Mother!"...Wait did someone say it was Justin Long's feeding time? Bring in the dead rat!This episode is ...a LOT funnier while sipping some Cocalero! Get 10% off your purchase of Clasico or Negro by entering promo code PORTAL10 at checkout! (this is a paid sponsor ad)https://shopcocalero.com/?coupon-code=PORTAL10&sc-page=shop
.Matthew Patrick Davis is todays guest on the show . Special thanks to Greg from @ontheslabhorrorshow for filling in for this show . Check out his channel ! Today the focus of the show is on “Barbarian “ where Matthew played “The Mother “. Matthew Patrick Davis is an actor/songwriter/musician who most recently portrayed "The Mother" in 20th Century Studios' hit horror film, "Barbarian." As a songwriter, he has co-written & produced songs for the upcoming season of "The Ghost and Molly McGee" on the Disney Channel and "T.O.T.S." on Disney Junior alongside series songwriter, Rob Cantor. He was also commissioned to write a children's album, "I Love My Dog," for the screen-free audio device, YOTO Player. He's written music and lyrics for a number of comedic songs and musicals for the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, the San Francisco SketchFest, and his YouTube Channel, including most recently, "PUN-OFF: A Musical Inside the High-Stakes World of Pun Competitions." His YouTube video "Nightmare Before Christmas Live" has over 5M views and counting. As an actor, he made his Broadway debut in the musical revival, "Side Show," directed by Bill Condon.
@ready2retro is honored to welcome this week's guest, musician/comedian/actor Matthew Patrick Davis! Believe it or not, Matthew is most known for his portrayal as "The Mother" in the 2022's horror hit "Barbarian". Join our conversation and hear how a 6'8'' foot man who loves his dog and makes tunes for Disney Junior, landed the iconic role!
This week R is for ROLES and we have our first ever guest! Matthew Patrick Davis, star of breakout horror masterpiece Barbarian, joins Clint and Katie to talk all about his career as an actor and songwriter in Los Angeles. Many parallels are drawn between Katie and Matt's experiences auditioning, making their respective films and the press tours and horror con appearances they both travel to together. Wanna hear all about MPD regurgitating a bloody rat into Justin Long's mouth? How about drooling over a dill pickle in his underwear as Matt tries to impress director Zach Cregger via zoom? It's all here and so much more. We hope you enjoy hanging with Matthew Patrick Davis as much as we did!Keep up with MPD here:IG: instagram.com/matthewpatrickdaviswww.matthewpatrickdavis.comIf you think AtoZ has value please consider leaving us a 5 star review on Apple Podcasts:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-to-z-with-clint-and-katie/id1621357027If you'd like to support us on Patreon you can learn more about it and sign up HERE:www.patreon.com/atozwithclintandkatieWrite in to Clint and Katie here:atozclintandkatie@gmail.com
Join Mike as he takes you on a wild ride in this special episode of the podcast. It's a game show extravaganza where Mike's sons, Matthew and Patrick, are put to the test with all sorts of questions! Who will come out on top? Tune in to find out as the competition heats up and the laughs roll in. You don't want to miss this exciting episode of The Mike Drop! For More Info On Mike https://www.instagram.com/themichaelcomerford/ Content: 00:00 - Show start 05:30 - Game show rules 07:55 - Questions on the human body 10:59 - Animal questions 13:57 - Space questions 16:27 - US Geography questions 18:52 - Family questions 22:01 - Fun facts about food 25:38 - Mortgage questions
Without Your Head Horror Podcast interview with Matthew Patrick Davis "The Mother" of Barbarian! - how he got the role - researching feral children for the role of "The Mother" - director Zach Cregger - working with Georgina Campbell - Richard Brake - the make up - the infamous deleted scene with Justin Long - musicals, prosthetic boobs and more! "A woman staying at an Airbnb discovers that the house she has rented is not what it seems." Hosted by "Nasty" Neal Theme by "The Tomb of Nick Cage" https://thetombofnickcage.com Closing track by Music of the Month Dylan Mars Greenberg https://dylangreenberg.bandcamp.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/withoutyourhead/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/withoutyourhead/support
Matthew Patrick Davis (@matthewpatrickdavis is an actor and songwriter, he's in Barbarian
Scaring you right out of your pants with Matthew Patrick Davis.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Matthew Patrick Davis joins us to discuss BARBARIAN, one of the best new movies of the year, and YES we talk about spoilers and plot elements inside, so if you haven't seen it yet (AND YOU SHOULD), see it first!
Doug welcomes Matthew Patrick Davis, Kelly McInerney and Brett Morgen to the show.You can find the entire archive of Doug Loves Movies on Stitcher Premium. For a free month of Stitcher Premium, go to stitcherpremium.com and use promo code "DOUG."See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
MONSTER PARTY GETS BARBARIC! JAMES GONIS, SHAWN SHERIDAN, LARRY STROTHE, and MATT WEINHOLD, take a fresh claw swipe at a topic we did several years ago. But this time, we've got some new blood! If you want to know what goes into trodding the boards of a horror movie set, have a listen to this sinister seminar of sound we call... MONSTER ACTING VOL. 2!!! In MONSTER ACTING VOL. 1, we got a look from inside the creature suit with monster acting (and every other kind of acting) legend... DOUG JONES. This time, we've booked a shining new talent who is the star of the smash hit horror film, BARBARIAN... MATTHEW PATRICK DAVIS!!! Alhough BARBARIAN is Matthew's breakout film, he's no novice at monster acting, playing a hilarious zombie in a SPRINT commercial, James Corden's new Alien Xenomorph girlfriend on THE LATE LATE SHOW, and the "Geek" in the Broadway production of SIDE SHOW! But Davis is more than just an amazing actor! He's an accomplished musician and composer who has written music for the DISNEY JR. shows, THE GHOST AND MOLLY McGEE and T.O.T.S., as well as parody mini-musicals of JURASSIC PARK, and THE SHINING! SO STRAP YOURSELVES IN FOR "THE MOTHER" OF ALL MONSTER PARTY PODCASTS!
Subscribe & Listen to the Podcast: https://www.whirks.com/podcasts/ Featured Article: https://www.whirks.com/blog/recruiting-best-practices/ → How are you preparing for the fluctuating economy and growing inflation?
***This episode contains spoilers for the Movie "Barbarian"***Episode 331."Barbarian" Actor: Matthew Patrick Davis.Matthew Patrick Davis is an actor who you can currently find in the uniquely clever, "Barbarian" Matthew's role as "The Mother" is an instant classic and one for the ages. This film will stick with you long after you see it!We touch on:1. Matt's music and YouTube page.2. Matt's love for his dog and inspiration for some of his music.3. How he landed the role of "The Mother"4. His fantastic sense of humor.5. We break down "Barbarian"I found Matt to be immensely kind and so much fun to converse with. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!Welcome, Matthew Patrick Davis.Instagram: Monday Morning Critic Podcast.Facebook: Monday Morning Critic Podcast.Twitter:@mdmcriticEmail: Mondaymorningcritic@gmail.comYouTube: Monday Morning Critic Podcastwww.mmcpodcast.com
Composer and Actor Matthew Patrick Davis joins Chris to talk about his new movie Barbarian, writing music for the Disney Channel, animation, movie revival screenings like E.T., GOT House of the Dragon, Primal, and more!
This week, hosts Peter Ravella and Tyler Buckingham talk about the volcanoes of Hawaii with Dr. Matthew Patrick, a research geologist at the USGS operated Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO), which monitors the active volcanoes in Hawaii, assesses their hazards, issues warnings, and advances scientific understanding to reduce impacts of volcanic eruptions. Founded in 1912, HVO was the first of the five volcano observatories supported by USGS today. For much of its history, HVO was perched dramatically on the rim of Kīlauea Volcano's summit caldera inside Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. That ended in 2018, when—amid ash explosions and violent earthquakes accompanying onset of partial summit collapse—HVO relocated to the town of Hilo, 30 miles distant. We talk to Dr. Patrick about the ongoing science occurring at HVO and explore some of the parallels between volcanic and coastal risks. Check it out, only on ASPN!
"I decided I would try to understand things psychologically because it seemed to me that the current wisdom that people were acting as rational actors operating in their own best interests didn't actually fit the facts. Many people and communities were doing things that were harmful to themselves. I thought, ‘Well, one profession that spends a lot of its time exploring why individuals and indeed communities do things that harm themselves rather than operating in their best interest is psychiatry and indeed psychoanalysis'. So I went into medicine and qualified in medicine and then in psychiatry and later I went into analysis and tried to explore individual psychoanalytic work, but also group analysis, family therapy - any of the approaches that seemed to me would deepen our understanding." Episode Description: John begins by describing the early family influences on his interest in hearing others' points of view. He developed this orientation and eventually trained as a psychiatrist and then received training in psychoanalysis which he has brought to the many negotiations in which he has participated. He learned to appreciate the centrality of relationship building in his political work. We discuss the fundamentals of analytic listening as it applies in the political arena which includes the expectation that disruptions inevitably characterize the back and forth of these tense collaborations. He describes his ongoing work in monthly IPA-affiliated meetings that are devoted to considering how a psychoanalytic perspective may ease struggles in the international arena. We close with his explaining the meaning of his title of Lord. Our Guest: John, Lord Alderdice FRCPsych is a psychiatrist who served as leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland for eleven years. Dr. Alderdice played a significant role in negotiating the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. He then stood down as Party Leader and became the first Speaker of the new Northern Ireland Assembly. As the first Assembly mandate was ending, he was appointed by the British and Irish Governments to be one of four international commissioners appointed to monitor security normalization and close down the illegal paramilitary activities in Ireland. He had been appointed in 1996 to the House of Lords where he chaired the Liberal Democrat caucus during the Liberal/Conservative Coalition Government in the United Kingdom. He was also for many years a psychoanalytical psychiatrist in Belfast where he established the Centre for Psychotherapy and a range of analytically informed trainings. Now retired from clinical work he is a Senior Research Fellow at Harris Manchester College, at the University of Oxford, and is the Director of the Centre for the Resolution of Intractable Conflict. Recommended Readings: Alderdice, John, Lord (2010) Off the couch and round the conference table, Chap 1, 15 – 32, in Off the Couch – Contemporary Psychoanalytic Applications, ed Alessandra Lemma and Matthew Patrick, Routledge, London, and New York ISBN: 978-0-415-47615-7 Alderdice, John, Lord, (2017) Fundamentalism, Radicalization and Terrorism Part I: Terrorism as Dissolution in a Complex System, Psychoanal. Psychotherapy Alderdice, John, Lord, (2017) Fundamentalism, Radicalization and Terrorism Part II: Fundamentalism, Regression and Repair, Psychoanal. Psychotherapy, Alderdice, John, Lord (2021) On the Psychology of Religious Fundamentalism, Chap 11, 193 - 212, in A Deeper Cut – Further Explorations of the Unconscious in Social and Political Life, ed. David Morgan, Phoenix Publishing House, Bicester, UK ISBN-13: 978-1-912691-19-7 Alderdice, John, Lord (2021) Conflict, Complexity, and Cooperation, New England Journal of Public Policy: Vol. 33: Iss. 1, Article 9.
This week, we are pleased to be joined by our recurring guest Matthew Patrick “Chives” Cartmell as we find ourselves both shaken and stirred by the film which marks the finale of Daniel Craig’s tenure as Bond (spoilers 40:31 – 1:19:16). We also cover a review of some recent trailers to have been released, read … Continue reading "Episode 176: No Time To Die"
In this special bonus episode, Bartek Ingredients' Jeff Billig and Matthew Patrick talk about the challenges that formulators and manufacturers encounter when working with pectins. We kick things off talk talking about Bartek's focus in the bakery, beverage and confectionery markets as well as how the company, which specializes in malic and fumaric acids helps companies optimize their applications. We then shift into a conversation about pH and the challenges of producing pectin-based gummy products before rounding out the episode learning more about Bartek's new buffer salt, Pecmate. Learn more about Bartek Ingredients on their website. Read the full transcript of this podcast episode on the Food Processing website.
Dan Levitt is the founder and CEO of Long Haul Management. We discuss how Dan paid rent while making only $6,000 a year out of college (many side hustles), beating me in an office rap battle, Disney's big miss in digital music, executive producing one of YouTube's premium original series, and what it's like to represent some of the biggest sports and gamer personalities on the Internet.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---Chris Erwin:Hi, I'm Chris Erwin. Welcome to The Come Up, a podcast that interviews entrepreneurs and leaders. Dan Levitt:I chose the safer Disney route. Again, I needed to pay the bills. But I made a promise to myself. Every day, I saw someone else doing what I wanted to do. They were the AbsolutePunks of the world. Or there were other people who turned the music blog into an A&R career, or leveraged it in other ways.I'm good at seeing gaps in the marketplace and where could you go in it. I made a promise. The next time I see it, I'm fucking going for it. Chris Erwin:This week's episode features Dan Levitt, the founder and CEO of Long Haul Management. Dan grew up in Boston with an early love for music and yet-to-be-discovered bands. So, after wrapping a few acts in high school and interning at Philly radio stations during college, he kicked off his career by moving to LA with absolutely no job prospects.But after a few A&R gigs at Columbia Records and Disney, Dan was early to see how digital and YouTube were going to transform the music industry. So, he left traditional media and kicked off his digital career, joining one of the early YouTube multichannel networks, company called Big Frame.We actually worked together there. And in less than nine months, I actually had to lay him off. Dan struck out on his own, positioned himself as the YouTube guy for the music industry and started his own talent shop, Long Haul Management.Some highlights of our chat include how Dan paid rent while making only $6,000 a year when he first moved to LA ... You'll crack up at some of his many side hustles ... when he beat me in an office rap battle, executive producing one of YouTube's premium original series, and what it's like to represent some of the biggest sports and gamer personalities on the internet. All right, let's get to it. Dan, thanks for being and the podcast. Dan Levitt:Thanks for having me. Chris Erwin:Awesome. I believe that you're a fellow East Coaster like myself. So tell me, where did you grow up? Dan Levitt:Sure, I'm from a nice suburb of Boston, Newton, Massachusetts. Literally voted safest city in America back when I was younger. So, nice Jewish suburb of Boston. Chris Erwin:Got it. It's funny. I went to underground at Tufts in Medford/Somerville. I think, while I was there, it was rated one of the most dangerous mafia-driven neighborhoods in the Northeast, or all of the US. So, quite the opposite of you. What was your household like? What were your family and parents doing? Dan Levitt:So, one, my parents are both from South Africa. They moved to the US in, I think, '77. My dad went to school for engineering, and then got a job in Boston, and then eventually started his own software business that really had a bunch of ups and downs. Mostly ups, and then fortunately sold to IBM right before the big bubble burst there. So, the timing was fortunate. Dan Levitt:And then my mom was artist. So, had all kinds of different things she would do in the art space, be it theater, be it actual prints and displays and stuff. Chris Erwin:Okay, very cool. It's funny. I've known you for about a decade and I had no idea your parents were from South Africa. Look, you're an entrepreneur. You've built out an incredible talent management firm. We're going to get to that in a bit. But you have entrepreneurial roots in your family. Dan Levitt:It's interesting now. I remember my dad would come back ... I think maybe at the height, he had 50, 60 people. Maybe more. I remember growing up, he'd come back from work and we'd be watching a Celtics game. It was the most exciting game ever, especially, they were really good back then. Dan Levitt:And he would fall asleep, and I'd be like, "How in the world can you possibly fall asleep during this game?" And now, I'm like, "Yep, I get it." Yeah, I could totally get how you could be so wiped out the day that, no matter what is on TV, you're just out. Dan Levitt:I mean, what was really interesting is, my parents went through a kind of messy divorce. We don't need to get into that but that's a whole fun story. But what's interesting is, when they separated, he stayed with a friend for a bit. And he went from sleeping in the basement of a friend's house to selling his business to IBM in a year. Dan Levitt:There were a lot of times that people told him, because the business had some challenges over the years, there were a lot of people that told him that he should declare bankruptcy with the business. But he stayed with it. And eventually, it worked out for him. I'm sure, hopefully, some of the resiliency I have, learned from him. Chris Erwin:Wow. Awesome. I have to ask. Being from Boston, a lot of media professionals from Boston have a pretty strong Boston identity. I think of Dave Portnoy in Barstool Sports, and Bill Simmons from The Ringer. Do you think of yourself like that, or your total West Coast transplant now? Dan Levitt:It's not just specific to Boston, but especially in the Northeast, there's a certain intensity and, I think, an edge that you can have, where in Boston, in traffic, if someone cuts you off, you scream at each other. And that's just acceptable and that's how you vent, right? Dan Levitt:In LA, it's much different than that. I'm in LA now. On the West Coast, people are more scared of confrontation. If you scream at someone, that's a really big deal. I think there's just a certain firm mentality that you have where it's pretty hard to bother me or get under my skin. Dan Levitt:I have thick skin. I do think part of that is just growing up in a culture where people are so up front with that. I also think, to a certain extent, growing up in cold climate where the weather is pretty brutal, and you just have to plow through it, does give some sort of mental toughness. Chris Erwin:I think that's totally right. I think there's this saying. I hope I'm not butchering it. But it's, "In New York, when people are saying, 'Fuck you,' they're saying, 'Good morning.' In the West Coast, when they say, 'Good morning,' they're saying, 'Fuck you.'" Dan Levitt:Yeah. I mean, but it's more so ... I remember in one of my first PA jobs in LA, I had a disagreement with another PA about the way things should be done. And then later on, I was brought into the office by my supervisor and they're like, "Dan, you were screaming at them. Why?" Dan Levitt:And I was like, "I wasn't screaming at them. I was telling them something they didn't want to hear in a certain tone. If I was screaming at them, they would know. Everybody would know." So, that was really the first ... I just moved to LA and I was like, "Shit, I got to really be cognizant of how I talk to people out here. They're going to think I'm a fucking lunatic," which, to a certain extent, is true. But maybe I need to slow play that a bit. Keep my response- Chris Erwin:It's part of your je ne sais quoi, as they say. Nothing- Dan Levitt:Yeah. I mean, you know me really well. But for people who just meet me, I can be a lot. Chris Erwin:Yeah, so let's actually talk about how you got to where you are today. I think, trying to get a sense of, was there a glimpse in your early days of you entering entertainment, becoming a talent manager? I think about things that you had mentioned that you were looking at unsigned bands in high school in the '90s. Tell me about that. Dan Levitt:My skillset is, I'm really good at seeing patterns and seeing where things are going, right? Before they get there. So, I think that's what I'm best at, be it entertainment or trends. I've done okay in the stock market, investing and stuff. So, specific to your question, yeah. Dan Levitt:My first real strong passion was music. I heard Green Day and it changed my life. And I was like, "This is it." And then I definitely have the personality type where if I'm into something, I'm all the way fucking in. So, if I like Green Day, okay, I need ever record they've ever had. Dan Levitt:So, I started, the mid '90s or so, music was starting to shift to digital, right? So, you used to discover bands on the radio, and then around that time, there started to be primitive websites. Around when Napster first came out, there started to be people who would put MP3s online, right? Dan Levitt:So, now here are these blogs that are hosting MP3s. So, they would be posting bands that would be signed to record labels. And I would like these bands. I'd find then, I'd like them, and then they'd get big a year later. It was like, "Oh, I'm pretty good at knowing which bands are going to be big later." Dan Levitt:And then, one site in particular started focusing on unsigned bands, and I said, "Oh, these unsigned bands are pretty good. I think they're going to make it." And then they would get signed and they would make it. So, I saw, "Hey, I'm pretty good at ... " Dan Levitt:And I started learning more about the industry. And at that point, originally, my job was to, "Hey, I wanted to work as a music direct on the radio helping find the songs." And then I realized, "Hey, actually the best way I can help musicians is to work at a record label." So then, it was my dream to be an A&R guy to sign a band and help them break. Chris Erwin:And any genre focus? What types of music were you listening to? Was it Green Day punk? Stuff like that? Dan Levitt:More like the new metal, like the Korn. I know you're obviously a huge Limp Bizkit fan. That kind of stuff. Chris Erwin:Three Dollar Bill, Y'all Dan Levitt:Sure, exactly, right? Around that time was the Linkin Parks of the world and that kind of stuff. That was really the scene that I was into. I still had an appreciation for more pop music and stuff like that. But really, the rock, I would say, is the genre that I was into and certainly having a great moment then. Dan Levitt:Yeah, so then there were a few sites. And I remember trying to email people, and bands, and managers, and see what I could do. But I was just a kid in high school. Again, this is, I'm downloading songs over a dial-up modem. Chris Erwin:DSL. Dan Levitt:Yeah, exactly. This was not how easy it was today. That was the dream. But I didn't know anyone at entertainment. There was no path to it. I was like, "Could I start my own record label and fund it?" But that seemed so far from being feasible. Chris Erwin:Yeah, were you reaching out to any of these bands direct, or was it, you're just thinking about what you want to do after college? Dan Levitt:Yeah, I had a buddy from summer camp who was, at the same time ... This is the late '90s. He started interning at record labels in New York and started getting a bit of traction. So, we were talking about, "Hey, maybe we should start our own label." And there were one or two bands that we approached. They didn't really respond. It didn't go anywhere. Chris Erwin:Oh, I would've loved to have been a fly on the wall to hear the pitch of you pitching a band in high school to sign with you. Dan Levitt:I forget what the value proposition was, but that band didn't really go anywhere. They probably should've given us a shot. Chris Erwin:You're doing this in high school, and then you end up going to Temple University in Philly. Does the dream start to take form there? What happens? Dan Levitt:No. I wanted to be a bit more conservative. And I was like, "Hey, I know I want to get into entertainment. I know I want to be on the business side. What's interesting to me is the intersection of art and commerce. But these jobs are going to be really hard to get. So, as a background, why don't I get a business degree, just to give me some kind of stability and baseline of knowledge?" Dan Levitt:So, I went to school at Temple. There's all kinds of story. My dorm room burnt down freshman year. Just the craziest shit happened. Chris Erwin:Wait, did you cause that or was it somebody else? Dan Levitt:No, no. Well, it's a point of contention. My roommate was lighting candles for some reason at 10:00 in the morning. But the fire marshal said it was electrical outlet. It's a whole thing. But anyways, went to Temple. Actually, before I left, I interned at a radio station in Boston. Then I interned at radio stations in Philly because that was really the only ... Dan Levitt:There weren't record labels in Boston, at least that I was aware of, in Philly. So, I just interned at radio in hope that I could make my way up there. But then I saw, man, the radio jobs ... I mean, and this was back then. I could only imagine now. Radio's not glamorous at all. It's really bare bones. The budgets are next to nothing. No one leaves these jobs. The jobs didn't pay great. Dan Levitt:So, I realized, "Hey, I thought I wanted to do radio, but this is not for me." And then that was more like, "Okay, I want to work for a record label." That was the dream. Be an A&R guy. Chris Erwin:In graduating Temple, which I think is around 2004, do you go immediately ... Do you have a job lined up? Like you're going to a record label. You're pumped going to the big city? Dan Levitt:I don't know why. I wasn't really actively hustling for a gig. I guess I assumed, "Oh, the college sets up some interviews and stuff." Nothing. So, a couple of my buddies went there. Temple has a really good film program, so most of my friends actually weren't on the business program. They were more on the film side. Dan Levitt:So, a couple of my buddies were moving out to LA to get started in their careers. So, I knew the music industry at that time was really New York or LA. And the last winter in Boston, the high was like eight degrees. I'm not one to complain about the cold, but I was too fucking cold. Dan Levitt:So, I was like, "Do I move to New York with no gig where it's crazy expensive and the weather's brutal, or maybe I should I try LA and see what it's like over there." So, I moved here without any job, and hoping that I'd figure it out. Chris Erwin:So, you're showing up without a lot of savings. No clear job prospects. Moving with a couple friends but don't really know anyone on the West Coast. So, there's a timeline here where it's like, "Hey, I got to figure something out probably in the next couple months," right? Dan Levitt:Totally. Maybe a couple grand. Thankfully, at least rent back then was a lot less than it is now. I think me and my buddies got a house in Glendale ... well, maybe Eagle Rock area or Glassell Park for maybe $1,000 between us three. It was pretty inexpensive. I had some cost but I had a little bit of room to work with there. Chris Erwin:Yeah, so you show up with maybe a couple suitcases. You're in LA. What's your mentality? Are you pumped? Are you excited? Are you also scared? And then what do you start doing to sow your roots? Dan Levitt:Really, it was just like, "Okay, I have a business degree. Surely, I can get an entry-level job somewhere doing marketing." And just nothing. Barely interviews. Fucking nothing. So, I was just like, "All right, let me just ... " Couple of my buddies started PAing, so I did some PA gigs. Dan Levitt:But even in those gigs, you really have to hustle. You have to networks. And the gig ends and then you've got to get another job. And then that one ends. You got to get another job. I didn't really want to jump from job to job. There's late-night shoots. It would mess up my sleep schedule. Dan Levitt:I was a much different person. I was a lot lazier. I didn't think things would come to me. I just thought it would be easier. Chris Erwin:It's funny to hear you say that, because who you are now, who I have seen you evolve from since the Big Frame days in 2013, right? When you left. You are such a go-getter. Eye on the ball. Laser focus. Massive hustler. So, I guess this was an important experience for you to train that muscle and change your mentality. Dan Levitt:For some background, I am not a type ... Now, I'm probably type A, but I promise you, I was not type A. For context, I don't know what my GPA was in high school. Maybe a 2.3. It was not good at all. At all. I was a bad student. For context, in second grade, I already wasn't doing homework just I couldn't be bothered to do it. I could do it. Dan Levitt:I could pass everything and do it well. For some reason, it wasn't interesting to me. Probably wasn't until after I left Big Frame when I really had to figure stuff out for my own. But I had to really flip that switch and become that person. There's some people who just born type A. That's been a constant evolution for me. Chris Erwin:But your first job, you do get an A&R job at Columbia Records, which is part of Sony Music, I think in March 2005. How did that come to be and what was that experience like? Dan Levitt:Oh, this is a great story about how this ends. The buddy I mentioned earlier who was interning at record labels, he was able to move up. I think he was actually probably the youngest A&R guy in Sony history, at least at the time. He helped get John Legend signed and Coheed and Cambria. So, after John- Chris Erwin:Favorite band, Coheed and Cambria. Jersey band in the metalcore punk-ish type scene. Love them. Dan Levitt:Yeah, I think that was one of the first things he got signed. And then after he helped get John Legend signed, who they had passed on maybe five or six times, then they started, "Oh, maybe we should listen to him." He got promoted. At the time, the music industry was really going through an interesting transition. This is 2005. Dan Levitt:So, this is after the height of the boy band and rock. CD sales are declining now, relative to all-time highs. What was happening was, you were seeing a lot of executive turnover. So, a lot of execs who got these amazing lucrative deals in the good old days were getting or not renewed. So, there was a lot of turnover. Dan Levitt:So, what happened was, at that time, most of the A&R people for Columbia Records were in New York. But they needed someone lower level in LA to go see shows for them, especially at that point, the live shows. Especially in rock and other genres is a big part of a band's success. Dan Levitt:They didn't really have anyone lower and my buddy knew that I was still hustling. I'm working retail at that point. I'm working at The Vitamin Shoppe just to pay the bills, right? Because I didn't want the hustle of the random PA gigs. Keep in mind, I'm still applying for marketing jobs at a Nestle's and other more consumer products. Dan Levitt:I'm applying at entertainment too, but everyone is entry ... And this is even worse now. An entry-level job, they want you to have experience. I didn't have any work experience. I had a couple internships. So, I'm just working retail. My buddy is basically able to get me a job working for Columbia Records, but part-time, right? Dan Levitt:So, I'm basically working at The Vitamin Shoppe during the day, and then at night, going out and doing A&R for Columbia Records, albeit, in a part-time capacity. And I'm just fucking praying that no one I know from the music world comes into the store. Dan Levitt:So, it's really a one foot in, one foot out. And I'm basically just trying to do what I can to find the next great act for them to sign. So, that I can get recognized, and that I can do this full-time, and quit the soul-sucking day job. Chris Erwin:How much were you making as an A&R exec at this point? Dan Levitt:I might have been making maybe $125 a week. I think it was definitely between six and seven grand a year. So, not by any means enough to pay the bills, but not terrible, especially back then as a side. Keep in mind, if you look at it from an hourly perspective, I'm not really doing much. Maybe I go to one or two shows a night. Dan Levitt:By the way, I'm on the guest list for shows. I can walk into The Viper Room and the people there know me. I can just go in. So, I'm seeing amazing shows. I'm meeting people in the industry. I'm meeting managers. Meanwhile, anyone I meet, I'm trying to see if I can work with them. Dan Levitt:I'm applying for job after job. Entry-level manager assistant, $24,000. I'm applying. At that point, I have Columbia Records on my resume, and still barely getting bites. Even then, for whatever reason, I wasn't getting the gigs. It was a really, really tough time. Dan Levitt:It's worth noting, this was before the tech started. This was before SoundCloud. This is before some of the first music startups. So, there really wasn't much opportunity to get a gig somewhere. I interviewed at some of the music marketing companies like Streetwise. Dan Levitt:And this is building street teams and digital street teams. I wanted to do all that shit. I had some experience and still couldn't get in. Columbia Records. So one, it's kind of laughable now, but I discovered Arctic Monkeys extremely early. They only had three songs online. No one had heard of them in the US. No sales. Nothing. Dan Levitt:So, I have a bunch of buddies that I would send songs to. This is when The Strokes are first hitting, right? I find them on one of the music blogs that I like. These songs are ... I'm into them but I don't love it. I send it to a bunch of buddies and universally, everyone of them were like, "This is the best thing you've ever sent." Dan Levitt:And I was like, "Really? Wow." So then, I pitched them to Columbia Records and they're, "Oh, this is cool. It's this cool indie rock thing. But it's three guys in the UK. There's no sales. There's no history. It'd be really hard for us to fly them back and forth. But thanks for bringing it up." Dan Levitt:I didn't really know that I had to keep following up. "Hey, there's starting to be some noise." I didn't know. No one taught me how to do A&R or how to pitch, had to follow up. Again, it's not like I'm going into an office. I'm just remote because I still had the day gig. Dan Levitt:So, anyways, eventually there were Arctic Monkeys and Lily Allen, a few things that I pitched that ended up hitting eventually. And then it got to the point where Sony Music was having a weekend where they were bringing in ever Sony Music employee to New York to do this whole song and dance about their roster. Dan Levitt:So, I basically request vacation time from my dad gig to go to New York. Again, Columbia Records is paying me $125 a week, but they're flying me to New York and put me up in a fancy hotel. Chris Erwin:It's like half your salary. Dan Levitt:Oh, no, by far, they spent way more on this. I mean, anyways, it was a weekend in Greenwich, Connecticut with the A&R team. So, I get called into the head A&R's office on the Friday. He's like, "Hey, Dan, I have some great news for you. Thanks for everything you've done. We're going to make you full-time. We're just waiting to hear from accounting on how much that's going to be. We'll get back to you." Dan Levitt:And I'm like, "This is what I've been fucking working my whole life for." And then right afterwards, we get on the bus to go to Greenwich, Connecticut. And Columbia had just brought on Steve Lillywhite, the producer who produced all the big U2 records, Dave Matthews. Albums I fucking grew up on. I'm shooting the shit with him now. Dan Levitt:We go to the head of the label's house, and there's all these Korn, and Rage Against the Machine, and all these albums that were so meaningful to me. All the plaques. It was a weekend where I felt like I was one of them now. My whole life, I've been trying to get in, and now I'm finally in. Still today one of the best weekends of my life. Dan Levitt:And then I fly back and it's Monday. And I'm back in the day job. And I'm just waiting for the phone call. I'm just waiting for the phone call about how much more money it's going to be. I'm so fucking ready. I get the call. "Hey, Dan, we have some bad news. We're not going to have room for you anymore. Sorry, but thanks for everything you've done." Chris Erwin:Wow. Just fast like that? Almost no emotion? Just, boom. Dan Levitt:No, no, to his credit, he was really apologetic. But I was fucking shellshocked because the call I got where I thought, "Okay, this is the phone call. I'm about to quit. I'm about to quit day job," was just the carpet ripped out from under me. Dan Levitt:I had the day job but at least I was grinding at night, hoping to get somewhere. Now, that was taken from me. And now I'm like, "Fuck, I'm about to be 25 with a business degree, working retail. This is not how I thought shit was going to go." Dan Levitt:So, it ends up being revealed later on, it wasn't clear at that time, but basically, Columbia Records was bringing on Rick Rubin and he wanted his own people. But it was just a gut shot at the time. Chris Erwin:So, Dan, you get into a few side hustle. And I think one of them culminates in you doing chat room marketing for cream cheese. But tell us a couple highlights here because I think some of these side hustles, like swap meets, is still involved in your life today. Dan Levitt:It's always fun for me, trying to figure out new ways to make money. It's a lot easier now with the internet and stuff. It wasn't back then. I was a big focus group slut. I would do anything. Promote anything. So, I would get really good at filling out focus group surveys. Dan Levitt:I knew how they wanted you to answer, and so I would do ... For example, I've been paid to eat tofu. I've been paid to eat gum. I've been paid to eat McDonald's breakfast sandwiches. I got paid to play a Xbox Kinect before it came out. I've been paid to look at marketing materials. Dan Levitt:I've been paid to play with phones, and gadgets, and look at Cirque du Soleil. All kinds of stuff. Especially in LA, I'm sure this is the case in maybe a lot of big cities, but there's a lot of companies that do focus groups both in person. And I was just a maniac. Dan Levitt:There were a few Twitter accounts that popped up from those. It's like, "Hey, if you're this and you're this, fill it out." So, I would just ... whatever I could to try to get in. Chris Erwin:And this was paying the bills for you, so this was important. Dan Levitt:I think one year, I made maybe eight grand doing it. My first couple years in LA, I might have made only $20, $30 grand, so it was pretty significant. There was a store in LA that, on Sundays, would sell clothes, some vintage, some new, for a dollar. Dan Levitt:I would go and I'd buy most of the men's stuff. I'd list it on eBay. Basically, anything I sold it for was profit. I ended up getting fired from The Vitamin Shoppe. That's not really an interesting story. There was a company doing ... This would be summer 2008. They were doing experimental digital marketing. Dan Levitt:So, they were basically going into chat rooms essentially spamming message points. But then also, you had to have one-on-one conversations with people where you'd have to work in talking points, which was really fucking hard. Especially, how do you work cream cheese into a conversation organically? But I got fucking really good at it. Dan Levitt:So, within two days, I got so good at it that, by the end of the first week, I was promoted to the night shift manager. So, you would drop the campaign talking points into the chat. But really, it was all about these one-on-one conversations because basically, this agency would take those conversations, chop them up, make them clean, and then share it with the brand, and, "Hey, look, we're doing this subtle marketing for you." Chris Erwin:What was one of the lines that was something that you custom crafted that you were known for? Dan Levitt:This is really interesting psychology. What everyone else would do was, they would try to hit up a million people to try to find one, and try to work it in. They would brute force it. I took the opposite approach. I was like, "I'm going to ask other people online about themselves, and then just as conversations go, they'll flip it. And they'll ask me about myself." Dan Levitt:And then I'm like, "Oh, yeah." Put one of the common ... "Oh, what do you do for work?" I'm not going to say the brand's name but it's a city where I went to school. But it's like, "Hey," we couldn't say, "I work at." We had to say, "I work with X cream cheese company." "Oh, really? I love cream cheese. Cool." Dan Levitt:And then it's like, "Oh, what do you use it on?" "Oh, I can use it for cheesecakes or stuff like that." Or there's another site that's harder to use but you could actually see people's images. Think Myspace era. It wasn't Myspace but similar. Dan Levitt:So, I would identify people that I thought, based on physical attributes, might be interested in cream cheese. And I'd just message them and chat with them. But man, that was one of the funnest jobs I ever had, more so because, as a guy, it's not so bad. You're mostly talking to girls. As a girl on the internet trying to talk to guys about cream cheese, the kind of shit that they would hear was just- Chris Erwin:Probably a dark rabbit that we will not go down. So, Dan, then you head to A&R at Disney around September 2008. How did that come to be? Dan Levitt:My roommate used to do HR for Disney, right? So, keep in mind, at that point actually, I'd left the cream cheese job. And I'm working in a movie theater. I'm making $8.50 an hour. I got my side hustles. So, I see a job posting for A&R coordinator. Dan Levitt:I ping my roommate and I'm like, "Hey, do you know the recruiter for this gig?" And he did. It was someone he used to work closely with. So, I was able to customize my resume and it went directly to the recruiter from a friendly ... I remember the weekend I saw the job, I was in Chicago for a wedding. Dan Levitt:And I remember holding back my friend for an hour, so I could tweak it before we went and got pizza. I applied on a Friday. And then I got back and basically, I think that day, the recruiter called. I had a phone interview. And basically, the next Friday, I had a gig. Chris Erwin:Wow. That moved very fast in contrast to your other stuff. Dan Levitt:Unheard of for Disney. And the salary was in the mid-40s. Again, I had a Columbia Records gig, but it paid next to nothing. And now, I have an A&R job at Disney with a real fucking salary and amazing benefits, and it happened so quick. And I had been out here for five years grinding. Just grinding. Chris Erwin:Did you feel you had made it at that point, like, "I've made it. I'm here"? Dan Levitt:It wasn't that I made it. It was that I made it out of retail because to this day, I ... There's absolutely nothing wrong with working retail, I did it forever, but I don't want to do it again. I don't want to interact with the public. I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe how fast it happened. And just like that, my whole world changed. Dan Levitt:I was so appreciative and so thankful to have a gig that provided some stability that was in a industry that I wanted. You meet someone, you tell them you work for Disney, it changes the perception of you, right? And certainly for me, who'd been trying to get a real industry gig, it was fun to ... I knew that I had the chops, and it was finally someone recognizing it. 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 could 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. Chris Erwin:After this, you end up going to, call it, the YouTube revolution of Big Frame. So, I'm just curious, while you're at Disney, was there anything about emerging media, digitally native artists that you were focused on during those four years? Trying to sense a through line here. Dan Levitt:After I left the Columbia Records gig or got let go, I saw these people who had these music blogs that were starting to go with their own reputations as tastemakers. So, I thought, "Oh, maybe I should do that for myself. Maybe instead of working for a record label and being a tastemaker, maybe I should do that on my own, with my blog or something." Dan Levitt:But I didn't really have the technical prowess to do the blog stuff. It seems like, "Oh, it should've been easy." Blogs and stuff were not easy back then. So actually, I started doing online video. I bought an HD camera. This must've been very early YouTube days. Dan Levitt:But I actually, with a buddy, recorded some HD music industry podcasts where we talked about music industry news and stuff. But I think I would post it on YouTube, but sadly and stupidly, because YouTube didn't monetize then, I put it on Revver where they did monetize. R-E-V-V-E-R was sort of a YouTube competitor at the time that did monetize. Dan Levitt:And I was like, "Oh, I want to make money doing this," so even though there's more audience on YouTube, I put it there. And nothing happened that I didn't ... It was hard relying on my buddy, who was great to schedule this. I didn't stick with it. So, I didn't stick with it. But I was doing it semi-consistently. Dan Levitt:But then when I got the Disney job, I asked if I could continue doing it, and they were like, "No, you're doing A&R for us. You obviously can't be talking about acts that aren't signed to Disney." So, I put that on the side and then I saw the early podcast boom. Dan Levitt:Again, I'm listening to Bill Simmons. I'm listening to Carolla. Saw the podcast thing happening. So, while I'm at Disney, especially I'm a couple year in, it was a decent job but my department is pretty strict. I wasn't given the freedom that you would think an A&R guy would have. It was a lot more administrative. Dan Levitt:It was a glorified assistant, right? It wasn't an A&R role. They truly did not care about my opinion for acts in my estimation, especially the label side. I worked for the publishing side. I tried to get in with the label guys and it didn't really work. Dan Levitt:A couple years in, I'm starting to think, "Okay, I got to get out of here." This was great, but I'm like, "I'm going to be a 30-year-old A&R guy who's never got anything signed. And if lose this gig ... " And again, this is the industry especially 2008, 2009, 2010, sales are going way down. Dan Levitt:This is when streaming is just starting. So, I'm trying to meet whoever I can, right? So actually, this is when SoundCloud first starts. I was up for a gig there. I had some friends record some messages recommending me. I had a great relationship of amazing songwriters and artists that I was an advocate for, that hadn't really made it or were just starting to. Dan Levitt:I tried to get at SongKit and all these things that were starting. I actually tried to get a job at Spotify. I'm actually one of the first 500 people in the US to have a Spotify account. I had an account for two years before it launched. Chris Erwin:I think what I'm hearing is that you've also applied to every single music company, I think, in the world by this point. Dan Levitt:Yeah, but especially the good ones, right? I loved what SoundCloud was doing. Really at the time, they were so innovative. And they were solving their big problem, which was hosting audio. The role that I wanted was helping artists get on the platform and figure stuff out. Dan Levitt:So, around that time, again, I always believed in YouTube. I was doing it for myself. And then obviously Justin Bieber broke. And I'm looking on YouTube and I'm seeing these kids who are doing mid-tempo acoustic ballads, because that's all they can do, because that's what you do when you start. Dan Levitt:But they were doing covers and building an audience. And I was like, "The originals aren't that good. And I know all these amazing songwriters and producers that right now getting cuts in a major label system, because it's a fixed game, because the heads of the A&R start separate publishing divisions. And those people get the singles." Dan Levitt:So, I was like, "What if I actually brought some artist development into this YouTuber space where these people have done the hardest part. They've built an audience," right? There was one day on Twitter, the YouTube Creators account on Twitter posted that they were having an event at ... This is before the YouTube Space ... at YouTube's offices where they were talking about what makes a video successful on YouTube. I said, "That'll probably be good for me to know." Dan Levitt:I went and Sarah from Big Frame, who we both know well, was on the panel. She was talking about how she started a business and she was managing YouTubers. I was surprised that this was a thing, that there was enough of a business for there to be managers. Dan Levitt:Not only that, really smart ... Sarah is really impressive. I was like, "Wow, this is wild. I had no idea this kind of scene was happening." And then someone else actually asked about music. "What should the labels do?" And she was like, "Oh, the labels have no idea what they're doing at all." Dan Levitt:And then I went up to Sarah afterwards. I was, "Oh, I work for Disney Music." She's like, "Oh, I'm so sorry." I was like, "Oh, no, you have no idea how right you are." Actually, for an anecdote about how truly out of touch, in my experience, they were ... Dan Levitt:So again, through my relationships, I was one of the first 500 in the US to have Spotify. The Spotify had their agreement. They had a few test accounts for people in the industry to get to try it. I had one. I went to the head ... maybe the number two at Disney Music. Dan Levitt:And I was like, "Hey, I got this cool thing, Spotify. Have you seen it? Have you tried it? Do you want an account?" He was like, "Oh yeah, I'm not worried about that. I don't need one." It was so clear to me this was the future and they couldn't be bothered. Dan Levitt:Even, again, I'm still kind of green, right? But I saw that, hey, by the way, when they did the Spotify deal, Universal was distributing Disney, right? Universal got equity. Warner got Equity. Sony got equity. Disney didn't get equity but Universal leveraged the market share for distributing Disney for equity in Spotify. And I asked them, "Why did you do that?" I'm a fucking coordinator and you don't have- Chris Erwin:You're seeing where the industry is headed. And the vision at the top of Disney, or particularly for the Disney Music division, they just don't get it. So, you're like, "They're not going to get it." At your level, you're not going to be able to influence them. Chris Erwin:So, you're saying, again, "I got to make a move. I got to get out of here. The future is changing and I want to be a part of it." Dan Levitt:I think the big thing was, I saw what happened in podcasts. I didn't have to but I chose the safer Disney route, right? Because I needed a gig. I needed to pay the bills. But I made a promise to myself. Every day, I saw someone else doing what I wanted to do. They were the AbsolutePunks of the world, or there were other people who turned the music blog into an A&R career, or leveraged it in other ways with all these podcasts blowing up. ** Dan Levitt:And I promised myself, I was like, "I'm good at seeing gaps in the marketplace and where could you go in it. I made a promise. The next time I see it, I'm fucking going for it." Chris Erwin:I love that. Dan Levitt:That's why, when I met Sarah and I saw ... I was like, "This YouTube thing is fucking next. No one in the music industry realizes it. Let me get in. At worst ... " After that conversation with Sarah ... The follow-up week, we had lunch somewhere. Dan Levitt:And after that conversation, I was like, "Sarah, hire me." She was like, "I can't now but we're doing raise soon. Let's stay in touch." Then afterwards, I was like, "This is fucking it. I fucking know it. I need to get in here no matter what." So, I started being very aggressive. Chris Erwin:This is probably, thinking in a Big Frame timeline, the company was founded in, I think, the second half of 2011. And they officially raised funding from the Google Original Channels program and a seed round, I think, in early 2012. And you come in the second half of 2012. But yeah, Sarah's talking about they had to get funding lined up. I jointed Big Frame, I think, in July of 2012. Dan Levitt:But at this point, after I had lunch with Sarah, I'm like, "Okay, this is it. I need to get into this space," right? So, at the time, there were three companies, right? There was Maker, there was Big Frame, and Full Swing. Those were the three big ones, right? Dan Levitt:When I stepped back, I looked. At the time, Maker was far bigger and the hot company at that point, right? The one that had the most buzz. The one that had the most resources and stuff. So, I decide that I want to ... Sarah's great but let me see if I could get a job at Maker. Dan Levitt:I have a meeting with whoever's running their music dept. And this guy, he was cool. He was okay but did not have the level of sophistication or music knowledge that I had, right? And I think, especially, it's worth considering, at this point, the space is so new, there's no one with Sony and Disney A&R. The level of traditional level of music in the space at all. But I decide I'm going to go for it. Dan Levitt:I meet with him. It's a decent interview. And then I decide I really want to go out of my way to show them that I want this, right? So, at the time, Maker had 100 employees. So, the next day, I send over 100 Krispy Kreme doughnuts to the Maker office with a note, "Let's make sweet music together." Chris Erwin:How did that touch work out for you? Dan Levitt:I got a second interview. Literally, people in Maker are Tweeting about it, right? And I thought, "Look, at worst, it'll be memorable and maybe they'll think about me in the future. And at best, if I get the gig, everyone's going to like me from day one, because I'm the doughnut guy." Dan Levitt:Again, I'm real fucking desperate to get out of Disney at this point. I see the writing on the way, especially, one thing to mention is that at this time, we're talking 2012, the publishing division had merged with the record labels. And essentially, the head of one of the record labels was now the new music group boss. Dan Levitt:I was at Sony after the Sony BMG merger and I saw people getting picked off one by one. And I saw the same thing happening at publishing. I said, "This was a merger, the record side won, and the publishing people are going to go one by one." As soon as I saw the first domino fall, I was fucking on it. So, I definitely feel like there's an ax going over my head slowly descending. Chris Erwin:Yeah, so the timeline is compressing. You got to make moves. Okay, so after Disney, do you then apply to Big Frame? What happens next? Dan Levitt:Yeah, eventually, I end up ... I apply to Big Frame. I meet you. Chris Erwin:You said that you sent a video as part of your application, right? Dan Levitt:Right. Right. There was a job. I think, after Google acquired Next New NOW, they had a strategist role that I applied for that I didn't get. But I knew that, if you looked at my resume, you would see traditional media. I really wanted them to understand that I got digital culture. Dan Levitt:So, I made a video in addition to my resume, a fun video that played on the memes or the trends on YouTube at the time. The video was like, "Hey, I'm a big fan of YouTube. It's not just people doing the cinnamon challenge," and then it cut to me doing that, "or getting hurt," Then to me getting hit by 20 dodge balls from different angles. Chris Erwin:I actually think I vaguely start to remember this now. Dan Levitt:Yeah. Chris Erwin:Oh my God. Dan Levitt:I just knew that, especially having applied for so many gigs at traditional companies and not getting my resume seen, I wanted to make sure that in the future when I applied for a job, I was being extra. I was really going out of my way to show that I was serious about it. And also, especially with digital, that I got it the culture. That I got the space. Dan Levitt:That I'm not some stuffy guy. I really wanted to show that I was a believer in the space and to differentiate myself. Sarah actually told me after I was hired that the video did ease some of her concerns that it was going to be a more stealthy music guy, because especially at that time, the music industry and the MCNs, it was really contentious, right? Dan Levitt:It was Sony and some of the publishers having seen Myspace grow, and build, and get a huge valuation. It was very much a new emerging trend the music industry sees as a threat. And that dates back to sheet music but that's a separate tangent. Chris Erwin:Well, and to be clear, at least from my vantage point, I don't think there was any worry that you were going to be a traditional stuffy music guy, because I remember, I think, this is me and Jason Ziemianski were working on building out the different content verticals for Big Frame. Dan Levitt:Which was so smart to do. Chris Erwin:Yeah, so smart. So, we had Wonderly. We had Forefront. We also had a music vertical. We had an LGBTQ vertical and maybe one or two more. So yeah, we're thinking about music. I remember I'm in the back room. This is when we were on the Sunset Boulevard office, the old National Lampoon building. Chris Erwin:I mean, you come in for an interview and there was a window between the back room and the front. Jason pointing at you and he's like, "That's who you're going to interview. That's Dan." I remember looking at you and I had never seen anyone that looked like you. You were in a shiny silver suit. So, one thing that I thought- Dan Levitt:Yeah, the shiny suits. The famous shiny suit. Chris Erwin:Yeah. One, I thought it was weird because I was like, "Okay, this is digital video. People were a bit more casual. Jeans and T-shirts. He's in a suit. That's kind of weird. But then second, it wasn't just a normal suit. It was just something I'd never seen before." Chris Erwin:And I was like, "All right, this guy's a character." And from where I came from, I was just like ... I'm from traditional East Coast finance. So, I was started to discount you in my head, but also realizing I'm biased. I'm like, "Maybe this is the people that we want. I've never encountered someone like this but maybe this is the thinking and the pedigree that we want." Chris Erwin:So, then I remember sitting with you on the couches in the front. And you're mile-a-minute telling me your story and I'm drinking from a fire hose. I remember peppering you with questions. I don't even know what they were. But fast forward, we end up liking you and we hire you. Chris Erwin:All right, we hire you at Big Frame and this is in October 2012. What do you remember from those early days? What are you working on? Dan Levitt:I just remember being so excited, man. Sarah and you guys believing in me especially. Again, I'm pretty good at knowing where things were going. And just you guys just, "Hey, great. Music is the big thing on YouTube. Dan, figure it out. Figure out the opportunity." Dan Levitt:The belief in me was so amazing. Also, I'm coming from working at four years at Disney where, at least with my direct supervisors, I didn't feel like I was being treated as an adult. Everything was micromanaged. I was essentially chained to my desk. Dan Levitt:And moving into a role where it just felt like anything was possible. I remember getting there and there was really next to no musicians signed at all, right? I think you guys hadn't signed them because you didn't know what to do with them. There were a handful. Dan Levitt:And then I was like, "Hey, I have this idea for a music show." I knew that I would need to get a good song out of each of the talent that we'd had. So, I was like, "Hey, I know all these amazing songwriters and producers who know YouTube is next or I'm telling them. They're excited that I'm making this leap." Dan Levitt:And they're like, "Hey, YouTube's a thing. What should we do?" So, I just remember Sarah and I and you talking about this show idea. And then a week later, we had money from YouTube to do it. So, it was the biggest mind fuck because my entire career, I heard, "No." Literally, my 20s was hearing the word no. Dan Levitt:And literally, I can honestly say in the first month at Big Frame, I did more than in my 10 years at traditional. It was that quick. And I've really only heard, for the most part, heard, "Yes," ever since. But you can do so much more in the space. There aren't the same gatekeepers at Disney. If you try something new and it doesn't work, you lose your job. Chris Erwin:This flip a switch where you're like, "Okay, within the first month at Big Frame, I'm hearing, 'Yes,' and money is behind it"? So, do you start thinking, "Oh, if I'm a go-getter, there's a lot more I can do here"? Dan Levitt:I don't know that it was even that cognizant. It was more that I didn't really know which direction to go in. So, I was like, "Okay, there's a lack of artist development." One, that show ended up taking a lot more time. Chris Erwin:And you did that with Dave Days, right? Dan Levitt:Yeah. Chris Erwin:Called, the Writing Room. Dan Levitt:It's still up on YouTube, I think. It was great and we were all really happy with the songs and the shows, and got into artist development. And then while I was there, I realized, "Hey, before I go out and start signing people, I need to understand how YouTube works, especially in music where SEO is so important," because at the time, it was very much cover songs. Dan Levitt:And some of the biggest creators on the platform were doing cover songs, right? So, I needed to know how SEO worked. There was someone who was working at YouTube who reverse engineered the algorithm, and had done all this A/B testing to figure out how to grow channels. Dan Levitt:It was on the audience-development side, and that was MatPat. He had his channel, which maybe, I think, was a couple hundred thousand subscribers. But I didn't care. No one really cared much or paid much mind about his own channel. Dan Levitt:But he and I very quickly hit it off, because at that time, a lot of the managers, more so than other MCNs ... And the reason why I went with Big Frame, because I did get offers from all three, was, you guys wanted to be more high touch with a smaller roster, right? Dan Levitt:So, at that time, you guys actually were having some of the top talent on the platform sit down with MatPat, or just Mat at that time, who would basically tell them, "Hey, here's what you should be doing," and they wouldn't listen to him. But he was doing those one by one. Chris Erwin:And just to be clear, Matthew Patrick, who's now a huge YouTuber that Dan manages, he was an employee at Big Frame early days. Dan Levitt:He was a co-worker. Now he has maybe just under or close to 30 million across 4 channels, and is just one of the top channels on the platform, especially who's been able to do it for a decade. And has, probably, one of the most challenging formats where every video takes at least 100 or 200 hours in terms of scripting and post. Dan Levitt:It shouldn't work, but through pure determination and really thoughtful approach, it has worked. Anyways, he's working there. And quickly, we hit it off because, instead of just dropping the talent and him saying the same things over to talent that don't listen, I was like, "Hey, tell me. Do a knowledge transfer to me. I want to know this stuff, so that I can tell all my clients and be respectful of his time, and also learn. Dan Levitt:"I'm curious for myself. I want to know, how does SEO work and what are things I can do to grow my clients, so that we're providing value. And then once I know that, cool, let me go out and let me try sign some of the best and brightest." Dan Levitt:I thought that it would take me a while before I permeated, at least the music scene, on YouTube. By two or three months, based off of the work I was doing with one or two artists, I guess I should've went, "They all know each other. They would all collab. They all talk to each other." Dan Levitt:So, in a very short amount of time, I created a great name for myself as someone who's ... especially at that time, with the exception of Big Frame, it was scale, scale, scale. Just sign channels, get them into CMS, Comscore, Comscore. That was not Big Frame's approach. Dan Levitt:So, Big Frame really had a great reputation and I wanted to help further perpetuate that. So, not only was I helping people grow their channels, but I was setting them up with songwriters and producers, helping them figure out the different revenue streams. Dan Levitt:One of the challenges at that time was, the contracts that we had were more, at that time, standard MCN deals that only participated in ad revenue. And for most creators, that's fine, right? Because the ancillary revenues, the merch touring, and brand deals, and stuff were't there, or they were just starting. Dan Levitt:On the music side, especially then when it was confrontational with the publishers, the ad revenue is shared. So, the CPMs and the ad revenue was a lot lower take-home for the artist, and in turn, Big Frame. However, they were making significantly more and a lot more on downloads and streaming. Dan Levitt:So, I noticed, "Hey, I'm giving you advice and I'm helping you grow your channel. But we're only participating in, essentially, the least profitable revenue stream." So, I recognized, "Hey, at least in music, if we're going to be ... " And probably more broadly because we saw at time peak, and some other platforms come up that weren't YouTube. Dan Levitt:Some of the talent was trying to do stuff on their own and sort of getting exploited. And I realized, and I went to Sarah and you and said, "Hey, we might want to think about having our contracts be more robust and 360 if we're going to have this more boutique roster." Chris Erwin:Oh, I remember those conversations where we had, I think, a very short, minimal contract. Only participated in AdSense off of YouTube. Then a lot of push from the team saying, "Hey, we're doing all this work. We're impacting the 360 business of this talent. One, the company needs to get paid for it." Chris Erwin:And also, because you guys were thinking about, as talent managers, "How do you participate? What's your incentive?" Look, contracts is a whole separate thing, because I remember then the contract became like 12 pages. And then people were saying, "This is crazy. You got to make it simpler. No one's going to sign." But that's another tangent. Chris Erwin:Anyway, okay, you identify this. We start to rejigger the business. And yeah, you start building out our music vertical. Dan Levitt:It was going really well. I mean, we were getting the best talent. We just weren't monetizing the way that we wanted yet. And I was waiting on these management contracts to come in, so that we could get that ... Again, that process took longer. We were basically building ... Dan Levitt:We would've had all the best ones, right? Some of them had deals that they signed before that were, "Hey, as soon as this term ends, I'm going to join." Chris Erwin:So, I think this speaks to some mutual challenges, right? And frustration where we're trying to sort out the contracts. We're trying to sort out the business model. We're realizing at Big Frame, the music vertical is not directly making a lot of money relative to the cost that we're putting into it. Chris Erwin:Also, this is a point where I think there is some headwinds facing the MCN industry. We were having some challenges raising the needed capital and floating working capital. So, we had to make some changes. There was a discussion around, "Okay, probably going to have to shut down the music vertical, and we're going to have to let Dan go." Chris Erwin:This is something you and I talk about for the past 10 years. I remember being in the room when that conversation happens, because it was between me, and you, and Jason, I believe. Dan Levitt:I was really the first person let go. It was a growth stage. And then I was probably the first casualty, right? And to your credit, I was not surprised, because maybe a month or so before, you were like, "Hey, Dan, have you actually looked at some of the numbers in terms of what we're paying you and what you're bringing in?" Dan Levitt:Again, that seems blatantly obvious that I should've been but I wasn't. I came from a role that was very administrative and I kept doing what I knew. It wasn't clear to me that, "Oh, I'm actually responsible for ... I should be ... for my own P&L within this larger entity." Chris Erwin:In reflecting on that moment, and I don't actually think I've ever shared this before, but I think there's some realizations where, one, I think I was learning a lot about the digital entertainment industry, right? I had a very traditional background MBA. And there was a lot that I ... Chris Erwin:I knew about business and I knew that revenue had to be more than cost to get the profit. But I think I didn't understand the nuances of how this industry worked, of how you recruit talent, how you invest in a team, and figuring out the right business model. And I think listening to our talent managers, like yourself, could've been something I did with more focus and intent. Chris Erwin:But I think it was a mutual value exchange. We're all learning and I think this helped set up a lot of talent managers for success of thinking about running a sustainable business. Thinking about top line versus bottom line. And I know that there was some conversations where, yeah, I was giving clinics to you and some of the other members of the team like, "Let's sketch out some numbers and see what works here. Chris Erwin:"And it's not working. How do we get there?" And I feel that you've taken that to your new business, which has obviously been paid off in spades for you. Dan Levitt:I think me and the other talent managers there, we kind of went in wide-eyed where we knew the opportunity, and we knew where we saw things were going. But I don't think any of us had run this kind of a business like that or thought through that kind of stuff. Dan Levitt:It's just like you're trying to build the plane while you fly it. The other thing is, you obviously know this and you hear some of the stories from me and other, it's really hard dealing with talent. It's really hard dealing with talent. Especially then, one thing that I don't hear discussed as much, and I think for someone like me, who worked with traditional talent for a while, the digital talent's different, right? Dan Levitt:So, for me, working in music as an A&R guy, if I meet an artist or a musician, at least back then, they've heard, "No," a million times, right? And they understand the value of a team. On the YouTuber side, especially back then, especially early on, but it's still the same now, especially with the new breed of creators who are really fucking savvy, a lot of them don't understand the value of a team. Dan Levitt:They've hit a time when everyone's catering to them, especially the OG YouTubers who got in when you could just have deceptive thumbnails and stuff. They were not as receptive to advice that, potentially, they should've been. So, in addition to figure out how to make a business model of this thing as it's emerging, and especially, music is a lot harder in brand deals than beauty and other verticals, it was challenging. Dan Levitt:And it's compounded by, the job in working with talent is essentially to keep the unaccountable accountable. Chris Erwin:Look, I feel for you guys because I think you're working really hard dating over the past decade to figure out the business models that work for this new talent. And I think that's still happening together. And different from traditional managers, this feeling of you're always on. Chris Erwin:So, the internet doesn't shut off. It's 24/7. And you could be dealing with a brand deal that goes awry on a different timezone. And you're getting up at 4:00 AM. Or there's a YouTube channel take down that's impacting a brand deal, or a video that's meaningful to talent. And that happens at midnight, you got to be on it with a plan, a solution, and a call into the platform. That's unique. Chris Erwin:And look, that's a separate podcast to talk about all those stories. I think the collective Big Frame managers will write a book. But I will the challenge that you guys face in managing digital talent. For me, having run the talent organization and overseeing the talent managers, that's also hard because at the top, we tried to bear the burden of that stress, and give you guys the tools, and empower you. Chris Erwin:You guys demanded a lot because your talent demanded a lot. And it was admittedly hard. But I think it was a beautiful journey to go through together and we learned a lot. Dan Levitt:Yeah, I can't believe it was only eight months. I was only there eight months, which is surprising. But man, in that eight months, the professional development that I had was so far beyond. I remember saying to Steve Raymond, who was the CEO of Big Frame at the time, I remember telling him, "I'll never work for a big company again if I can avoid it." Dan Levitt:I like the startup culture. I like the fact that we're making it up, and we get to try new things, and make mistakes and do stuff. So far, I haven't had to. Chris Erwin:Before we go on and we talk about your transition to Long Haul, I think we'd be remiss if we just didn't tell one story about the upstairs rap battle. This still gets me to this day because you ended up as the winner. It pains me to this day. So, tell the listeners a quick context for our rap battle. Dan Levitt:Yeah, I don't know the origin of it. I think there might have been two. I don't know. I don't remember how it started but I think we were just ... We throw friendly jabs back and forth. And somehow, it cultivated in, "Hey, we're going to do a rap battle." Dan Levitt:I remember spending half the day writing out my stuff. I just remember the whole team was there and they were filming it. We got to find a video of it somewhere. But yeah, there was a rap battle and I was victorious. I know I went at you for ... Dan Levitt:I remember one line. You had a Ford that was giving you a bunch of challenges because all you could afford is a piece-of-shit Ford. That line really, while not being the most creative, really hit with the audience. Chris Erwin:Yeah. I think, in rap battles, you just get a sense, because like you said, everyone was watching. They were filming. Crowd's reacting. And if you track the energy, you just know who's winning. And I remember at the end with that line, the crowd just was like ... Chris Erwin:It just felt like, "All right, Dan has one this." I think we were kind of even throughout throwing these different jabs. I remember working on my script for a couple weeks. I was frustrated because I was like, "That line is ... That's not a special one. He just said Ford and afford in the same sentence." But it didn't matter. It was over. So, look, massive credit for you. Dan Levitt:You're going against a music industry professional. There were no ghostwriters but it's to be expected. So, if Chaz or anybody else wants to come for the throne, they know where I'm at. Chris Erwin:So, Dan, okay, after this let-go moment, what are you thinking about? What's next for you? Dan Levitt:When I took the gig, I knew it was going to be a roller coaster. I knew it was riskier, right? But again, I felt, "At worse, if it doesn't work out, at least I will presumably have positioned myself in the music industry as the YouTube guy. And because I know YouTube is going to be a big thing, I should be okay. I'll figure something out." Dan Levitt:And that's exactly what happened where, as soon as I let go, I hit up all my people. In that eight months, people did start to notice. Some people. I was very fortunate that, within the first month, I got two gigs doing consulting for two different startups that wanted to work with digital creators, particularly musicians, that actually paid more for a lot less work. So, I sailed up for the first time. Dan Levitt:Now, it's like, "Okay. Now, I'm actually making more money than I was at Big Frame and I have way more free time. So, what could I be doing?" And then around that time is when MatPat crossed a million subscribers. We hadn't talked in a while but there was that mutual respect, right? He's noticed that I was doing more for talent and being thoughtful. Chris
The gang consider the dubious voyeurism and strained credibility of a family who move into a new house, but neglect to keep an eye out for a rogue Gary Busey in Matthew Patrick's Hider in the House. Night on the Docks - Sax Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Many of us, myself included have been relentless in getting our fair share of all the free government money that keeps on coming. So you want to pay close attention and hang on every word in this episode of the Restaurant Rockstars Podcast, as there is yet more free money falling from the sky. I’m speaking with Matthew Patrick, Founder & President of “Whirks” and Patrick Accounting and he will tell all on how your business can qualify for a sizable sum from the new Employee Retention Tax Credit or ERTC. You’ve already paid hefty payroll taxes in 2020 and now in the new year, so why not get a good chunk of it back direct from the government now? For 2020, you can qualify for 50% of wages paid to each employee (plus health care benefits) up to a maximum of $5,000, and for the first two calendar quarters of 2021 (and maybe later quarters), this increases to 70% or a maximum of $7,000 per employee. We’ll also tell you what to do if you started a new business last year or purchased one. Yes, there are a few conditions, so make sure you listen all the way through. Now go out there and Rock YOUR Restaurant! Roger For more restaurant resources: https://restaurantrockstars.com/ Thank you to our sponsors: GoTab Contactless Dining System: https://about.gotab.io/ Dawn Professional Dish Liquid: https://pgpro.com/en-us/brands/dawn-professional/manual-pot-and-pan-detergent-original
Today’s guest is acclaimed interior designer and photographer Matthew Patrick Smyth. He has been on ELLE Décor’s “A” List, his work has been featured in House Beautiful, Traditional Home, New York Magazine and more. He also wrote a new book “Through a Designer’s Eye: A Focus on Interiors”. We talk about his polished yet comfortable spaces, his love of artisanal pieces and antiques, his attention to detail and light, and some touching personal stories. What You’ll Hear on This Episode: Trials & Triumphs about feeling at home in a temporary rental, a pregnancy announcement (!), COVID within the family, tearing down and rebuilding a house, a nightmare new build next door, considering new drapery, and dishwasher woes. Matthew explains how his process begins — starting with the floorplan. Where Matthew finds his artisanal pieces and what he loves about them. Matthew’s love of antiques led him to interior design and carries into all elements of his style. How Matthew’s experience as a photographer impacts his design. The ways Matthew was able to decorate a casual seaside home and still use antiques. Why Matthew has an affinity for round dining tables and what chairs he recommends. More about Matthew’s personal home and falling in love with it. Matthew uses upholstery to modernize an older house with all antique interiors. Matthew’s love of black(ish) paint. What Matthew does to individualize the work for his clients. Matthew shares about his work and friendship with Gloria Vanderbilt. How is a designer’s eye different from the average person’s? Decorating Dilemma Hi Jenny, First of all, thank you for including the floorplan—so helpful! This is a very generous width for a dining room so the sideboard is not going to throw off the room; there’s still plenty of room and no flow problem whatsoever. It’s not a floor to ceiling piece, so your eye will go right over it. I would put a big mirror over the sideboard to reflect the windows and the beautiful view. That will really open up the room. It’s really important to keep that chandelier centered with the windows so I would not touch that. The table centered in the room is the way to go. It’s good that you’re thinking about it now…but don’t overthink it! It’s actually a nicely designed floor plan and well proportioned; I wouldn’t play with that. You’re in good shape, Jenny! Matthew Mentioned in This Episode: Matthew Patrick Smyth Matthew Patrick Smyth on Instagram Through a Designer’s Eye: A Focus on Interiors on Amazon Zillow Gone Wild on Instagram The Schwartz House on Instagram Chicology Roller Blinds
Get to know your hosts Matthew Patrick and Mike Shaeffer with fun Q&A questions! Have more questions or business topics you'd like to hear about? Leave us a comment or send us a message on Facebook, YouTube or LinkedIn!
Through a Designer’s Eye presents Smyth’s recent work ranging from a traditional Park Avenue apartment and an edgy Tribeca loft in Manhattan to waterfront houses in Florida, New England, and Long Island that demonstrate his skills in responding to context and... Read More ›
Through a Designer’s Eye presents Smyth’s recent work ranging from a traditional Park Avenue apartment and an edgy Tribeca loft in Manhattan to waterfront houses in Florida, New England, and Long Island that demonstrate his skills in responding to context and... Read More ›
“Highlights” of RNC day 4 // Russell Wilson with Danny O'Neil talked about racial injustice, police brutality and the coronavirus pandemic // Video game simulates experience of flying economy class See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.
Washington State Republican Party Finance Chairman Matthew Patrick Thomas is at the RNC convention//RACHEL BELLE: Kellyanne Conway leaves job, citing family://Filmmakers told to ditch sex scenes to protect actors from coronavirus See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.
Want to grow your personal brand on LinkedIn? Secure your spot in the September cohort here. Seating is limited! In today's episode, Matt chats with Matthew Patrick, President of Whirks, and Patrick Accounting out of Memphis, TN. They are talking about the transition from being an accounting firm to a full HCM provider. During this value-filled episode, Matt and Matthew cover the following topics: How to decide when to add payroll and HR services to your firm. When to add sales professionals Figuring out how to define your offering to the market When to go “all in” Weathering the Covid-19 storm Managing multiple brands How to prepare today for your future vision *Want to be featured in a future episode? Drop your question/comment/criticism/love here: https://anchor.fm/payrollin/message *Support the pod by spreading the word, become a referrer and earn free Guhroo swag here: https://refer.fm/payrollingrowingapayrollbusinessthatmatters ______________________________ How can your team dominate the competition now and in the future? That is what we want you to do. All regional and local payroll providers should be working together to do this. More about Matthew Patrick: Matthew has over 20 years of experience in public accounting. He has worked with hundreds of different businesses in a variety of industries including medical, professional services, financial services, retail, manufacturing, distribution, and real estate. Matthew has significant experience working with businesses helping them create and identify goals, direction to achieve those goals, and encouragement to continue working towards those goals. His vast array of experience working with organizations, both small and large, allow him to properly identify an organization's strengths and weaknesses. He particularly enjoys working with businesses and their owners who want to grow their business and are not satisfied with the status quo. How can I support the podcast? If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a payroll business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/payrollin/message
After growing up on a small farm in Ohio, Matthew Patrick studied business and engineering at the University of Cincinnati and the University of Louisville. Patrick is CEO and owner of Winford Solutions.
This week, we discuss Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw (no spoilers, but we do discuss plot details: 38:46 – 57:22) and we are joined again by special guest, Matthew Patrick “Chives” Cartmell. We also revisit some Film Night favourites such as Spaced and It Comes At Night, as well as reviewing recent watches […]
Matthew Patrick went from zero to 12 million YouTube subscribers with a sweet spot now worth millions. ------- Get Joe's new book, Corona Marketing: What Marketing Professionals Need to Do Now to Survive the Crisis, absolutely free. Want to stay in touch with Joe? First, subscribe to this podcast. Second, subscribe to Joe's every-other-week Random Newsletter. Third, buy his new marketing thriller, The Will to Die.
In this episode of the Restaurant RockStars podcast, I’m speaking with Matthew Patrick, Principal of Patrick & Associates, a CPA firm specializing in the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loans. We’re going to cover all the ins and outs of these programs, and most important how to maximize or get complete forgiveness for your PPP! Listen on as we cover: - The different programs: PPP vs EIDL Grant vs EIDL - EIDL approvals are still coming - The favorable terms of these loans and how this has improved since you got your money - Initial challenges if you got money early with Round 1 or 2 and what’s happened since - Big Changes in the timing and use of funds with a lengthy extension - The complicated application and chances for forgiveness and much more… Best of all, if you haven’t yet applied for these bailout programs; as of this recording early in June, there was still money available. So our best advice would be to talk to your banker or lender now. In the meantime, if you are challenged by all this, why not reach out to Matthew? He and his firm are standing by to help at www.patrickaccounting.com If you have payroll issues or questions, Matthew and his team are also standing by at www.whirks.com Now go out there and Rock Your Restaurant! Roger For more restaurant resources: restaurantrockstars.com
Today we talk with one of the most successful couples on YouTube. Matthew Patrick, also known as MatPat, is best known as the creator and narrator of the YouTube channels The Game Theorists, The Film Theorists and YouTube’s largest live-streaming channel, GTLive, which he co-hosts with his wife and fellow YouTube star Stephanie Patrick. Their channels are currently at 20 million subscribers and 60 million monthly views. Matthew and Stephanie, who manages the business side of their partnership, are co-owners of Theorist Media, where they use data-based methods to accelerate the growth of social media audiences, particularly on YouTube.
The Brothers Blanchard are back with the latest episode of Every Town Has An Elm Street. This week Matthew & Patrick take a lengthy journey through 1988's Harlin helmed sequel, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master. Join the boys as they're introduced to, not only, a New Kristen but a New Final Girl altogether, fan favorite Alice. We hope you enjoy the episode and Have a Fantastic Freddy Friday Everyone! Send Feedback: dirtypoolfilms@gmail.com or thearkofe@gmail.com Follow more from The Ark of E Network : On Instagram @thearkofenetwork , Twitter @thearkofe , and Our Website : www.thearkofe.com
Thank You, Internet hits up Comikaze 2015 (special thanks to Realm Of Gaming)!! David and Michael get to snag interviews with some amazing people from the Internet like: Matthew Patrick of Game Theory, Freddie Wong of RocketJump, Steve Zaragoza of SourceFed, and Tommy Wiseau from The Room! We also get conversations with the creators of Stan Lee's Hero Command, the mobile game, and Cuddli, the dating app for nerds! Matthew Patrick:@MatPatGThttps://www.youtube.com/user/MatthewPatrick13 Freddie Wong:@fwonghttps://www.youtube.com/user/freddiew Steve Zaragoza:@stevezaragozahttps://www.youtube.com/user/SourceFed Tommy Wiseau:http://theroommovie.com/ Robert Walker:@cuddliapphttp://www.cuddli.com/ Matt Groman of Stan Lee's Hero Command:http://www.f84games.com/work/stanlee/ MatPat's VPW:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wvb-TvN8lq4 David's VPW:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GIwTG8V-Ko Michael's VPW:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRBkS-QWo6w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4F0Mer4kDDY Gage's VPW:https://youtu.be/W3fnQyacPE8 http://www.realmofgaming.com/ Contact Us:thanksinternetpodcast@gmail.comPodcast - @tyinternetpodMichael - @Arctic_GingerDavid - @davidwspencerhttps://www.facebook.com/tyinternetpodhttps://www.facebook.com/michaelwilliamhunterhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCImWGYl2IK7SMQ4qePkzPSw www.pipedreampodcasts.com
This week's ZI Podcast team discusses the mysterious Nintendo Playstation prototype, re-visits the Link is Dead theory, and learns some of the things you might need to know to be successful on YouTube. Celebrated video game theorist MattPat from Game Theory is our featured guest this week, and he does his best to bring out the theorist in all of us. Your cast for this week is Adam, your host as always (but today you can call him “That guy who can't stop sidetracking”); Jake, the Majora man himself; Chris, our resident Kingdom Hearts fan and optimist; and our special guest for this week, Matthew Patrick of Game Theory. Thanks to those of you who emailed us your topics, questions, theme cover art (and the one guy who sent us a picture of his pinky, which we apparently asked for?). If you have any of your own topics, theme song ideas, or cover art that you'd like to be a part of the show, feel free to email all of that to us at ZeldaInformerPodcast@gmail.com Thanks again for tuning in and we hope you enjoy the show!
This week’s ZI Podcast team discusses the mysterious Nintendo Playstation prototype, re-visits the Link is Dead theory, and learns some of the things you might need to know to be successful on YouTube. Celebrated video game theorist MattPat from Game Theory is our featured guest this week, and he does his best to bring out the theorist in all of us. Your cast for this week is Adam, your host as always (but today you can call him “That guy who can’t stop sidetracking”); Jake, the Majora man himself; Chris, our resident Kingdom Hearts fan and optimist; and our special guest for this week, Matthew Patrick of Game Theory. Thanks to those of you who emailed us your topics, questions, theme cover art (and the one guy who sent us a picture of his pinky, which we apparently asked for?). If you have any of your own topics, theme song ideas, or cover art that you’d like to be a part of the show, feel free to email all of that to us at ZeldaInformerPodcast@gmail.com Thanks again for tuning in and we hope you enjoy the show!
Probably the most exciting result of the Content Inc. philosophy is that anyone, anywhere can build a successful business using content to reach an audience. In this episode, Joe Pulizzi talks with Matthew Patrick, an online entrepreneur that started his new media empire on YouTube with a channel dedicated to Game Theory. Matthew stresses the importance of creating multiple streams of income once you have a solid content foundation with which to start.
We celebrate 100 programs of the YoAndrew News Talk Show; Matthew Patrick, YouTube Star and host of "Game Theory" will join the program; Susan Samaroo, representative at the "Maurer Foundation" will discuss breast cancer awareness events; Plus your calls at 855 - 712 - YNTS
Nintendo needs a new face of the company; Matthew Patrick, host of the YouTube show "Game Theory" joins us to discuss Nintendo Wii U sales slipping last quarter; Are you still a fan of the Nintendo brand?; Plus your calls at 855 - 712 - YNTS
Nintendo continues to struggle after new sale numbers came out; Matthew Patrick, creator and host of "The Game Theorists" on Youtube joins the program to discuss his video "Is Comic Con 2014 REALLY Worth the Wait?" Plus your calls at 855 - 712 - YNTS
Food and beverage product developers spend a shockingly low amount of time examining how texture may impact a finished product, according to TIC Gums' vice president of research and development Matthew Patrick.