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1:21:41

Creator Lab - interviews with entrepreneurs and startup founders

by Bilal Zaidi

Conversations with leading entrepreneurs, non-profit founders, award winning designers, educators, artists and everything else in between. We dig deep into their stories, have honest conversations about how they made their ideas come to life and the lessons learned along the way.

Episodes

Nathan Latka // How To Be A Capitalist, Building Systems & Buying Companies

1h 23m · Published 19 Mar 04:16

Watch the full episode on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/Lc07mxx3CII

Nathan Latka is making more than $100k/month from 30+ revenue streams. We go into all of the details documented in his book: “How To Be A Capitalist Without Any Capital”

From his approach to building systems that scale beyond himself, growing his podcast to 10+mil downloads, investing in real estate, food trucks, buying software companies, building teams around the world and even landing a TV show – there’s so much packed into this conversation!

We also go into why someone should be a capitalist in the first place, the pros, and cons of capitalism and the many creative ways he's finding success in many different areas.

Nathan is a true capitalist in every sense of the word & a savvy entrepreneur that likes to break the rules.

You can check out his WSJ bestselling book, “How To Be A Capitalist Without Any Capital”, on Amazon here

Five things to listen out for:

Capitalism vs Socialism – why you would want to be a capitalist in the first place and the pros & cons of a purely capitalist society.
Making $100k/month – why he chooses to spread his risk by working on many things at once and examples of investments you can make to generate income
Systems vs Goals – why you should focus on building, multiplying & stacking systems instead of setting goals
“My Podcast Is A Massive Front” – how he’s developed a piece of code to automatically turn his daily podcast into a database that he sells to VCs for $20-30k/month
His Book – what you can expect, including specific page numbers you can skip ahead to

CONNECT ON SOCIAL:

https://www.instagram.com/creatorlabfm

https://www.instagram.com/bzaidi212

Full show notes:

https://www.creatorlab.fm/nathan-latka-capitalist-book-interview/

Thank you to our sponsor, Instasleep Mint Melts, the drug-free sleep aid that melts in your mouth. You can check them out on Amazon here

Faraz Zaidi, Profound Co // Building a Global Fashion Brand, Working With Celebrities & Scaling Retail

1h 39m · Published 07 Mar 21:30

Watch the full episode on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/qpA2CEoDg-M

Faraz Zaidi, is the founder & creative director of Profound Co, a multi-million dollar fashion brand that sits at the intersection of streetwear and high fashion.

Profound has built a loyal following over 10yrs+, with celebrity fans like Rihanna, Kendrick Lamar and Justin Bieber wearing their clothes. They’ve been featured in Time, Fast Company & Forbes and have collaborated with leading musicians & major brands like Pepsi.

In this in-depth conversation, Faraz shares the full backstory of their humble beginnings, scaling their business and how he would approach building a fashion brand from scratch if he was starting again today.

Five things to listen out for:

Genesis – how Faraz started with a couple of t-shirts & a printer
Starting a Brand – how he would start a brand from scratch today
Celebrities + Influencers – how a Profound intern landed a connection to Rihanna and their approach to working with influencers
Retail – getting into physical stores like Selfridges & boutiques around the world.
Struggles – examples of when things haven’t gone so well, mistakes made and how he mentally deals with the lows

CONNECT ON SOCIAL:
https://www.instagram.com/creatorlabfm
https://www.instagram.com/bzaidi212

Full show notes:
https://www.creatorlab.fm/profound-aesthetic-co-faraz-zaidi/

Tyler Riewer, Creative Director, charity: water // Where Do Good Stories Come From?

1h 18m · Published 14 Feb 19:52

Subscribe and watch the full video interview on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/GZAgTCFPxxk

Tyler Riewer (head of creative at charity: water) shares 5 principles that can make you a better storyteller. We discuss the concept of the "hero's journey" and how the best brands, writers & politicians use this idea to tell effective stories.

Five Things To Listen Out For:

Role of storytelling – and its impact on every part of an organization
The Hero’s Journey – how savvy brands, politicians, and writers use the concept of the hero’s journey to tell effective stories
5 Principles – that Tyler has picked up along the way as a professional storyteller that you can apply to your own life and work
From Concept to Campaign – how they took an inspirational letter from a 6yr old and turned it into a successful brand campaign through the principles we discuss
Stories from his travels – and the stories that make up the 663 million people that lack access to clean drinking water

SOCIAL:
https://www.instagram.com/creatorlabfm
https://www.instagram.com/bzaidi212

TYLER:
http://tylerriewer.com
https://twitter.com/tylerriewer

charity: water
Watch The Spring: https://cwtr.org/2lJhZix
Nora's story: https://www.charitywater.org/world-wa...

Full show notes:
https://www.creatorlab.fm/where-do-good-stories-come-from-tyler-riewer-charity-water/

Thank you to our sponsor, Instasleep Mint Melts, the drug-free sleep aid that melts in your mouth. You can check them out on Amazon or instasleep.us

Jane Lu, Showpo // Cosmo's Girlboss Of The Year Shares How She Built a $60mil E-Commerce Empire

1h 26m · Published 01 Feb 03:57

Watch the full video interview & subscribe on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgDgNfvm4qY

Jane Lu has been named “Cosmopolitan’s Girl Boss of the Year”, “Forbes 30 under 30” and her company, Showpo, was crowned Australia’s “Online Retailer of the Year” in 2018.

But rewind a few years and Jane was struggling for motivation in her accountancy career. We discuss what it took to take a risk to go all in on her business while having to hide it from her parents while living in their house!

We dig into the details of how she took her first steps, grew the company with zero investment, built an audience on social with millions of followers, and how she would approach starting an e-commerce business from scratch today.

Show Notes

Here are five things to listen out for:

Leaving her job + keeping it a secret from her parents – how Jane plucked up the courage to leave her job in the middle of the financial crisis
Her first failed business – connecting the dots from her first failure, getting out of debt and launching Showpo
Working ON her business vs IN her business – how a trip to Ultra Music Festival forced Jane to replace her work by hiring someone full time and the lessons from that experience
Growing to $60mil with zero investment – we go into detail from when she was bringing in $5k/month, and the things she did to grow step-by-step, why she chose to never raise money, keep control and grow
If she started again today – how she would start an e-commerce business today & actionable tactics around growing a social following, paid vs organic, youtube content strategy & more

Thank you to our sponsor, Instasleep Mint Melts, the drug-free sleep aid that melts in your mouth. You can check them out on Amazon or instasleep.us

Ronnie Madra, 1OAK Nightclub // Building A Hospitality Juggernaut & Earos

1h 30m · Published 26 Dec 01:19

Watch full interview on video:
https://youtu.be/3BHdnOiYym4

Full show notes & timestamps:
https://www.creatorlab.fm/ronnie-madra-1oak-earos/

Ronnie Madra is the co-founder of the Butter Group which has an extensive portfolio of brands including legendary nightclubs 1OAK and Up and Down.

They’ve hosted after-parties for events like the Oscars, Met Gala & Cannes Film Festival attracting A-List celebrities along the way. Alongside business partner, Richie Akiva, they’ve developed properties in NYC, LA, Las Vegas, Tokyo, Dubai & Maldives – building one of the leading food & beverage (F&B) brands around.

However, after 25+ years in nightlife – Ronnie developed a severe hearing issue which causes constant ringing in his ears. To address this issue for the 1.1bil people who will develop hearing issues in their lifetime – he created, EAROS, an in-ear protection system & an acoustical filter.

Ronnie shared stories he has never shared before. He opens up about growing up on a coconut plantation in Guyana, landing in NYC as a minority amongst minorities, personal stories about dealing with bullies as a kid, running into trouble with a gang & landing on his feet into nightlife in NYC.

FIVE THINGS TO LISTEN OUT FOR:

Childhood – growing up with no electricity in Guyana, landing in NYC and how his early experiences shaped his outlook
Fitting in & dealing with a bully – a raw and honest chat about dealing with bullies, trying to fit in and finding the confidence to be yourself.
Building a name – alongside Richie Akiva, Ronnie has built a name for himself in the nightclub space, attracting A-List celebrities like Jay Z, Pharrell, Rihanna, Kate Hudson, Kanye, Gigi Hadid, Virgil and others to their venues. We go into all the details of how they started and built a name for themselves.
Coming up with business ideas & developing a product – scratching his own itch, why he started EAROS, ways you can think about finding inspiration for ideas and knowing how to take action.
Building Brand & Service – learning from his experience in creating a brand, product development, making people feel safe.

TIME STAMPS:

2:34 – What Ronnie is known for: 1OAK, Butter Group & Earos
5:25 – Scale of their nightclubs & restaurants
7:42 – Growing up on a coconut plantation in Guyana
11:16 – Landing in Queens, NYC
13:15 – Teenage Ronnie
13:55 – Dealing with bullies
19:38 – Early signs of entrepreneurship
23:02 – Listening to all types of music and wanting to fit in
26:32 – Becoming comfortable not fitting in
31:26 – What lead to 1OAK being formed? Finding an A-Team.
36:15 – Starting 1OAK with Richie Akiva & early investments
38:06 – “Pioneers of the pop-up”
41:40 – How to choose partnerships
44:24 – What is next for 1Oak?
47:40 – Attracting A-list celebrities
51:20 – New venture – Earos
55:10 – Developing hearing issues – tinnitus
58:52 – Idea and need for a new type of ear protection
60:50 – Going beyond looking like a hearing aid
66:48 – The process of developing a new product
69:45 – Sound vs. noise
71:35 – The process of reaching out to great people through Linkedin
75:58 – Working day vs. night
79:44 – Pitching the idea to investors
85:16 – When do you know you’re finished?
87:06 – 20 years into the future
91:10 – Closing remarks

Erika Alexander, Get Out + Cosby Show Actress // Reinvention, Representation In Film + The Future Of Hollywood

1h 45m · Published 07 Dec 23:59

Erika Alexander is an actress, writer & co-founder of Color Farm Media. She’s well known for her role as the iconic character Maxine Shaw, Attorney-at-Law in the 90s sitcom Living Single. She was a regular as Cousin Pam in The Cosby Show & appeared in the Oscar-winning film Get Out (2017).

Full show notes & timestamps:
https://www.creatorlab.fm/erika-alexander-actress-get-out-cosby-show/

Here are five things to listen out for:

Childhood – her candid experience growing up as a child actor from the age of 14, her relationship with her parents & how this impacted her throughout her life.
Being the “other” – feeling like an outsider when she first had some success
Importance of Diversity in Film & Media – how she’s approaching this challenge with Color Farm Media, why it’s important to hire the best people regardless, but find a balance to tell diverse stories
Role of Therapy – how she dealt with depression, navigated lows and the importance of mental health
The Future – hip-hop in Bollywood, collaborations of color, the projects she’s working on with Lionsgate & the importance of long-form conversations

Time Stamps:

2:32 – Introduction of Erika
4:45 – Her role on Living Single
8:38 – Erika’s childhood
12:15 – Was Erika always outgoing?
15:36 – The “look at me” gene
18:26 – First time acting
23:12 – Erika’s mom’s influence
25:46 – Becoming famous and losing her family
27:31 – Religion and belief when growing up
30:40 – Early pain struggle & depression
32:40 – Being the “other” in the family
36:45 – Ways to cope with parent pain
41:05 – Therapy and mental health
50:41 – Race and misrepresentation in work
51:52 – Race is an illusion
54:13 – Color Farm Media & it’s mission
57:06 – Ben Arnon help & info
61:17 – Current work
66:25 – Black Lightning
71:53 – Making diversity authentic
77:02 – Importance of diverse writers
82:25 – How to change in industry
85:33 – “I’m a badass at acting”
93:00 – Collaborations of color
95:50 – Hire the best writer, but include all
98:14 – The impact of long-form conversation
101:56 – Looking to the future

Ben Van Leeuwen, Van Leeuwen Ice Cream // From An NYC Truck To Cult Brand In 44 States

1h 28m · Published 25 Oct 12:50

I visited Ben Van Leeuwen at his Brooklyn-based ice cream factory! They have a truly remarkable story, starting from a single ice cream truck 10yrs ago, to building an epic brand with a cult following.

They’ve since grown to a $20mil business, going from 15 stores to 25 in the next few months after taking investment for the first time. They’ve also grown their wholesale business where they now sell their ice cream in over 1000 stores across 44 states.

We discuss their humble beginnings, meeting his co-founder, falling in love, a focus on product excellence by sourcing the very best ingredients & you’ll hear what it took to build their business with zero investment after their modest friends and family round.

SHOW NOTES

Here are five things to listen out for:

(1) Travel – Ben leaving college to travel and explore the world.

(2) Kaizen vs 10x Moonshot Thinking – continuous improvement in all aspects of their company vs a mindset of massive transformational change

(3) Starting a business with his wife & brother – navigating a breakup, working with family & how they’ve made Van Leeuwen a huge success

(4) Product & Customer Excellence – focusing on using only the very best ingredients & bringing joy to their customers

(5) Growth – stories from starting their first ice cream truck to growing to 25 stores & 44 states & why they decided to take major investment for the first time

Times Stamps

3:02 – Who is Ben Van Leeuwen
3:58 – How did Ben get into ice cream
10:45 – Where Ben’s food awareness came from
13:23 – Ben’s parents and his upbringing
16:56 – How Ben developed his entrepreneurial spirit
18:00 – The “ice cream idea”
20:44 – Being healthy in an ice cream world
23:46 – Ben’s travel memories
26:38 – Ben’s craftsmanship in his work
29:35 – Company values
30:54 – Ben meeting his cofounder
33:10 – How the company began
36:21 – Writing initial business plan
42:09 – Logo, branding and naming
45:55 – Tactically building your team
48:34 – Beginnings of the business
50:25 – Putting the best ingredients into their first chocolate ice cream
55:47 – First real day of business
65:19 – What the business looks like today – 15-25 stores, selling in 1000 stores across 44 states
67:02 – Ben’s thoughts on expansion
70:38 – First year revenue numbers
71:33 – Focus moving forward
73:30 – Working with brother and wife
74:35 – Working with ex-wife
75:42 – Difficulties with raising money
79:18 – Dealing with rejection
80:58 – 20 years from now…
83:45 – Admirable trait: not taking shortcuts
84:54 – Other products for Ben to explore
86:29 – Final remarks and advice

Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez // Building A Comic Book Company With Run DMC & Activism Through Art

52m · Published 14 Dec 05:05

Edgardo embodies the word creator. He’s a writer at Marvel Entertainment, Editor-in-Chief at Darryl Makes Comics working with the legendary hip-hop icon: DMC from RUN DMC, Art Director & founder at Somos Arte production studio, and the creator of La Borinqueña, an original comic book character that has grown into a cultural phenomenon and a nationally recognized symbol of Puerto Rican patriotism, social justice, and equality for all. His work has been featured on CNN, The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Atlantic.

Full show notes and time stamps:

https://www.creatorlab.fm/edgardo-miranda-rodriguez-activism-art

SHOW NOTES:

Five things to listen out for:

Growing up as a Puerto Rican in NYC – what life was like growing up poor in the Bronx, memories from being a young activist, poet, and creator.
Comic Books – how he got into creating comic books, writing for Marvel + creating his own publication: La Borinqueña.
Teaming up with DMC from RUN DMC – how they met, their creative process and how they split up responsibilities.
Direct-to-Consumer – publishing directly to people and spreading his creative work to fans.
Generating Buzz + Press – Edgardo has been featured on CNN, New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic and more – how did he approach this and get his work out there?

TIME STAMPS

2:38 … who is Edgardo and what does he do?
4:14 … Edgardo describing pictures Bilal shows from growing up
9:50 … power of the arts, reflecting on what’s going on in society
10:09 … challenge of being viewed as a second class citizen
11:10 … hypocrisy within Latin American communities and media
12:05 … “I’m not a race, I’m an ethnicity”
13:31 … stories as a form of evolution
15:00 … self-awareness from an early age + growing up
17:03 … learning about Mandela + apartheid
17:57 … college + local activism
23:30 … comic book has become a symbol for people + the women’s march reaching out to him
27:19 … being proud of his heritage
28:40 … distributing book directly to the people + direct to consumer trend
30:37 … comic book world / who’s buying books
35:36 … working alongside DMC from legendary hip-hop group: RUN DMC
40:12 … our heritage and culture is the true superpower
40:38 … approaching press and social media to promote his book
42:13 … people want to know who you are and “why” you create … not “what” you create
49:51 … an ask for the people who are listening

Julien Smith, Breather // Learn To Detect Patterns & Building A Venture Scale Startup

59m · Published 11 Nov 21:45

Julien Smith is the co-founder & CEO of Breather. They provide an on-demand network of private meeting rooms designed for work, meetings and focus. They’ve raised over $80m to date and are on a strong trajectory of growth. Before that, Julien was a best selling author, speaker & podcaster. In this conversation, Julien and Bilal discuss how he thinks about pattern detection, how he used these frameworks to develop the idea for Breather & how you can apply this to your own work.

Full show notes & timestamps:
https://www.creatorlab.fm/julien-smith-breather-detecting-patterns/

Time Stamps:

1:52 - Who are you/what do you do
2:30 - Detecting patterns. Is that that what you’re good at?
4:10 - Scale & growth of Breather, how did Julien get there
6:43 - When Julien started Breather, how many units did he start with & how do they keep them secure?
8:09 - What does Breather's customer base look like? What are their customer segments?
8:58 - How big is this market? How do you estimate market size?
9:50 - Thinking about security for a physical space - digital vs analog locks.
11:30 - Growing up in Canada & what did Julien want to be when he grew up?
13:20 - Learning what you’re good at and 360 reviews
17:10 - How Julien thinks about detecting patterns? Is this something we can learn to become better at?
20:25 - Is detecting patterns a skill or luck?
24:10 - Detecting patterns: is it a learned behavior? Discussing Charlie Munger and Warren Buffet.
28:30 - the value of the expert generalist
30:00 - What sources of information do you follow? Books, podcasts, people, etc?
33:30 - What can people do to accelerate the process of growing and connecting with people they can learn from?
36:00 - Jeff Bezos story of the regret minimization framework
39:30 - What were some of the macro trends he identified to help start Breather? Are there certain macro trends that he sees right now?
42:20 - Cities + network effects + timing
46:02 - Bilal discusses idea for supper clubs platform
47:50 - Omnifocus app he uses for tasks
48:10 - Developing healthy habits? Streaks app
51:40 - What is Julien’s routine and a typical day? Morning pages. The creative habit.
55:05 - What is motivating Julien right now?
56:30 - What does success mean to you?

Gary Vee // Luck, Depression + Legacy

28m · Published 10 Sep 22:06

WHO IS GARY?

Just out of college, Gary grew his family wine business from a $4M to a $45M business in five years. Now, he runs VaynerMedia, one of the world’s hottest digital agencies with more than 800 employees and $100m in annual revenue. Along the way, Gary became a prolific investor. He’s investing in companies like Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, Uber and Venmo.

He’s a 4x NY Times best-selling author & recently starred in Apple’s original series: “Planet of the Apps”, with Gwyneth Paltrow, Jessica Alba and will.i.am.

FIVE THINGS TO LISTEN OUT FOR:

(1) Childhood stories – before the lemonade stands, what Gary was like as a kid

(2) Luck – believing in luck, but wanting to eliminate excuses

(3) What matters most – if this was his last Thursday, how would he spend his last week?

(4) Depression – Gary discusses a recent suicide and why he thinks the culture of entrepreneurship being cool isn’t necessarily helping

(5) Legacy – how his view of legacy has changed over the last 10yrs

TIME STAMPS:
-Gary shares some childhood stories [1m36s]
-Before the lemonade stands [4m19s]
-Trading attention [5m27s]
-Thoughts on luck and eliminating excuses [6m9s]
-“I take no credit for my success” [8m46s]
-If this was his last week to live, what would Gary spend his time doing? [12m4s]
-A reoccurring nightmare as a child [15m52s]
-Entrepreneurial depression + suicide [17m27s]
-Navigating self-doubt vs self-awareness to know you’re not doing the right thing [20m54s]
-How Gary’s view of legacy has changed over the last 10 years [22m46s]
-Building a business that lives on without you [25m56s]

Connect on social:

https://www.instagram.com/creatorlabfm
https://www.facebook.com/creatorlabfm
https://www.twitter.com/creatorlabfm

Connect with Bilal:
https://www.instagram.com/bzaidi212
https://www.twitter.com/bzaidi

Creator Lab - interviews with entrepreneurs and startup founders has 93 episodes in total of non- explicit content. Total playtime is 126:37:23. The language of the podcast is English. This podcast has been added on August 24th 2022. It might contain more episodes than the ones shown here. It was last updated on May 20th, 2024 02:11.