Podcast appearances and mentions of michael sikand

In #50, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@simmy) dive into the booming cybersecurity market, highlighting recent incidents and opportunities. They discuss the CrowdStrike internal error that impacted major companies and the potential $23 billion acquisition of Wiz by Google. The hosts emphasize the financial potential in cybersecurity, noting the industry's growth from $182 billion in 2023 to an expected $314 billion by 2028. They explore various business ideas, including incident response services, consumer-focused cyber products, and identity verification solutions like Footprint. The episode also touches on the rapid growth of companies like Drada and Vanta, and the potential for ClEAR to have an "Nvidia moment" in the future. The hosts conclude by encouraging listeners to consider opportunities in cybersecurity, a field they believe is as lucrative as AI. 05:30 - CrowdStrike Incident and Market Impact 10:00 - Rise in Cyber Attacks and Ransomware 15:00 - Potential in Cybersecurity Services and Insurance 20:00 - Ashley Madison Hack Documentary 25:00 - Identity Verification and Biometric Security 30:00 - Footprint: Apple Pay for Identity 35:00 - Wiz Acquisition by Google 40:00 - Clear's Potential in Identity Verification 45:00 - Consumer-Based Cybersecurity Products #Cybersecurity #TechTrends #StartupStories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In #48, Michael Sikand and Simran Sandhu discuss mid-twenties founders Edward Tian and Alex Cui, the co-founders of AI detection startup GPTZERO which has raised $13.5M and is already profitable. They explore the dynamics of shows like Shark Tank and the success of startups that didn't secure deals. The conversation shifts to the importance of distribution in the success of AI tools. They also touch on the potential of AI in education, citing examples like RapStudy and StudyBuddy. The episode concludes with a debate on the merits of building cashflow businesses versus pursuing big, impactful ventures, emphasizing the diverse paths to success in entrepreneurship. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After nearly 50 episodes, in #47 Michael Sikand and Simran Sandhu share their own entrepreneurial journey, from starting their media company Our Future to getting acquired by Morning Brew. They discuss the lessons they've learned, the strategies they employed, and challenges faced along the way. 0:00 Intro & Cold Open 2:07 Michael and Simmy's first idea: Jet Coffee 03:16 Being scrappy and lessons learned in scaling the business 5:13 Importance of starting a podcast and building a network 6:07 Strategy of leveraging podcasts for networking and opportunities 8:01 Discussion on the accessibility of media as a starting point for entrepreneurs 9:17 Importance of building relationships with potential co-founders 10:09 Emphasis on having a clear goal and being open to pivoting 12:37 Importance of being delusional and confident in pitching oneself 17:48 Transition to discussing the acquisition by Morning Brew 23:55 Importance of being cautious with potential acquirers and their agendas 26:02 Advice on handling acquisition discussions and maintaining focus on business growth Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Inn #46, Michael Sikand and Simran Sandhu delve into the stories of two young founders, Blake Resnick and Mohak Nahta. Blake Resnick, a 23-year-old entrepreneur, has built a police drone startup called Brinc. He's raised $80M from investors like Sam Altman and Peter Thiel and the company is now valued at over $300M. Next up is Mohak, the founder of Atlys, who has created a platform to expedite the visa application process, allowing users to complete the process in minutes by simply taking a selfie, scanning their passport, and answering a few questions. He's raised over $16M from investors like a16z. 00:00 - Introduction and Podcast Overview 00:11 - Episode Preview: Young Founders and Their Ventures 00:35 - Michael's Sales Pitch Anecdote 01:06 - Daily Office Rentals Business Idea 02:05 - Blake Resnick's $300M Police Drone Startup 05:31 - Public Perception and Privacy Concerns 08:01 - Surveillance Technology and Public Backlash 10:49 - Challenges in Selling to Public Service Departments 17:28 - Second Story: Atlys - Expediting Travel Visas 24:47 - Pay for Passport Programs and Government Revenue Strategies #business #podcast #startups Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In #45, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@simmy) discuss the founders of Folk and ConvertWire. First up is Simo Lemhandez, a late-twenties entrepreneur from France, who is building Folk, a next-gen CRM designed to manage all types of relationships—sales, recruiting, partnerships, and investors. With a sleek, Notion-like UI, Folk has raised millions from top investment firms like Accel and has even won product of the year on Product Hunt. Next is Jack Sory, a 28-year-old entrepreneur who runs ConvertWire, a lead generation business for real estate. Jack's business model focuses on providing high-quality leads through a team of cold callers based in the Philippines. By emphasizing quality over quantity, Jack has built a subscription-based service that generates between half a million and a million dollars annually. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In #44, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) discuss the founders of Diddo and Fina. Founded by NYU grads, Diddo has raised $2.8M to let you shop for products featured in your favorite TV shows and movies. Using AI, Diddo identifies the clothing worn on screen and allows viewers to purchase exact items or lookalike products. Next up is Clay Ratterman, the co-founder of Fina, which is best described as Notion for personal finance. The platform is bootstrapped and has already amassed 10,000 users, filling a void in the market for a highly customizable personal finance application. 0:00: Intro 1:00: Story of Diddo 19:10 Story of Fina #startups #podcast #entrepreneurship Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In #43, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) discuss the founders of Halla and DeepScribe. Founded by mid-twenties entrepreneurs Henry Michaelson, Spencer Price, and Gabriel Nipote, Halla is the only human preference engine built for groceries. In other words, the trio raised $10M to build a white-labelled recommendation algorithm that powers the e-commerce storefronts of some of the world's largest grocery chains. A few months ago, Halla was acquired by Wynshop for an undisclosed amount. Next up is DeepScribe, an AI-powered clinical documentation platform started by Akilesh Bapu and Matthew Ko which has saved doctors millions of minutes taking notes when treating patients. The company has raised over $35M from investors like Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang and Figma CEO Dylan Field. 0:00 Intro 01:14 Story of Halla 18:04 Story of DeepScribe #podcast #entrepreneurship #startups Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In #42, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) discuss the founders of Swimply and Distribute. Founded by 25-year-old Bunim Laskin, Swimply has raised $50M to be the "Airbnb for Pools". So far the platform has served over 1M bookings across three countries and is now expanding into other categories like pickleball courts. Next up is Andy Mewborn, who built and sold a Linkedin SaaS tool called Taplio within 9 months of launching and has now raised millions for Distribute, a software platform best described as Canva for GTM teams. Andy has raised millions to shrink the GTM tech stack and mash multiple different products into one killer platform. 00:00 Intro 0:42 Story of Swimply 16:14 Story of Distribute #podcast #entrepreneurship #startups Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In #41, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) discuss the founders of LANDED and Krepling. Founded by Vivian Wang, Landed is a recruitment platform helping fast food and retail establishments hire top-notch hourly workers faster and cheaper. So far, the platform has raised over $7M and counts 700K+ users as well as clients like Taco Bell and Chick-Fil-A. Next up is Krepling, which was started by two brothers in their early 20's, Liam (23) and Travis Gerada (20). The duo is behind no-code e-commerce software which solves for the increasing engineering complexities sellers face past the $5M revenue mark. So far they've raised $3.3M and were doing $1.7M ARR in August 2023. 0:00 Intro 0:40 Story of LANDED 19:20 Story of Krepling #podcast #entrepreneurship #startups Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In #40, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) discuss the founders of Zette and Vizcom. Founded by 28-year-old Yehong Zhu, Zette is best described as "Netflix for News". By installing the Zette chrome extension and paying a monthly subscription, users can bypass the article paywall on over 100+ publisher sites including Forbes. So far, Yehong has raised $2.7M+ for the company, including a recent 7-figure crowdfunding round. Next up is Vizcom, which was started by 28-year-old co-founders Jordan Taylor and Kaelan Richards. Best described as Figma for industrial designers, Vizcom is an AI-powered software that helps industrial designers at companies like Ford and New Balance use a mixture of drawing and generative AI to make the process of creating innovative mock-ups and product designs more efficient. The company recently raised a $20M Series A which included investors like Index Ventures and Figma co-founder Dylan Field. 0:00 Intro 01:27 Story of Zette 19:07 Story of Vizcom Follow the show on IG: @ourfuturepod Message Michael on Twitter: @michaelsikand Message Simmy on Twitter: @_simmy_ Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew. #business #startups #podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In #39, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) discuss the founders of Atmos and Reframe. Backed by Sam Altman, YC, and Khosla Ventures with a recent $12.5M Series A, Atmos's young co-founders (led by 25-year-old CEO Nick Donahue) are helping Americans build a custom home from scratch without spending millions. The next company discussed was started by Vedant Pradeep, the 27-year-old co-founder behind Reframe, an app valued at over $300M. 91% of Reframe's 3M users reduced their alcohol intake within their first 3 months of subscribing. 0:00 Intro 02:18 Story of Atmos 19:28 Story of Reframe Follow the show on IG: @ourfuturepod Message Michael on Twitter: @michaelsikand Message Simmy on Twitter: @_simmy_ Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew. #business #startups #podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In #37, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) discuss the founders of Sweetspot and Bluedot. YC-backed Sweetspot is bringing AI to the complex and outdated world of government contract discovery and bidding. Last year, the U.S. allocated over $765B to government contracts and Sweetspot is helping businesses earn more work from Uncle Sam. Next up is Bluedot, an EV charging app and fintech company backed with $7M from investors like Ford and Porsche that offers EV owners a flat rate at charging stations if they pay through Bluedot's debit card. Other features include discounts and rewards to restaurants and shops located near the charging station. Follow the show on IG: @ourfuturepod Message Michael on Twitter: @michaelsikand Message Simmy on Twitter: @_simmy_ Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew. #business #startups #podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In #37, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) discuss Spencer Scott (@AKASpencerScott). Getting his start working his way up sales at a telecom company, Spencer quit the corporate grind to become a 7-figure, non-technical bootstrapped SaaS founder, building sales software platform Loup and scaling screen-sharing tool Median after purchasing it on MicroAcquire. More recently, Spencer has made waves as the founder of Lone Star Trash, a waste management service he started after witnessing private equity ruin the service quality of his Dallas neighborhood's trash collection operator. Applying the same scrappy tactics that helped him grow his software startups, Spencer bought a trash truck and bootstrapped a profitable waste management operation from day one. Follow the show on IG: @ourfuturepod Message Michael on Twitter: @michaelsikand Message Simmy on Twitter: @_simmy_ Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew. #business #startups #podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In #36, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) discuss Whop and EasyA. Started by 25-year-olds Jack Sharkey, Steven Schwartz, and Cameron Zoub - Whop is "Etsy for Digital Products" - and has raised $17M from investors like Peter Thiel and James Harden. The platform has facilitated $300M of transactions for software tools, community memberships, and courses developed by an army of young hustlers pushing internet products. Next up is EasyA, a mobile app built by brothers Phil and Dom Kwok who are in their mid-twenties, that is best described as "Duolingo for Web3". The app has over 750K users who use it to learn how to build applications on various blockchain platforms like Solana and Polkadot. The startup's unique B2B2C model and hackathon strategy generates millions a year in revenue. 0:00 Intro 1:00 Story Of Whop 19:47 Story of EasyA Follow the show on IG: @ourfuturepod Message Michael on Twitter: @michaelsikand Message Simmy on Twitter: @_simmy_ Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew. #business #startups #podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In #35, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) discuss Myko AI and Lula. Started by Trevor Lee and Zheng Li, Myko has raised $2.7M from investors like Khosla Ventures to create conversational AI for sales teams. Myko syncs across all the software in a revenue organization and can surface key metrics and insights via text prompts with the ability to then execute actions based off those data points. Next up is Lula, an insurtech startup founded by two 27-year-old twins, Matthew and Michael Vega-Sanz. They built a car sharing startup for college campuses before pivoting to build "stripe for insurance," with their first market being rental car companies and trucking fleets. The co-founders claim they're on the path to $100M in revenue in the next year and recently raised a $35.5M Series B. 0:00 Intro 1:00 Story of Myko AI 22:30 Story of Lula 28:50 Michael and Simmy Brainstorm An Insurance Business Follow the show on IG: @ourfuturepod Message Michael on Twitter: @michaelsikand Message Simmy on Twitter: @_simmy_ Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew. #business #startups #podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In #34, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) discuss Slope Pay and Rogo. Slope has raised a whopping $187M in funding led by Sam Altman to digitize B2B payments with a focus on bringing buy-now-pay-later mechanics to invoicing and was started by late twenties co-founders Alice Deng and Lawrence Lin Murata. Next up is Rogo, a fintech software setting its sights on beating Bloomberg with a platform best described as “ChatGPT for Finance”. Led by 25-year-old CEO Gabriel Stengel, the company has raised $7M from investors like Kevin Ryan's AlleyCorp and has signed numerous deals with PE firms, hedge funds, and banks. 0:00 Intro 1:17 Story of Slope Pay 14:30 Story of Rogo  Follow the show on IG: @ourfuturepod Message Michael on Twitter: @michaelsikand Message Simmy on Twitter: @_simmy_ Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew. #business #startups #podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In #33, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) discuss  Antimetal and Rainmaker. Antimetal was started by now 25-year-old HS dropout Matthew Prakhurst, who has seemingly sold everything under the sun in his career. Now he's built a huge tech company saving 1000+ startups millions on their cloud hosting costs via AWS. Next up is deep-tech startup Rainmaker, led by 23-year-old Berkeley dropout Augustus Doricko. Rainmaker uses a fleet of drones that dispense chemicals into the atmosphere which artificially trigger rainfall. Jeff Bezos is a noted fan of the technology.  0:00 Intro 01:35 Story of Antimetal 21:09 Story of Rainmaker  Follow the show on IG: @ourfuturepod Message Michael on Twitter: @michaelsikand Message Simmy on Twitter: @_simmy_ Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew. #business #startups #podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In #32, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) discuss Owner.com and Pipedream Labs. Led by 24-year-old high school dropout Adam Guild, Owner.com has raised $60M+ from investors like Naval Ravikant and Jack Altman to empower restaurant owners with technology to grow revenue and cut dependence on delivery giants. Next up is Pipedream Labs, led by twenty-something CEO Garret McCurrach, which has raised $11M to revolutionize food delivery with an underground pipe network soling for the expensive “last mile problem”. 0:00 Intro 01:30 Story of Owner.com 19:20 Story of Pipedream Labs Follow the show on IG: @ourfuturepod Message Michael on Twitter: @michaelsikand Message Simmy on Twitter: @_simmy_ Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew. #business #startups #podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In #31, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) discuss Hypercard and Integral. Backed with $15M in funding led by Sam Altman and a blockbuster partnership with American Express, Hypercard is building the first credit card backed by your employer. The company was started by two Gen Z business prodigies–Niko Ioannou and Marc Baghadjian–who've already had tremendous success. Next up is Integral, a data certification startup in the healthcare industry. Founded by young guns Shubh Sinha and John Kuhn, Integral removes the need for teams of consultants to properly anonymize the sensitive patient data healthcare firms need to run their businesses. They have raised $6M for their software platform that complies with industry's regulations and removes the middleman providing better data to an industry more reliant on it than others. 0:00 Intro 01:25 Story of Hypercard 21:54 Story of Integral Follow the show on IG: @ourfuturepod Message Michael on Twitter: @michaelsikand Message Simmy on Twitter: @_simmy_ Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In #30, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) interview Morning Brew Co-Founder and CEO Austin Rief (@austin_rief). At age 25, Austin sold Morning Brew to Insider at a $75M valuation and has continued to lead the company since. Morning Brew no doubt continues to be the dominant player in the email newsletter space and now increasingly across formats like podcasts and social media. Austin touches on how he would make $1M starting from scratch, his content diet, his ownership stakes in various businesses, and the advantages of focus as well as being young.  0:00 Intro 01:13 Millions At Age 25 03:00 Older People Working For You 4:05 How Austin Would Make Money From Scratch 10:35 Copying U.S. Businesses In Other Countries 16:00 Austin's Content Diet 21:00 How To Join Someone Else's Idea 23:35 Co-Founder Relationships 27:57 Taking Advice As A Young Founder 38:08 How Austin Approaches New Opportunities 40:48 Austin's Views on Competition 42:30 Austin's VC Investing Criteria 49:47 Can Media Companies Do Tech? 51:00 What Excites Austin Now Follow the show on TikTok: @ourfuturepod Follow the show on IG: @ourfuturepod Message Michael on Twitter: @michaelsikand. Message Simmy on Twitter: @_simmy_ Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew. #business #startups #entrepreneurship #podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In #29, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) discuss Felux and Tulu. Started by former tech sales exec Dallas Hogensen, Felux is the new way the world buys and sells steel. It's a digital marketplace that facilitates steel transactions from A-Z, from discovery to negotiation to financing to transportation. So far, Felux has raised over $20M and now processes $500M+ in GMV. Next up is Tulu, founded by Yishai Lehavi and Yael Shemer, which has raised over $20M. It's branded as the "usage economy platform" - but in laymen's terms - Tulu offers a tech-enabled vending machine that allows apartment residents to rent a suite of shared products - like vacuum cleaners and video game consoles. Follow the show on TikTok: @ourfuturepod Follow the show on IG: @ourfuturepod Message Michael on Twitter: @michaelsikand. Message Simmy on Twitter: @_simmy_ Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew. #business #startups #entrepreneurship #podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In #28, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) discuss two startups built by young guns: Simplify and Default. Simplify is best described as the "Honey for Job Search" - and was founded by Berkeley and Stanford dropouts Michael Yan, Rushil Srivastava, and Ethan Horoschak. Using Simplify's chrome extension, applicants can breeze through vast numbers of job apps by instantly populating form fields and tailoring their experience to each role of interest. So far the platform has raised $3M from investors like David Sachs, amassed 400K users, and facilitated 25M job applications. Next up is Nico Ferreya and Victor Papyshev, co-founders of Default: the ultimate inbound GTM platform helping modern revenue teams increase pipeline conversions with automated qualification, scheduling, & routing workflows. So far the duo has raised millions from top investors including, coincidentally, David Sachs's Craft Ventures. Follow the show on TikTok: @ourfuturepod Follow the show on IG: @ourfuturepod Message Michael on Twitter: @michaelsikand. Message Simmy on Twitter: @_simmy_ Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In #27, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) discuss the co-founders of Covertree: Adarsh Rachmale (25), Divyansh Sharma (25), and Rishie Modi (37). After the guys graduated college, they decided they wanted a startup idea that targeted Middle America and that tech was completely ignoring. They found it in the insurance tech space with their company CoverTree, which specializes in insuring manafactured homes (also known as pre-fab houses). So far they've raised $23M in total, notched partnerships with Blackstone and Rocket Mortgage for distribution, and now help insure hundreds of millions worth of property. Follow the show on TikTok: @ourfuturepod Follow the show on IG: @ourfuturepod Message Michael on Twitter: @michaelsikand. Message Simmy on Twitter: @_simmy_ Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In #26, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) discuss Grant Roscoe, founder of Crescent. Grant grew up in Nebraska and didn't attend college, yet he's managed to spend the past 5 years turning his company into a key player in how startups manage their capital. He's raised $6M so far to turn Crescent into an integral part of startup management by helping young companies monetize their idle cash. Follow the show on TikTok: @ourfuturepod Follow the show on IG: @ourfuturepod Message Michael on Twitter: @michaelsikand. Message Simmy on Twitter: @_simmy_ Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

They used TikTok to promote their podcast, but podcasting is painful. There's no discovery. It's hard to grow. And there's little audience feedback. Meanwhile, their short videos took off. This is the story of how the Our Future creators grew their short video business, generated revenue and sold it to Morning Brew. Michael Sikand and Simran Sandhu are the founders of Our Future, a media company dedicated to inspiring young entrepreneurs. Michael, with a background in finance and a passion for storytelling, has played a pivotal role in shaping the company’s strategic vision. Simran, bringing expertise in digital media and content creation, has been instrumental in driving the brand’s innovative approach and expansive growth. Sponsored byGusto – The easy payroll and benefits software the Mixergy interviewees love. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

The boys are back from a two week holiday hiatus! In #25, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) discuss Hasan Raza and Quinn Favret, the co-founders of Tavus. Tavus is a generative AI startup that clones your face and voice to create virtually infinite personalized videos for use in sales outreach. They've raised over $25M from top VC firms like Sequoia and signed on blue-chip clients like HubSpot and Meta. But the big question still looms: is this a flash in the pan or the future of selling? Follow the show on TikTok: @ourfuturepod Follow the show on IG: @ourfuturepod Message Michael on Twitter: @michaelsikand. Message Simmy on Twitter: @_simmy_ Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In #24, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) talk about John Hu, the co-founder of Stan, a link in bio startup that might best be described as "Shopify for content creators". John's journey is made all the more fascinating by his mastery of building in public. No venture backed founder does a better job of documenting their journey and bringing viewers full transparency than John. He's racked up 40K+ subs on his YouTube channel and has proven that building in public is a formula for success. Follow the show on TikTok: @ourfuturepod Follow the show on IG: @ourfuturepod Message Michael on Twitter: @michaelsikand. Message Simmy on Twitter: @_simmy_ Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In #23, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) talk about Kenan Saleh who built a rooftop advertising startup for rideshare fleets and sold it to Lyft within 7 months of starting it at age 21. Kenan spent the next few years turning Lyft Media into a meaningful revenue division and if its any indicator, Uber aims for its rideshare ads business to do $1B next year. The boys also explore a number of other fascinating adtech startups that carved their slice of the attention economy, one example is an in-game ads platform for Roblox that a 25-year-old sold for $18m! Follow the show on TikTok: @ourfuturepod Follow the show on IG: @ourfuturepod Message Michael on Twitter: @michaelsikand. Message Simmy on Twitter: @_simmy_ Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In #22, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) talk about Rory and Kieran O'Reily, the sibling duo behind several massive internet projects and now co-founders of a new fintech backed by American Express. The brothers dropped out of Harvard and became Thiel Fellows to pursue the mania around GIFs by building a GIF creator website called Gifs.com. Despite being used by huge companies like Netflix, the brothers struggled to monetize it, and pivoted into crypto. Their Ethereum-based coin project was one of the most successful crypto communities until its value plummeted 99.9% in 2018, wiping out $80M in value. Now the brothers are focused on problems in traditional finance, primarily the pain of updating card information across disparate websites. Their new startup Knot API has raised $13M from investors like American Express and Plaid to help people seamlessly update payment information. 0:00 Intro 2:55 Gifs.com Story & Breakdown 08:52 Success and Failure in Crypto 16:32 New Fintech Startup: Knot API Check out their company: https://knotapi.com/ Follow the show on TikTok: @ourfuturepod Follow the show on IG: @ourfuturepod Message Michael on Twitter: @michaelsikand. Message Simmy on Twitter: @_simmy_ Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In #21, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) talk about Jack Settleman, the 27-year-old founder of Snapback Sports, a sports media brand and community generating seven figures a year in revenue. For this episode, the boys play around with a new format and focus on tactical takeaways for building in media and beyond. 0:00 Intro 1:55 What is Jack's Company? 2:31 How Jack Makes Money 3:57 Discussion: Quality of Revenue 6:37 Jack's Origin Story 7:41 Do Things That Don't Scale 11:42 Challenges in Platform Dependence 15:25 How To Think About Partnerships 21:17 Finding Your Angle Follow Jack on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jacksettleman/ Follow the show on TikTok: @ourfuturepod Follow the show on IG: @ourfuturepod Message Michael on Twitter: @michaelsikand. Message Simmy on Twitter: @_simmy_ Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In #20, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) cover two young millionaires dominating their niches. The first is Nik Sharma, the 26-year-old master of consumer brands who many know as "the DTC guy". Sharma is the founder of several 7-figure agencies focused on CPG brands as well as an investor into some of the buzziest new entrants like Feastables and Chamberlain Coffee. Next up is Hunter Isaacson, a 24-year-old viral social apps genius who is responsible for several explosive, top-ranking mobile apps that have raked in over $30M in total revenue. His claim to fame is NGL, an anonymous Q&A app that's racked up 120M views and still sits in the top 10 of its app store category. Michael and Simmy break down the playbooks and insights of both entrepreneurs so you can apply them to your own journey. Follow Nik Sharma: https://twitter.com/mrsharma Follow Hunter Isaacson: https://twitter.com/hunterjisaacson 00:00 Intro 01:18 Story of Nik Sharma (DTC Prodigy) 13:51 Story of Hunter Isaacson (Viral Apps) 28:05 Conclusion Follow the show on TikTok: @ourfuturepod Follow the show on IG: @ourfuturepod Message Michael on Twitter: @michaelsikand Message Simmy on Twitter: @_simmy_ Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In #19, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) chat with Sam Rattner (@samrattner), Co-Founder of Vigtory, a sports betting app he sold for $40M to FuboTV in 2021 at age 23. Sam is a college dropout who built a snow removal empire as a Chicago teenager before he pivoted to capitalize on the legalization of U.S. sports betting. More recently, Sam became the Co-Founder and CEO of Showroom, a B2C fashion search engine startup that he thinks can beat Google at its own game. 01:00 Sam's Snow Removal Biz 02:28 Don't Build For Silicon Valley People 08:42 Pros and Cons of Service Businesses 11:30 Why Sam Pivoted Into Tech 14:00 Being a Second-Time Founder 24:54 How/Why Sam Started Vigtory 31:30 The Guy Who Made Vigtory Work 45:00 Sam's Golden Rules on Partnerships and Fundraising 56:40 Sam's New AI Company Follow the show on ikTok: @ourfuturepod Follow the show on IG: @ourfuturepod Message Michael on Twitter: @michaelsikand. Message Simmy on Twitter: @_simmy_ Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In #18, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) chat with Mike Fata (@themikefata), Founder of Manitoba Harvest. Mike dropped 100 lbs while sticking to a no fat diet, but it was his discovery of hemp seeds, that prompted him to realize that healthy fat diets were the future. It took him 20 years, but Mike scaled Manitoba's signature hemp heart packets (seeds) into a popular food supplement embraced by mindful eaters across the U.S. and Canada. By 2019, Manitoba had achieved $100M in annual sales and Canadian weed giant Tilray stepped in to buy it for $419M. From reflecting on creating a category from scratch to providing startup advice to young people, Mike brings listeners and viewers into his sharp, tactical mind. His role as an investor and advisor in up and coming CPG brands like Mid-Day Squares and Dream Pops makes him an excellent judge of what young people are bringing to market and if they have a chance at cracking a real market.  Follow Mike on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/themikefata/ Follow Mike on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themikefata/?hl=en Make sure to like, subscribe, or leave a review for Our Future Podcast, the entrepreneurship podcast for young people!  Follow the show on TikTok: @ourfuturepod  Follow the show on IG: @ourfuturepod  Message Michael on Twitter: @michaelsikand.  Message Simmy on Twitter: @_simmy_  Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew.businesses without focusing on just one at a time. Make sure to like, subscribe, or leave a review for Our Future Podcast, the entrepreneurship podcast for young people! Follow the show on TikTok: @ourfuturepod Follow the show on IG: @ourfuturepod Message Michael on Twitter: @michaelsikand. Message Simmy on Twitter: @_simmy_ Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In #17, Michael Sikand and Simran Sandhu chop it up with 30-year-old millionaire Daniel Snow. He's sold 7+ multi-million dollar businesses in his twenties, spanning agencies, media brands, and ecommerce products. Daniel's most prolific business is RapTV, one of Instagram's biggest media companies (and the launching ground for new rap talent) with 45M+ combined followers across its properties. Last year, RapTV brought in over $4.5M through partnerships with top artists and companies like Spotify. Daniel breaks down his various ventures and discusses how he's been able to build and sell so many businesses without focusing on just one at a time. Make sure to like, subscribe, or leave a review for Our Future Podcast, the entrepreneurship podcast for young people! Follow the show on TikTok: @ourfuturepod Follow the show on IG: @ourfuturepod Message Michael on Twitter: @michaelsikand. Message Simmy on Twitter: @_simmy_ Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew, Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In #16, Michael Sikand and Simran Sandhu discuss the story of Jake Karls from Mid-Day Squares and David Riggs from Pneuma. Now age 30, Jake has spent the past 6 years building a retail-first chocolate square company with his sister and brother-in-law that aims to disrupt industry giants like Mondelez and Hershey's with functional, nutritious ingredients. It has surpassed $28M in sales and sells its products in over 20,000 retailers. Next up is 25-year-old David Riggs, whose agency, Pneuma, tops $6M a year in revenue, and resembles more of a private equity style roll-up operation than just an SEO and website shop. The secret to his success? Acqui-hiring smaller agencies and using culture as the main draw. 0:00 Intro 1:15 Story of Jake Karls and Mid-Day Squares 16:00 Story of David Riggs and Pneuma 28:37 Outro Make sure to like, subscribe, or leave a review for Our Future Podcast, the entrepreneurship podcast for young people! Check out Mid-Day Squares: https://www.middaysquares.com Check out Pneuma: https://www.pneumallc.co Follow the show on TikTok: @ourfuturepod Follow the show on IG: @ourfuturepod Message Michael on Twitter: @michaelsikand. Message Simmy on Twitter: @_simmy_ Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In #15, Simran Sandhu and Michael Sikand dive into the story of Anirudh Singla, the 24-year-old co-founder and CEO of Pepper. Singla's software platform is productizing the world of content marketing and has notched $10M/yr in revenue helping big companies produce written content at scale. Next up is Sheridan Clayborne, the 24-year-old co-founder of LendTable, a fintech company helping Americans take advantage of their 401K plans. The startup has already helped its users save over $10M and has attracted $35 in funding. 0:00 Intro 0:45 Story of Anirudh Singla (Pepper) 18:50 Story of Sheridan Clayborne (LendTable) 34:30 Outro Make sure to like, subscribe, or leave a review for Our Future Podcast, the entrepreneurship podcast for young people! Check out Pepper: https://www.peppercontent.io/ Check out LendTable: https://www.lendtable.com/ Follow the show on TikTok: @ourfuturepod Follow the show on IG: @ourfuturepod Message Michael on Twitter: @michaelsikand. Message Simmy on Twitter: @_simmy_ Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew, Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In #14, Michael Sikand and Simran Sandhu unpack the stories of Jake Lewin and Allan Maman. Aged 21-year-old, Jake co-founded Tabs with Oliver Brocato, a sex chocolate brand that pioneered UGC TikTok marketing and has many millions of sales to show for it. Now he's dabbling in more vices–finding niche opportunties in retail environments–like liquor stores and cannabis dispensaries. Next, the guys discuss Allan Maman, the 24-year-old CEO and co-founder of Bloom, an app that lets teens invest in the stock market and helps them do by gamifying financial education. Even in the competitive consumer fintech sector, Bloom has racked up 1M+ users in the span of a year. The ironic part? He got his start making memes for Vlad Tenev, co-founder and CEO of Robinhood. Make sure to like, subscribe, or leave a review for Our Future Podcast, the entrepreneurship podcast for young people! Check out Tabs: https://tabschocolate.com/ Check out Bloom: https://www.bloomapp.com/ Follow the show on TikTok: @ourfuturepod Follow the show on IG: @ourfuturepod Message Michael on Twitter: @michaelsikand. Message Simmy on Twitter: @_simmy_ Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In #13, Michael Sikand and Simran Sandhu discuss the stories of Griffin Spolansky and Taylor Hersom. Griffin got his start peddling his grandma's salad dressing to local stores as a teenager. Now he's 26 and owns a snack bar brand called Mezcla that's in Whole Foods stores nationwide and generating $5M/yr in revenue because Americans love "the crunch". Next up is Taylor Hersom, the founder of Eden Data, who turned his small UpWork hustle into a bustling cybersecurity consulting firm that will do $6M in revenue this year. His big realization for starting it? Small companies can't sell to big companies without complying with a long list of security standards. Check out Mezcla: https://eatmezcla.com/ Check out Eden Data: https://www.edendata.com/about Follow the show on TikTok: @ourfuturepod Follow the show on IG: @ourfuturepod Message Michael on Twitter: @michaelsikand Message Simmy on Twitter: @_simmy_ Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 16: Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) share the story of how they started Our Future, the #1 source of business for GenZ. After building a massive following on TikTok and garnering millions of views on their short-form explainers, they were acquired by Morning Brew. But post-acquisition life only brought a new set of challenges. Learn about the considerations and consequences of selling your business from these young and talented entrepreneurs.  Timestamps: (03:01): Intro (09:58): Attracting investors (13:55): Managing expectations (17:32): Unlocking synergies with your new partner Links: Our Future Podcast Our Future IG Send us an email and let us know what you think of the idea! foundersjournal@morningbrew.com #FoundersJournal #Startups #Entrepreneur Listen to Founder's Journal here: https://link.chtbl.com/OV4W93_W Watch Founder's Journal here: https://www.youtube.com/@FoundersJournal/  Subscribe to Morning Brew! Sign up for free today: https://bit.ly/morningbrewyt Follow The Brew! Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/morningbrew/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/MorningBrew Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@morningbrew Follow Alex! Alex Lieberman (@businessbarista) Learn more about Shopify here: https://shopify.com/crazyones

Today on The Casey Adams Show I sat down with Michael Sikand & Simran Sandhu, the co-founder of Our Future (recently acquired by Morning Brew). They discuss their journey, which began with a mentor's advice to never let a good crisis go to waste. They emphasize the importance of finding content that can be monetized, creating high-quality ads, and growing it as big as possible. They also discuss the importance of having a friendship with ambitious people of the same age, picking the right market, and managing expectations. - Follow Michael on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michaelsikand/ Follow Simran on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/im.simmy/ Follow Our Future on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourfuturehq/ - [00:00:01] - "Future innovators join podcasting" [00:09:05] - Media empire born on TikTok. [00:12:16] - Loving suits, speaking, pivoting. [00:18:49] - Managing expectations: hard. [00:22:06] - Founders considering selling Morning Brew. [00:25:14] - "Productivity in Austin exceeds NYC." [00:28:19] - Innovative short-form content creator. [00:37:51] - Discipline leads to success. [00:44:03] - "Embrace momentum, accept yourself." [00:47:15] - Gaining diverse experience for growth. [00:50:26] - Excited network-building and parring. - Subscribe to The Casey Adams Show on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-casey-adams-show/id1328795944 Follow Casey on social media: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/casey Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/CaseyAdams  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@caseyadams YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CaseyAdams - Follow The Casey Adams Show on social media: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/caseyadamsshow Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/CaseyAdamsShow TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@caseyadamsshow YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CaseyAdamsShow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Attention business enthusiasts and content creators! Do you want to stay updated on making awesome short-form content and crushing it in the media industry? Look no further than the latest episode of Content Funnels, where Michael Sikand, co-founder of Our Future, discusses the latest trends and strategies for short-form content creation. In this podcast episode, Michael shares how his company's recent acquisition by Morning Brew has helped them derisk their business. He also makes bold predictions about the future of TikTok in the US and how a possible ban would affect other short-form video platforms like YouTube shorts and reels. If you tune in to this episode, you'll also find out:- what is the future of content creation in general- how you can leverage short-form content to grow your own brand- which platform has the most optimistic outlook- how a 12-year-old leveraged his content to earn millions of dollarsLet's dive into the exciting world of short-form content creation!Key Takeaways:What is our future? (00:00)Selling the company to MorningBrew (01:16)The way to value short-form content businesses (04:02)A 12-year-old who makes millions of dollars and the future of content (05:47)Crazy examples of companies that are doing short-form content (07:30)The platform with the most optimistic outlook in the next 3 years (09:04)The future of TikTok and the consequences of the possible ban (10:15)Monetizing short-form content (11:50)Michael's predictions about content in general (16:16)Using AI and Chat GPT (17:21)Where to find Michael (19:52)Additional sources:

Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) is the Founder & CEO of @ourfuturehq, a media company curating business news in the form of bites for Gen Z audiences. They have exploded in the last year gaining over +500K cross-platform subscribers. In total, Mike has amassed 400M views over the years. Besides creating content for his own podcast, his company also runs the TikTok for @ShaanVP's and @thesamparr ‘s pod @myfirstmilpod, one of the biggest business podcasts in the space. In this episode we discuss: - The power of podcasting - How & Why Mike started Our Future - How he went from recording 150 podcasts episodes to getting millions of views on TikTok - Crazy story about a big-time podcast guest he managed to interview - His first viral video on TikTok - How he started working with Shaan Puri and Sam Parr for MFM - How he overcomes doubt and burnout as an entrepreneur

Michael Sikand is the creator of Our Future - a media company that focuses on business for Gen Z. His team specializes in short-form content, and they've built an audience of over 300,000 people.

Hey everybody, welcome to the MBIT podcast in which we discuss personal finance, tech, and entrepreneurship. Today we whipped up a wonderful episode for you guys as a very special guest Michael Sikand, joins us to talk about his business Our Future which is a media company designed to educate GenZ on business.Find OurFuture's Content Here: https://www.tiktok.com/@ourfuturestories?lang=enTwitter of Guest: @michaelsikandTwitter of Host: @mbitpodcast

Take 18 begins with a bang, with Reid and Jonah diving into their post-Thanksgiving transitions back to college and the workplace, respectively, and highlighting how the holiday season has affected their mental health. The boys are joined by Michael Sikand, the CEO and founder of Our Future, the business media platform for young people. Michael walks the audience through his journey creating Our Future, transforming a podcast pet project during COVID into a global media platform with 100K+ followers. Sharing insights from his C-Suite executive guests, Michael divulges essential habits and behaviors that can boost professional performance and mental health. The conversation pivots to strategies for engaging with social media, teasing out the differences between positive and negative content, and ways to develop a healthy relationship with your phone and digital entertainment. Michael shares aspects of his daily routine that keep him motivated, driven, and balanced as he balances running OurFuture with finishing his senior year of college, concluding with a classic game of Take it On trivia.

Michael Sikand is a pioneer of Gen Z podcasting who has recently moved into the TikTok arena. In this episode of the Market Madness podcast, he joins host Gav Blaxberg for a chat about what made his podcast so successful, why he is moving into short form content, and how he plans on building a media empire.

In #150, Michael Sikand sits down with Charles Huang, co-founder of Red Octane, the company behind the legendary Guitar Hero franchise. Starting the company alongside his brother Kai in the early 2000's, the gaming startup began by designing hardware for music and dancing games like “Dance Dance Revolution” and “In The Groove”. Soon however, the brothers realized a massive opportunity in delivering music games to an American audience (they were primarily popular in Asia) that were deeply rooted in culture. Despite having to re-mortgage their houses to make it work, the brothers launched Guitar Hero in November 2005. The game was an instant success and within a year of launching the game, Red Octane was acquired for $100M by Activision. Guitar Hero went on to be the second-ever game to reach $1B in sales, being the world's best-selling game in both 2007 and 2008. In this episode, Charles shares lessons, stories, and insights from an entrepreneurial journey building a product that rocked the world. He also explains why Guitar Hero faded away from its massive success and provides career advice to young entrepreneurs. This is a must listen! You Can Now Watch Interviews on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3hAS9IE Subscribe to Our Future Newsletter: http://bit.ly/ourfuturenewsletter Purchase Our Future Merch: http://bit.ly/ourfuturemerch Attend Our Weekly Entrepreneurship Events: http://bit.ly/ourfuturecommunity Follow us on IG: http://bit.ly/ourfutureig Follow us on TikTok: http://bit.ly/ourfuturetiktok

In #149, Michael Sikand interviews Calix Huang, a 16-year-old entrepreneur, high school student, and engineer who has built and sold two startups in the edtech space! His most recent startup, Hours, was a virtual study tool that allowed students to join rooms and do school work together in real-time, setting timers for different work sprints and exchanging messages. Through a crazy user acquisition strategy, Calix grew the platform to over 20k users from high schools and universities around the world, and in 2021, Hours was acquired by venture-backed edtech company Fiveable, where he currently serves as a lead of product. In this podcast, Calix inspires you with his startup story, from idea to sale, and will help you think about building your own exciting product that people will love. No matter what you want to build, this interview will fuel your ambition, so don't miss it. Connect with Calix on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/calix-huang/ You Can Now Watch Interviews on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3hAS9IE Subscribe to Our Future Newsletter: http://bit.ly/ourfuturenewsletter Purchase Our Future Merch: http://bit.ly/ourfuturemerch Attend Our Weekly Entrepreneurship Events: http://bit.ly/ourfuturecommunity Follow us on IG: http://bit.ly/ourfutureig Follow us on TikTok: http://bit.ly/ourfuturetiktok

Michael Sikand is a legend when it comes to meeting people who he probably shouldn't be meeting. He's interviewed people like Marc Randolph (Co-Founder of Netflix), Paul English (Founder of KAYAK), and Alex Lieberman (Co-Founder of The Morning Brew). How did he do it? We uncover all of his cheatcodes in this episode! Michael Sikand - Founder of Our Future HQ Leave us a review on iTunes (and help us reach more students) Get a FREE $10 of a stock with public.com by using this link: https://bit.ly/DCxPublic Thank you for listening to the show and making it all the way to the end of the show notes! (You're dedicated and we appreciate you) Join our discord and talk with thousands of other students! If you want to join our newsletter that releases once a week (0 spam) with 5 college cheatcodes, you can subscribe here: https://mailchi.mp/31e942a00a1c/gcgunewsletter

Meet and network with Michael Sikand, all the way from the University of Michigan, Michael is the founder of the exciting media brand OurFuture. Check out the OurFuture Podcast and Newsletter!Want to be matched with 15 other student founders? Sign up to Waves here.