Future Tribe - Business Podcast

On this episode of the podcast, we had a chance to chat with the founder of the CBR Gals, Rae Knopik. For those who don’t know, the CBR Gals is a not-for-profit organisation that focuses on helping females in Canberra connect and support one another through networking events. As Rae says in the episode, she started this initiative simply because she wanted it to exist. Being an American transplant, our guest knew all too well about how hard it is to find ways to connect with like-minded individuals in a way that isn’t forced or time-consuming. Despite realising this dream, however, our guest now faces a new set of challenges due to COVID-19. Thus Rae spends a great deal of the show discussing how she has adapted to running CBR Gals in this ‘new normal’, as well as the process behind running large scale events more generally. In this discussion, Rae highlights that authenticity, collaboration, and careful planning are the cornerstones of any successful event. Following this, the show then concludes (ironically we might add) with a discussion about how men being more closed off emotionally would make it difficult to create a group similar to the CBR Gals for males. 

What we talk about

• The CBR Gals and what networks like it can offer
• The logistics of organising large scale events
• What does being a not-for-profit mean?

Links from this episode

https://cbrgals.com/ (CBR Gals Website)

https://www.facebook.com/cbrgals (CBR Gals of Facebook)

https://www.instagram.com/cbrgals/(CBR Gals on Instagram)

https://twitter.com/cbrgals (CBR Gals on Twitter)

Find us elsewhere

https://futuretri.be/ (Future Tribe Website)

https://www.instagram.com/futuretri.be/ (Future Tribe on Instagram)

https://www.linkedin.com/in/germainemuller/ (Germaine on LinkedIn)

https://www.instagram.com/germa_ne/ (Germaine on Instagram)

https://futuretheory.com.au/ (Futuretheory Website)

Transcript 

Disclaimer: This transcript was generated automatically and as such, may contain various spelling and syntax errors

[00:00:00] Rae: [00:00:00] But we did not get the grant and we're about two weeks out. And $20,000 down,

[00:00:10] Intro: [00:00:10] welcome to the Future Tribe podcast, where we're all about taking your future to the next level, whether it is interviewing guests or unpacking strategies, you know, we will be talking about getting things done and backing you a fellow optimistic, go get up. And now as always, here's your host, the formidable fortunate and highly favoured 

[00:00:31] Germaine Muller.

[00:00:34] Germaine: [00:00:34] Hello, future tribe. Welcome to another episode of the podcast on this week's episode, I've got Rae Knopik from CBR, gals or Canberra gals. Um, how are you today? Right. 

[00:00:44] Rae: [00:00:44] Great. Thanks for having me. 

[00:00:45] Germaine: [00:00:45] No worries. It's really good to have you. One of our first guests was Georgie from the women's collective. Um, and when I saw your name pop up and, and what you guys do, I sort of thought, ah, there's, there's some synergies [00:01:00] there.

[00:01:00] I'm sure between. What the women's collective do or, or used to do. And then, um, what you guys do, um, tell me a bit, bit more about what you aim to do. 

[00:01:09] Rae: [00:01:09] Great. Thank you. Um, the Cambra gals network is a feminist not-for-profit organization that focuses on enabling every Canberran woman to be more in her personal and professional capacities and to connect to the greater act area through inclusive events.

[00:01:27] So long story, short events based, not for profit for women. 

[00:01:30] Right. Okay. So, so very like completely events based or just majority events based or, um, 

[00:01:37] we like to create events through social media and through, um, like in person face to face meetings. 

[00:01:43] Germaine: [00:01:43] Right, right. How are you tackling COVID-19 and, um, everything that we're sort of facing at the moment there, 

[00:01:51] Rae: [00:01:51] it's a great question.

[00:01:52] And when lockdown started happening in Cambra, um, anyone who's in events, we kind of say, Oh gosh, you know, what are we going to do? [00:02:00] How are we going to survive? But this was a really meaningful time for us to be there for our network. And what that meant was. Creating creative, online events where people could still meet and connect in a meaningful way.

[00:02:14] Um, but it got a bit tricky, right? Because zoom exhaustion and going to a happy hour is really different than having a glass of wine or a bevy with 40 other little tiles. So we decided to get creative with it. And every half hour that we've had virtually, we actually deliver a goodie bag full of local kind of nibbles and drinks from local women run great brands to their doors.

[00:02:41] So we're all kind of eating the same things and drinking the same bubbles, um, to kind of create that atmosphere. 

[00:02:48] Germaine: [00:02:48] Nice. Nice. So it's really been a time to experiment and innovate. One could say in how you deliver events now, are you sort of thinking when things go back to normal, I'm sure you can't replace like [00:03:00] in-person connections, especially when it comes to networking, but do you think there'll be an element of.

[00:03:04] Virtual connections for, let's say Canberrans, who've gone overseas on a posting for three years. Or have you thought about that or is it still early days in terms of working out how you deliver in a postcode sort of scenario? 

[00:03:17] Rae: [00:03:17] Well, I think here we're gals network, we really try to turn all feedback into quantitative metrics.

[00:03:24] So, um, what our metrics have been finding from these events is that. People love the virtual events. And there are women in Canberra, you know, we're neighbors who wouldn't necessarily go to person happy hour, but are perfectly happy meeting online. So because of that reason that these virtual events actually add a level of inclusivity that we didn't.

[00:03:48] Have previously, so they're here today, for sure. 

[00:03:51] Germaine: [00:03:51] Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you, you raise a good point because if you're a mother or, you know, had a pet or had some reason why you didn't, [00:04:00] you couldn't get out of the house, this, or just didn't have a car, let's say, um, this sort of breaks down those barriers because you can sort of hop on and I guess it also removes.

[00:04:11] An aspect or an element of in our, how am I going to present myself? Do I have really nice clothes and jewelry, but you, you sort of remove that to an extent don't you, when you sort of have to meet virtually, because it's almost in the control of, I mean, right now you could just turn off your screen and.

[00:04:27] That's it like there's, there's nothing that I can do here. So it almost gives the power back to the people attending rather than, rather than having those social pressures that might, might be felt. 

[00:04:37] Rae: [00:04:37] And that's absolutely right. Jermaine. And in addition to that, we learned very recently that a lot of our, the people involved with this network don't drink.

[00:04:45] And so a happy hour wouldn't necessarily early be something that's super interesting to them of interest. So in those kinds of goodie bags actually offer non alcoholic beverages and they feel like this is the best event for some people, they [00:05:00] feel this is great because it removes that kind of extra barrier as well.

[00:05:04] So virtual events definitely here to stay. We're excited to get back into 'em face to face as well. 

[00:05:10] Germaine: [00:05:10] Yeah. Yeah. I mean, again, that's not a very good point. Like I found myself especially coming right out of school where a lot of people enjoyed the drinking. Um, I didn't enjoy it so March and that left me a little bit isolated.

[00:05:25] And then, you know, not in like a that they obviously don't mean it in that way, but if you don't partake in those activities, You know, to the, to the full extent that, how does my it, um, then, then it does isolate you in some way, shape or form whether it's intentional or not. So, um, yeah, it sounds like it's been an interesting time for you guys and you've sort of almost found a different offering, um, that can sit.

[00:05:48] Sit alongside what you are used to do and what you'll do hopefully, um, moving forward. So when did you start this whole endeavor? 

[00:05:57] Rae: [00:05:57] We'll be two in November of this [00:06:00] year. 

[00:06:00] Germaine: [00:06:00] Okay. So about a year and a half, or get getting close to two years now, you don't have. And Australian accent. Um, don't mean to, I don't mean to single you out, but, but give me an idea of, um, how old you are now.

[00:06:13] How old are you, how old you were when you, I mean, did you come to Canberra or did you just grow up in Cambra with an sort of an American sounding accent? I might be wrong. Tell me a little bit about yourself. 

[00:06:25] Rae: [00:06:25] Thanks Jermaine. I am a Floridian, born and bred. After uni, I moved to Italy for two years, Florence to be specific.

[00:06:34] I met my p

On this episode of the Future Tribe Podcast, we had a chance to chat with Alanna Davis, who is the Community Development & Engagement Manager for Canberra’s Domestic Violence Crisis Service (DVCS). Alanna is currently on the hunt for Canberra’s 13 cutest pets so that they can be featured in the DVCS’ upcoming fundraising calendar. Naturally, we ask our guest about the logistics of running such an ambitious online campaign, what tools she uses, and what marketing channels the DVCS have used to promote it. On top of this, Alanna talks extensively about the challenges that arise when crafting communications strategies for a non-for-profit organisation who deals with such confronting social issues. The show then concludes with a very informative conversation regarding the statistics behind domestic abuse in Australia and the resources that are available to the victims of such crimes. 

What we talk about

• What services the DVCS offers
• How to effectively manage online campaigns 
• The dynamics of marketing for a non-for-profit  

Links from this episode

https://dvcs.org.au/get-involed/events/ (Information on the 2021 DVCS Pet Calendar)

https://dvcs.org.au/ (DVCS website)

Find us elsewhere

https://futuretri.be/ (Future Tribe Website)

https://www.instagram.com/futuretri.be/ (Future Tribe on Instagram)

https://www.linkedin.com/in/germainemuller/ (Germaine on LinkedIn)

https://www.instagram.com/germa_ne/ (Germaine on Instagram)

https://futuretheory.com.au/ (Futuretheory Website)

In this episode of the Future Tribe Podcast, we had the pleasure of chatting with Ian Lindgren, an army veteran turned entrepreneur who currently owns and operates four companies here in Canberra. After suffering a career-ending injury during one of his deployments, Ian was forced to forge a different career path which eventually led him to create his first and most successful company, PayMe, Australia’s #1 payroll services provider.  As you can imagine, our guest has a bevy of knowledge regarding the steps behind starting a company and implementing a strong workplace culture. Additionally, Ian also shares how he and his wife are able to simultaneously manage staff across multiple locations who work in completely different industries. Later, Ian shares how he used many of the lessons learned during his time in the army to inform his business philosophy relating to areas such as competitor analysis and information gathering. The show concludes with our guest talking about the future of his businesses given COVID-19 as well as his commitment to using his success to help support the veteran community within Canberra.

What we talk about

• Overcoming adversity
• Developing a strong workplace culture across multiple businesses
• Competitor analysis and strategic agility
• Corporate social responsibility

Links from this episode

https://payme.com.au/ (PayMe website)

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ian-lindgren-b15a93/?originalSubdomain=au (Ian on LinkedIn)

Find us elsewhere

https://futuretri.be/ (Future Tribe Website)

https://www.instagram.com/futuretri.be/ (Future Tribe on Instagram)

https://www.linkedin.com/in/germainemuller/ (Germaine on LinkedIn)

https://www.instagram.com/germa_ne/ (Germaine on Instagram)

https://futuretheory.com.au/ (Futuretheory Website)

Transcript 

Disclaimer: This transcript was generated automatically and as such, may contain various spelling and syntax errors

[00:00:00] Ian: [00:00:00] So I started PayMe at home with, with no clients. I think within the first six months we had a $600,000 turnover. The next year it was 9 million and then 15 million.  [00:00:11] Intro: [00:00:11] Welcome to the Future Tribe podcast, where we're all about taking your future to the next level, whether it is interviewing guests or unpacking strategies, you know, we will be talking about getting things done and backing you a fellow optimistic, go getter. [00:00:26] Ian: [00:00:26] And now as always. Here's your host, the formidable fortunate and highly favored Germaine Muller.  [00:00:35] Germaine: [00:00:35] Hello, future tribe. Welcome to another episode of the podcast on this week's episode, I've got Ian Lindgren from PayMe, uh, how are you today, Ian? No worries. Thanks for joining. Yeah, it's a, it's a bit of a cold cold morning, um, in Canberra. [00:00:53] Um, but it's nice to be talking to someone who can sympathize. Uh, with, with what I'm feeling,  [00:01:04] [00:01:04] [00:01:00] hopefully, and then it will get too hot, but that's camera for you. Um, tell me, tell me a bit about PayMe before we get started.  [00:01:11] Ian: [00:01:11] Oh, probably my Oregon pine mill is an accidental company. Uh, I don't really use it when I sit back and think about it. [00:01:20] It's a bit of a storage of it all yet. I had 20, uh, 21 odd years in the regular army. And then got injured and my last deployment to, um, Egypt and Israel, uh, area called the Sinai peninsula, which wherever I worked, I got injured in there. Nothing too bad physically, but it's effectively stopped me from working full time since the year 2000. [00:01:44] So it's a primer kind of came about, is that because I essentially had to work from home, uh, to do something I had to retire totally. Or do something. And, um, so I started, uh, PayMe at home with, with no clients. [00:02:00] Do you know about how to do or run a business? Uh, because I'd always been in the army. I think within the first six months we had $600,000 turn over the next, uh, year. [00:02:09] It was 9 million and then 15 million, um, thankfully corn grow that fast every year. Cause it would've given me a lot more growth, but yeah, it just boils down to some simple recipes and we've had a great time. I didn't stay inside a house and we've got a few offices around the country now. [00:02:31] What color contractors.  [00:02:32] Germaine: [00:02:32] Yeah. That's amazing. So looking at your website, you are Australia's largest contractor payroll company. Um, have you stayed within Australia or have you thought about going across the pond so to speak?  [00:02:46] Ian: [00:02:46] Uh, we have actually operated all over the world. Uh, certainly didn't, didn't, didn't, uh, uh, shy away from trying new business lines. [00:02:58] But what I found was [00:03:00] for very good reasons, the Australian unemployment and payroll market has a lot of regulation around it to protect people like you and me and, and, uh, Australia, those protections, they aren't there. And the rest of the world. So, for example, if I was speaking to an American company institution that someone needed to have maternity leave or, and that actually it was your responsibility. [00:03:27] If you suck, if you paid someone in Australia, if they ask for it, but they were entitled at these types of things, blew people away overseas. So in the end, I, uh, I didn't pursue that as mr. Lawrence, because the battles to convince people that when you operate in Australia, you've got to operate the way we operate too, like too, too large. [00:03:48] So they're having fun because there's no use working unless you're having fun.  [00:03:55] Germaine: [00:03:55] Yeah, no, exactly. I mean, I'm having fun. Cause I think [00:04:00] that that funding means that you're passionate about what you're doing or you're at the very least you're enjoying what you're doing, which I think everyone should, should, um, aim to do. [00:04:07] Cause that's when you, I think do your best work because if you're not really having fun or enjoying what you're doing, then there's probably something else that you should be doing that. Um,  [00:04:17] Ian: [00:04:17] and you can learn some, some huge lessons from that in business as your business grows, and people do business with people they trust. [00:04:27] Um, if you have trust. You have fun and you're really enjoy supporting each other.  [00:04:32] Germaine: [00:04:32] Yeah, definitely. And I think that that trust component is really important as well. I mean, you've been in business for a lot longer than I have, but, um, you, you do realize that it is all about trust. You can sign all the contracts and do all that fun stuff. [00:04:46] Um, but at the end of the day, if, if there's no trust in it, then, um, as I like to say, there's no point turning back to sheet of paper with some ink on it. Um, if, if. Everything was to fall apart because, because what's that going [00:05:00] to do at the end of the day?  [00:05:01] Ian: [00:05:01] Exactly. Exactly. And that affects the whole team, not just yourself, if you really have that kind of how you see that Cathy's, you've turned him at work. [00:05:11] Everyone feels the pressure, if something is.  [00:05:13] Germaine: [00:05:13] Yeah. Yeah. And it sort of makes you feel like, like, so feature theory. My business. We're a, we're a family business. Um, my brother's involved in it and, you know, we, we try and sort of spread that, that family feel. And I, I just find that. Having that sort of level of rapport as well. [00:05:32] It just means that you're a, you're a unit and you're working towards a common goal and you're helping your, you want to help your customers and your clients, and they become part of the family. And you know, when they're doing it tough, especially given COVID and everything else that we're sort of experiencing at the moment, working from home. [00:05:50] Um, it's I think just. It really important that you bring back those probably old school, um, or, or, you know, someone call them old school sort of business [00:06:00] values, but, um, It certainly stood out to me as important.  [00:06:04] Ian: [00:06:04] I think that is very true. Like your business, our business is a family business. Every single person in my family is in the business, including my daughter. [00:06:13] And it really truly is a family business across all four companies. Because it's a smaller company, a payroll company called just pies. And in order to protect ourselves and diversify, uh, w we have a car leasing company, uh, which is Pampers. I am in college and company, but otherwise just the marketing plug. [00:06:37] Um, but we also have a room. A recruitment company on a campus, all this recruitment companies go to effecting people, which we did quite a few years ago, but it just gives us the stability, the variety for the family members to, to operate in and make sure we've got some longevity.  [00:06:55] Germaine: [00:06:55] Yeah. That's because you, you run the, [00:07:00] the four businesses together with your wife. [00:07:02] Is that right?  [00:07:03] Ian: [00:07:03] That's right. Yeah, but Shane essentially for one of a better word and advice, and we have one external advisory. So that, to keep us honest, to ask what we're doing, we also, outside of that, we have good side of the same thing. That's I think very wise. So that done don't actually make errors. [00:07:27] Germaine: [

This episode’s guest is Eric Daams, the co-founder of Studio 164a (creators of the WP Charitable WordPress plugin), who talks about the niche industry of WordPress plugin development. After studying history and Spanish in university, Eric discovered he had a  profound interest in coding and eventually used this passion to create WP Charitable, WordPress’ top-rated donation plug-in. We start off our interview by asking our guest to discuss why he believes WordPress has continued to grow over the past decade and if he sees another platform overtaking it in the near future. Afterwards, Eric delves into his personal story and shares how difficult it was initially to develop a clientele base for his plugin. The show then concludes with our guest outlining the current health of WP Charitable as well as the marketing strategies he is currently implementing in order to further grow the plugin further. 

What we talk about

• The advantages of WordPress and its future viability
• Developing a dedicated client base
• Moving from freelancing to starting your own company
• Marketing strategies suited to digital service providers

Links from this episode

https://www.wpcharitable.com/ (WP Charitable’s website)

https://au.linkedin.com/in/ericdaams (Eric on LinkedIn)

https://twitter.com/ericnicolaas (Eric on Twitter)

Find us elsewhere

https://futuretri.be/ (Future Tribe Website)

https://www.instagram.com/futuretri.be/ (Future Tribe on Instagram)

https://www.linkedin.com/in/germainemuller/ (Germaine on LinkedIn)

https://www.instagram.com/germa_ne/ (Germaine on Instagram)

https://futuretheory.com.au/ (Futuretheory Website)

Transcript 

Disclaimer: This transcript was generated automatically and as such, may contain various spelling and syntax errors

[00:00:00] Eric: [00:00:00] You know, and so you kind of come away feeling like you're a bit of a cheapskate, even though you say just donating, you're like you're actually giving your own money. And, um, but you still kind of coming away with this sort of unsatisfied,  [00:00:13] Intro: [00:00:13] Welcome to the future tribe podcast, where we're all about taking your future to the next level, whether it is interviewing guests or unpacking strategies, you know, we will be talking about getting things done and backing you a fellow optimistic, go getter. And now as always, here's your host, the formidable fortunate and highly favored Germaine Muller.  [00:00:37] Germaine: [00:00:37] Hello, future tribe. Welcome to this episode of the podcast. [00:00:41] And on this episode, we've got Eric Daams from WP Charitable. How are you, Eric?  [00:00:47] Eric: [00:00:47] I'm good. Thanks Germ,aine.  [00:00:48] Germaine: [00:00:48] Tell us a bit about WP Charitable and what you do.  [00:00:53] Eric: [00:00:53] Yeah. So WP Charitable, uh, well, charitable is a donation plugin. Yeah for WordPress [00:01:00] and it helps nonprofits and organizations, or even individuals accept donations on their website and they can do that themselves. [00:01:10] They can just install the plugin and start collecting donations. And so on WP charitable.com. We offer support and sort of maintenance. And we also sell a series of atoms that people can, can purchase to add additional fee. So the core plugin is free. Charitable itself is free, and then we have. Additional plugins that do extra things that depending on where you are in the world or what your needs are as an organization, you may, you may need those. [00:01:38] Germaine: [00:01:38] Yeah. What, what leads you to begin the business and how many, how many of you are, does it take to sort of run the plugin?  [00:01:49] Eric: [00:01:49] So. I it's going back a while. So, so my, my business partner and I stand in he's in his, in Bendigo I'm up here in Darwin [00:02:00] and we started developing a few products for the invited marketplaces. [00:02:05] So like theme, forest, and code Canyon, but the two main ones that we focused on and. One of our, well, our most successful one that we had on there ever was a WordPress theme, which was a crowd funding scene. And it was built around a plugin providing pride floating features, basically, which was actually used quite heavily by nonprofits as well. [00:02:28] Because, you know, it's a similar kind of concept essentially, and it basically provided that basic donation facility. And that, that did that did well. That was our most successful products on there, but the plugin that we built it around eventually. Was sold off to a different company than it originally created it. [00:02:47] And that company actually had a competing product, which they obviously prioritize. And this other one that we'd based our whole theme around gut based sort of cost aside and retired. [00:03:00] So we, we maintain support for that for, for quite a while, but that was kind of the point at which we. We saw the need for a good donation kind of tool for WordPress, particularly when we sort of really started looking, which was around mid 2014, there, there really wasn't that many good options. [00:03:20] Like there was a lot of options. We've had to take donations with PayPal, but then if you were wanting to use any other payment gateway or in your part of the world where you actually can't take PayPal, which. You know, not, not that many places in the world, but there's some pretty significant regions of the world where that is the case. [00:03:39] You, you know, that there wasn't actually that many options and plus the. In terms of what was available, sort of outside of the WordPress world and in sort of more like hosted platforms for nonprofits, there was like a lot the platforms basically, which offered a whole lot of it, additional features and stuff that you really just [00:04:00] couldn't do with WordPress, not that easily. [00:04:02] And so that was, that was our focus from the start is kind of actually. Create something that, that kind of provided a bit of an alternative there with a very different Cox cost structure, both for us and for the nonprofit, which actually makes it much cheaper for them in the long run  [00:04:19] Germaine: [00:04:19] once, once and utilized,  [00:04:20] Eric: [00:04:20] I guess. [00:04:21] Yeah. I mean, it doesn't even take that long. It really, it comes down to how many days you accept, you know, if you, if you, maybe if you get, if you're collecting less than. You know, a thousand dollars of donations or 2000 nodes of donations a year, then maybe a hosted platform  [00:04:37] Germaine: [00:04:37] is good.  [00:04:37] Eric: [00:04:37] But once you, once you start getting much more than that, and if you're on a platform which like most of them charges you on each step donation, like a small transaction fee, then, then that really quickly adds up. [00:04:51] Germaine: [00:04:51] Yeah. Yeah. So put us, put us on a timeline. You mentioned 2014, but when did you originally develop the [00:05:00] theme or were you always sort of developing for code Canyon and ThemeForest and for listeners who are not, not, not aware of ThemeForest and card Canyon, I've heard Kenyan space be a place where you can buy. [00:05:11] Plugins and theme forest is a place  [00:05:13] Eric: [00:05:13] for templates for  [00:05:14] Germaine: [00:05:14] WordPress. So you guys are very heavily invested in WordPress. I am a huge fan at Fugett theory, we use WordPress 99% of the time, unless someone has a specific request for, for a platform. But yeah, it is on a, on a timeline. So when, when was the crowdfunding theme first developed by you guys? [00:05:34] Eric: [00:05:34] That's a good question. Probably about. Probably that 20 2012, 2013. And wait and wait. So we'd had a few other products before that. I think we probably launched our first one may be around sorta early 2010. [00:05:52] Germaine: [00:05:52] Like at that point of launching products, we always like out of school, always  [00:05:58] Eric: [00:05:58] into sort  [00:05:59] Germaine: [00:05:59] of the [00:06:00] development side of things, or  [00:06:01] Eric: [00:06:01] I know in fact, out of a uni, I studied. History and Spanish. And then my brothers ran a travel Woodside, a tribal community. And I, I started working for them as sort of like a community manager or whatever. [00:06:19] And through doing that, then I sort of, I set up a couple of blogs and discovered that I was actually really interested in writing code. So I was teaching myself and, and, but they didn't really need somebody else. That was. At my level as, as a developer, I suppose. So. And, and so then I sort of slowly worked my way into working freelance, um, yeah. [00:06:44] As a developer. So I would take on at this point. Uh, so there's probably a mid twenties.  [00:06:51] Germaine: [00:06:51] How old are you now?  [00:06:52] Eric: [00:06:52] 25, 26. I don't think I asked you, maybe I am now 35. I guess 17 years ago. [00:07:00] Yeah. So this was about 10 years ago. Now. It must've been before. I must have been younger than that. Actually, it must've been more like 24. [00:07:05] So basically I started, I started freelancing as a developer, took on whatever I could find and just really worked hard on taking in initially fairly small projects to really build my knowledge in what I could do. And. I did really enjoy the, sort of the freedom of freelancing, but didn't really enjoy

Boy does time fly when you’re having fun! This episode marks the one-year anniversary of the Future Tribe Podcast, which means a full year of sitting down with amazing self-starters and having them share their personal experiences/advice for your listening pleasure. Our team here is so proud of how far we have come over the past year and want to thank our audience for your continued support, it truly means the world to us.

To commemorate making it this far, our host (Germaine) and producer (Hayden) decided to sit down and chat about the podcasting industry as a whole and where they see it going in the future. In their discussion, the duo shares some lessons they have learnt about podcast production over the past year and give the audience a rundown on what it takes to produce an episode of the show. Afterwards, Hayden and Germaine touch on the benefits podcasts provide creators outside of mere financial return and whether the medium is an optimal advertising channel. The show then concludes with our two team members reminiscing about the show and highlighting what their favourite episodes are.  

What we talk about

• The podcasting landscape
• What utility the medium provides to producers/advertisers
• Tips for starting your own show
• Our favourite memories from the show so far 

Links from this episode

https://futuretribe.podbean.com/e/the-journey-to-becoming-a-full-time-youtuber-with-a-quarter-million-subscribers-e56-jarrod-farncomb/ (Our episode w/ Jarrod’s Tech)

https://futuretribe.podbean.com/e/how-to-break-into-the-entertainment-industry-e51-pip-rasmussen-part-1/ (Our episode w/ Pip Rasmussen)

https://www.hyperxgaming.com/us/microphone/quadcast-gaming-microphone (The microphone we use to record)

Find us elsewhere

https://futuretri.be/ (Future Tribe Website)

https://www.instagram.com/futuretri.be/ (Future Tribe on Instagram)

https://www.linkedin.com/in/germainemuller/ (Germaine on LinkedIn)

https://www.instagram.com/germa_ne/ (Germaine on Instagram)

https://futuretheory.com.au/ (Futuretheory Website)

Transcript 

Disclaimer: This transcript was generated automatically and as such, may contain various spelling and syntax errors

[00:00:00] Hayden: [00:00:00] That's the biggest problem we run into constantly where our best guests, sometimes I've had the worst equipment and it's ended up being like an episode that I'm not happy with just because I know how good it could have been.  [00:00:12] Welcome  [00:00:13] Intro: [00:00:13] to the future tribe podcast, where we're all about taking your future to the next level, whether it is interviewing guests or unpacking strategies, you know, we will be talking about getting things done and backing you a fellow optimistic, go-getters. And now as always, here's your host, the formidable fortunate and highly favoured Germaine Muller.  [00:00:37] Germaine: [00:00:37] Hello, feature tribe. Welcome to another episode of the podcast. On this episode, we're doing something again a little bit different. , I've got Hayden Fitzgerald with me, how you'd lay Hayden.  [00:00:48] Hayden: [00:00:48] Real good. [00:00:50] Germaine: [00:00:50] Thanks for joining. Um, this has a bit of a special sort of episode. I know we had a special episode about what would it be seven or eight episodes ago, but [00:01:00] sort of celebrating the big five over the half century. Um, but on this episode we're actually celebrating. A year since we started the podcast, which is, um, being awesome. [00:01:09] And you've been there from the start. Yeah. Um, it's, it's all about, I guess, talking, looking back into the podcast itself, um, podcasting in general. Um, and then, um, I mean, we'll start it off with talking about what we do at future theory. Um, the podcast for us was really. Another way of marketing. It's another medium. [00:01:28] Like, I mean, everyone's familiar with videography. Podcasting is taking on it's own sort of thing around the world, but not so much in Australia yet by field.  [00:01:39]Hayden: [00:01:39] Um, I feel like podcast consumption is still really big in Australia, but in terms of podcast creators know a lot of people or a lot of podcasts, I listen to it don't actually get created in Australia. [00:01:50] Germaine: [00:01:50] So it's sort of. We are consuming a lot of international podcasts,  [00:01:56] Hayden: [00:01:56] which I guess is true for a lot of like entertainment media, but [00:02:00] especially for podcasts.  [00:02:01] Germaine: [00:02:01] Yeah. It's it's and you know, podcasting is started to really hit mainstream in the last year or so with Spotify purchasing anchor and yeah. Joe Joe Rogan signed. [00:02:15] Hayden: [00:02:15] So Joe Rogan signed, I believe it was a $200 million deal to basically go exclusive with. Uh, Uh, Spotify, which is pretty common. I mean, other podcasts  have signed pretty big deals like that. So, yeah, it's not surprising, but it is interesting to say like a dollar tag put two, no, the worth of podcasts and yeah. [00:02:35] Yeah. It's interesting for the creators. It's definitely gives a lot of. You know, power to them and how much they can expect to get from ad revenue and stuff. We'll get, we'll  [00:02:43] Germaine: [00:02:43] get into that a little bit later on, but, uh, I guess before we get into it, the big, um, thing that we want to talk about was at future theory we do, with your marketing, we build websites. [00:02:53] We're always looking and experimenting with what's coming up or what's next and trying to, I guess, [00:03:00] be as much ahead of the curve as possible. Um, and. Part of that is, is just the importance of marketing, obviously being, being so marketing focused and the podcast was one of those attempts. Um, and I just wanted to mention before we, I guess really roll into it that we're at the moment actually hiring for a marketing and communications coordinator internally, um, or looking for someone who's, who's going to help us internally as well as engage with clients. [00:03:25] So. This episode goes out Thursday morning. Um, and the deadline for applications is actually Friday. Um, Afternoon or Friday close of business. So if you're listening to this and you enjoy podcasting, um, you enjoy just marketing plays. Uh, we will have a link in the description, check it out and please supply it. [00:03:43] But that's a nice segue. You're talking about podcasting more specifically now. We're celebrating a year since we started the podcast. It's I feel like we've learned a lot in the last couple months.  [00:03:55] Hayden: [00:03:55] Yeah. Compared to where we were like to where we are now. It's night and day.  [00:03:59] Germaine: [00:03:59] I mean, [00:04:00] I would hope so.  [00:04:00] Hayden: [00:04:00] Yeah. [00:04:01] You do anything for a year yet. You're at least rod at it.  [00:04:06] Germaine: [00:04:06] I mean, we've, we've started uploading videos to YouTube recently. Um, that was something that I meant to do a long, long time ago, but yeah. Time is always, always the problem. And it requires its own sort of videos onto YouTube as a whole other world, a whole other thing. [00:04:23]Um, but I'm glad that we finally hopped onto that. Um, but over the last 12 months, um, how's it, how's it been for you? Like what, what are some things that you've picked up over the last 12 months Hayden?  [00:04:34]Hayden: [00:04:34] Um, I think it's always interesting. When you consume a top of media and then, you know, you ended up creating it. [00:04:41] And I think it would be the same as a person who critiques music or just listens to music generally, and then tries to make their own album. I think you would look at your critiques from when you would just consume a lot differently and knowing like the process of it, what it takes from getting, whether it be a guest don't want to [00:05:00] just, you know, recording something to then publishing it to them, promoting it, how. [00:05:04] You know, complex that could often be and how time consuming it is. It really gives you an appreciation for podcasting and especially the people who do it really well.  [00:05:14] Germaine: [00:05:14] Oh, like, I mean, there are a lot of podcasts. I think her podcasts that are quite simply put together, but to me, the biggest sort of appreciation is for those podcasts, that like the storytelling ones, where sort of music, there's a lot of characters. [00:05:31] I  [00:05:31] Hayden: [00:05:31] think a good one. And actually I listened to it on your recommendation with business Wars. By. Yes, by. Wondery,  [00:05:37] Germaine: [00:05:37] yes. Wondery make a whole bunch of podcasts.  [00:05:40] Hayden: [00:05:40] And I think what I appreciate about these podcasts is a lot of, they actually have people who, who their whole job in terms of podcast production is literally just researching topics. [00:05:51] It's, you know, doing the. Informational deep dive D get any fact  [00:05:56] Germaine: [00:05:56] checking,  [00:05:57] Hayden: [00:05:57] stuff like that, to be able to tell a story that [00:06:00] could, could be done in five minutes over a five hour podcast and whether or not

For this episode of the podcast, we invited Tom Falco to chat with us about his vintage clothes business, Primetime Pickups. Tom is a local entrepreneur who, like many, fell on hard times due to COVID-19 and found himself with limited job prospects as a result of the virus’ effect on the job market. However, instead of sitting idly by waiting for the right job opportunity to come to him, Tom used his free time and marketing prowess to start a successful e-commerce business from the comfort of his own home. During this episode, our guest goes into great detail about how vintage resellers structure their businesses, what he has learned from his competitors, and what Primetime Pickups does differently. Additionally, he talks about the marketing tactics he uses to cut through the noise in such a crowded online marketplace, as well as the importance of authenticity when engaging with your consumer base. We finish up talking to Tom about the future of his business and whether he intends to continue to grow the brand into a physical storefront. 

What we talk about

• Starting a business during COVID-19
• What marketing tactics are suited to an e-commerce businesses
• The importance of authenticity and transparency in marketing 
• Scaling up a side hustle

Links from this episode

https://www.instagram.com/primetime.pickups/ (Primetime Pickups on Instagram)

https://www.primetimepickups.com.au (Primetime Pickups' Website)

Find us elsewhere

https://futuretri.be/ (Future Tribe Website)

https://www.instagram.com/futuretri.be/ (Future Tribe on Instagram)

https://www.linkedin.com/in/germainemuller/ (Germaine on LinkedIn)

https://www.instagram.com/germa_ne/ (Germaine on Instagram)

https://futuretheory.com.au/ (Futuretheory Website) 

Transcript 

Disclaimer: This transcript was generated automatically and as such, may contain various spelling and syntax errors

[00:00:00] Germaine: [00:00:00] Hello, future tribe. Welcome to another episode of the podcast on this week's episode, I've got Tom Falco from Primetime Pickups. How are you, Tom?  [00:00:09] Tom: [00:00:09] Good. How are you?  [00:00:10] Germaine: [00:00:10] Thank you. Tell us about a Primetime Pickups before we really get into the hard questions. Yeah.  [00:00:16] Tom: [00:00:16] So just a bit of a basic overview would say, its a vintage clothes business, American sports in spite that I, started out of my bedroom, in Gungahlin Canberra. [00:00:26]Essentially we dropped collections. So, I'll source a whole bunch of clothes in the States, a whole bunch of sort of 90's and 2000's, vintage, sports gear. and then on one day during the month, we'll drop all that gear at once on the website. And yeah the response to that screening look incredible. [00:00:43] It's been amazing so far, so I'm pretty, pretty excited to see where it could go.  [00:00:47] Germaine: [00:00:47] Yeah. Nice. when did you start this whole thing?  [00:00:51]Tom: [00:00:51] It was, essentially when , once COVID, sort of hit . I really had the time to sort of sit down and really had a crack at, sort of doing it,  I had the idea for a while. [00:01:00] [00:01:00]But yeah, once, once COVID hit , so it's sort of been three, three or four, four months. I think two of those months of sort of planning all out and sort of writing up business plans and strategic plans in terms of marketing, how I was going to sort of get it off the ground and then three months of really operating now. [00:01:15] So we've just dropped, uh, our collection to drop date. Um, so we've dropped one collection already. We've dropped a sort of second $25 and under collection gearing up the second collection on the 29th of July.  [00:01:29] Germaine: [00:01:29] Yeah. Wow. That's that's exciting. So that's uh, about nine days away from the, from the time we were recording. [00:01:34] So, um, how old are you now?  [00:01:37]Tom: [00:01:37] So I'm 24.  [00:01:39] Germaine: [00:01:39] Okay. So started starting nice and young. Um, did you have this idea sort of getting into your teenage years or has it been, been a lot longer or more recently that you came up with the idea? Yeah. Well,  [00:01:50] Tom: [00:01:50] it's, it's, it's, it's sort of like an idea that we'll always have. [00:01:53] Like, I, I spent a couple of years over in the States and so I got to experience sort of firsthand the market and demand for [00:02:00] vintage clothes over there. or some more so over here, but. sort of over there used to be sort of, and, you know, go to a thrift shop and you see a, an old school jacket. If it 10 us dollars and jeez like, I wish I could sort of take the time and sell it in Australia, but I never had that sort of platform to do it. [00:02:17] Um, but I guess coming home and having that time to, sort of sit down and really sort of plan it out, and that, that sort of matters should the marketing skills and the communication skills that I was able to sort of. Learn through a couple of years at uni. Mm.  [00:02:31] Germaine: [00:02:31] So you had some sort of background in marketing and communications before you, I guess started the business. [00:02:38] Tom: [00:02:38] Yeah, so I did a, I did a double degree in sports, media and public relations at the University of Canberra. Through that I was, he did a minor in sports marketing and events. So although it's not sort of very specific in terms of  marking in an audience where you're trying to sell them stuff, there's still a lot of sort of skills at correlate that I learned in my [00:03:00] time there. [00:03:00] And I had the, I was fortunate enough to do a whole bunch of internships through my time at university of Canberra that I think really helped me out.  [00:03:08] Germaine: [00:03:08] Yeah. Yeah. And I guess you had a, skillset that was transferable, from, I mean, sports is just sort of one, one genre, so you can still transfer it over as you've found. [00:03:17] Tom: [00:03:17] Absolutely. Yeah. A hundred percent.  [00:03:20] Germaine: [00:03:20] Yeah. I mean, tell me how you source. So you, do you do a drop, how big, big sort of the drop in terms of say retail value? Um, how big have they been? So,  [00:03:32]Tom: [00:03:32] in terms of, flux paces and. It's just my job. So the first drop was about 30 pieces. And now, obviously that was sort of the first one. [00:03:42] So we went a little bit smaller with that. Just because the overhead on buying all the imagery and stuff, it was like it was a big risk. So the second one, now that I've seen that there's a demand for it. And as a market for, and people are willing to sort of, you know, Take money out of their pocket to buy our stuff. [00:03:56] I can sort of scale it up a little bit more. So I think the next one is about 50 [00:04:00] pieces,  collection threes, ia all ordered , so that the next shop, all ordered now it's all being shipped over now and that'd be closer to sort of 60, 70 pieces and really sort of just scale it up from that point. So  [00:04:11] Germaine: [00:04:11] just scaling up slowly. [00:04:13] Yeah. How, how do you source them? Like, are you, were you there originally and now are you sort of. Calling, through shops over there or how are you managing that side  [00:04:23] Tom: [00:04:23] of it? It's people don't do them very similar stuff to me. So a lot of, a lot of people want to stay w. Well, we'll sort of be the first person to go to the thrift shop and buy a whole bunch of bunch of stuff and then throw it up on, apps like Depop, Ebay and other one Instagram. [00:04:38]There's a ton of people selling stuff in the sites that that'll bought from the thrift shop for sort of 10 us dollars and then sell one onto you for 15 us dollars. And then obviously you gotta pay shipping and stuff like that. But, being able to source it's very like very, it's very easy to find these people that are doing that. [00:04:55]Like it takes a ton of time. I've got, I think the first collection also was. [00:05:00] Probably about six different suppliers. and obviously I said that the first collection was 30 pieces that works out to be like five pieces as far. Whereas now I'm sort of uncomfortable with this clause that I have and the squads that I'm borrowing stuff off. [00:05:13] I'm more comfortable making. I think I did an order for 17 sweatshirts for collection two that should arrive this week. which is. So much easier than, sort of ordering a five or six different people.  [00:05:26] Germaine: [00:05:26] Yeah. Yeah. And it makes it more manageable for you. And then obviously it brings down the overheads in terms of yeah. [00:05:31] Tom: [00:05:31] And in terms of prices as well. shipping is another one shipping gets expensive and if the Mo sort of more you order, the more you can save on, on each piece. But then also, building relationships with, with the supplies. I guess for me, When I first started, it was, it was very sort of like always reaching out every day. [00:05:51] I was messaging. I was probably sending close to 50 messages a day, people on Depop, people want to hear about to people on Instagram and handful of get back to me and stuff [00:06:00] like that. Now it's got to the point where I've made a couple of hours off people. Yeah, reach out to me once they've got sports stuff that I think I might be interested in. [00:06:09] So it's sort of,  [00:06:10] Germaine: [00:06:10] because it's an easy s

In this week's episode we had the pleasure of talking with Canberra-based YouTuber, hardware reviewer, and all-around tech guru, Jarrod Farncomb. Jarrod started his YouTube journey just over five years ago as a creative side hobby, and now has amassed 230k subscribers across all of his accounts. In 2019, he decided to quit his job in IT in order to pursue content creation full-time and hasn’t looked back since. As you can imagine, Jarrod’s has a lot of great insights into the best tactics for getting your YouTube career started, picking your content type,  as well as how to sustainably grow your audience. Our guest also lifts back the curtain on how YouTubers monetise their content in 2020 as ad revenue becomes less lucrative for content creators. The show then concludes with Jarrod discussing his humble beginnings and how he has evolved as a YouTuber over the past five years.

What we talk about

• Jarrod’s journey to becoming a fulltime YouTuber 
• How to monetise your content
• Tips for starting out on YouTube and how to grow your audience

Links from this episode

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2Rzju32yQPkQ7oIhmeuLwg (Jarrod’s channel on YouTube)

https://twitter.com/JarrodsTech (Jarrod on Twitter)

https://www.facebook.com/jarrodstech (Jarrod on Facebook)

Find us elsewhere

https://futuretri.be/ (Future Tribe Website)

https://www.instagram.com/futuretri.be/ (Future Tribe on Instagram)

https://www.linkedin.com/in/germainemuller/ (Germaine on LinkedIn)

https://www.instagram.com/germa_ne/ (Germaine on Instagram)

https://futuretheory.com.au/ (Futuretheory Website) 

Transcript 

Disclaimer: This transcript was generated automatically and as such, may contain various spelling and syntax errors

[00:00:00] Germaine: [00:00:00] Hello, future tribe on this week's episode, I am joined by Jarrod Farncomb. A YouTuber, or,  how would you describe yourself? Jarrod?  [00:00:09] Jarrod: [00:00:09] Yeah, I guess tech YouTuber is what everyone tends to. [00:00:13] Refer to me as,  [00:00:14] Germaine: [00:00:14] yeah. Well, and truly tech YouTuber, you released your first video about five years ago. And now you're up to what, 214,000 subscribers, on your channel. So that's, that's pretty solid. And you've got a second channel as well that you started recently. Is that right?  [00:00:29] Jarrod: [00:00:29] Yeah. Yeah. That's right. [00:00:30] Been going for five years and, yeah, I just started a second channel couple of months ago, just to kind of experiment with some new kinds of content.  [00:00:39] Germaine: [00:00:39] And what's the second channel  [00:00:41] Jarrod: [00:00:41] called it's just Jarrod's laptops. So similar to the main channel, which is Jarrod's Tech.  [00:00:46] Germaine: [00:00:46] yeah, [00:00:50] but it's, but it's pretty cool. You're sort of creating this, , actually hold on. You, you were aware of Linus tech tips, right?  [00:00:56] Jarrod: [00:00:56] Yeah, of course.  [00:00:57] Germaine: [00:00:57] Is it inspired by you know, first name [00:01:00] and then last name has sort of the category sort of approach or was it just something that you came up with independent of that. [00:01:07] Jarrod: [00:01:07] Yeah. So, I mean, I definitely did spend a while thinking about how I wanted to do it, whether I just wanted to go like random catchy name or actually put part of my name behind it. And yeah, I did see some other channels like that and I thought, you know, that sounds pretty good. I'll put my name in it and stand behind the thing rather than just be some random. [00:01:26] Name? That means whatever. Like, that's just, that's just what I chose. Could've gone either way  [00:01:31] Germaine: [00:01:31] though  [00:01:32] Yeah, I mean, but it's, I think, you know, over the last few years, it's it's, um, Probably being a pretty wise decision. I know you didn't put a lot thought behind it, but I think the way things are transpiring now, um, there's a lot of, um, a lot of, I guess, power behind sort of being an independent YouTube or an independent personality, especially when, you know, People can just get paid to do stuff. [00:01:56] So I think having your name there, yes. It's only your first name, [00:02:00] but, um, that adds a bit of, um, credibility to you that you're sort of putting your name out there and saying, you know, when I, when I give you my thoughts, um, it is, it is me. It's not just this faceless entity that can take money from, you know, questionable sources to say certain things. [00:02:17] Jarrod: [00:02:17] Yeah, exactly. Sorry. Essentially it becomes the brand, I suppose.  [00:02:21] Germaine: [00:02:21] Yeah, yeah. As an individual as well. Now, when did you start? So you started YouTube five years ago. was that like a full time thing or are you experimenting back then?  [00:02:31]Jarrod: [00:02:31] Uh, yes. So basically the way it started is kind of interesting, I was just lying in bed one night and I couldn't sleep. [00:02:37] And it was like three in the morning and I'd been there for hours and I was just thinking like, wouldn't it be fun to like create some videos or something? Cause I've been watching a lot of other channels out there. And I thought, you know, I could do that. That's that doesn't seem that hard. I mean, it was a bit harder than I thought at the time, but story. [00:02:55] Yeah. So I pretty much got out of bed that night and just. Made the channel. [00:03:00] And I think I made the first video a few days after that. It was just like a basic tutorial for how to do something in Linux which, you know, the channel isn't really about. But yeah, that's, that's how it got started just five years ago. [00:03:13] Couldn't sleep, which lead to the point where I just had to get up and do something and, uh, yeah. I thought at that time though, it was just, uh, I tried to do one video a week for the first, probably first two or three years. It was maybe one a week. There were a few breaks in there in between where I just wouldn't do anything for a few months, but yeah, it's definitely part time, at least in the beginning. [00:03:33]moved into full time. it was March, 2019, I believe. So I've been a bit over, year now  [00:03:41] Germaine: [00:03:41] Right. Wow. So how old were you when you, so five years ago? How old are you.  [00:03:46] Jarrod: [00:03:46] Uh, yeah, it would have, yeah, it would have been 25 back then. Cause I'm 30 today.  [00:03:50] Germaine: [00:03:50] 30 today. Okay. And so you started that, were you working in a similar field, like in a techie field at the time or? [00:03:59] Jarrod: [00:03:59] Yeah. [00:04:00] So I've always worked in tech to some degree. So five years ago, I think when, where I was working, then I think I was still working in, uh, as a CIS admin. So systems administrator, so like managing servers and computers and that type of thing. And then shortly after that, I started to move to, penetration testing. [00:04:19] So like essentially hacking websites and you know, that type of stuff, which was pretty fun. But yeah, just doing the videos on the sides I found, I just found more interest in that over time.  [00:04:31] Germaine: [00:04:31] Yeah. So you're, you're a Canberra boy or what, where are you? Where are you? I mean, you're in Canberra now, right? [00:04:38] Jarrod: [00:04:38] Yeah, sir. I'm originally from Darwin, but I've, I've lived here since 2003, I think just after the Bush fires. So that's how long I've been here.  [00:04:48] Germaine: [00:04:48] So basically a Canberra , boy.  [00:04:50] Jarrod: [00:04:50] Yeah.  [00:04:52] Germaine: [00:04:52] Awesome. And then going through school, did you study. Sort of take IT. Or was that, was that just something that you fell into your [00:05:00] post-school  [00:05:01] Jarrod: [00:05:01] Yeah so I tried to do pretty much. [00:05:04] As many IT classes as I could. So I pick much whatever I could just max out that limit and everything else, just nowhere near as interested in. So yeah. And we tried to do a focus on that, even though a lot of the classes back then, what particularly not interesting, or, you know, like some of them were just really boring things like, you know, learn Microsoft Excel and word processing and that type of thing. [00:05:29] But I found that more interesting than like English and you know, that type of stuff.  [00:05:34] Germaine: [00:05:34] Yeah. Yeah. I still remember. We used to work on Excel and, you know, we had to come up with, a way of like generating drawers. Using Excel and it was cool, but you know, it's, it's, it's quite different now use Excel day in, day out, but nowhere near to that capacity, because there's just dedicated software to do that and dedicated ways to do that. [00:05:54] So I think, I mean, naturally it shifts a lot, but I think in the last sort of. 10 [00:06:00] 15 years it's shifted even more than more than we would have expected, especially with sort of the rise of rise of SAS. And then, um, more, more sort of, uh, tech, tech adjacent stuff, or it adjacent stuff like you do on YouTube. [00:06:13] Now you were talking about doing sort of penetration testing. Um, I'm sure at the time you were sort of seeing the, of the importance of cyber security and, that would have been, you know, a lot of. A lot of potential there for you, whether it's, you know, not, not that everything's about money, but

In this week’s instalment of the Future Tribe podcast, we chat with CMO of Thycotic and best-selling author, Steve Kahan. Steve has worked in the start-up scene for over 30 years and in that time has been able to help companies such as Thycotic go public or be sold, resulting in a total value of more than $3 billion. As you can imagine, Germaine and Steve spend a great deal of this episode talking about the benefits of starting your career off at a start-up as opposed to a large corporation. Our guest also gives some solid advice on how to differentiate a good start-up from a bad one and how to find positions in these companies, as they can often be hard to find. The episode concludes with Steve talking about how he was able to find a good work-life balance despite his busy schedule. 

What we talk about

• Working at a start-up vs. working at a large corporation
• Alternative employment routes
• Content marketing and value creation
• Finding a work-life balance

Links from this episode

https://beastartupsuperstar.com/ (Steve’s Website)

https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevekahan (Steve’s Linkedin)

https://www.amazon.com/Be-Startup-Superstar-Ignite-Working/dp/1119660408 (Steve’s Best Selling Book)

Find us elsewhere

https://futuretri.be/ (Future Tribe Website)

https://www.instagram.com/futuretri.be/ (Future Tribe on Instagram)

https://www.linkedin.com/in/germainemuller/ (Germaine on LinkedIn)

https://www.instagram.com/germa_ne/ (Germaine on Instagram)

https://futuretheory.com.au/ (Futuretheory Website)

Transcript 

Disclaimer: This transcript was generated automatically and as such, may contain various spelling and syntax errors

Germaine: [00:00:00] . [00:00:00] Hello, future tribe. Welcome to another episode of the podcast on this week's episode, we've got Steve Kahan from Thycotic. How are you, Steve?

[00:00:08] Steve: [00:00:08] I'm doing great. Thank you for having me.

[00:00:10] Germaine: [00:00:10] No worries at all. Um, let's get the ball rolling. What's what's Thycotic all about to start off with and what do you do there?

[00:00:17] Steve: [00:00:17] So Thycotic is a cybersecurity company focused on protecting, what's known as privileged passwords that exists throughout any organization's infrastructure. And I'm the chief marketing officer.

[00:00:31] Germaine: [00:00:31] Okay. So is it sort of like a last pass, but you know, were way more advanced for sort of enterprise? Is that, is that how we can think of you?

[00:00:41] Steve: [00:00:41] In a way, right? So  last pass a good product, and it sort of works for, personal users, some, sometimes small businesses and really where Thycotic  focuses in on is nonhuman passwords as well as human as well. So if you think about [00:01:00] it, Every operating system, database application, et cetera, has a password associated with them.

[00:01:06] And big companies have no idea how many passwords they have. And so they go unmanaged and as a result, they're not secured and we help to secure them and reduce their risks.

[00:01:19] Germaine: [00:01:19] Right? So API keys, things like that as well, I assume.

[00:01:23] Steve: [00:01:23] Yes.

[00:01:24] Germaine: [00:01:24] Okay. And how big Thycotic to get, give an idea of, the, the team behind you?

[00:01:30] Steve: [00:01:30] Sure. So actually when I started at Thycotic a little over four years ago, we were 6 million in revenue. And now , four years later we'll be 106 million. So we've been on a rapid growth, Trajectory. And it's really the result of the market that we play in. And I think working with some amazingly talented people and just really great solutions,

[00:01:56]Germaine: [00:01:56] let's, um, let's sort of rewind a little bit.

[00:02:00] [00:01:59] How did you find yourself at Thycotic? You give us an idea of sort of your journey to get there. Yeah. And, let's start with, what you sort of did out of school. and you know, Give us a bit of a timeline.

[00:02:12] Steve: [00:02:12] Sure. So, uh, now, as you might be able to see if you, if you happen to be able to see the video that I've got a few lines in my face and some gray hair.

[00:02:22] And so I've actually been in the technology space and mostly in cyber security for 30 years. And so, when I graduated university, I  went to school and would hear very often from my father when I would grow up, he'd say, Steve, get your degree, go to work for a large corporation. You work hard. They'll take care of you and you'll have a great career.

[00:02:47] And of course he would say your mother and I would much prefer that you become a doctor or a lawyer. But short of that, getting a job at a large corporation will do. So that was the path I took. And so I [00:03:00] graduated university. I went to work at a. A large, organization processing claims. And I remember staring at my bank statement and the pile of claims.

[00:03:11] I had a process that day. Wondering how on earth will I ever get ahead? And I work long hours, the student loans would take a hold of my paychecks before they ever get a chance to hit my bank account. So about a year or so into that role, I asked myself an important question and that was how could I earn a great living and love the work I do.

[00:03:36] And that led me into the startup world. And now I am, at my seventh startup, in a 30 year span. all six prior have either sold or have gone public, generating over $3.5 Billion in shareholder value.

[00:03:53] Germaine: [00:03:53] Wow. That is a, that's some big numbers right there. so how's the Thycotic. So cause you know, one of a [00:04:00] 106 million, quite a solid sort of traction for, for a startup, how old's Thycotic to start off with.

[00:04:07] Steve: [00:04:07] So Thycotic. When, when I joined, I joined along with our CEO. He and I had worked together in the past when a venture capital company invested in the company. And, and Thycotic was a few years old when we joined and now, we've are about eight years, uh, in the making. And so the, the first few years, it sort of struggled the around, around it was bootstrapped company.

[00:04:35] It had a good product, uh, but really the founder, uh, needed some help and capital to grow the company. And it's when the. Insight venture partners actually bought into the company and brought in people like myself and the CEO. When we. Really took a great start and a great foundation that the company had also a tremendous culture [00:05:00] and, uh, built on it and did sort of the things that, that experienced, technology executives would do too.

[00:05:07] help, the company, get on that growth path that we have been fortunate enough to achieve.

[00:05:13] Germaine: [00:05:13] Yeah. Yeah. That's amazing. And, we're jumping around a little bit, but now you said this is your, this was his seventh startup you worked at, is that correct?

[00:05:21] Steve: [00:05:21] That's correct.

[00:05:21] Germaine: [00:05:21] Yeah. So let's rewind. I'm actually, how old are you now, if you don't mind me asking, just to sort of pull things on an actual year, year sort of timeline.

[00:05:30] Steve: [00:05:30] For sure. So I'm actually 58 years old, so, I'm old and over the Hill.

[00:05:37] Germaine: [00:05:37] Hey, Hey, you, you don't know how science is going for, for all we know we've got a, you know, another hundred years left in ya. ,So let's go back 30 years. So that'll put you at say 28. Um, is that when you started your first startup job?

[00:05:51] Steve: [00:05:51] Yeah, actually a few years before that. Right. So I, I started, at first startup, I kinda made all the mistakes in the world just in terms of [00:06:00] joining that company. But,  the company that I joined, it was pretty cool. It was a, I was the first person hired into marketing. And, it was, hired into a company with a small team of crazies hell bent on changing the world and changing the way applications were being developed.

[00:06:18] And so it was pretty cool. I mean, uh, when I joined, uh, interestingly in the first week, I remember looking at the office next to mine and there were people. Rolling out the copy machine. They unplug, plugged it, put it on a Dolly, roll that right out. And I came to find out a few days later. It was because of the company couldn't afford to pay for that copy machine.

[00:06:43] Germaine: [00:06:43] Wow.

[00:06:44] Steve: [00:06:44] And, uh, it was, you know, pretty interesting, but I was blind to it. I was so pumped and excited to work on this venture with this team that just was so passionate, had this just a total commitment and belief that somehow we would figure it out. And just a [00:07:00] few years later, that company that couldn't afford to pay.

[00:07:03] For the copy machine, it went public and I got the bug and never left the startup world.

[00:07:08] Germaine: [00:07:08] Wow. , what year was that? When you joined?,

[00:07:11] Steve: [00:07:11] Oh my goodness.

[00:07:11] Many, many years ago. I mean, it was probably 25 years ago.

[00:07:16] Germaine: [00:07:16] Yeah. Yep, yep. Yep. So you were the first person going into marketing or into that? Sort of the marketing roles at that, that organization.

[00:07:23] How did you manage t

In this week’s episode of the Future Tribe Podcast, we had the pleasure of talking to young business owner and inclusion consultant, Katie Zink. For those who are unaware, inclusion specialists such as Katie consult with businesses on how they can improve their workplace culture in order to make it as inviting and equitable as possible. We start off this episode with Katie and Germaine discussing this new burgeoning industry as well as how Katie herself transitioned into it from her typical 9-5 job. During this discussion, our guest also outlines how she was able to finance her startup by developing supplementary revenue streams and living frugally. After this, Germaine asks Katie what it was like starting her own business during the COVID epidemic and how she has handled client acquisition at a time in which most companies are tightening their budgets. The show then culminates in an interesting discussion pertaining to why exhibiting social responsibility is becoming an integral part of corporate strategy in 2020.

What we talk about

• What is social consulting
• Starting a business during COVID
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Content marketing

Links from this episode

https://katiezink.co/ (Katie’s Website)

https://www.linkedin.com/in/katieszink (Katie’s Linkedin)

Find us elsewhere

https://futuretri.be/ (Future Tribe Website)

https://www.instagram.com/futuretri.be/ (Future Tribe on Instagram)

https://www.linkedin.com/in/germainemuller/ (Germaine on LinkedIn)

https://www.instagram.com/germa_ne/ (Germaine on Instagram)

https://futuretheory.com.au/ (Futuretheory Website)

Transcript 

Disclaimer: This transcript was generated automatically and as such, may contain various spelling and syntax errors

[00:00:00] Germaine: [00:00:00] Hello, future tribe. Welcome to another episode of the podcast on this week's episode, we've got Katie Zink. How are you today? Katie? [00:00:08] Katie: [00:00:08] I am doing well Germaine, thank you so much. How's it going for you? [00:00:11] Germaine: [00:00:11] Yeah, not too bad. Not too bad. You're in the U S is that [00:00:15] Katie: [00:00:15] right? [00:00:16] I am, yes. I'm on the West coast of the us and Portland, Oregon. [00:00:21] Germaine: [00:00:21] Nice, nice. So, before we get the ball rolling, give me an idea of what you do. you know, what, what we're here to talk [00:00:27] Katie: [00:00:27] about. [00:00:28] Absolutely. Yeah. So, I, I have launched kind of my signature consulting program, in this, in the newest iteration this year. and what that is, is a, a cult consulting program for organizations looking to commit formally or actualize diversity equity and inclusion work. [00:00:47] So, Especially where I live in Portland, kind of in the tech scene is where I reside primarily. there is a lot of activity right now, figuring out what that means and how to go about it in a strategic way. So what my con [00:01:00] my program does, it's a, it's a three month guided track. that's essentially the process of any kind of strategic planning process where I, guide there, their equity work and help them figure out. [00:01:11] How the first year will look. so it's for organizations who know they want to commit, they just don't really know how to get started yet. [00:01:18] Germaine: [00:01:18] Okay. So, for those who are listening and, you know, for me as well, let's, could we sort of simplify, like what, what you do? you know, you've used words like equity, diversity, inclusivity, In sort of layman's terms. [00:01:32] What does that mean? Like what if you, if you have the effect that, you intend to have, what, what is the difference that you make? [00:01:42] Katie: [00:01:42] It's a good question. So. We were seeing for, you know, decades and decades that specifically in the tech industry, it was a, a white majority white male majority to be more exact. [00:01:55] And so there started to be a lot of passion behind diversifying who's [00:02:00] working in those fields, in that field and, and, and knowing, that skill set and being able to earn a wage that you earn in the tech world. So, there have been. Lots of kinds of committees and organizations that are aligning to figure out how to diversify tech talent. [00:02:18]there are a lot of different programmings coming around about, getting high school students, ready to enter the, a career in tech, if that's what they want or getting them interested in pursuing it, helping them believe that they can do it, you know? And so the goal really is to. Make sure we don't have just a homogenous white majority anymore. [00:02:36] Eventually that's going to take a long time to get there, but there is a lot of, I think, momentum now. And I think even, even, especially now, I'm in the United States, we're really waking up to what racism has done and, you know, what's actually been doing and is doing so my work is really to kind of wake people up additionally and figure out. [00:02:58] Well, how the cultures need to [00:03:00] shift in order for more people to feel like themselves. And like they can bring their whole selves to work. it's more, or about people feeling like they have a voice to enact change and less of kind of prescriptive top down leadership kind of. Been doing it, you know, doing it as they've been doing it, kind of rhetoric. [00:03:18] It's just more of an inclusive, people just having a sense of belonging and feeling kind of connected. And you know, the ideas that if people are more engaged and feeling like themselves at work, innovation will soar productivity will be better. So it really is kind of. A holistic way to think about organizational effectiveness in a way that benefits everybody, not just the same types of people, getting opportunities over and over again. [00:03:46] Germaine: [00:03:46] And I guess part of this whole thought process is that when you make it more accessible for more types of people, so not just, you know, the white man that you would also, I mean, even thinking about innovation, [00:04:00] you'll get a different mindset, different ideas. You, you naturally sort of opening it up to, you know, different races, different backgrounds, different experiences, different genders, and so on and so forth. [00:04:09] So, I never thought about it from that angle. because, you know, I guess I had to hit the, you know, I guess the hard stuff sort of pretty early on in our, in our conversation. I think traditionally you've sort of, people have looked at it as, you know, why are we trying to force this thing that doesn't exist? [00:04:28] Like, you know, if, if, this gender or this type of person is predominant in this sector, that there might be a reason for it. and I guess the, the assumption was that the reason was it just attracted that specific type of person versus looking at it from, I guess, Well, we've sort of touched on, in, yeah, maybe we just the system and was just in place to suit that person. [00:04:53] So we almost, the system just was selective. not, not, maybe not as obvious, obviously as, as [00:05:00] we needed to be for everyone to sort of be like, okay, I can see why that's a problem, but, Historically, it's just being a very selective system. Is that, is that fair to say? [00:05:09] Katie: [00:05:09] Yeah, I think it's abundantly fair and, and really astute actually to think about, you know, I have heard, you know, predominantly white males say, well, won't, won't diversity just happen naturally or kind of, like you said, maybe there is a reason why, you know, men gravitate towards tech. [00:05:24] You know, dominant positions, there is a reason why it's because those jobs and benefiting from that career were, was a system designed by, by them. So it was, they were, they designed a system to benefit themselves where, you know, it was just that one, one perspective. I think that's absolutely fair to say. [00:05:42] Germaine: [00:05:42] Well, exactly. And even the outcomes, Was designed or the outcomes, from, you know, receiving those promotions or getting into those jobs. we're set up in such a way that they were attractive to, you know, A certain type of person. [00:06:00] because, because let's be honest, you, you ideally you would do work for more than just the money and, you know, there's, there's a whole lot of other things that you get out of it. [00:06:08] And naturally over the years, it's just been refined and refined and refined so that those outcomes are, desirable. Because as an employer, as, as an organization, as a company, it's desirable to make. Those outcomes desirable versus undesirable. Right. So I guess, you're making me think about it more because I have, you know, over the years, my, my opinions have changed and sort of, as I've become more educated, it's, it's changed. [00:06:35] But I feel like this alone, this conversation alone in the last five minutes has educated me even further because I have just looked at it as, you know, why are we trying to force something that, hasn't existed or doesn't exist? And, you know, that was me a few years ago before I did enough study and started to understand it. [00:06:51] But now, now I'm understanding it even even more. So that's really interesting, but let's quickly rewind and, go back to how you got it. [00:07:00] you know, what, what, what led you to this? Because it's not really, you know, no one sort of, At least no one I know has sort of said, you know, I want to grow up and, get into what you've gotten into. [00:07:12] It'

In this week’s episode of the Future Tribe Podcast, we chat with the Founder and CEO of Crediverso, Carlos Hernandez. Crediverso is an informational software suite that is aimed at helping Hispanic and Latino Americans become more financially literate. As Crediverso is a young company that is growing rapidly, Carlos shares a great deal of information about how the initial stages of business/product development work,  as well as how he sought out funding from venture capitalists. Later on in the show, Germaine and Carlos discuss the cultural gaps companies need to cross when entering into new markets and why even large companies fail at doing so. Finally, both our host and our guest discuss the importance of staffing your company with the right people and the benefits of having colleagues to vet your ideas.

What we talk about

• Business/Product development and how to seek out venture capital 
• Overcoming cultural gaps 
• The importance of staffing your company with the right people

Links from this episode

https://crediverso.com/en/ (Crediverso’s Website)

https://www.facebook.com/crediverso (Crediverso on Facebook)

https://www.instagram.com/crediverso/ (Crediverso on Instagram)

Find us elsewhere

https://futuretri.be/ (Future Tribe Website)

https://www.instagram.com/futuretri.be/ (Future Tribe on Instagram)

https://www.linkedin.com/in/germainemuller/ (Germaine on LinkedIn)

https://www.instagram.com/germa_ne/ (Germaine on Instagram)

https://futuretheory.com.au/ (Futuretheory Website)

Transcript 

Disclaimer: This transcript was generated automatically and as such, may contain various spelling and syntax errors

[00:00:00.750] - Germaine

Hello, Future Tribe. Welcome to another episode of the podcast on this week's episode. I've got Carlos from Crediverso. How are you today Carlos?

[00:00:11.370] - Carlos

I'm doing fantastic. Thanks for asking. Really excited to talk to you. 

[00:00:14.520] - Germaine

Yeah. I mean, let's get the ball rolling. What is Crediverso to start off with? 

[00:00:20.520] - Carlos

Absolutely, so we are an online financial products marketplace designed for U.S. Hispanics, a huge population here in the States. 60 million, 60 million people, which is about 20 percent of our population. Yeah.  it's a big portion of the population. And the amazing thing is that they are very much underserved by existing financial institutions and financial intermediary platforms like the companies that give you personal finance information resources.

[00:00:46.500] - Carlos

First of all, many, much of it is not available in Spanish. They don't advertise in Hispanic neighborhoods and the content is not designed or presented in a way that is accessible to the typical Hispanic consumer.

[00:00:56.880] - Carlos

So what we tried to do is provide easy to access bilingual tools that help consumers understand complex financial decisions like how to pick the right credit card or how to apply for a mortgage. We also offer a ton of educational resources, like a Step-By-Step Guide on how to get a free credit report or in a particular economic circumstances, we find ourselves in right now how to make sure you get your stimulus check or a government loan and things like that.

[00:01:21.000] - Germaine

1. So is there such a need? I mean, so 20 percent of the population, you said, is Hispanic.  Is that is there a need then that they get that information in Spanish or in the in that in a different language or what ways? Why is that need sort of there? I guess what I'm trying to identify are there then if they are 20 percent of the population are that then other groups as well in the US where they would be better served if they where delivered that information in their own native language?

[00:01:54.720] - Carlos

Absolutely, and you know, we're starting with Hispanics as the consumer base that we know best. But you're you're absolutely right. The one of the great things about being in the United States and about what I love about living in Los Angeles is that you can stand on a street corner in L.A. and see street signs and storefronts in six different languages English, Spanish, Mandarin, Korean, Tagalog, all sorts of languages. And so what we're starting with, with the Hispanic audience in the United States, ideally, I think there is a need for for a service like ours, for many different communities.

[00:02:26.550] - Carlos

And the way that I approach how that need plays out for the Hispanic population is you can look at the media landscape, for example, and in the US, you know, it certainly is different where you are imagine. But in the U.S., we have something like, I don't know, 400, 500 channels that are offered in English and we have two that are offered in Spanish. And so the need is just absolutely not met in many of these different verticals.

[00:02:53.820] - Carlos

Finance is a really important one for many, many different reasons.

[00:02:59.280] - Carlos

Access to small business loans, access to student loans, and anything as simple as getting a credit check or getting a credit card. And so while that's not the entirety of the 60 million person population speaks only Spanish, we go beyond just a you know, we're not just a translation service. There really is a cultural relevance component to this in terms of the way it's presented. You can take a credit card, for example, and a typical general market site might focus on, OK, what's a what's the best credit card if you want to build up some travel points to go to Europe next summer.

[00:03:33.950] 

And that's great. You know, it's play folks are taking those kind of trips, maybe if maybe not right now, but hopefully soon in the future. Yeah. With our specific demographic that we're offering the service towards, many of them maybe have, you know, never been on a plane more interested in things like what is a good credit card if I don't have a Social Security number?

[00:03:52.290] 

What does a good credit card if I just say so, you can sort of you're looking positive. It's the language is sort of the easiest way to identify who your market is. But then that has implications that sort of spread much further into the community, into how they live their life. And even, you know, as you've touched on sort of what then normal is versus, you know, what the average Americans and normal is as well. So you're really just I mean, money at the end of the day is a very lifestyle thing.

[00:04:21.570] - Germaine

So that's what you're trying to do, is sort of talk about that from a lifestyle style sort of perspective. We didn't talk about what your role is and you know what you do at Crediverso.

[00:04:34.530] - Carlos

Yeah thanks for asking. So I founded Crediverso about at this point just over nine months ago. So we are a very young company, but we are growing very quickly. I think we are getting close to 20 people or so on the team across all the different capacities. We just brought on a summer internship team of about seven people, all MBA students, all fantastic everywhere, from engineers to finance backgrounds. So we're growing very quickly. We're expanding into different product verticals.

[00:05:00.930] - Carlos

But, yeah, you know, I started this company in late October of last year. And really the idea behind it was that I just started noticing that, hey, why am I not seeing advertisements in Spanish with Hispanic imagery or things that are relevant to the Spanish community on TV, on social media, on Instagram, Facebook? Why is that not there? And after a little bit of research, I realized, hey, it looks like the typical financial institution spends less than two and a half percent of their marketing budget on marketing toward Hispanics.

[00:05:33.630] - Carlos

And as I mentioned a minute ago, 20 percent of the population is comprised of that group. So there's a big mismatch there, which, you know, it's bittersweet because on one hand, it means that there is a for a long time there has been a population that has been very much underserved. On the other hand, it provides a business opportunity. And so that's we're kind of approaching from bothof those.

[00:05:49.680] - Germaine

Yeah. Right. Very interesting. So you started this about nine, 10 months ago. How old are you now, if you don't mind me asking? 31. So you were probably 30, 31 when you started as well. What drove you to stop this, apart from seeing this market?

[00:06:09.820] - Germaine

You know, I'm sure there are a lot of things in life that people come across that, you know, oh, this is a good business opportunity here, but it takes a bit more than a good business opportunity to jump into a business. What what what were the other factors that sort of came into it, you know? Well, you sort of leave me another job or you're finishing up at another business that you started. How did that sort of happen?

[00:06:32.410] - Germaine

Perfectly.

[00: