January 24, 2025 • 37 mins
Bob Shami shares his experience navigating the chaotic world of entrepreneurship while raising a family, emphasizing the importance of bootstrapping and personal accountability. He challenges the notion that success depends solely on funding, advocating for a focus on developing valuable products and maintaining a positive mindset throughout the entrepreneurial journey.
• Bob's journey into entrepreneurship and its beginnings
• The complexity of balancing work from home with parenting
• The impact of bootstrapping on entrepreneurship
• Challenging the importance placed on startup funding
• The role of personal accountability in achieving success
• How entrepreneurship influences children's aspirations
• Tips for aspiring entrepreneurs starting their journeys
• The necessity of education and knowledge in business
• Concluding thoughts on perseverance and positivity
Stay healthy, stay positive, and keep striving for success!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hi everyone, welcome to the Juggling Entrepreneurship
Podcast.
And this is the podcast whereyou will hear amazing stories
and motivation from the parentswho are entrepreneurs who are
acing it, and today we areexcited to welcome Bob Shammy to
the show.
Bob is a founder and CEO ofShammy Media Group, a multimedia
company specializing in contentdistribution and publishing.
(00:25):
A multi-startup entrepreneur,bob Ventures included Inno8,
music Dash and NFHeads,showcasing his versatility and
innovative spirit.
With a background of musicproduction and a key eye in
emerging trends, he hassuccessfully navigated the
(00:45):
evolving landscape of digitalmedia.
Get ready to dive in into hisengagement conversation with
this dynamic leaderrevolutionizing media and
startup industries, along withhis spirit of truth.
Welcome, bob to the show.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Well, thank you, what a great introduction.
The show is over.
You said it all.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Yes, very kind of you , really kind words.
I'm Bob Shammy.
Yes, I'm a dad, an entrepreneur.
An entrepreneurship issomething that I think, the
minute you decide to start yourown business, first of all,
whether you work from home oryou work from outside In my case
, I work from home and it's adecision that I decided about
(01:32):
five years ago.
I made that decision.
But the minute you decide toventure the world on your own
business, you become anentrepreneur.
What does that mean?
Seven days a week?
Yes, I'm not going to sugarcoatit, I'm just going to tell you
exactly.
Vacations yes, you're prettymuch the whole operation,
especially the smaller ventures,and the bigger ventures
(02:09):
probably too, but smallerventures, absolutely small
businesses you always have to.
You're involved in sales.
You're involved in marketing.
You're involved in tech, evenif you have no experience in
none of those, you are all ofthose, all of these things,
absolutely.
So you're always involved.
You're always on the phone.
You're always texting.
Does it get annoying?
Yes, when you have kids andyou're married and the kids
around you?
Yes.
And you work from home?
(02:29):
Yes, you know we're going toget into all of that, so I'm not
going to spell the whole thing,so I'll let you just go ahead
and ask me and I'll come back atyou, but you've, you got to
stay positive.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Yes, stay positive.
That's a very positive note tostart with.
Stay positive, always, always,always.
And it's holiday season.
We are recording, just if youguys don't know, it's December
30th, on a Friday at 3 pm, andBob is very, very kind to spend
his last-minute holiday time funtime with us to record and
(03:04):
bring more motivation tidbits tothe audience.
So thank you, bob.
Thanks a lot for that, mypleasure.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
And it's my birthday next week.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Congratulations, happy birthday.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
There you go, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
So, Bob, what triggered?
How did your first startup,entrepreneurship, startup or
your entrepreneurship actuallystart?
Speaker 2 (03:27):
startup or your entrepreneurship actually start,
uh, you know, initiated.
You know, I started being.
I always had the mindset ofalways doing my own thing.
There's nothing wrong withworking for companies and
corporations, but sometimes someof us not fortunate enough to
have that.
I'm one of those people thatreally didn't have a opportunity
to work for a big company andgrow and take the corporate
ladder, which is nothing wrongwith.
(03:49):
Again, I'll say it's greatFinancial security, great growth
, stability, a lot of things.
I never push people away fromworking for a company or climb
up the corporate ladder.
No, they both.
It depends exactly what you want.
Yes, there's so much socialpressure out there.
Oh, you got to be anentrepreneur.
If you're not, you're this.
If you're not, you're lazy,you're a loser.
(04:09):
No, no, no, this is all justjust rubbish.
I have to say.
It's so much noise out there.
No, school is good.
Learn, get education.
Education is amazing, obviously, and that's the first thing I
put in front of my kidseducation, education.
Do whatever you want, but makesure you have your education,
make sure you have your degree.
You know, because it'ssomething always to fall back.
You know.
First, you learn how tocommunicate.
(04:31):
You learn a skill whether youwant to be a doctor, you want to
be a lawyer, you want to be inthe tech business, you know an
engineer or whatever it is.
You always could go fall backat it.
Number one.
Number two when you work forbig companies, big corporation,
you learn.
You learn so much knowledge.
(04:52):
You establish a network, aconnection, which is very
important.
You start to learn.
The market, so isentrepreneurship is something I
would say is overrated, in a waya bit.
Yes it is yes, it is overratedbecause a lot of people take it
for just the word.
It is the value of the word oh,being an entrepreneur, I'm a
(05:12):
winner, I'm a success.
Great.
Have this attitude, have thispositive thinking and positive
mindset.
You need it in anything in life.
Whatever you do in life,whether you're an athlete,
you're an entrepreneur, you workfor a company or leader
anything you do in life, itdoesn't matter what it is
cutting the grass for otherpeople, it's fine.
You need that positive mindset,with a smile and a positive
mindset, absolutely.
(05:33):
But I started it years ago, manyyears ago, I would say.
And I had a job.
And was I happy?
No, I wasn't.
I always wanted to do my ownthing and it was always the
music business.
Was I a musician?
No, did I play music?
No, did I know how to recordfrom cassette to cassette back
in the day?
No, as a friend of mine told me, bob, you had no business being
(05:56):
in the music business.
It was more of a mindset and apassion.
Yes, the reason for it.
I love the challenge, I likethe challenge, right?
Yes, I did work in Wall Street.
I was a stockbroker when I wasyoung.
We're talking about 21 yearsold, yeah, 20 years old, yeah,
around then that's when I reallytook my entrepreneurial I would
say entrepreneurial trip,entrepreneurship trip yes, good,
(06:20):
yes.
So it started back then, but itwas hard, it was really hard.
(06:40):
I was single, obviously, and Iworked from home.
I turned my living room to anoffice and my bedroom where I
sleep I turned it to a studiolittle, a small den area between
the living room and the bedroom, in New York, and it was on
Wall Street.
So that's when I decided toleave Wall Street.
And was I successful?
I was a beginner.
It was a new thing for me to bein the stock market, dealing
with stocks and bonds.
I was a good salesman, reallygood.
(07:02):
But again, it was tough and Igot into it at the worst time.
You know, they say everythingis timing in life.
I believe it and I don't, butthat was a bad timing.
That's when the market crashed.
So it was a tough time for me.
But, yes, I turned my wholeliving space into work.
So I let breathe.
Being an entrepreneur, my ownbusiness, it was a record label.
Back then I decided to do sosomehow, working hard and
(07:27):
working at night, having a jobat night.
I had to get a job at night, tosupport myself, to pay the rent
and to pay the employees.
Believe it or not, I had a guywho come in and help me in the
daytime to work with me.
He had an experience in themusic business and I had a
studio.
So my life pretty much wasalways noisy, busy, no time to
rest, no time for a break andnothing.
And that's one of the mainthings and the key factor for an
(07:49):
entrepreneur.
It's tough.
You have to learn everything.
Number one you have to be agood salesman or become a good
salesman.
If you're not, then become one.
Learn about marketing, learnabout how to penny pinch.
I wasn't savvy enough to askpeople for money.
I really was not.
I didn't get any money fromanybody, so I had no investors,
nobody giving me anything, sopretty much I had to.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
You're a solopreneur.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Yes, solopreneur, Absolute solopreneur, yes, so I
would say some of the mostsuccessful independent startups
are people without funding.
They call it these days.
They call it.
What do they call it If youhave no funding?
What's the word I forgot?
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Everybody uses the word bootstrapping yes,
bootstrapping yes.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
So I bootstrapped it for a long time, but you know
what?
Speaker 1 (08:37):
That's not easy, no, you appreciate it, you learn you
learn and you learn how thataccountability factor, when it
comes.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Oh yeah, when you're bootstrapping.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
It's a completely different ballgame when compared
to it's again.
Obviously you will have moreaccountability and more value,
because that is your hard-earnedmoney.
Yes that is your hard-earnedmoney and that strategy and the
planning that you put inspending that money, you will
think four to five times more.
(09:10):
That's what I have learnedbecause I bootstrapped my
startup too.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Correct and you learn in the beginning, you're not
going to learn it.
You're just like oh okay, thisis a business that I'm supposed
to spend.
I'm supposed to spend and youlearn.
No, you're'm supposed to spend.
You know I'm supposed to spendand you learn no, you're not
supposed to spend.
You're supposed to be cheap.
Yes, use that word cheap.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
It's supposed to clinch in your face and do a lot
of things by yourself, and notmany people understand it.
And most of the people thinkwhen they're entrepreneurs is oh
, you start up with an idea andyou will get all the customers
right on place.
You will be.
You start up with an idea andyou will get all the customers
right on place.
You will be, you know,following up with the assistants
and the team members.
But the reality is, especiallywhen you're bootstrapping your
(09:55):
own startup and you have so muchof passion and motivation to
make your startup into a realproduct or a service, there are
no.
You are your assistant, you arethe CEO, you are the CEO.
You are the CFO.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
You know it's funny.
You said something that youknow.
This is what's wrong with a lotof the startups these days.
Really, this is what's wrongwith a lot of the startups.
A lot of everybody said, youknow, first thing out of their
mouth we need to be funded, weneed money.
And everybody said, behindtheir computer, looking, we need
to be funded, we need money.
And everybody said, behindtheir computer, looking good, in
their home office or whateverthey are.
(10:32):
And this one I'm supposed to do, I'm supposed to be here, make
my calls, and that's it.
I look for investors.
You know they forget about.
They forget about growing theproduct, making the product
valuable.
And why I say that?
Why the big big?
Why?
Because a lot of startups donebased on two things Based on an
idea.
(10:52):
Somebody just came up with anidea.
It's like oh, it's a great idea.
Did you study?
Yeah, I did a little researchand I looked it up.
No, were you in that businessfor a long time?
Did you work in that businessfor some years?
Did you gain the knowledge?
Did you gain the connection anddid you see the issues that
really out there?
And that's why you came up withthis idea, because there's a
(11:14):
problem, there's a gap and youhave the solution.
A lot of times they think theydo, but they don't.
Because they never worked inthe business, they never gained
the knowledge and the experienceand the know-how based on an
idea or based on copyingsomebody because they made money
.
Oh, this guy made a lot ofmoney based on that idea, but
that idea that other person cameup with, he based it on a lot
(11:36):
of factors, factors that he wasin the business, he learned, he
saw a gap, he saw a problem andhe came up with a solution.
So copying is okay, but copyingon a basis of you having a
better solution andunderstanding the market and
understanding the gap andknowing the issues that people
come across, and you have asolution for it.
(11:57):
So, and on top of that, a lot ofstartups, all they want is to
sit down and collect money andhire others.
Nobody willing to put to work.
That's the other problem wehave now.
Nobody willing to pinch theirpenny and say I got to figure it
out.
You're a business owner, you'renot going to just depend on
other people's money.
Oh, I'm sitting here, I'mtrying to get funded.
Oh, we didn't get enough.
(12:18):
We ran out of money, you don'tknow how to hold on to money
number one.
You don't know how to run abusiness.
You don't know if what you'redoing is right or not, and these
are issues.
That's why they say the rate ofsuccess in a lot of these
startups 80% fail and 20%maintain, and some succeed.
It's a really it should be50-50, but it's not.
(12:41):
It's really not.
And I have a few podcasts and Italk to a lot of entrepreneurs
and a lot of startup companies,founders from all over the world
, and some of the issues I comeacross that wouldn't be telling
their stories is that what Ijust said?
But some of the successful onesthat I really interviewed I
(13:01):
came across are the ones whobootstrapped it.
They are the ones who reallycame on top.
Yes, nothing wrong with askingfor money later.
Show success, people attractedto success.
Show that you care.
Show that you breathe, you eat,you sleep.
It's in your vein, it's in yourDNA.
The business.
Show that and money will come.
Don't worry about the money, Ithink.
(13:22):
Work hard, build your product.
Make sure you're able to placeit in the market.
There's something they callmarket placement.
What does that take?
Salesmanship Get on the phone,get on your email.
Create relationships, get yourproduct out there.
Make sure your product is alsowanted.
People are willing to pay forit.
It's needed.
It's something that really isgoing to fill a gap out there
(13:48):
and a lot of these things I seenobody's doing them.
Nobody is doing them.
A lot of things are based ongood ideas.
Good ideas are not enough.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
Yeah, and I think the one important point that you
basically see between startupsis there are products or
services that are brand new,right, that nobody has ever done
before, where they have seen agap of the service or a missing
block in a puzzle and they builtit.
(14:13):
And there are, second,different kinds of startup where
there is also, as you said,there is a solution in the
market but you are doing itdifferently or more efficiently.
For both of these kinds ofstartups, again, it needs the
persistence, it needs thepatience, it needs that
(14:33):
accountability.
Why I'm again going back andwhat you're also trying to say
accountability factor is thatwithout accountability factor
it's really hard to measure andthe startup success in the first
one or three years, based onwhich kind of startup and
(14:54):
industry you're in, is thehardest, hardest time for any
entrepreneur.
Do you agree?
Yes, 100%.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
The problem is there's a difference between
money given and money earned.
Money given and money earned.
Now, yes, there is startups outthere with extraordinary
ability, people with really highIQ, and they came up with
amazing ideas, whether it'sbrick-and-mortar ideas, startup
(15:26):
for a store, a retail outlet orsomething or a product.
They actually develop a techproduct.
You know that they actuallydeveloped and it's definitely,
um, a revolutionizing product.
Yes, those ideas.
Now, yeah, you know, you, uh,you have that ability and you
come up with something.
You need.
You do need the funding forthat, because you're so focused
on making the product perfect,but something new, something we
(15:48):
never heard of, something that'sgoing to change our lives,
something going to make ourhumanity better, something
that's going to save us time andthen take us to the next level.
Yes, those ideas always getfunded, always because investors
know they see.
So you do need some accolades.
It's not just about the idea.
I say it again, it's not justabout the idea.
You need some accolades.
It's not just about the idea.
I say it again, it's not justabout the idea.
(16:11):
It's about the product that youdevelop, you know, or that you,
the skill you have, you've been, you had a success in a
business that used to work forother companies and you had a
success.
You learned it.
So people come to you not basedon the company that you started
.
No, they invested on youbecause you have the skill and
the knowledge and therelationships.
You have these three maincomponents that make a business
successful.
They know of your hard work.
(16:32):
They know of your how should Isay being consistent and being
persistent and understand.
You know and you've been in thebusiness, you understand it,
you understand the business.
So they come to you.
They'll give you the moneybecause they know you're going
to make it successful.
You work for other company andthey saw what you've done there.
So, yes, it's really the wordentrepreneur again, it's
(16:59):
overrated because of the waywe've been handling it, the
social pressure.
A lot of young kids don't wantto even go to school these days.
Oh, why should I go to school?
I want to quit school.
They take one example and theyforget about reality.
Nothing wrong with beingambitious.
Ambitious is great.
Nothing wrong with it.
Nothing wrong with havingdreams, nothing wrong with
having hopes.
If we don't have dreams andhope, life is not worth living
(17:19):
anymore.
So it's all about hoping anddreaming and being positive and
progressing and having a visionand going forward.
It's all about that.
But if you lose these things,sure, life is dull, it's nothing
.
Just sit down and eat potatochips all day.
Sometimes I feel like doingthat.
I was just hanging out on thebeach.
(17:41):
But yes, being an entrepreneuris a journey.
How should I say it's anendless journey?
Yes, you're always on the go,you're always involved and
you're always coming acrosschallenges, because you always
need to adapt to new ways andyou always need to become
innovator yourself.
(18:02):
You have to be there.
You gotta always innovate andadapt and change to better and
better, because technology ismoving faster than you and
faster than anything.
There's always new ways ofdoing business, so you've got to
be able to adapt to new ways ofdoing business.
And working from home and beinga dad I'll tell you it's no fun
and no journey.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
Let's hop into your parenthood right now, Bob.
So how are you juggling?
Not even one startup.
You have around three to fourstartups that you have.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
Yes, I do, I do.
I do the music business.
Nfhits is the holding companyand I have a few brands.
I have MusicDash, which isreally one of the only unique,
independent platforms out therethat focuses on distribution for
(18:53):
independent music artistsworldwide with premium services.
A lot of these platforms do askfor money subscription services
, monthly or yearly.
We don't want your credit card,we don't want your money, we
want nothing from you.
We just want your talented,creative, beautiful work that
you've done.
Come in and show it to theworld.
I do it the old fashioned wayIf you make money, we make money
(19:16):
on the backend.
We take a small percentage fromyour whatever comes in and we
give you the rest.
Now, why I believe this conceptis it works.
Because to me in the musicindustry and I don't judge
anybody, I'm not here to compete, even though competition is
healthy, because it teaches usto be more innovative.
And my thing is, artists alwayslook at as the cash cow of the
(19:43):
industry.
And I said it's not fairbecause without the artists,
without the singers, the writers, the composers, producers,
there's no industry.
You know that the industrywouldn't exist, you know.
So we kind of just sit down andlisten to AI music all day.
But even though the AI needs tolearn from existing productions
, created by talented, creativehuman beings.
(20:05):
And so you know.
So I would say you know.
So I came up with the solution.
I said so you know.
So I would say you know.
So I came up with the solution.
I said you know I'm going tocreate a platform it's for free,
with premium services.
You know, we provide aigenerator to create artwork at a
push of a button.
We we provide ai um masteringand mix down tool for free, and
(20:28):
we provide also AI marketing andpromotion tool for free,
because these are the main thingan artist need Promotion,
artwork for their single oralbum or AP, and also mastering.
All of these things cost moneyand all of these things you have
to go to different platformsand you have to pay.
And so I create a smallecosystem, that little community
(20:50):
in Music Dash.
I want to bring fun, I want tobring the easiness of being an
artist and the happiness.
With no money, no money.
Make money.
Let's make money together.
Focus on what you do best.
Let me focus on what I do bestat Music Dash.
And the same concept.
I have it on FilmmakerDash,which we focus on also
(21:11):
distributing independent films,episodics, shows, documentaries
all types, all languages, fromall over the world.
The same concept for free also,and the new addition we added,
also called CMSDash, whichreally helped content creators
with YouTube channels increasetheir by joining our CMS, which
(21:33):
is content management systemthat provided by having a direct
account with YouTube and noteverybody gets it these days
it's almost impossible to get.
So we look for channels thatmonetize and have potential and
we invite them.
It could be music artistchannels, it could be how invite
them, it could be music artistchannels, it could be how-to
channels, it could be comedychannels, cars channels, and we
probably help.
(21:53):
What do we do?
We help them drive more trafficto their channels, help them
get more viewers, moresubscribers and also more money
on their advertising rates byjoining CMS Dash.
So everything else, the Dashgroup, filmmakerdashcom,
musicdashcom and cmsdashcom.
(22:14):
We also provide.
We have a whitelabeledashcom,and what is that Is that we
provide people with their ownartist or small independent
label or small distributors,their own white label setup.
So if they have access and theydon't want to pay money for
anything, we'll do the wholething for them for free.
Plus, not to mention my love fortechnology and my passion.
I love it Because withouttechnology nothing exists, you
(22:38):
know.
And Innovate I-N-N-O-V-8.ai.
Yes, innovate is really.
I created Innovate because Ilove technology and I'm so
passionate about it because themusic business doesn't run
without technology, deliveringall these talents to the world
to hear and to listen to and toenjoy any technology.
And Innovate really focused onhelping AI tech startups to get
(23:04):
in the marketplace, developingAI tech startups to get in the
marketplace, and we're startinga new side of Innovate called
Innovate Tech which reallyfocuses on it's going to be the
only and first independentplatform to distribute
independent listen to this word,independent software technology
(23:24):
.
Well, ai-focused softwares.
There's so many softwaredevelopers out there and so many
software engineers independentcreating their own little new
softwares, but they're allunused because they come across
an issue or a problem so theycreate the software.
(23:44):
A lot of these softwares don'tgo nowhere.
They end up putting them outthere for free.
So I'm like, wait a second,there's, there could be.
Uh, there could be a diamond inthe rough there.
There could be, you know.
And by giving these independentsoftware creators a helping
hand and helping them take theirproduct and distribute it out
there, make it available for bigand small companies to use
(24:08):
their product.
And you never know.
I mean, the product was createdto be used, the software but
nobody's looking at it, nobody'susing it.
So by having such a platformInnovate Tech available like
independent artists, I treat itjust like the music business.
Independent artists create themusic and they need help.
Hey, we take their product andwe get it out there so the whole
world will see it.
(24:28):
The same concept You're anindependent software developer,
you have a software that youdeveloped and you wanna we will
help you get it to themarketplace.
And that's the whole idea.
When you create a software, putit out there and we help you
bring it to the marketplace.
Because a lot of independentsoftware developers and
engineers what they do theycreate their own little SaaS
platform.
You know how many SaaSplatforms are out there?
(24:49):
So many.
Any of them succeed.
I would say a tiny, tinypercentage.
If any succeed.
You drive in traffic, everybodytry to bring attention to their
software, to their subscription.
No, we're going to take it tothe mothership that's what we're
going to do and this mothershipdistributed to all these
(25:10):
corporations out there and finda home for it.
So we are the only and firstindependent digital distribution
platform for independentsoftwares.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
That's amazing.
I can see, as you said, as Iwas saying before, multiple
startups and multipleinnovations and being a founder
of multiple startups not justthe CEO, but founder tells the
amount of creativity and hardwork that you do.
But let's switch into yourparenthood role.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
How are you juggling?
How did you juggle before andhow are you juggling now?
My day starts at 6 in themorning.
6 am Taking my oldest one toschool a high school Then come
back home, my wife takes thelittle ones and you know, right
away I hit the gym, come backquick shower, jump here.
(26:05):
Look at my schedule and plus Ihave three other podcasts so
that there's no noise in thehouse.
It's quiet.
It is quiet, you know, betweencertain hours until I come back
from school.
Then I got to go quickly pickup, come back and carry on with
the work.
So the work really doesn't end.
There's a period from morningto afternoon they're not here.
(26:26):
Then there's a small little gap.
Then I'm back at it.
Then there's another gap, thedinner gap, and the chaos and
the sleeping and the showers andall of that, and then you'll
see me in front of my computeraround 11 am to 2 pm, 11 pm to 2
am in the morning oh my God,yes.
11 am to 2 pm.
(26:46):
11 pm to 2 am in the morning ohmy god, yeah.
And I'm up at six these.
Do I get enough sleep?
No, I do look forward toSaturday, on Sunday, just to get
up at eight to go to the gym ateight.
Speaker 1 (26:53):
Yes to me, that's a luxury yes, that is a luxury.
Yeah, and I think that is thereality check I was
re-emphasizing again and againto people who want to be
entrepreneurs, because betweenwhat is expected on the glorious
side of being an entrepreneurversus the reality is very
important to know and how muchit takes in um what I have been,
(27:18):
as I was talking to multipleand entrepreneurs who are
parents, I have seen that theirkids get so much motivated and
the mindset of the kids whoseparents are entrepreneurs are
also entrepreneur in nature.
Right, they are starting a lotof creative projects at the
younger age compared to theother people.
(27:39):
Like do you see?
You see that change?
Like from what?
Yes, I do, my oldest one yes,my oldest one.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
She always, dad, I want to sell this.
I want to try to think what doyou think of this?
I want to do that.
I want to sell the startupbusiness and that you know, I'm
always, you know, advocating andstanding behind her and pushing
her and, yes, supporting her,you know.
But I do want her to focus onher studies, you know.
I do want her to have the skill, I do want her to have a degree
, you know, so she could dowhatever she wants after that.
(28:11):
For me, nothing better than adegree and I'm sure, yes, you,
you've been through this, youknow, even when you were a kid.
So, but yes, they do know thatdad works hard.
Dad is always on the phone.
They do complain on vacationwhen we take a vacation.
(28:31):
Obviously, our vacation is whenthey're off from school,
obviously, but still the rest ofthe summer I have to work, I
have meetings, I have to dopodcast interviews and projects
and work with developers and allof that.
So my day and my as anentrepreneur and somebody works
for horn never stops.
It's always working, always, oh, sometimes saturday night,
(28:54):
you'll see him in front of thecomputer.
Sometimes midday saturday,sometimes sunday night in front
of the computer.
Yes, yes, always working,always, always.
So, uh, what I say?
Work from outside.
If you do have a chance to havean office, great.
But I, the problem is, I'vebeen doing this for five years
now, working from home, and Ialways had an office outside and
you become attached, not toyour office, you become attached
(29:17):
more to the kids.
You are pretty much you're waymore involved.
Sometime, this involvement wantto make you pull your hair where
there's nothing to pull up here.
But I tell you one thing thenoise they don't understand.
You know they barge in.
Sometimes I'm in a meeting onthe phone or doing a podcast
(29:38):
interview, they just kick thedoor and walk in.
You know, I told them so I'mgoing to get a sign.
You knowession and recordingStudio red light on.
I joke around with them, butforget it.
What are you going to do?
But yes, it gets chaotic, it'snot easy.
You've got to have the patienceand you've got to have the
determination not to quit orstop, because sometimes being a
(29:59):
dad or being a parent, a mom ordad, whatever, an entrepreneur
working from home and you have afamily, yes, more times that
you want to stop than to keepgoing.
Absolutely yeah.
But then you know what are yougoing to do.
You make that choice to be anentrepreneur and to work from
home and to have a family.
So you made three choices.
(30:20):
You better stick to them.
Three choices, you know beingan entrepreneur, working from
home and having a family.
So you made three choices.
You better stick to them.
Three choices, you know beingan entrepreneur, working from
home and having a family.
So it's tough, but you have todeal with it.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
Yeah, I think again the points that you're
summarizing is the environmentwhere the kids are grown, when
they have an entrepreneur, ismuch more kind of the nurturing
factor for them to thinkcreatively, think outside the
box and have that motivation totry to solve the problems
(30:53):
Correct.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
Absolutely yes.
I mean, you know, if I'm adoctor and our kids, my kids,
hang out with me in the clinic,let's say in the summer holiday,
yes, they're going to grow,they're going to come home and
play and wear a white robe anddo the same, and you implement
certain things in them.
I'm here in the office alwaysworking, and they see me on the
(31:15):
phone talking and doing things.
Yes, they imitate, they startto understand.
You plant something extra inthem beside that.
You know, in life, like you gotto go and they see me.
I work out seven days a week.
I get up early.
It doesn't matter if I sleptgood, I didn't sleep good.
I have no excuses.
I complain and they do the same.
(31:36):
You know, and they do the same.
They start to adapt to it.
It's like, look, our daddoesn't stop, it doesn't matter.
You know I help clean the house, the laundry and all of this.
They see.
And then you plant certainseeds in there, because kids
watch is like a white piece ofpaper with a recorder and a
camera.
You know whether you behavenegatively or positively,
(31:57):
they're going to grab both andyou try to be perfect, but
nobody's perfect.
So I get it.
Yes, we all make mistakes, weall yell, we all have our
moments and all of that, but atthe end of the day, you do your
best, but make sure, when youtake these responsibilities of
working from home and being anentrepreneur and having a family
, to stick to them, becausethey're very important and
(32:17):
they're going to be actually thekey to your success, because
when you pass these three,you're fine actually the key to
your success, because when youpass these three, you're fine.
Speaker 1 (32:28):
Yeah, yeah, amazing.
Um, we will wrap up thispodcast, uh, by asking a few
questions um in other words, Iwould say key takeaways to the
audience.
Um your suggestion forentrepreneurs who are starting
their journey First time, theywant to create the startup, any
key points?
And they can be like parents,right, who are doing a high job
(32:52):
but they have this urge to starta startup and they have a
creative idea.
Any suggestions for them?
Speaker 2 (33:00):
Yes, anybody who.
If you have a family and youwant to have your own startup,
the most important thing it'snot about you, about the family.
What does that mean?
You have a passion, you have adrive and you have a vision of a
business you want to create andyou have no funding.
And it's you, your idea andyour knowledge and experience
that you have.
But remember one thing that youhave a family to feed.
(33:23):
So either you have enough moneysaved that you don't have to
worry about, or you either haveyour wife or your husband
whoever's deciding and whoever'sworking she makes enough money
or he makes enough money tosupport both of you.
Because having a startup isreally it's a journey.
It's a rough journey, as theysay.
The road to success is alwaysunder construction, so it's not
(33:45):
going to be smooth, it's goingto be a rough road.
Bill's going to come in Onceyou start a business.
Yes, you're going to check themail and envelopes will come in
and bill for this bill, for thatbill, for this, and if you have
digital, you'll have them inyour email.
Oh, due to pay your credit card, your this, your subscription
(34:06):
to that or whatever you do.
So make sure I'd say, um,strategize it and think about it
and organize it.
I'm not saying don't do it, no,do it, but organize everything.
You know the expense has tochange.
Uh, you kind of just startgoing on vacation and buying the
gifts because you have nolonger a secure job.
Now you started your ownbusiness.
(34:26):
We don't know, there's no timelimit.
It takes sometimes six monthsto start to make money.
It could take five years tostart to make money.
Nobody knows.
As they say, it's like thebamboo tree, the Chinese bamboo
tree, that it takes.
What does it take?
They say five years to buildthe roots and everything
underground and nobody knows.
(34:46):
But you got to keep feeding itwater every day, every day, and
it takes about, I think, 90 days, or 60 to 90 days to grow about
20 feet or 10 feet.
Yes, so all this work you putin, nobody's going to see and
you're not going to see anythingof it.
So don't put on time limit thekey to fail.
When you say, oh, I'm going togive this six months, you're
(35:08):
failing.
It's like a relationship, it'slike anything, anything in life.
No, I'm going to give myselfsix months to succeed.
Really, you know, after sixmonths, that number seven like
the month, the first day and theseventh month.
You're going to succeed.
Check's going to come in.
No, I'm going to give myself towork out six months or three
(35:30):
months, see if I can lose weightReally.
So you're going to start.
You just do it because you wantto do it, you have a vision,
you have a passion for it.
So there's no time limit to it.
As I said, never a time limit.
You keep doing it and you keepdoing it and you keep growing
and you keep adapting and youkeep learning.
And it will happen if you havethe passion and the vision for
it.
But if you're here and yourmind negatively somewhere else
(35:52):
and it's like I don't know, no,it's not going to work, you're
not going to succeed.
Speaker 1 (35:57):
That's amazing Closing this.
I think it's very emotionallydriving, but also very, very
knowledgeable, bob, because wehave talked, especially in this
episode, about a lot of realitychecks that people misinterpret
or they are unaware of goingthrough the hardship journey of
(36:18):
an entrepreneur, especially yesthe parent entrepreneurs who who
have so many things to thinkabout right, About family, about
their passion, about continuingtheir entrepreneurship journey.
So, thank you again.
So much, Bob Shami.
Once again, everyone kudos toyou.
And you are a real-time examplefor all of the parent
(36:41):
entrepreneurs with your seriesof multiple startups and people.
If you are interested, pleasedo check InnoV8 and MusicDash
and get inspired, and these areamazing, amazing platforms.
He's trying to help multipleclients and artists through
those platforms so please,whenever you have time, take a
(37:03):
look at it.
Speaker 2 (37:04):
Absolutely One thing I just want to end this podcast
with besides staying positive,stay healthy, because if you're
not healthy, nothing could bedone.
Stay healthy, that's it.
Speaker 1 (37:15):
Stay positive and stay healthy, the quote of the
day by Bob Shabby.
Speaker 2 (37:19):
Thank you everyone have a good day, my pleasure.
Thank you for your time, sohonored to be on this podcast.
Speaker 1 (37:25):
Thank you so much again for coming in.
Your time is really preciousand thanks for sharing the
knowledge with us today.
Speaker 2 (37:34):
Thank you.
Hi everyone, welcome to the Juggling Entrepreneurship
Podcast.
And this is the podcast whereyou will hear amazing stories
and motivation from the parentswho are entrepreneurs who are
acing it, and today we areexcited to welcome Bob Shammy to
the show.
Bob is a founder and CEO ofShammy Media Group, a multimedia
company specializing in contentdistribution and publishing.
(00:25):
A multi-startup entrepreneur,bob Ventures included Inno8,
music Dash and NFHeads,showcasing his versatility and
innovative spirit.
With a background of musicproduction and a key eye in
emerging trends, he hassuccessfully navigated the
(00:45):
evolving landscape of digitalmedia.
Get ready to dive in into hisengagement conversation with
this dynamic leaderrevolutionizing media and
startup industries, along withhis spirit of truth.
Welcome, bob to the show.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Well, thank you, what a great introduction.
The show is over.
You said it all.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Yes, very kind of you , really kind words.
I'm Bob Shammy.
Yes, I'm a dad, an entrepreneur.
An entrepreneurship issomething that I think, the
minute you decide to start yourown business, first of all,
whether you work from home oryou work from outside In my case
, I work from home and it's adecision that I decided about
(01:32):
five years ago.
I made that decision.
But the minute you decide toventure the world on your own
business, you become anentrepreneur.
What does that mean?
Seven days a week?
Yes, I'm not going to sugarcoatit, I'm just going to tell you
exactly.
Vacations yes, you're prettymuch the whole operation,
especially the smaller ventures,and the bigger ventures
(02:09):
probably too, but smallerventures, absolutely small
businesses you always have to.
You're involved in sales.
You're involved in marketing.
You're involved in tech, evenif you have no experience in
none of those, you are all ofthose, all of these things,
absolutely.
So you're always involved.
You're always on the phone.
You're always texting.
Does it get annoying?
Yes, when you have kids andyou're married and the kids
around you?
Yes.
And you work from home?
(02:29):
Yes, you know we're going toget into all of that, so I'm not
going to spell the whole thing,so I'll let you just go ahead
and ask me and I'll come back atyou, but you've, you got to
stay positive.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Yes, stay positive.
That's a very positive note tostart with.
Stay positive, always, always,always.
And it's holiday season.
We are recording, just if youguys don't know, it's December
30th, on a Friday at 3 pm, andBob is very, very kind to spend
his last-minute holiday time funtime with us to record and
(03:04):
bring more motivation tidbits tothe audience.
So thank you, bob.
Thanks a lot for that, mypleasure.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
And it's my birthday next week.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Congratulations, happy birthday.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
There you go, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
So, Bob, what triggered?
How did your first startup,entrepreneurship, startup or
your entrepreneurship actuallystart?
Speaker 2 (03:27):
startup or your entrepreneurship actually start,
uh, you know, initiated.
You know, I started being.
I always had the mindset ofalways doing my own thing.
There's nothing wrong withworking for companies and
corporations, but sometimes someof us not fortunate enough to
have that.
I'm one of those people thatreally didn't have a opportunity
to work for a big company andgrow and take the corporate
ladder, which is nothing wrongwith.
(03:49):
Again, I'll say it's greatFinancial security, great growth
, stability, a lot of things.
I never push people away fromworking for a company or climb
up the corporate ladder.
No, they both.
It depends exactly what you want.
Yes, there's so much socialpressure out there.
Oh, you got to be anentrepreneur.
If you're not, you're this.
If you're not, you're lazy,you're a loser.
(04:09):
No, no, no, this is all justjust rubbish.
I have to say.
It's so much noise out there.
No, school is good.
Learn, get education.
Education is amazing, obviously, and that's the first thing I
put in front of my kidseducation, education.
Do whatever you want, but makesure you have your education,
make sure you have your degree.
You know, because it'ssomething always to fall back.
You know.
First, you learn how tocommunicate.
(04:31):
You learn a skill whether youwant to be a doctor, you want to
be a lawyer, you want to be inthe tech business, you know an
engineer or whatever it is.
You always could go fall backat it.
Number one.
Number two when you work forbig companies, big corporation,
you learn.
You learn so much knowledge.
(04:52):
You establish a network, aconnection, which is very
important.
You start to learn.
The market, so isentrepreneurship is something I
would say is overrated, in a waya bit.
Yes it is yes, it is overratedbecause a lot of people take it
for just the word.
It is the value of the word oh,being an entrepreneur, I'm a
(05:12):
winner, I'm a success.
Great.
Have this attitude, have thispositive thinking and positive
mindset.
You need it in anything in life.
Whatever you do in life,whether you're an athlete,
you're an entrepreneur, you workfor a company or leader
anything you do in life, itdoesn't matter what it is
cutting the grass for otherpeople, it's fine.
You need that positive mindset,with a smile and a positive
mindset, absolutely.
(05:33):
But I started it years ago, manyyears ago, I would say.
And I had a job.
And was I happy?
No, I wasn't.
I always wanted to do my ownthing and it was always the
music business.
Was I a musician?
No, did I play music?
No, did I know how to recordfrom cassette to cassette back
in the day?
No, as a friend of mine told me, bob, you had no business being
(05:56):
in the music business.
It was more of a mindset and apassion.
Yes, the reason for it.
I love the challenge, I likethe challenge, right?
Yes, I did work in Wall Street.
I was a stockbroker when I wasyoung.
We're talking about 21 yearsold, yeah, 20 years old, yeah,
around then that's when I reallytook my entrepreneurial I would
say entrepreneurial trip,entrepreneurship trip yes, good,
(06:20):
yes.
So it started back then, but itwas hard, it was really hard.
(06:40):
I was single, obviously, and Iworked from home.
I turned my living room to anoffice and my bedroom where I
sleep I turned it to a studiolittle, a small den area between
the living room and the bedroom, in New York, and it was on
Wall Street.
So that's when I decided toleave Wall Street.
And was I successful?
I was a beginner.
It was a new thing for me to bein the stock market, dealing
with stocks and bonds.
I was a good salesman, reallygood.
(07:02):
But again, it was tough and Igot into it at the worst time.
You know, they say everythingis timing in life.
I believe it and I don't, butthat was a bad timing.
That's when the market crashed.
So it was a tough time for me.
But, yes, I turned my wholeliving space into work.
So I let breathe.
Being an entrepreneur, my ownbusiness, it was a record label.
Back then I decided to do sosomehow, working hard and
(07:27):
working at night, having a jobat night.
I had to get a job at night, tosupport myself, to pay the rent
and to pay the employees.
Believe it or not, I had a guywho come in and help me in the
daytime to work with me.
He had an experience in themusic business and I had a
studio.
So my life pretty much wasalways noisy, busy, no time to
rest, no time for a break andnothing.
And that's one of the mainthings and the key factor for an
(07:49):
entrepreneur.
It's tough.
You have to learn everything.
Number one you have to be agood salesman or become a good
salesman.
If you're not, then become one.
Learn about marketing, learnabout how to penny pinch.
I wasn't savvy enough to askpeople for money.
I really was not.
I didn't get any money fromanybody, so I had no investors,
nobody giving me anything, sopretty much I had to.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
You're a solopreneur.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Yes, solopreneur, Absolute solopreneur, yes, so I
would say some of the mostsuccessful independent startups
are people without funding.
They call it these days.
They call it.
What do they call it If youhave no funding?
What's the word I forgot?
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Everybody uses the word bootstrapping yes,
bootstrapping yes.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
So I bootstrapped it for a long time, but you know
what?
Speaker 1 (08:37):
That's not easy, no, you appreciate it, you learn you
learn and you learn how thataccountability factor, when it
comes.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Oh yeah, when you're bootstrapping.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
It's a completely different ballgame when compared
to it's again.
Obviously you will have moreaccountability and more value,
because that is your hard-earnedmoney.
Yes that is your hard-earnedmoney and that strategy and the
planning that you put inspending that money, you will
think four to five times more.
(09:10):
That's what I have learnedbecause I bootstrapped my
startup too.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Correct and you learn in the beginning, you're not
going to learn it.
You're just like oh okay, thisis a business that I'm supposed
to spend.
I'm supposed to spend and youlearn.
No, you're'm supposed to spend.
You know I'm supposed to spendand you learn no, you're not
supposed to spend.
You're supposed to be cheap.
Yes, use that word cheap.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
It's supposed to clinch in your face and do a lot
of things by yourself, and notmany people understand it.
And most of the people thinkwhen they're entrepreneurs is oh
, you start up with an idea andyou will get all the customers
right on place.
You will be.
You start up with an idea andyou will get all the customers
right on place.
You will be, you know,following up with the assistants
and the team members.
But the reality is, especiallywhen you're bootstrapping your
(09:55):
own startup and you have so muchof passion and motivation to
make your startup into a realproduct or a service, there are
no.
You are your assistant, you arethe CEO, you are the CEO.
You are the CFO.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
You know it's funny.
You said something that youknow.
This is what's wrong with a lotof the startups these days.
Really, this is what's wrongwith a lot of the startups.
A lot of everybody said, youknow, first thing out of their
mouth we need to be funded, weneed money.
And everybody said, behindtheir computer, looking, we need
to be funded, we need money.
And everybody said, behindtheir computer, looking good, in
their home office or whateverthey are.
(10:32):
And this one I'm supposed to do, I'm supposed to be here, make
my calls, and that's it.
I look for investors.
You know they forget about.
They forget about growing theproduct, making the product
valuable.
And why I say that?
Why the big big?
Why?
Because a lot of startups donebased on two things Based on an
idea.
(10:52):
Somebody just came up with anidea.
It's like oh, it's a great idea.
Did you study?
Yeah, I did a little researchand I looked it up.
No, were you in that businessfor a long time?
Did you work in that businessfor some years?
Did you gain the knowledge?
Did you gain the connection anddid you see the issues that
really out there?
And that's why you came up withthis idea, because there's a
(11:14):
problem, there's a gap and youhave the solution.
A lot of times they think theydo, but they don't.
Because they never worked inthe business, they never gained
the knowledge and the experienceand the know-how based on an
idea or based on copyingsomebody because they made money
.
Oh, this guy made a lot ofmoney based on that idea, but
that idea that other person cameup with, he based it on a lot
(11:36):
of factors, factors that he wasin the business, he learned, he
saw a gap, he saw a problem andhe came up with a solution.
So copying is okay, but copyingon a basis of you having a
better solution andunderstanding the market and
understanding the gap andknowing the issues that people
come across, and you have asolution for it.
(11:57):
So, and on top of that, a lot ofstartups, all they want is to
sit down and collect money andhire others.
Nobody willing to put to work.
That's the other problem wehave now.
Nobody willing to pinch theirpenny and say I got to figure it
out.
You're a business owner, you'renot going to just depend on
other people's money.
Oh, I'm sitting here, I'mtrying to get funded.
Oh, we didn't get enough.
(12:18):
We ran out of money, you don'tknow how to hold on to money
number one.
You don't know how to run abusiness.
You don't know if what you'redoing is right or not, and these
are issues.
That's why they say the rate ofsuccess in a lot of these
startups 80% fail and 20%maintain, and some succeed.
It's a really it should be50-50, but it's not.
(12:41):
It's really not.
And I have a few podcasts and Italk to a lot of entrepreneurs
and a lot of startup companies,founders from all over the world
, and some of the issues I comeacross that wouldn't be telling
their stories is that what Ijust said?
But some of the successful onesthat I really interviewed I
(13:01):
came across are the ones whobootstrapped it.
They are the ones who reallycame on top.
Yes, nothing wrong with askingfor money later.
Show success, people attractedto success.
Show that you care.
Show that you breathe, you eat,you sleep.
It's in your vein, it's in yourDNA.
The business.
Show that and money will come.
Don't worry about the money, Ithink.
(13:22):
Work hard, build your product.
Make sure you're able to placeit in the market.
There's something they callmarket placement.
What does that take?
Salesmanship Get on the phone,get on your email.
Create relationships, get yourproduct out there.
Make sure your product is alsowanted.
People are willing to pay forit.
It's needed.
It's something that really isgoing to fill a gap out there
(13:48):
and a lot of these things I seenobody's doing them.
Nobody is doing them.
A lot of things are based ongood ideas.
Good ideas are not enough.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
Yeah, and I think the one important point that you
basically see between startupsis there are products or
services that are brand new,right, that nobody has ever done
before, where they have seen agap of the service or a missing
block in a puzzle and they builtit.
(14:13):
And there are, second,different kinds of startup where
there is also, as you said,there is a solution in the
market but you are doing itdifferently or more efficiently.
For both of these kinds ofstartups, again, it needs the
persistence, it needs thepatience, it needs that
(14:33):
accountability.
Why I'm again going back andwhat you're also trying to say
accountability factor is thatwithout accountability factor
it's really hard to measure andthe startup success in the first
one or three years, based onwhich kind of startup and
(14:54):
industry you're in, is thehardest, hardest time for any
entrepreneur.
Do you agree?
Yes, 100%.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
The problem is there's a difference between
money given and money earned.
Money given and money earned.
Now, yes, there is startups outthere with extraordinary
ability, people with really highIQ, and they came up with
amazing ideas, whether it'sbrick-and-mortar ideas, startup
(15:26):
for a store, a retail outlet orsomething or a product.
They actually develop a techproduct.
You know that they actuallydeveloped and it's definitely,
um, a revolutionizing product.
Yes, those ideas.
Now, yeah, you know, you, uh,you have that ability and you
come up with something.
You need.
You do need the funding forthat, because you're so focused
on making the product perfect,but something new, something we
(15:48):
never heard of, something that'sgoing to change our lives,
something going to make ourhumanity better, something
that's going to save us time andthen take us to the next level.
Yes, those ideas always getfunded, always because investors
know they see.
So you do need some accolades.
It's not just about the idea.
I say it again, it's not justabout the idea.
You need some accolades.
It's not just about the idea.
I say it again, it's not justabout the idea.
(16:11):
It's about the product that youdevelop, you know, or that you,
the skill you have, you've been, you had a success in a
business that used to work forother companies and you had a
success.
You learned it.
So people come to you not basedon the company that you started
.
No, they invested on youbecause you have the skill and
the knowledge and therelationships.
You have these three maincomponents that make a business
successful.
They know of your hard work.
(16:32):
They know of your how should Isay being consistent and being
persistent and understand.
You know and you've been in thebusiness, you understand it,
you understand the business.
So they come to you.
They'll give you the moneybecause they know you're going
to make it successful.
You work for other company andthey saw what you've done there.
So, yes, it's really the wordentrepreneur again, it's
(16:59):
overrated because of the waywe've been handling it, the
social pressure.
A lot of young kids don't wantto even go to school these days.
Oh, why should I go to school?
I want to quit school.
They take one example and theyforget about reality.
Nothing wrong with beingambitious.
Ambitious is great.
Nothing wrong with it.
Nothing wrong with havingdreams, nothing wrong with
having hopes.
If we don't have dreams andhope, life is not worth living
(17:19):
anymore.
So it's all about hoping anddreaming and being positive and
progressing and having a visionand going forward.
It's all about that.
But if you lose these things,sure, life is dull, it's nothing
.
Just sit down and eat potatochips all day.
Sometimes I feel like doingthat.
I was just hanging out on thebeach.
(17:41):
But yes, being an entrepreneuris a journey.
How should I say it's anendless journey?
Yes, you're always on the go,you're always involved and
you're always coming acrosschallenges, because you always
need to adapt to new ways andyou always need to become
innovator yourself.
(18:02):
You have to be there.
You gotta always innovate andadapt and change to better and
better, because technology ismoving faster than you and
faster than anything.
There's always new ways ofdoing business, so you've got to
be able to adapt to new ways ofdoing business.
And working from home and beinga dad I'll tell you it's no fun
and no journey.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
Let's hop into your parenthood right now, Bob.
So how are you juggling?
Not even one startup.
You have around three to fourstartups that you have.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
Yes, I do, I do.
I do the music business.
Nfhits is the holding companyand I have a few brands.
I have MusicDash, which isreally one of the only unique,
independent platforms out therethat focuses on distribution for
(18:53):
independent music artistsworldwide with premium services.
A lot of these platforms do askfor money subscription services
, monthly or yearly.
We don't want your credit card,we don't want your money, we
want nothing from you.
We just want your talented,creative, beautiful work that
you've done.
Come in and show it to theworld.
I do it the old fashioned wayIf you make money, we make money
(19:16):
on the backend.
We take a small percentage fromyour whatever comes in and we
give you the rest.
Now, why I believe this conceptis it works.
Because to me in the musicindustry and I don't judge
anybody, I'm not here to compete, even though competition is
healthy, because it teaches usto be more innovative.
And my thing is, artists alwayslook at as the cash cow of the
(19:43):
industry.
And I said it's not fairbecause without the artists,
without the singers, the writers, the composers, producers,
there's no industry.
You know that the industrywouldn't exist, you know.
So we kind of just sit down andlisten to AI music all day.
But even though the AI needs tolearn from existing productions
, created by talented, creativehuman beings.
(20:05):
And so you know.
So I would say you know.
So I came up with the solution.
I said so you know.
So I would say you know.
So I came up with the solution.
I said you know I'm going tocreate a platform it's for free,
with premium services.
You know, we provide aigenerator to create artwork at a
push of a button.
We we provide ai um masteringand mix down tool for free, and
(20:28):
we provide also AI marketing andpromotion tool for free,
because these are the main thingan artist need Promotion,
artwork for their single oralbum or AP, and also mastering.
All of these things cost moneyand all of these things you have
to go to different platformsand you have to pay.
And so I create a smallecosystem, that little community
(20:50):
in Music Dash.
I want to bring fun, I want tobring the easiness of being an
artist and the happiness.
With no money, no money.
Make money.
Let's make money together.
Focus on what you do best.
Let me focus on what I do bestat Music Dash.
And the same concept.
I have it on FilmmakerDash,which we focus on also
(21:11):
distributing independent films,episodics, shows, documentaries
all types, all languages, fromall over the world.
The same concept for free also,and the new addition we added,
also called CMSDash, whichreally helped content creators
with YouTube channels increasetheir by joining our CMS, which
(21:33):
is content management systemthat provided by having a direct
account with YouTube and noteverybody gets it these days
it's almost impossible to get.
So we look for channels thatmonetize and have potential and
we invite them.
It could be music artistchannels, it could be how invite
them, it could be music artistchannels, it could be how-to
channels, it could be comedychannels, cars channels, and we
probably help.
(21:53):
What do we do?
We help them drive more trafficto their channels, help them
get more viewers, moresubscribers and also more money
on their advertising rates byjoining CMS Dash.
So everything else, the Dashgroup, filmmakerdashcom,
musicdashcom and cmsdashcom.
(22:14):
We also provide.
We have a whitelabeledashcom,and what is that Is that we
provide people with their ownartist or small independent
label or small distributors,their own white label setup.
So if they have access and theydon't want to pay money for
anything, we'll do the wholething for them for free.
Plus, not to mention my love fortechnology and my passion.
I love it Because withouttechnology nothing exists, you
(22:38):
know.
And Innovate I-N-N-O-V-8.ai.
Yes, innovate is really.
I created Innovate because Ilove technology and I'm so
passionate about it because themusic business doesn't run
without technology, deliveringall these talents to the world
to hear and to listen to and toenjoy any technology.
And Innovate really focused onhelping AI tech startups to get
(23:04):
in the marketplace, developingAI tech startups to get in the
marketplace, and we're startinga new side of Innovate called
Innovate Tech which reallyfocuses on it's going to be the
only and first independentplatform to distribute
independent listen to this word,independent software technology
(23:24):
.
Well, ai-focused softwares.
There's so many softwaredevelopers out there and so many
software engineers independentcreating their own little new
softwares, but they're allunused because they come across
an issue or a problem so theycreate the software.
(23:44):
A lot of these softwares don'tgo nowhere.
They end up putting them outthere for free.
So I'm like, wait a second,there's, there could be.
Uh, there could be a diamond inthe rough there.
There could be, you know.
And by giving these independentsoftware creators a helping
hand and helping them take theirproduct and distribute it out
there, make it available for bigand small companies to use
(24:08):
their product.
And you never know.
I mean, the product was createdto be used, the software but
nobody's looking at it, nobody'susing it.
So by having such a platformInnovate Tech available like
independent artists, I treat itjust like the music business.
Independent artists create themusic and they need help.
Hey, we take their product andwe get it out there so the whole
world will see it.
(24:28):
The same concept You're anindependent software developer,
you have a software that youdeveloped and you wanna we will
help you get it to themarketplace.
And that's the whole idea.
When you create a software, putit out there and we help you
bring it to the marketplace.
Because a lot of independentsoftware developers and
engineers what they do theycreate their own little SaaS
platform.
You know how many SaaSplatforms are out there?
(24:49):
So many.
Any of them succeed.
I would say a tiny, tinypercentage.
If any succeed.
You drive in traffic, everybodytry to bring attention to their
software, to their subscription.
No, we're going to take it tothe mothership that's what we're
going to do and this mothershipdistributed to all these
(25:10):
corporations out there and finda home for it.
So we are the only and firstindependent digital distribution
platform for independentsoftwares.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
That's amazing.
I can see, as you said, as Iwas saying before, multiple
startups and multipleinnovations and being a founder
of multiple startups not justthe CEO, but founder tells the
amount of creativity and hardwork that you do.
But let's switch into yourparenthood role.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
How are you juggling?
How did you juggle before andhow are you juggling now?
My day starts at 6 in themorning.
6 am Taking my oldest one toschool a high school Then come
back home, my wife takes thelittle ones and you know, right
away I hit the gym, come backquick shower, jump here.
(26:05):
Look at my schedule and plus Ihave three other podcasts so
that there's no noise in thehouse.
It's quiet.
It is quiet, you know, betweencertain hours until I come back
from school.
Then I got to go quickly pickup, come back and carry on with
the work.
So the work really doesn't end.
There's a period from morningto afternoon they're not here.
(26:26):
Then there's a small little gap.
Then I'm back at it.
Then there's another gap, thedinner gap, and the chaos and
the sleeping and the showers andall of that, and then you'll
see me in front of my computeraround 11 am to 2 pm, 11 pm to 2
am in the morning oh my God,yes.
11 am to 2 pm.
(26:46):
11 pm to 2 am in the morning ohmy god, yeah.
And I'm up at six these.
Do I get enough sleep?
No, I do look forward toSaturday, on Sunday, just to get
up at eight to go to the gym ateight.
Speaker 1 (26:53):
Yes to me, that's a luxury yes, that is a luxury.
Yeah, and I think that is thereality check I was
re-emphasizing again and againto people who want to be
entrepreneurs, because betweenwhat is expected on the glorious
side of being an entrepreneurversus the reality is very
important to know and how muchit takes in um what I have been,
(27:18):
as I was talking to multipleand entrepreneurs who are
parents, I have seen that theirkids get so much motivated and
the mindset of the kids whoseparents are entrepreneurs are
also entrepreneur in nature.
Right, they are starting a lotof creative projects at the
younger age compared to theother people.
(27:39):
Like do you see?
You see that change?
Like from what?
Yes, I do, my oldest one yes,my oldest one.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
She always, dad, I want to sell this.
I want to try to think what doyou think of this?
I want to do that.
I want to sell the startupbusiness and that you know, I'm
always, you know, advocating andstanding behind her and pushing
her and, yes, supporting her,you know.
But I do want her to focus onher studies, you know.
I do want her to have the skill, I do want her to have a degree
, you know, so she could dowhatever she wants after that.
(28:11):
For me, nothing better than adegree and I'm sure, yes, you,
you've been through this, youknow, even when you were a kid.
So, but yes, they do know thatdad works hard.
Dad is always on the phone.
They do complain on vacationwhen we take a vacation.
(28:31):
Obviously, our vacation is whenthey're off from school,
obviously, but still the rest ofthe summer I have to work, I
have meetings, I have to dopodcast interviews and projects
and work with developers and allof that.
So my day and my as anentrepreneur and somebody works
for horn never stops.
It's always working, always, oh, sometimes saturday night,
(28:54):
you'll see him in front of thecomputer.
Sometimes midday saturday,sometimes sunday night in front
of the computer.
Yes, yes, always working,always, always.
So, uh, what I say?
Work from outside.
If you do have a chance to havean office, great.
But I, the problem is, I'vebeen doing this for five years
now, working from home, and Ialways had an office outside and
you become attached, not toyour office, you become attached
(29:17):
more to the kids.
You are pretty much you're waymore involved.
Sometime, this involvement wantto make you pull your hair where
there's nothing to pull up here.
But I tell you one thing thenoise they don't understand.
You know they barge in.
Sometimes I'm in a meeting onthe phone or doing a podcast
(29:38):
interview, they just kick thedoor and walk in.
You know, I told them so I'mgoing to get a sign.
You knowession and recordingStudio red light on.
I joke around with them, butforget it.
What are you going to do?
But yes, it gets chaotic, it'snot easy.
You've got to have the patienceand you've got to have the
determination not to quit orstop, because sometimes being a
(29:59):
dad or being a parent, a mom ordad, whatever, an entrepreneur
working from home and you have afamily, yes, more times that
you want to stop than to keepgoing.
Absolutely yeah.
But then you know what are yougoing to do.
You make that choice to be anentrepreneur and to work from
home and to have a family.
So you made three choices.
(30:20):
You better stick to them.
Three choices, you know beingan entrepreneur, working from
home and having a family.
So you made three choices.
You better stick to them.
Three choices, you know beingan entrepreneur, working from
home and having a family.
So it's tough, but you have todeal with it.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
Yeah, I think again the points that you're
summarizing is the environmentwhere the kids are grown, when
they have an entrepreneur, ismuch more kind of the nurturing
factor for them to thinkcreatively, think outside the
box and have that motivation totry to solve the problems
(30:53):
Correct.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
Absolutely yes.
I mean, you know, if I'm adoctor and our kids, my kids,
hang out with me in the clinic,let's say in the summer holiday,
yes, they're going to grow,they're going to come home and
play and wear a white robe anddo the same, and you implement
certain things in them.
I'm here in the office alwaysworking, and they see me on the
(31:15):
phone talking and doing things.
Yes, they imitate, they startto understand.
You plant something extra inthem beside that.
You know, in life, like you gotto go and they see me.
I work out seven days a week.
I get up early.
It doesn't matter if I sleptgood, I didn't sleep good.
I have no excuses.
I complain and they do the same.
(31:36):
You know, and they do the same.
They start to adapt to it.
It's like, look, our daddoesn't stop, it doesn't matter.
You know I help clean the house, the laundry and all of this.
They see.
And then you plant certainseeds in there, because kids
watch is like a white piece ofpaper with a recorder and a
camera.
You know whether you behavenegatively or positively,
(31:57):
they're going to grab both andyou try to be perfect, but
nobody's perfect.
So I get it.
Yes, we all make mistakes, weall yell, we all have our
moments and all of that, but atthe end of the day, you do your
best, but make sure, when youtake these responsibilities of
working from home and being anentrepreneur and having a family
, to stick to them, becausethey're very important and
(32:17):
they're going to be actually thekey to your success, because
when you pass these three,you're fine actually the key to
your success, because when youpass these three, you're fine.
Speaker 1 (32:28):
Yeah, yeah, amazing.
Um, we will wrap up thispodcast, uh, by asking a few
questions um in other words, Iwould say key takeaways to the
audience.
Um your suggestion forentrepreneurs who are starting
their journey First time, theywant to create the startup, any
key points?
And they can be like parents,right, who are doing a high job
(32:52):
but they have this urge to starta startup and they have a
creative idea.
Any suggestions for them?
Speaker 2 (33:00):
Yes, anybody who.
If you have a family and youwant to have your own startup,
the most important thing it'snot about you, about the family.
What does that mean?
You have a passion, you have adrive and you have a vision of a
business you want to create andyou have no funding.
And it's you, your idea andyour knowledge and experience
that you have.
But remember one thing that youhave a family to feed.
(33:23):
So either you have enough moneysaved that you don't have to
worry about, or you either haveyour wife or your husband
whoever's deciding and whoever'sworking she makes enough money
or he makes enough money tosupport both of you.
Because having a startup isreally it's a journey.
It's a rough journey, as theysay.
The road to success is alwaysunder construction, so it's not
(33:45):
going to be smooth, it's goingto be a rough road.
Bill's going to come in Onceyou start a business.
Yes, you're going to check themail and envelopes will come in
and bill for this bill, for thatbill, for this, and if you have
digital, you'll have them inyour email.
Oh, due to pay your credit card, your this, your subscription
(34:06):
to that or whatever you do.
So make sure I'd say, um,strategize it and think about it
and organize it.
I'm not saying don't do it, no,do it, but organize everything.
You know the expense has tochange.
Uh, you kind of just startgoing on vacation and buying the
gifts because you have nolonger a secure job.
Now you started your ownbusiness.
(34:26):
We don't know, there's no timelimit.
It takes sometimes six monthsto start to make money.
It could take five years tostart to make money.
Nobody knows.
As they say, it's like thebamboo tree, the Chinese bamboo
tree, that it takes.
What does it take?
They say five years to buildthe roots and everything
underground and nobody knows.
(34:46):
But you got to keep feeding itwater every day, every day, and
it takes about, I think, 90 days, or 60 to 90 days to grow about
20 feet or 10 feet.
Yes, so all this work you putin, nobody's going to see and
you're not going to see anythingof it.
So don't put on time limit thekey to fail.
When you say, oh, I'm going togive this six months, you're
(35:08):
failing.
It's like a relationship, it'slike anything, anything in life.
No, I'm going to give myselfsix months to succeed.
Really, you know, after sixmonths, that number seven like
the month, the first day and theseventh month.
You're going to succeed.
Check's going to come in.
No, I'm going to give myself towork out six months or three
(35:30):
months, see if I can lose weightReally.
So you're going to start.
You just do it because you wantto do it, you have a vision,
you have a passion for it.
So there's no time limit to it.
As I said, never a time limit.
You keep doing it and you keepdoing it and you keep growing
and you keep adapting and youkeep learning.
And it will happen if you havethe passion and the vision for
it.
But if you're here and yourmind negatively somewhere else
(35:52):
and it's like I don't know, no,it's not going to work, you're
not going to succeed.
Speaker 1 (35:57):
That's amazing Closing this.
I think it's very emotionallydriving, but also very, very
knowledgeable, bob, because wehave talked, especially in this
episode, about a lot of realitychecks that people misinterpret
or they are unaware of goingthrough the hardship journey of
(36:18):
an entrepreneur, especially yesthe parent entrepreneurs who who
have so many things to thinkabout right, About family, about
their passion, about continuingtheir entrepreneurship journey.
So, thank you again.
So much, Bob Shami.
Once again, everyone kudos toyou.
And you are a real-time examplefor all of the parent
(36:41):
entrepreneurs with your seriesof multiple startups and people.
If you are interested, pleasedo check InnoV8 and MusicDash
and get inspired, and these areamazing, amazing platforms.
He's trying to help multipleclients and artists through
those platforms so please,whenever you have time, take a
(37:03):
look at it.
Speaker 2 (37:04):
Absolutely One thing I just want to end this podcast
with besides staying positive,stay healthy, because if you're
not healthy, nothing could bedone.
Stay healthy, that's it.
Speaker 1 (37:15):
Stay positive and stay healthy, the quote of the
day by Bob Shabby.
Speaker 2 (37:19):
Thank you everyone have a good day, my pleasure.
Thank you for your time, sohonored to be on this podcast.
Speaker 1 (37:25):
Thank you so much again for coming in.
Your time is really preciousand thanks for sharing the
knowledge with us today.
Speaker 2 (37:34):
Thank you.
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