Scratch Entrepreneur

There are jobs you simply do, that’s what most of us have, and there are creative passions that turn out to make you a few bucks, which very few are lucky enough to succeed at.  One way to gauge the difference is the perception of children.  If, as a child you heard of an occupation and immediately felt you would rather eat raw spinach with no ranch dressing while sitting in the adult church service for 10 hours, this is likely a job you do.  If, as a child, you fantasized about doing that job.  You dreamed about the details, imagined yourself in that daily routine, and presented it emphatically as the answer to the age old question “what do you want to be when you grow up?”, it’s likely a creative passion that might make you a few bucks. Occasionally, we meet someone who has succeeded at being what they dream of growing up to be.  Our guest today, is one of those people.  Not only has Paul Shoulberg spend time with some of Hollywood's greatest stars, he’s had the pleasure of watching them act out his words, his story, his screen play.  Even better, as a film director, he’s been able to mold those actors into his idea of the story.  Paul is becoming the vision so many of us had as kids.  A director and storyteller who exorcises his angels and demons right there on the big screen.  On today’s episode, Paul Shoulberg shares his story with us today.  We’re glad you joined us. We’re glad you joined us!  Here's an Overview: What childhood memories led to Paul being a writer? (2:12)

Paul’s dad wanted to be a writer and it really never worked out for him.  He always held writing in super high regard and instilled in Paul, even if he didn’t realize it at the time, a love and respect for a good story.  His father’s passion rubbed off on Paul and he eventually started writing.

How would you describe your film The Good Catholic? (10:40)

It’s really a workplace comedy.  The workplace is the church and the workers are three priests.  The film explores love and fear, life and death, spirituality and passion through the eyes of each character.  Along the way, one of the priests makes a connection with a quirky woman who pushes him to better understand himself.

In one scene, Daniel (Zachary Spicer) asks Victor (Danny Glover) if he ever really sees god.  Can you describe that interaction and your ideas behind it? (14:05)

Paul sees a lot of puff being blown about religion and the idea that only certain people have special access to god.  Danny Glover’s character instills the idea that what they do as priests takes work.  It’s getting up every day and doing it.  A deeper connection comes with that but it doesn’t just happen magically.  Paul feel like this concept is true for creative endeavors as well.  Writers block, an empty canvas, every successful creative person has systems for doing the work and being present when inspiration hits.  Maybe spirituality and creativity aren’t really that different.

There’s a great scene where Ollie (John C McGinley) talks about compassion.  Can you describe that scene? (16:50)

Ollie is a very real and present character who truly gets the spirit of religion and serving people.  This scene is one of Paul’s favorite.  Ollie is giving a Homily (sermon) on compassion.  His main point is that the definition of compassion is “to suffer with”.  This 3 minute scene gets at the heart of the story even though it doesn’t exactly fit most of the storyline.

Tell us a little about the inspiration behinds the film?(22:00)

Paul’s mom was a nun and his dad was a priest when they met.  So the backbone of the story is based on them.  It’s a story he’s wanted to tell for a long time.  But then, in 2013, his father passed away.  So the deeper personal elements of each character are a mix of Paul’s feelings about losing his dad, opinions on life, and everything else. 

What’s so hard about being a director?(28:04)

Directing a film is like popping up a hypothetical million-dollar business but you have to start before you know if you’ll have the million dollars.  For Paul, it has to be a true project of passion to even consider directing a film. 

­ Tell us about your next film? (33:32)

The film is called Ms White Light and it’s about a woman who is able to connect with people who are about to die but are struggling to let go.  Miss White Light (Roberta Colindraz) is able to connect profoundly with someone who’s dying but is incapable of normal day to day interactions.  It deep and dark but also, a comedy.

 

Special thanks to Paul Shoulberg for taking the time to share his story with us.

The show was produced and edited by me Jeremy Goodrich. 

The music is by my high school buddy Mark VInten.  Mark and I lived together our second year in college.  I painted my bedroom candy apple red had a water bed and listened to a lot of The Rolling Stones on the radio.  Mark was most well known for looking exactly like Jim Morrison.

If you enjoyed this podcast, there’s a couple of things we need you to do right now.  First subscribe to Scratch Entrepreneur on itunes, Stitcher, Google Play or wherever you listen to podcasts so you can hear future episodes as soon as we release them.  While you’re there, please give the show a review.  We’d love to know what you liked, what you didn’t, and what you want to hear next.

Until the next time, We truly appreciate you listening.

 

Mentioned in the episode:

• Forrest Gump  
• Braveheart  
• Stand By Me  
• Miles Davis  
• Thelonious Monk  
• Bird 
• Forest Whitaker 
• ­­­The Good Catholic
• Zachery Spicer
• Wrenn Schmidt
• Danny Glover
• John C McGinley
• Ms White Light
• Roberta Colindrez
• Pigasus Pictures
• Music by Mark Vinten

There are some businesses that are integral in the fabric and story of a community. Think about the town you live in.  If someone asks, "What are some things I HAVE to do when I visit?" you immediately think of them.  Maybe the dive bar in that back alley, an ice cream shop that has handmade old-fashioned vanilla but you have to specifically ask for it, a barber shop that only does high fades, a music venue where every good band played before they got famous.  "But where should I eat when I go there?" A good restaurant or two or five aren’t just threads in the fabric of a town, they’re a whole cross section.  Until your town has the perfect place to eat, it’s just plain not a town yet. Our guest today is the owner of one such eatery.  Anyone who knows anything about Bloomington, Indiana is going to insist that you eat at his place at least once while you’re here.  In the 1970’s, you would stumble into the Uptown Café after a long night listening to music at the Bluebird.  You’d order gumbo or jambalaya to soaked up all the booze.  But now, 40 years later, Michael Cassady has refined the dining experience. His place seats 250 people instead of 30.  Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are served and the place closes at 10.  Michael sees his restaurant as a kind of urban work of art and anyone who’s spent a moment inside couldn’t agree more.  On today’s show, Michael shares the story of The Uptown Café. We’re glad you joined us!

Here are some highlights:

What childhood memories led Michael to starting­­­­­­­­ The Uptown? 

Michael grow up in Fort Wayne, Indiana and used to watch Justin Wilson talk about Louisiana cooking on PBS.  He’s loved the big flavors of the Big Easy ever since.

Michael moved to Bloomington in the 1960’s to study political science.  The whole time he was in school, he was cooking.  He spent time at The Office Lounge, The TOA, The New Age Deli, The Vienna Doghouse, The Gables, and lots of other places.

He finally decided to buy his own placer and start a diner.  He modeled it after The Empire Diner in New York City and fashioned the cooking style after Paul Prudhomme.

What’s evolved since you started the Uptown? 

When Michael started, there really wasn’t a whole lot as far as good cuisine.  Even yogurt was seen as a left wing food.  American food has come a long way since then.

Where do you go when you want to get some food out? 

It’s not something Michael does a lot.  He lives in the county and generally doesn’t want to go out once he gets home.

When he does go out, he generally goes to places where he loves the chef like C3, Feast, Finchs, & NOCO.  His buddy owns Mother Bears Pizza so that’s on his list too.

What advice do you have for people who want to open a restaurant?

Keep it simple.

Hire smart.

Always have a group of trusted advisors.

What does The Uptown look like in 5 years?

Michael is 68 years old and he know that The Uptown will need new leadership soon.  He’s hoping he can hand the operations down to one of his sons or create another plan that keeps it in the family.

 

Special thanks to Michael Cassady for taking the time to share the Uptown story with us.

The show was produced and edited by me Jeremy Goodrich.

The music is by my high school buddy Mark VInten.  In high school, we played a lot of soccer together.  I was the goalie and he was the sweeper.  For anyone who understands that relationship, it makes total sense why we’re still friends 25 years later.

If you enjoyed this podcast, there’s a couple of things we need you to do right now.  First subscribe to Scratch Entrepreneur on itunes, Stitcher, Google Play or wherever you listen to podcasts so you can hear future episodes as soon as we release them.  While you’re there, please give the show a review.  We’d love to know what you liked, what you didn’t, and what you want to hear next.

Until the next time, We truly appreciate you listening.

 

Mentioned in the episode:

• Justin Walker
• The Office Lounge
• The Tao
• The New Age Deli
• The Vienna Doghouse
• The Gables
• Commanders Palace in New Orleans
• The Empire Diner
• Paul Prudhomme
• C3
• Finches
• Feast
• Mother Bears Pizza

Many of our favorite businesses were built out of someone loving something and then figuring out how to make it better. Yvon Chouinard created Patagonia because he loved rock climbing, hiking, and being outdoors.  Everything else stemmed from that. Ben & Jerry loved ice cream, Jake Carpenter of Burton snowboards just wanted to find the perfect ride.  There are lots of reasons for someone to start a business but loving something and then working to make it better is one of the most fulfilling.  If you own a business, why did you start yours?  What do your love and how are you making it better?  The answers can drive you and frame the direction you go in the future. Our guest today loves music.  Specifically, early 90’s grunge and all of the many steps in it’s evolution into modern Indie Rock.  The way he found to make it better was to start a small record label.  To find artists he loved and help spread their music to as many people as possible.  Ben Swanson built Secretly Canadian based on a search for the right sound.  Now he helps hundreds of artists around the world record, brand, and share their music with as many ears as possible. We’re glad you joined us! Listen Here: Here are some highlights: What childhood memories led Ben to starting­­­­­­­­ Secretly? (1:59)

Ben grew up with his older brother Chris in Fargo, North Dakota.  His dad and his uncle built a vitamin supplement business from their garage.  Ben remembers his dad in the garage pouring powder into tiny capsules by hand.  That company is now Swanson Health Products one of the largest vitamin suppliers in the world. Ben’s dad loved music and he would take them to shows sometimes.  Fargo happened to be a stop over for bands as they traveled to the Northwest so they had the chance to see a lot of shows.  In the late 80’s early 90’s, Ben was a teenager and was able to see tons of the bands that seeded the Seattle grunge explosion of the early 90’s. He started collecting albums and paying attention to the music that certain labels put out. Eventually, his brother Chris moved to Bloomington IN for college.  Ben followed two years later and they decided it would be fun to try and start their own music label. They dug into the explosion of independent music but also loved the catalogs of labels like K Records and Discord. They finally started to figure out how to physically make records and cassettes.  Then they would go to shows of musicians they loved and see if the musician would let them be the ones to manufacture and market the album.  Their first taker was June Panic and then Songs: Ohia followed.

How do you attract artists? (11:07)

For Ben, it’s all about just being a fan first.  Artists tend to want people surrounding them that understand and get what they’re doing.  Ben has always just approached it that way.

What’s the story behind the name Secretly Canadian? (14:05)

Being from Fargo, North Dakota Ben had a connection with Canada.  They really loved and connected with a ton of Canadian talent, from music to comedy and beyond.  They started joking around about the fact that all good things must be secretly Canadian.

 What’s it’s like to work with your brother? (15:35)

There are definitely pros and cons.  The hard part is getting over the big brother little brother stuff.  Ben happens to be the little brother.  One positive is the short-hands that they speak.  They can get really heated and then get over it and move on.  Sometimes that would devolve into wrestling.  One of Ben’s favorite moments is when he finally won one of those wrestling matches.

What does Secretly look like today? (18:18)

They are a global music company.  They’re a record label, the Master side helping artist to write and pitch the music they create, physical and digital distribution throughout the world, an artist management service, and a vinyl plant.

What kind of artist is an ideal client? (21:13)

Incredible musician, incredible artist, smart person, sells a few records.  The bottom line is that Ben wants to love the artists music.  It can work out from there. Secretly represents Indy music artists primarily but they dig into tons of genres.

What are traits of successful and unsuccessful artists? (23:35)

Bands can really easily get in their bubble.  The good ones are able to connect with others.  Other artists, other industry folks, whoever will listen.  You have to reach out and build relationships.  The more you can get to know people and the industry the better you’ll do.

How does it feel to own a multi-national business?

Weird.

What is similar and different between you and Richard Branson?

Ben really likes how fearless Richard is.  He gets into a lot of different spaces, builds a lot of brands, and is always ready to grow.  That’s a similarity. Richard Branson is a totally outgoing guy with tons of other people running the show.  Ben is simply a part of the team.  His hands are on most things in a way that certainly is different than Virgin Records.

A book we should totally read?

The 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss

An artist that we should listen to?

Serpent with Feet

What are the key types of people musicians should connect with?

Other artists are the low hanging fruit.  Connecting with an established artist or two is the key.  Labels like Secretly hear about new artists all the time from their existing artists.

What’s Secretly look like in 5 years?

Not necessarily bigger, but more streamlined.  Finding ways to sta­­­­y interested by chasing new ideas but not getting too sidetracked from the core mission.

Special thanks to Ben Swanson for taking the time to share the Secretly Canadian story with us.

The show was produced and edited by me Jeremy Goodrich. The music is by my high school buddy Mark VInten and Secretly group artists June Panic, Songs: Ohia, Bon Iver and Serpent with Feet. If you enjoyed this podcast, there’s a couple of things we need you to do right now.  First subscribe to Scratch Entrepreneur on itunes, Stitcher, Google Play or wherever you listen to podcasts so you can hear future episodes as soon as we release them.  While you’re there, please give the show a review.  We’d love to know what you liked, what you didn’t, and what you want to hear next. Until the next time, We truly appreciate you listening.   Mentioned in the episode:

• Secretly Group
• Swanson Health Products
• K Records
• Nirvana
• Kill Rock Stars
• Discord
• Fugazi
• June Panic
• Songs: Ohia
• Bon Iver
• Jason Wilber
• The 4 Hour Work Week Tim Ferris
• Serpent with Feet
• Musical interludes by Mark Vinten

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Us humans, we have all these labels for people, right.Us humans, we have all these labels for people, right.Some are mean like calling someone a nerd or a moron.  Some are self-applied like goth or grunge.  Some clearly state a specific spiritual philosophy like Christian or Pagan. Some are about ancestry, others skin color, still others define the generation you were born.  We use these words as a way to categorize traits or behaviors and all of it is a way for our brains to create boundaries.  Wars are fought, rallies are held, weddings are arranged, all in the name of these boxes we create.  When it comes to business, the words that create our box, our brand are important too.  We can incite love or hate, connection or ambiguity just by our choice of label, the words and actions that define us.Our guest today is in the business of creating these connections through stories that building better brands.  Labels that describe him would be extrovert, connector,  describer, storyteller.  Dmitri Vietze has been building brands for decades.  His business Rock Paper Scissors helps musicians, tech companies, and entrepreneurs of all kinds tell their story.  In this episode, he’ll tell his.We’re glad you joined us!Listen Here:Here are some highlights:What childhood memories led Dmitri to start a marketing business? (2:45)Dmiti was born in Nashville, TN and lived there for the first decade of his life. His family then moved to Queens New York in the 1980’s.  He spent his high school  years there attending the New York City school for Music and the Arts (the high school from the FAME TV show).  Dmitri was heavily involved in activism there speaking out against racism and cultural inequity.  His activism involved a ton of public speaking, marketing, and sharing the story of the inequity he saw.  After high school, he got a scholarship to attend the liberal arts college Antioch College with a focus on activism.What’s the origin story of Rock Paper Scissors? (4:10)At Antioch, Dmitri really drove towards the business maragement side of things.  He still felt powerful about activism but he wanted to find a way to connect it with building a business.  After college he took a job in Portland, OR.  He started digging deep into the root of the music he loves.  80’s progressive hip hop used a ton of jazz samples so Dmitri started listening to more of that.  That led to a love of African roots, afro-beats, and world music in general.  Eventually, a record distributer asked him to use that knowledge to do PR work for their global clients.  After doing that for a while he decided he wanted to pick his own jobs.  In 1999, Rock Paper Scissors was born.Dmitri is known for wearing vibrant colorful clothing.  Where does that choice come from? (11:45)Bright colorful cloths have been a think for Dmitri since he was a kid.  He’s always just felt like it represented him and nis personality.  As a business owner, he realized that people were noticing it and the bright clothes really proceeded him into business conversations.  The work he does is creative, fun, and colorful.  He wanted that to be represented in the visual palette people saw when he entered their space.How has the music industry changed in the time you’ve been connected with it? (13:45)The 90’s was really to boom of record sales and that feel off when online streaming of music became a thing.  As physical record sales dropped, live music took more of a center stage.  Huge festivals have been a thing and continue to bring in big bucks while offering artists of all sizes the opportunity to connect.  The club scene has grown as well.  In addition, digital sales have become more streamlined and paid for.  Napster offered music for free, really hurting musicians, but iTunes, Spotify and other streaming mechanisms have monetized music in a way that ultimately help musicians.­ Another trend is that more and more musicians are publishing.  Recording music and videos is easier which is great but it also means there’s a ton of competition.  The best thing to do is just kep producing and marketing the music you create.How has Rock Paper Scissors Evolved? (21:55)Dmitri loves technology.  Rock Paper Scissors developed a ton of tech to support their PR work.  He realized that he could apply his systems not only to World Music but also to tech companies, and all kinds of other entrepreneurs.  The stories are very much the same.How can businesses tell their own stories? (39:00)

 
1. Don’t use cliché terminology.
 
2. Start with the origin story and build from there
 
3. Have someone else interview you and discover your own answers. Get that outside perspective
 
4. Figure out what truly makes you unique­­­
 
5. Focus your story around a human. Give your listener someone to connect the story with

Rock Paper Scissors has focused on technology for music public relations but now you're serving pure tech companies as well.  How do they connect? (21:55)Healthy tech brands tend to have four concepts at their heart: Equity, Transparency, Innovation, Networking & Research. This really isn't any different than the musicians we've always worked with.  It seemed like an obvious fit so we connected with some tech brands and the results have been great.How has Rock Paper Scissors Evolved? (37:00)Dmitri wants to grow into the pure Tech PR business and he wants to continue using Storyfinding methods where the masses are telling the story of the business in a way that’s decentralize from the business itself.Mentioned in the episode:

 
• Fela Koti – Afro Beats artist
 
• Napster
 
• iTunes
 
• CD Baby – “The onramp to the music industry”
 
• Paren Lamb – Indy Coffee House Playlist
 
• DIY Musician Conference
 
• Jack Conte - Pomplamoose & Patreon

 
• Storyamp – Automated music marketing platform
 
• DeveloperTown – “Software is eating the world”
 
• The Innovators Dilemma & The Innovators DNA by Clayton Christensen
 
• Edelman Trust Barometer

Special thanks to Dmitri Vietze for taking the time to share the Rock Paper Scissors story with us.The show was produced and edited by me Jeremy Goodrich. The music is by my good friend Mark VInten. In college we would get together most Friday nights and play music to the wee hours of the morning..  Here’s the thing though.  He lived in a tiny apartment with about 200 neighbors.  We had a drum set, amplifiers, and we loved to turn it up.  Kind of can’t believe that the cops only showed up twice. If you enjoyed this podcast, there’s a couple of things we need you to do right now.  First subscribe to Scratch Entrepreneur on itunes, Stitcher, Google Play or wherever you listen to podcasts so you can hear future episodes as soon as we release them.  While you’re there, please give the show a review.  We’d love to know what you liked, what you didn’t, and what you want to hear next. Until the next time, We truly appreciate you listening.  

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Our guest today builds houses. Really beautiful houses Hardwood floors with deep velvety purple finishes, huge windows full of afternoon sun.  Each home is unique and, like any good builder, his finished pieces have a stunning signature to them.  Loren Wood and his team of builders drop their heart and soul into every new build.  They pour foundations, frame walls, run electrical, pop about a trillion nails into all of it, and finally when it’s all done, they take some pretty pictures, open the doors for the home's new owner, and move on to the next one.

We’re glad you joined us!

Here are some highlights: What childhood memories led Loren to start a construction biz? (2:50)

Loren remembers being amazed as a kid by the fact that his uncle built his own house.  It seemed to Loren at the time like his uncle Rick hit every nail in by himself without any help.  He always thought that was awesome and wanted to do it himself.

What’s a story that stucks out as an example of what Loren builds for people? (4:10)

For Loren it’s not really one example.  He enjoys the process.  He’s proud that there are beautiful houses with his name attached to them but he’s more connected with the experience of it.  He likes helping people through the process, creating a great work environment for his employees, and honing the entire process.  The connection for him is a lot more with the doing than the result.

When it comes to building materials, there’s everything from toxic to materials cut down on the same property of the house.  Where does Loren stand on that scale? (12:40)

When he first started, Loren built his own house at the highest level of every environmental standard.  But he learned pretty quickly that it wasn’t always feasible, and his clients didn’t want or feel they needed that.  So now he builds putting the most important things (like high efficiency design) first.  From there he tries the help clients make smart and balanced decisions.

You do a ton of work supporting non-profits in Bloomington.  What role does that play in your business and your thinking? (16:30)

Loren didn’t start his business thinking he would be doing a bunch of giving.  He just wanted to build a couple of houses.  Once he started becoming bigger he started getting asked to do things, so he did them.  He started realizing that he really could use his role as a builder to contribute to his community.

How do you build a great staff? (23:10)

Loren remembers watching through his dad’s factory and his dad pointing out each employee and why that person was a key part of the process.  His dad was affirming his team and their value to the business.  Setting a positive work environment is key number one.  Being able to compensate people fairly is the second.  People have to have a living wage to make things work.  Employees are part of a profit sharing part of the business as well.  Finally, creating a culture where there’s room for advancement.  Professional and creative growth is key.  Putting all of this together with a positive attitude is the formula Loren uses everyday to keep employees and keep the whole team happy.

Where will Loren Wood Builders be in 5 years? (39:00)

Loren is really happy with where things are at right now.  If he was still humming at the same pitch five years down the road, that works for him.  Curiosity has changed and he’s sure it will change again but the premise, the structure, he’s good with it.

Special thanks to Loren Wood for taking the time to share the Loren Wood Builders story with us!

Mentioned in the episode:

• Osteria Rago
• Kirby Millic – Furniture Maker
• Hoosier Reclaimed Timber
• Habitat for Humanity – Builders Blitz
• Lotus World Music & Arts Organization
• Cardinal Stage Company
• Bloomington Playwrights Project
• Hoosier Heights Climbing Gym 
• Music by Mark Vinten

 

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Our guest today has perhaps one of the smartest solutions to a specific problem that's plagued beekeepers for centuries. Her and the Beecorp team are taking on some of the key issues around a dying community of animals that we actually really need. Ellie Symes shares her story, how BeeCorp is solving key issues for beekeepers, and what she's learned from being a CEO.

We're glad you joined us.

 

Early Memories of Entrepreneurship

While Ellie never really saw herself as growing up to be an entrepreneur, she did start a couple of businesses as a kid.  Her favorite was a dog walking  business when she was just six years old.  Not very many people wanted to let a six year old take their dogs but it was Ellie’s solution to not being allowed to have a dog herself.

What is BeeCorp?

BeeCorp builds analytic software for beekeepers.  Their first product can tell when a queen bee dies.  The queen is the most important member of a hive because she has all of the babies and builds the community.  When the queen dies the other bees go into major housekeeping mode instead of creating honey.  Eventually the bees will just leave.  BeeCorp helps beekeepers realize this sooner and solve the issue before the hive dies.

How have beekeepers responded?

They love the technology piece, the alerts are super helpful and the beekeeper are actually providing BeeCorp a ton of information so they know what new products to build.

How did Ellie come up with the idea?

Ellie has been a beekeeper for 6 years and she’s always loved it.  She even started a Beekeeping club in college.  Colony collapse was just starting to get

What is the current state of the honey bee world?

The world has one-third of the population of bees we had in the 1960s.  Climate change, pesticides, globalization, and beekeepers themselves are all continbuting to the problem.  Ellie knows that she can’t necessarily solve the problem but her goal is to help beekeepers catch some of the results on their hives so they can diagnose the problem and fix it.

What about hive theft and vandalism?

Both are actually a major problem in the beekeeping world.

Beekeepers actually steal hive from each other a lot. Beecorp clients have GPS senbsors in the hive so it can be found and the theaf could be prosecuted.

As for vandalism, the Beecorp sensors can tell the beekeeper quickly so that they can go out, fix the hive and save it for total demise.­­­

What was a major gut check in the evolution of BeeCorp?

They were raising money and they’d received a fair amount but they weren’t quite there yet.  Ultimately one of the founders asked their landlord who pulled through along with another few final investors.

How does the feeling of business ownership change once you get funded?

The pressure of having other peoples money is a huge difference.  Ellie

An important moment of business ownership?

What do you love about owning a business?

Having control over what you do and how you do it and create the culture of a community

What’s one thing you can’t stand?

Ellie can’t stand receiving all of the sales calls.  Her number is on the website

Where will BeeCorp be 5 years down the road?

Ellie and the BeeCorp team They want to be an employer that employees love to be at, keep hive and do research in an innovative way.  Have more technical solutions for the problems beekeepers face.  Build a database of information

 

Special thanks to Ellie Symes for taking the time to share the BeeCorp story with us.

Mentioned in the show:

BeeCorp

INX3

Hoshin Matrix

Hanapin Marketing

Shine Insurance

Music by Mark Vinten

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Have you ever dreamed of going viral, schmoozing with the stars, swimming in piles of virtual likes and shares, retweets and smiley faces? I mean who doesn’t want fan mail, right? 

Our guest today is fortunate enough to have experienced all of that but here’s the thing, he wasn’t really dreaming of it.  In fact, as it turns out, most people who go viral weren’t.  Generally they are living life like the rest of us, chasing passions, making ends meet, and then one day this one part of their world blows up.  Today Mike Bridavsky, owner of Russian Recording studio and dad to world famous cat Lil Bub shares his story.  

We’re glad you joined us! 

 

Here's an overview:

 

Early Memories of Entrepreneurship

Mike always attracted to creating businesses.  Even as a young kid in his parents’ community of Russian immigrants he would sell berries to his neighbors.  By the time he became a teenager he fell in love with recording music.  Immediately he started recording bands.

 

The Two Sides of Owning a Business

For Mike there are two sides.  The thing your business is about and then the process of owning the business itself.  Mike loved both.   A business is the ultimate customization of something.  You get to pick the brand and the marketing and the place.  The other side is the passion, the thing you love so much that you want to help others with it.  What can be hard when you really love what you do is the monetization.  The “does my business work on paper?” part.  It’s something

 

Why Recording Studios Are The Worst Business Model Ever

The overhead with a recording studio is insane.  All of the equipment is super expensive.  It takes about $300,00 to really get it put together.  But the recording industry has completely changed since the 1990’s.  Rates for a day of record have dropped from $5000 a day to $500.  So the amount you can make on your best day is pretty much break even.

 

Yet Mike still continues.  In 2007, he decided to go all in.  He got a large loan, quit his day job, and built his dream studio.  Mike and I walked through before the interview.  He showed me a 50’s era Russian ribbon microphone that could have amplified the voices of Russia’s biggest political leaders.  I walked singing from the band room to the dead room and listened to the change in my voice.  Every detail of the space was beautiful… and expensive.  It’s clear that Mike built his dream and his passion for the perfect audio space drove everything, maybe even just a little too far

 

It All Goes Bad, Then Good

After he built the studio, it all went bad.  Bands weren’t showing, he wasn’t able to pay rent, the whole thing was bombing.  And just at that moment, Mike’s cat got famous.

Mike had a blog for his Cat Lil Bub.  It was kind of a fun thing.  Him and a friend were kind of pretending like their cats were famous.  Then suddenly one of the blog posts went viral and tons of people wanted to buy t-shirts.  Mike’s entrepreneurial spirit kicked in and his love for Bub became a vehicle for everyone else to love her too.  Lil Bub is in charge, Mike is the facilitator.

 

The Story of Lil Bub

As the person who’s been there from the beginning, Mike truly believes Bub is in charge.  His job is to control the train He employs strict rules about how things work if someone wants to do an event, show, book, or whatever with Bub.  He’s seen that saying “No” to people is actually a great way to get exactly what you want.  They really don’t need to do any of the things their asked so they only do it if it fits perfectly.  Mike just lives life with Bub (and photographs it of course).  He tries to follow Bub’s lead and see where they go.

 

Lessons Mike has learned:

• Passion and will power are great but you’ve got to understand the numbers too
• Various sources of income is important
• You can’t give all your money away
• Be Authentic!
• Going viral never happens on purpose

  

Special thanks to Mike Bridavsky for taking the time to share the Russian Recording & Lil Bub story with us.

 

Mentioned in the episode:

Russian Recording

Lil Bub’s Big Show

Lil Bub Animal Planet Show

Lil Bub Book

Lil Bub on The View

YouTube Big Live Comedy Show with Jack McBrayer & Workaholics

 

Sponsored by Shine Insurance - https://www.shineinsurance.com/

Music by Mark Vinten

 

Learn more about us at:

Our Site -  www.shineinsurance.com

Our Blog - www.shineinsure.com/blog

Our Podcast - www.scratchentrepreneur.com

Our Course - www.newhomebuyersguide.net

Do you love the town you live in or do you long to move somewhere else?  Have you ever thought about why you feel whatever way you do?  I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately.

 

I’ve lived in Bloomington Indiana for most of the last 25 years and the more people I meet, the more stories build the thread of this town in my mind, the deeper connection I have with this place.  I’ve always seen Bloomington as an oasis.  The college town in beautiful southern Indiana.  People of all colors, shapes, and creeds, living in the conservative Midwest.   As a teenager in the big flat city of Indianapolis, all I wanted was to get out of the Midwest, wanted to go back to San Diego, surf, get a tan.  Instead, after a failed round of the local college, my parents talked me into the college town 50 miles away in the rolling hills of Southern Indiana.  I sort of begrudgingly gave in.

 

But it didn’t take long to fall in love with Bloomington then and like any good relationship, it’s gotten better with time.

 

One thing I love about this town is the scattered nods to the big city.  Walking through downtown there’s the bars with 100 year old grease on the walls from 100, upstairs pool halls with the same door guy as 30 years ago, Opera & Ballet.  There’s a whole two block section of town with a restaurant from every nation you can think of.  It’s not hard to get small tastes of the big city in Bloomington.  Just enough some might say.

 

Our guest on today’s show added to that list when she opened a new Café and Coffee bar called the Inkwell.  The place is located dead in the heart of town.  Across from the limestone courthouse building in the center square.  The Inkwell is just the right kind of hole in the wall.  It’s a long skinny place like you’d see in Brooklyn.  Old brick walls show the wear of a hundred years and exposed metal heat vents bringing modern comforts through an aged plaster ceiling.  But the interior design is crisp and modern.  It’s understated and quiet.  The food and the coffee do all of the talking.  Tracy Gates had been planning the Inkwell for years.  When a staple café closed she saw an opening. when she met Wally Wedrago, a local bicycle barista and coffee master, the stars aligned.  It was time to go.

We’re glad you joined us! 

Have you ever had a good idea?  One that was so obvious, so helpful, so ingenious that you couldn’t believe it didn’t already exist?  You searched the web and couldn’t find anytime about it, you researched the patent list and it just wasn’t there. You sat in a darkroom late at night thinking “what is my next step?”.  Well, if you idea has anything to do with technology, your first call might be to today’s guest Mike Kelly at DeveloperTown.  Along with taking tech ideas from infancy to lauch, Mike and the DeveloperTown gang help large corporations turntheir tech ideas into reality.  All of this happens in a huge warehouse with hundreds of tiny houses inside.  As always, let’s start from the beginning:

 

Here’s an overview:

• How it all Started

Mike went grew up in a family that owned small retail businesses.  He worked from the age of 9 in stock rooms.  He got a healthy work ethic and sense of how money works from that.  In college, Mike started a software consulting company and stuck with it for 10 more years.  He would go into different businesses and address a specific issue or project in that business.  He was always working on cool stuff and moving place to place but he never really learned how to resolve conflict because he could just leave.

 

• How did DeveloperTown Get Started?

There were 5 founding partners led by Michael Korn.  He brought together 5 people with different superpowers to start helping tech businesses start and grow.  Originally, the founders want to help and invest in startups.  But cash flow considerations drove them towards working with existing businesses.  Now they do both.

 

• What are some insights about working with other people?

Part of it is just practice.  You have to learn to be in tense situations and crucial conversations and come out on the other end having made progress.  Mike struggles at first.  He could be aggressive and want things done his way.  But he was self-reflective enough to realize the issue and committed to working on it.  He read books like Crucial Conversations Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High, Second Edition and How to Win Friends & Influence People.  He also starting participating in the martial arts, specifically Aikido.­­­­  What he’s realized is that team is family and family works through things.  That means handling your own issues with integrity and trusting everyone else to do the same.

 

• The DeveloperTown office is pretty weird. Why did you set it up this way?

The office structure is based on the idea that creative people work best in their own private spaces.  So they decided to build tiny houses instead of cubicles inside of a 20,000 square foot warehouse.  Each employee has his/her own house and can decorate it however they see fit.  The houses are on wheels.  When a project begins, everyone who is working on it puts their houses in close proximity to each other. 

 There are community work spaces as well so it’s a mix of both worlds. 

 

• What have been some scary moments?

The first was a time when they’d done over a million dollars worth of work for a company and hadn’t yet been paid.  It had to do with purchase orders and delays in payment but Mike and the team of owners was starting to sweat pretty hard about covering payroll.  They did finally get paid.

 The second is something Mike struggles with more consistently.  The issue is how to scale the sales side of the business.  The owners are passionate and are very comfortable talking about what they do, but hiring people into those positions has been a struggle.  Until he can figure out the scalable solution it kind of a constant scary part of the business.

 

• What are a couple piece of advice for up and coming tech entrepreneurs?

The first is to find people who will tell you the truth.  The second is to research the market ten times over before building something.  Maybe even build your marketing strategy and implement it prior to the build.  Don’t build it until you know they’ll come.

 

Special thanks to Mike Kelly for taking the time to share the DeveloperTown story with us. 

 

Learn more about us at:

Our Site -  www.shineinsurance.com

Our Blog - www.shineinsure.com/blog

Our Podcast - www.scratchentrepreneur.com

Our Course - www.newhomebuyersguide.net

So you’ve got a million dollars that your looking to invest right?  It’s just sitting around in your side table or stuffed into the cushions on your couch but you know it should be invested somewhere so it can grow into two or three million.  You could invest in the stock market or real estate but that sounds so boring.  You want to invest in ideas, great ideas, and help them grow into a multi-billion dollar company like Amazon or Google. 

If that’s your scenario, our guest today is the right guy to call.  Serial entrepreneur Mike Trotsky has started tech businesses, sold them, and connected hundreds of investors with opportunities to fund great tech ideas.  In our conversation, he breaks down the western frontier of investing into terms we can all understand.

 

Here’s an overview:

• How it all Started

Mike went to college at Indiana University to be an audio engineer.  He and some friends started building online donation systems for political campaigns.  That business, called Worldview, grew and they became the tech behind a bunch of political campaigns in the late 1990’s.

 

Eventually they moved away from the consulting congressional campaigns and tried to go deeper into the dot com boom.  They couldn’t scale with consulting so they shifted to a tech solution to making rent payments.  This was the first tech solution they came up with that took on investors and was really scalable. 

 

• What is Sproutbox?

As the name implies, Sprout Box offers everything a new seed business needs to blossom.  The investors are there, the expertise is there, and the services like lawyers, financial advisors, etc are there.  An entrepreneur who gets in isn’t guaranteed success but he or she couldn’t be set up better for it.  Most of the businesses they launched offered tech oriented SAS products.  That means Software as a Service.  In other words, the software that the business creates provides some kind of service.  That could be connecting a driver with someone who needs a ride (like Lyft or Uber), helping a beekeeper analyze her hives (like BeeCorp), or revolutionize software billing processes like Cheddar the business Mike would engage with beyond Sproutbox eventually becoming the CEO.

 

• What is Cheddar?

Cheddar is a business that created a billing system that sits behind a ton of SAS (Software as a Service) products.  It basically functions as the cash register for tech products.  Their product is on the cutting edge of tech billing helping companies to bill based on use (like your water bill).

 

‘I’ve found this problem’ is way better than ‘I’ve got an Idea’

 

 

• What are the investing steps entrepreneurs go through as there business grows?

Every business goes through a different evolution, but here are the basic stages where entrepreneurs generally ask investors to join:

• Friends & Family Round ($10K to $50K)– As it sounds you pitch your company idea to the people closest to you and hope to raise small amounts of cash from them. This is a point where you can join an Accelerator as well.  These are basically programs the pay ten to fifty thousand dollars and help you get going.

 

• Angel Investors ($50K-$300K) – These are individuals who may not know the entrepreneur personally but are generally connected in some way. They might be in the same town or connected through a local eco-system

 

• Seed Stage ($500K-$4M) – Now groups of investors are involved. The business has proved itself and it’s shown an ability to scale

 

• Series A, B, C, D – This is the big time. Major Venture Capital Firms (VCs) and making multimillion dollar bets on established businesses.  The entrepreneur has shown scalability and it’s just a matter of marketing the product and scaling.

 

• IPO – Going public and being publicly traded on the stock market.

 

 

 

 

 

Special thanks to Mike Trotzke for taking the time to share the Sproutbox & Cheddar story with us.  You can find him at:

Cheddar -  www.getcheddar.com

Sproutbox – www.sproutbox.com

 

Learn more about us at:

Our Site -  www.shineinsurance.com

Our Blog - www.shineinsure.com/blog

Our Podcast - www.scratchentrepreneur.com

Our Course - www.newhomebuyersguide.net