Bootstrapping a Community Wildfire Response/Sandeep Parikh - Altadena, Crowdfund, EffinFunny ~ Spark of Ages Ep 36 - Spark of Ages

Episode Transcript
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Rajiv Parikh (00:05):
Welcome to the Spark of Ages podcast.
Today we're hanging outwith my co-host and brother
Sandeep Parikh, and I getto talk about him because
he has so much to share.
Sandeep is a true renaissanceman of the digital age.
They in LA or in in Hollywood,call it a Multihyphenate,
who's blazed his own trail asa director, actor, and digital

(00:26):
showrunner in comedy, gaming,and interactive entertainment.
Sandeep's worked with alot of names, you know,
comedy Central, Sony fx,Nickelodeon, TBS, Hasbro.
You may recognize him fromhis breakout role as Zaboo
in the Guild as I have.
I've walked down the road withhim and people recognize him,
which started as an internetseries and ended up being

(00:46):
bought by Geek and Sundryand ran for six seasons.
Right now he's startingin this quest, a Dungeon
and Dungeons and Dragonsseries making waves in the.
T-T-R-P-G game world,which is tabletop role
playing game world.
Got it.
That's about to hit Hasbro'sofficial d and d channel
this spring and recently hejust teamed up with Rekha

(01:07):
Shankar to raise crowdsourcecapital via Kickstarter
for his next movie Vidhya'sguide for the Afterlife.
Behind the camera, Sandeep hasdirected numerous web series
of his own called Legend ofNeil, which is based on the
video game Zelda wrote forthe animated Netflix series
Glitch Techs, and has directedcommercials for brands

(01:29):
like Walmart and countlessSilicon Valley startups.
Besides being the co-host ofthis podcast, Sandeep is also
the co co-host of Your mom, isa podcast with Milana Vayntrub,
who's also been on the show, aswell as the show, ABCD, American
Born Chatty Desi's podcast.
So go check out those afteryou listen to this show.

(01:50):
So Sandeep attended BrownUniversity where he has a degree
in computer science and theater.
So Sandeep, welcomeback to the show.
Yes.
'cause I know you'vebeen away for some time.
Um, we've really missed you.
My triumph in return.
We as in me and your producer,Anand, have really missed
you as well as the audience.
A lot of times they'relike, where's that guy who

(02:11):
makes all this stuff real?
Um, and where's that guy?
That sounds a lot like you.
Yeah.
Your, your

Sandeep Parikh (02:17):
voice double.
Apparently my barelywe're that close.
Sometimes our parentscan't tell us apart.
Can they?
I mean, do they always?
Yeah, they always say,sometimes they're like,
I'm on the phone with themfor like 10 minutes and
they'll be like, well, Rajiv.
And I'm like, you know,you've been talking to
not Rajiv for a while.
Right?
And they're like, huh?
Who's

that?
Why are you talking to me aboutsomething completely different?
Yeah.
It's just that Rajivis so multi textured.
And of course I getcalled, uh, sun Sanjeev.
I get called myson's name, Arjun.
So I get called allkinds of things.
Mm-hmm.
From our parents.
It's this affection thatthey have for everybody.
So.
One of the things I thinkthat's gonna be interesting

(02:55):
to talk about today is thatthe reason why you've been
away for quite some time.
Yeah.
You've gone through thisincredible difficult, uh, for
many and most heartbreakingexperience and maybe a point
of resilience experiencecalled the LA fires.
So you are, yeah.

(03:16):
I guess would you call,would I call you a climate
resilience survivor?

I suppose so.
That sounds very fancy for howI feel, but, um, you know, you
said a lot of fancy things inthe bio, so, uh, I guess I'll,
I'll chalk that up as well.
Um, yeah, it's been, um, wildly,it's been the hardest experience
of my adult life, I'd say, uh,the most challenging experience,
uh, since becoming a father.

(03:43):
And, you know, as sortof, um, a. You know, a
co-leader of our family.
Uh, and, uh, it's, yeah.
So we, we were displacedfrom the, the LA wildfires,
the al we lived in Altadena.
Um, and were over 9,000structures were, there's no
better word than decimated.
Um, and, uh, has laid wasteto, was once a, uh, you know,

(04:08):
a, a, a beautiful, gorgeousneighborhood, um, that, uh, you
know, where we raised our sonfor all five years of his life.
And, um, there's noway of sugarcoating it.
Um, it was, um,super challenging.
Our house, our, our housestill stands, um, however,
uh, it is, uh, sort ofinfiltrated or, or has been, uh.

(04:30):
So sort succumb to, uh,ma massive smoke damage
and ash and char and soot.
Um, and that's that we'refinding out more and more in
the research that it's, uh,highly toxic, um, filled with
lead and asbestos, cyanide,a whole bunch of other
really damaging neurotoxins.
So we're, it's, it'sunclear as to whether or
not our house will be safeto return to anytime soon.

(04:52):
Every week is a new wildchallenge that either involves,
uh, a shouting match with, uh,with insurance or discovering
some new neurotoxin or tryingto figure out where, um,
kid's gonna go to school.
And it's, it's been, um,an absolute, uh, wild ride
and it's certainly testedour resilience as a family.

(05:14):
Yeah.
Tested me in, in, in, inall the ways that, that I
can, uh, name, you know,as an artist, as a father,
as a husband, as a, yeah.
So it's been, um, it's beensuper, super challenging.
But, um, you know, I, I am.
Heartened by the, the levelof, uh, like outpouring of,
of, of real support from, ofcourse, family and friends,

(05:38):
but even strangers that havesort of, uh, stepped up and,
and tried to help in, in,in the many ways they can.
I'm also a part of, um, Iguess I'll mention this, uh,
that I'm, I'm working withan advocacy group that I,
I helped name, uh, using mycreative, my creative brain.
Alright,

got you.
Got, well, you're a creatorand you're a leader and
an organizer, right?
You started your ownbusiness all your life.
You've been an entrepreneur, andso those skills serve you well.
When you're in situation,

there's this like element of, uh, I, I think
that I, I don't know, it isprobably some combination of
you and mom and dad and, andall these influences in my life
really sort of, I. When I, whenI, when I feel like I'm faced
with a challenge like this,I can't help but somehow find
a way to c to, to step up.
I feel like there's alwaysa vacuum in these times,

(06:29):
um, of, of challenge wherepeople are looking for
leadership, they're looking foranswers they're looking for.
And so when I feel like I amin it, in the mix of it and I
start finding various answersto things, I, I feel compelled
to wanna share those answers.
And then before I know it,I'm a part of an organization
that is, that is, uh, that isdedicated to that and trying

(06:51):
to just utilize all my skills.
So the organization iscalled the Eaton Fire
Residents United, EFRU.
Um, and, uh, you can findit at ef ru la and the, so.
Real mission of thatorganization is to, uh, map,
essentially we're creating adynamic map, um, that, that
is taking all of the, uh,industrial hygienist testing

(07:14):
that's being done on, on homesthat are still standing, uh,
because there are so manypeople that can't afford that
testing, don't have, uh, or,or, or insurance is, is pushing
back and not allowing them to.
So, uh, we're trying to gatherall that data, you know,
it's all volunteer based.
People are just uploadingtheir, their test results.
It's all inanonymous, by the way.
So, uh, you know, we takeprivacy super seriously.

(07:35):
So you're

not like saying this home is
this, not specifically

this home, but the area around the home.
Yeah.
So that you can map it andyou can literally see, oh,
here is how the lead has,has moved through thanks to
the wind pat patterns, uh,based upon certifiable test
results, or this is how arsenic.
And so we're, as you know,we're breaking it down by
the toxins as well so thatyou can, um, you know, really

(07:58):
see how this stuff has, hasmoved through the through.
The town and through LA

I, I think a lot of folks were
forced to move back.
Right.
Or maybe didn't realize thisand they just went back.
Exactly.
And so right after the,like you guys, uh, as it
was happening left mm-hmm.
Pretty much right away.
It was a scary thing toleave your home right away.

Yeah.
I mean, we were, wewere, we were, we were,
we were evacuated.
I mean, technically wewere, we left before we
were technically evacuated.
Um, because we were, we werein some ways warned, uh, thanks
to this, this local weatherman.
And when I say local weatherman,I don't mean like a guy on tv.
I mean a guy that has hisown Patreon that does hyper

(08:40):
local weather for Altadena.
It's this.
That's cool.
Uh.
This unbelievableguy, Edgar McGregor.
And he, I single handedly thisguy and his Patreon, I think
saved countless lives because hewarned folks ahead of time that,
Hey, these, these, these windsare gonna be unprecedented,
uh, and if a fire is to breakout that it will be near

(09:02):
impossible for it to be stopped.
So get ready to get out.
He said that.
A week or so ahead oftime, a week ahead of time.
And so, yeah, a lot of uswere informed of this idea
that the Santa Ana windswere going to be huge, and
that if any fire breaks out,just get ready to bounce.
And, um, that'sexactly what we did.
We just were like,you know what?
We see the fire in the mountain.
Even though it was miles andmiles, you know, at least 10

(09:23):
miles away from us specifically.
We were like, let'sjust get outta here.
You know?
Yeah.
Let's just get outta thesewinds are absolutely insane.
I've never seen anythinglike them, um, that are,
you know, once in a hundredyears kind of thing.
Santa Ana wins.
And so, yeah, because, becauseof that guy and because of
Patreon, we got out of there.

It's nuts.
That's amazing.
That's amazing.
Glad glad this personcan be so helpful.
'cause I could imagine justwhat happened with people
when people didn't leave.
Yeah.
They, they just ran into asituation where they're all
crowded and trying to get outand they don't get to take all
the stuff or they get trapped.

Well, that, that was exactly what I was
specifically worried about.
I was like, you know what?
Be, before we even got ourevacuation ordered, I was like,
let's just get outta here justin case it gets crazy clogged.
Like why even bother,uh, messing with it?
Plus we had, we didn'thave power at the time, so
it was, you know, we havea five yearold and we're
having like a candlelit tacodinner and we're like, why
don't we just not be here?
Just do this somewhere else.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
We didn't know that we werenot gonna be able to return,

(10:19):
honestly, at that time thatwe were leaving, it was
like we sat in our home.
You know, we, I, I just,I. It felt like our
home was so far away.
There's like, but if it ever gotto us, like, are you kidding me?
This whole place wouldhave to burn down.
And that's literally what, yeah.
What transpired?
I, I, I, I can't believe it.
So, still can't believe it.

What are some of the key lessons you learned
from going through this thatwe should all think about
in terms of being prepared?
It's, you know, it's onething to be, to say for
someone to be prepared.
Yeah.
You know, we talk about itin Northern California more.
Mm-hmm.
It's like, uh, be prepared forthe next earthquake and mm-hmm.
Sort of have, you know, we,some have some things tied down.
We're forced to, the biggerbuildings are forced to,

(11:02):
to, to renovate themselvesor make them seismic ready.
Um, some people havea to-go bag or go bag.
Yeah.
Um, but I think most don't,other than having maybe
earthquake insurance, mostpeople don't do very much.
What are some lessons yourecommend to all of us?
Learnings that yourepresent to us.

(11:23):
Yeah,

I mean, this is such like a lesson in like,
you know, uh, what assessingyour own level of risk.
Uh, and, and we've beenthrough this now twice
in some ways, right?
With the pandemic andnow the LA wildfires.
So my risk, personal riskassessment is, and especially
now that I have family,um, is, yeah, I, I don't

(11:44):
want to take any chances.
I don't necessarily want togo so far as to like build a
bunker, 80 feet down underneathmy home or anything like that.
Or, you know, I thinkthere's some, but I think
there is, there are measuredsteps that you can take
to prepare yourself,um, that are reasonable.
Um, and at, at the veryleast, it starts by
checking out whatever the.

(12:05):
You know, public healthguidelines are in
your, in your region.
I mean, I think thatis like a no-brainer.
And these go bags are prettycheap, and you can put one
in each of your cars and,you know, have one under your
bed and they're like 80 buckseach or something like that.
And get 'em on Amazonand they'll, they have
water for three days.
They have, you know,basic food, basic supply.
Like, there's stuff thatyou can absolutely do.

(12:26):
Simple things like, Hey, don'tthrow away your sneakers.
Um, you know, oldsneakers, like stick,
stick those under your bed.
So you have sneakers.
If you wake up and there's anearthquake and glass shattered
and there's a bunch of glassshattered between you and
your kids' room, well thenyou can slip on your shoes
and not, and you know, like,there's like, there's like
sort that's a good call.

Yeah.

Really simple things that these, and there's
these websites that have it all.
And you know, now youhave ai, so you can
just ask the question.
You can have a conversationwith Gemini and or, or whatever
you'd like to use and, andgo like, Hey, how should I, I
live around here, how shouldI prepare for the, you know,
uh, events that by the wayI'm using, I'm utilizing ai.

(13:03):
So, so much to help me, uh, in,in a bunch of different ways.
Um, but specifically I'musing it to, um, go up
against when I need to go upagainst, uh, uh, insurance,
um, and having it break downmy insurance policy for me.
I'll, I'll write an angryletter, you know, in, and

(13:24):
then I'll say, Hey, makethis less angry and make this
sound professional, polite,but firm and it will do it.
Uh, and, and it's beenso wildly helpful, um, in
tracking all that stuff.
So, you know, you gottause all the tools that
are at your disposal whenyou're talking about your
family survival and, um.
So I you, yeah.
So have a

have a go bag.
That's my lesson bag.
Keep sneakers under your bed.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Uh, maybe can't have thatold pair of sneakers in
your car, have a changeof clothes in your car.
Uh uh.
No.
All that stuff shutoff stuff like gas and
water before you go.
Um, I think youdid some of that.
Gas, water, electricity,electricity.
You can't, it's hard.
You, honestly, we

did some

of that,

but the most important thing is to just
get the hell out of there.
Yeah.
Like, that's the thing isthat I, I talked, you know,
right afterwards I wastalking to this fire captain
who I happened to run intoat a fr at a friend's house
when we were couch surfing.
He's this guy who's working,he was, he was off from
the, uh, the wildfires.
He was like on a, on a,you know, a shift off.
Um, and he was, and I waslike going through a list of
things that I, that I thoughtI totally messed up on, right.

(14:21):
I was like, oh man, you know,I didn't shut off the gas.
Actually, I didn'tlike, there were certain
things that we didn't do.
And he was like,none of that matters.
He's like, you guys got out.
He's like, none of thatis going to be the reason
that your house burns down.
Like, you know, I was like,oh man, I left like a, you
know, I had like an extragas can that I, that I, you
know, had an extra gallon gas.

(14:41):
Yeah.
I remember freaking

out about that.
I was, and I was

like, man, I left, I tied it down,
but I didn't have timeto, like, I didn't know, I
didn't wanna dump it out.
I didn't know what todo with it, you know?
So I just, you know, I, Iforgot about it and I was so
freaked out and he was like,none of that is gonna be the
reason your house burns down.
He's like, these are a hundredmiles an hour winds that
are like blowtorching homes.
He's like, this is not,there's nothing you could have

(15:03):
done that would've stoppedyour home for from burning.
So let let go of that guiltor that fear, that fear that
this was somehow your fault oryou could have done something.
He's like, you did themost important thing.
You and your family got out.
That's huge.

Alright, let's shift to gears a little bit.
So, what's the biggestchallenges for you from this?
This.
A hundred plus year eventwildfire as it relates
to the business andentertainment industry.
So a lot of news happening aboutproduction happening overseas.
Another challenge, yet anotherchallenge to Hollywood after

(15:37):
the pandemic and the writerstrike and the actor strike.
Yeah.
I mean, how, so how do youview this current environment,
uh, as a result of all this?
Or, or has this been a timewhere there's a massive
creativity or maybe both.

I, I, I, well, you know, I think that's to come
probably the massive creativity.
Um, in some ways, or atleast the evidence of that.
I'm sure that I think any,any sort of trauma leads to,
leads to art in some capacity,because that's the way we
process things as human beings.
Um, so I'm.
I'm eager to, to see, Ijust watched a movie the
other day called Seven Days.
That was all, that was abeautiful rom-com that was set

(16:13):
in the time of, of COVID, uh,and it was like, you know, and I
was like, oh yeah, that's right.
You know, cool Art Co comesfrom our, our group trauma.
So I, I'm sure that'sgonna be what will be the
result of, of this as well.
Um, but you know, yeah, the,the, it, it does feel like in
many ways the sky is falling.
Um, if you are, you know, likeme set out to LA to, um, become

(16:38):
a filmmaker and you see howthe studio system is sort of
collapsing and to, um, and youjust listed off all these major
events that have, that havereally curbed our, our ability
to, um, at least plug into the,the existing infrastructure
and systems that were in placefor us to effectively, um.

(16:59):
Make a living, uh, uh, havea middle class lifestyle,
um, and still create art.
That that's really whatI think h Hollywood was,
was really able to do.
Or, or at least the sort of,uh, negotiations that sprung
up between or, or the, the,the sort of ecosystem that
sprung up around That's right.
The studio and, and, and, um,the various unions, right?

(17:22):
Like we sort of created thislittle ecosystem that was
self-sustaining, where peoplecould have a middle class
lifestyle, um, and, and be aworking actor, not have to take
another job, be available forauditions at any time of the
day, um, you know, and, andnot be working a full-time job.
So, so that, all that stuff,we're seeing that infrastructure
crumble before our very eyes.

(17:43):
And so that's.
Yeah.
That's, that'swildly challenging.
Um, so luckily that's

happening.
I mean, we had, I thinkyour friend Matt talked
about this, right?
Yeah.
That, uh, the reason hecan, you know, you can have
super high quality people beready at any time is because
of the unions and Right.
I, you know, I'mone of these Yeah.
Business school sort offolks I come out of, oh, we
don't like anybody in theway of getting things done.

(18:10):
We want a free market.
But in a way, this basically,the unions enable a super high
quality, um, market for people.
Correct.
Because if, if you are, ifyou, if you're not available,
you're not gonna get accessto the highest quality people.
If those folks have to just jumpfrom big project to big project,

(18:31):
they're gonna find thingsmore consistent and stable.

And it's all Exactly.
And it's also why when youdo book a job, you get paid
really, really well andpeople say, wow, that's
your, that's your day rate.
That's insane.
You make like 2000bucks a day or whatever.
And it's like, yeah, if we wereworking 50 for, you know, three
50 days of a year, then you, I'msure that would be a crazy rate.
Crazy, crazy.
Yeah.
You're, you're not workingthat amount, so you

(18:54):
need to get that stuff.
You need to get those residuals.
Those are the things thatallow you to essentially in
the, to downtime be trainingfor when, when it's your time
to when, when you book a joband you're actually up at bat.
Um, so, but yeah, that,that kind of infrastructure
is, is, is, is sort offalling apart and then Yeah.

(19:15):
I think with AI being Is thatIt is, is that because of,

is, is that because of the rise of streaming
or is that, is there somethingabout this that's part of it
specific to the wildfires?
Has the wildfiresjust challenged

that?
No, I think the wildfireslike exacerbated.
Yeah.
Just, just exacerbated it.
Exactly.
It's sort of like if, if therewas a scab that was starting to
come over because of, uh, youknow, the, the strikes and the
pandemic and all the other, andthe, and AI and, and all that.
Like, if there, if therewas, hey, a scab is starting
to form, this is okay, thisjust ripped that scab off,

(19:47):
um, again and, and sort of,uh, exacerbated the wound.
Um, but yeah, you, you know thatfrom, from our perspective, this
is what I love about workingwith Aninha, who's also the
producer of this prod podcastand, um, and, and my, uh, COO
at, at f and funny, um, Mikeproduction company, is that
we really just, we constantlyjust look at ourselves in the

(20:09):
mirror and say, Hey, what canwe do the two of us do to keep.
Our creativity flowing tokeep us afloat, to keep, uh,
our, our, you know, incomecoming in, revenue coming in,
you know, hell or high water.
We just have that mentality oflike, we are going to be those,
we're gonna be those weedsthat survive the apocalypse.

(20:30):
You know, the ones that we'regonna be the like, uh, the, a
stubborn weed that keeps Yeah.
The,

you know, that comes up through
the cracks we're they'renever gonna go away.
Exactly.

Our roots are just gonna go so deep.
We're gonna find that just onelittle, you know, uh, ounce of
water that's buried deep to,to keep us alive and keep us
moving and keep us making stuff.
Um, and I think the otherthing we do, the other thing
we do to become hardy is, ishave really sincere, authentic
relationships with our, with ourcommunity and the people that
we've worked with for 20 years.

(21:00):
And we care about thesepeople and we, we, we
try to bring them aboard.
If our ship's not totallysunk, then come on a board
and see how you can grab anore and we can try to figure
out how to, uh, you know.
Do, do a cool project with you.
Like that's the thingthey're doing with Reka.
Yeah.
That you mentioned.
Yeah.
I love that.

(21:20):
I love that.
Yeah.
I think

this is, uh, this is straight out
of in, you had two reallyinteresting innovations.
I. Um, you've donemany of them, right?
Uh, you were in the, youwere in the web world doing
productions before it was cool.
You were doing interactive asin choose your own, uh, ending

(21:42):
or choose your own story worldbefore it was, before it became
interesting or became coolor big yet, and now you're
playing the, you know, it'snot, I don't think it's even
big yet, but That's okay.
Not even big yet.
It could be, it'll be, I'mstill, I'm ahead of the time
that you're ahead of your time.
Yeah, yeah.
I'm ahead of the,ahead of the time.
Your time will come on that one.
And then the, the, like youjust did a production, right?

(22:05):
Your, the Sea quest, right?
And, and what was interestingis how you got it funded
and now you're, it's crowdgonna do a movie and how
you got it funded, right?
Yeah.
Through the crowd,through crowdsourcing.
Talk about that.
That's really interesting.
Yeah.
Look, I

don't think, um, Hollywood was ever, um, just
handing things out to, um, southAsian directors necessarily.
Um, you know, and, you know.
Not to play the race cardper se, but it is, you know,
people do hire, people tendto hire those, or, or feel

(22:39):
connected to stories thatreflect their own, right?
Yeah.
And so then the people thatare in power, they're in a
certain, they, they're ofa certain demographic or of
a certain, whatever it is,race, culture, whatever you
wanna call it, are just gonna,they're just going to inevitably
be attracted to projects orcreators of a certain ilk.
And I think it's subconscious.
And I don't, and I don'tthink that anybody's overtly

(22:59):
trying to, you know, uh,suppress South Asian voices.
But my point is, is thatthat, that there was
no easy paths to it.
We didn't, like the MindyKaling's and the Hassam
Minaj of the world grew,came, you know, with us.
Like we, we are thatgeneration essentially.
We didn't have the sort of, uh,the, you know, the grandfathers

(23:22):
and grandmothers before uspulling us up necessarily
in Hollywood specifically.
So like, um.
You know, we have to carvethat out for ourselves.
Uh, and so all that to say,um, when you have a project
that you're passionate aboutor a, a, a creator's voice,
you who you want to upliftand put and put out there, or,

(23:42):
you know, a, a, a story thatyou're desperate to tell you,
you just do whatever the hellit takes to, to make it happen.
And, and.
Part of that for me recentlyhas been recognizing that,
hey, in the, the 20 yearsI've been out here and doing
stuff for the, you know, like,like the Guild you mentioned
and the legend of Neil andthings that have a fan base.
Maybe not like a, oh, my showwas on HBO fan base, but a show

(24:05):
that's really touched people'shearts and, and that, and
that for us, care about this.
People still

follow you.
They still buy merchandise.
They, they still, when you'reat a convention dress up
like you guys do from dressup as your, for whatever
reason, I mean, there's apassion, whatever for Yeah.
Whatever reason

that they really connected, they deeply connected
to the stuff that we made.
I think they feltrepresented by it.
You know, we weremaking shows about.
Um, you know, video peoplewho love video games, people
love gaming, uh, quote unquotenerds, people who felt like
they were the underdogs,um, who's, who were only
picked on in, in media, whoare only looked down upon in

(24:42):
media as the butt of jokes.
And we gave them voices from anauthentic point of view, because
we are gamers and we are nerds.
And we were like,no, we can be cool.
I mean, we literally havea, a guild song called
I'm The One That's Cool.
That was like a rock song thatwe put on, on YouTube that
has some millions of views.
And I think that's, that'sbecause we like, really touched
these people in a way thatthey, they felt, Hey, I like, I

(25:04):
feel like I am beloved in this.
Um, and I, you know, andthey're speaking for my, for
my voice and I, and that whatI've recognized now is that.
You know, these, theseare fans in the sense,
but they're also, they'realso like, uh, advocates.
They're like, they're likepeople who just care so much
that they want to see yourthing get made, uh, and, and

(25:25):
they really go to bat for you.
So it was like, Hey, look,why not try to tap into that,
uh, really service that, um,and, and service that need
that, that they have to, to befurther represented, um, and
see if we can get, you know,thousands of people to say yes
to our product, uh, or our,our project instead of begging

(25:45):
for and trying to convince the,you know, the suit at the top
of, of Paramount or whatever.
There's a gate.
Those are gate those, those are

gatekeepers.
They have a job.
Their job is to enable themillions of dollars that they
have at their disposal and thedistribution channels that they
have to, to get out to market.
And now there's thisalternative channel that,
you know, before you coulddo something potentially on
YouTube and just put it out.
Right?
And some people have risenspectacularly through that,
but you still have to gethigh quality productions.

(26:12):
Funded somehow, right?
It's hard to go from, it'shard to go from something
kind of chin seed to thengetting it funded in a big way.
And you've done actuallya lot of that too.
Um, but then in this case, youutilize crowdsourcing, right?
So

for the DA for Daisy Quest, which is
a Dungeons and Dragon show,uh, which people are like,
what's a dungeon dragon show?
I mean, that's what they're, youknow, uh, maybe not met, maybe
not seeing, is that these dunesand dragon shows are selling
out Madison Square Garden.
They're like, they, I mean,these are, these are becoming,
um, a really valid form ofentertainment, um, that again,

(26:48):
people feel very seen by them.
Um, and so we're like, well,we want to do one that's,
um, from a South Asian'sperspective, um, like, let's,
you know, we have such a rich,uh, mythology, um, you know.
Uh, our culture is so steeped inincredible stories of, you know,
whether it's H Mann or Maha or,you know, all these like really

(27:11):
incredible ancient storiesthat I feel like are really
underrepresented, at least inthe western world for sure.
Uh, and so we're like, oh,well let's do d and d kind
of with that influence withthe bunch of South Asian,
um, you know, improvisers andperformers and, uh, it, you
know, so what better way tosee if your idea that you think

(27:31):
is cool actually has residentsthan to put it out there,
uh, for a crowdfund to see ifanybody's willing to put their
money where their mouth is.
And it, you know, we had2,608 people do that to
the tune of $150,000.
Um, and were was able tofund a, a, a season of that.
Um, and, and, and fromthere we've, we, you know,
the, the show has grown.

(27:52):
We, we did a, how, howdid the show do season?

We've done lot.
So you, you raised,you raised a hundred.
So crowdfunded you, youknow, you raised, you
set out to raise $50,000.
Yeah.
And, and like withinhours, I think you hit
your goal six hours

we hit our goal.
Yeah, you hit your goal.
That's cool.
Which

hit the algorithm and got you to sit on the
front page of Kickstarter.
That was brilliant.
Yeah.
They, we became a projectwe love on Kickstarter,
which is great.
We love, you want that badgeand then you want that badge
and then it popped, it poppedfrom there and kept going.

Yeah.
I think at the timeit basically hit your,

it hit your stretch goal.
And I mean, this was,it was pre Elon Twitter,

and so really it was like the Twitter
sphere was a buzz with it.
Like all the, the massiveT-T-R-P-G players were all
retweeting it and supporting it.
And, um, and from there I thinkit just sort of, sort of caught,
caught, you know, caught steamand, uh, caught fire a bit.

And then, and then after that, after
that you had, you hadthe show, you put it out.
You, you basicallypioneered a, um.
The, the, you know,basically the tabletop
role player game, right.
S HUDs Dragons, which isvery different format than
watching a typical show, right?
Yeah.
Built this very loyal audience,and then from that you were

(29:13):
able to turn it into the,to something even bigger.

Yeah.
It's, it's kind of likewatching an improvised fantasy
novel happen before your very,very eyes with a, a group of
storytellers who collectivelytell a story together.
Um, and then there's thisgamified element with dice
that's sort of randomizedwhat's gonna happen.
And it's, it's areally cool format.
Um, and yeah, I mean, like, I,you know, we created the show.

(29:37):
I measure the success.
My metric for success isthe, uh, uh, number of
characters per comment.
So it's not just, Hey, dowe get millions of views
or we get all this stuff.
The fact that people wrote like.
You know, a two page commentof how that show made them

(30:00):
feel, feel, seen, feel heard.
The sh like, we got a lot of,like, this is the show I never
knew I needed in my life.
Um, and especially fromsecond generation, um,
immigrants of all, alltypes, not just South Asians.
Um, and, you know, th that tome was, okay, we have struck a
nerve now, now the job is to notgive up, uh, to keep creating,

(30:26):
uh, which is not giving up.
But, uh, and then just gettingmore attention for the show.
Um, well see.

Let's stop there for a second.
Okay.
'cause I wanna, 'cause when Ifirst saw that first episode
right, of this quest mm-hmm.
I didn't know whatto do with it.
Okay.
'cause I'm usedto produced shows.
Right.
Well, this is a Purdue show.
Yeah, it is a Purdue show.
And I'm used to something that,you know, but there's, this

(30:51):
was, so this was like muchlonger than a typical show.
Right.
It's a couple hours.
Yep.
Or longer.
And it was, it, you know,I've seen you do and
seen you and many of yourfriends who've gone on to do
incredible things do improv.
Yep.
And this was like aform of both together.
And I think what was uniqueabout it, you have to really

(31:15):
live and feel that storyas something much greater,
a a greater commitment.
And as a result, when youget those comments that are
two pages, you're gettingsomeone who is investing in
you in that level of depth.
And they're extremely, they're,they're expressing passion for
it, which is what you reallywant in anything you do.
You want people who aremaniacally passionate.

Yeah.
No, I think it's, it's not a,uh, it's not, you're right.
I see what you mean by producenow you mean like, oh, I'm, I'm.
You know, when you watch ashow, you're very much, uh,
you know, if you're watchingLast of us, you are, you know,
watching these charactersplay, like play out the story
in a very, um, visceral way.
Um, I. What we, what youdo in tabletop that's very

(31:59):
different is that you, you'resitting around a table,
you are sort of orally steltelling the story together
as a group, uh, inhabitingcharacters playing, you know,
encounters and these things,but you're, you're kind of.
Voicing them almostlike in a podcast style.
This is why I liken itto a, to a novelization.
Um, it's like when you pick upa fantasy book, sometimes you

(32:20):
don't, you need to get to page200 before you're like, holy
cow, now I'm into this world.
Um, and, and, and you're right,it does require a, a little
bit of patience or at least anunderstanding of, of, of what
you're sort of getting into.
But I also feel like it'sprobably what people first said
when Joe Rogan was like doinga four hour podcast, you know?
And that's right.
They were like, why the hellam I gonna listen to this
jerk jerk talk for four hours?

(32:41):
You know, whatever.
Um, and it's like, youknow, it's a different
way of, of connecting, youknow, with, with story.
Um, and, and, and I think in,in some ways, if a deeper,
more meaningful way, um,than, you know, your, your
traditional sort, you know,your traditional fair on

(33:05):
that you might find on, on.
Yeah.
I, I think it's fun to,

it's that, that's why it's D out.
Yeah.

Sandeep (33:10):
Madison Square Garden.
I, I was thinking, I think it'swhy it's selling at Madison
Square Garden right now.
These guys that are on Dimension20 in, in critical role have
such gigantic followings.
Um, and it's because theyare, uh, again, they're just,
they're just connecting withpeople on such a, such a deep
level with their storytelling.
And so,

and you're finding that same effect for
the South Asian version whereyou've mixed in mythology, Hindu
mythology, I would assume a lotof this is sourced from that.
You're blending into this story,right, into this Equest story,
and then from that you, it's so,

it's not just Hindu, it's, it's,
it's sick, it's Islamic.
It's like, yeah.
It's like, it's like all the.
It really is.
We try to be sort oflike non-denominational
South Asian about it.
Um, so that it couldbe, you know, just as
inclusive as possible.
You borrow possible barring

stories and elements and create
weapons and charactersfrom all these places.
And they are, that's, you feelactually, if you come at it
from afar, pretty related.
'cause all the stories mixand intermediate for sure.
It's beautiful.
Yeah.
Um, so then you takethat and you build the
relationship with Ika, right?
That's right.

(34:23):
And then from there,what happened?

Yeah, so Rikka Hunker is, um, you know, uh,
a real up and coming, uh,incredible comedic talent.
Um, she was the head writer atcollege Humor and had done a, so
what I did for Stacey Quest wasI needed to find every, like.
I needed to like have our own,like South Asian Avengers.
I like, I was like, what'severy South Asian that's ever

(34:47):
been on one of these, likesort of hit TT rrp G shows
and can I meet them and can Iget them all to come together?
Right.
So, uh, Reko was one of them.
She was on Dimension 20,which is a big show on a, on,
on a network called Dropout.
Um, and, uh, you know,she, she said, she said
yes, she'd be into it.
Uh, and from there,uh, she was an absolute

(35:09):
superstar on the show.
She's like one of thefunniest people on the show.
She plays a, a charactercalled Lud Ante, um,
which is a, an auntiethat, that is a barbarian.
Uh, and it makes like powerfullu news that, that, that do
all these magical things.
Um, and so it's a very, sheplays a very kind of, um.
Uh, I don't wanna saystereotypical, but like

(35:31):
an auntie, you know?
Uh, yes.
Who is Will, if you, if you're

South Asian, you will know what auntie means.
You'll know this auntie, thisauntie's in your life or auntie
an Indian, you know, auntie.
Auntie.
What does auntie mean?
You know, auntie?
Yeah.
Uncle and auntie and I, Ieven say this, but it's my
team sometimes stop beingan uncle, you know, they're
like, oh, re we're stop.
So I'm not gonna be, I'mnot gonna be so preachy,
tell you what to do.
So, kind of one dimensional,

Everyone (35:58):
but, but she play.
Yeah.
She is an auntie with

Sandeep Pa (36:00):
texture and persona.
It is, it is.
She plays, she, she's, she'sa barbarian in all the ways.
And you know those auntiesthat are like, yes, they
will shame you for eatingtoo much or, or not eating
enough, or whatever it is.
But then they also will be theones that will, if anyone talk,
talk shit about you, they'rebe the first ones to be like,
they're gonna throw down.
Like, you never cross an auntie.

(36:20):
They, yeah, exactly.
They, their, their hearts.
So for you, theauntie loves you.

You, it's like you, it's like your mom.
They got that mom gene.
That's right.
Just kinda.
They're gonna be likethe Tigris and just like,

that's right.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's right.
They'll, they'll, they'll teardown mountain, they'll, they'll,
they'll do what it takes to,to make sure you're okay.
Um, and so that's, that's whoshe is for the, anyway, she
was so hilarious and all that.
And then, and this is thething that how we approach
projects with creators thatwe're interested in working
with, we always ask them, Hey,what's that project that no
one is green lighting that youjust can't stop thinking about?

(36:52):
What's that, that script thatyou can't, you just can't
put away and you keep comingback to and everybody says
you're crazy and you, youknow, like that kind of thing.
Like, what is thatproject for you?
Um, and for Ricka, it was thismovie that she was working
on, um, that was, um, had areally cool, fun sci-fi hook.
It's essentially, it was,it was a movie that she
wrote, um, in the wake ofher grandfather's passing.

(37:16):
Um, and uh, and, and thesort of the challenges
like that, that she felt.
During the 13 day Hindu ceremonyfor, for, uh, we have this
like sort of, it's kinda likesitting Shiva type thing, but
it's like this 13 day ceremony.
There's all these like ritesand rituals and like pujas
and things that that happen.

(37:37):
But she had a difficult, asa second generation, she had
a difficult time like sort ofunderstanding what was going on.
Everyone has a different,every uncle has a
different interpretationof what's happening.
Is she grieving the right way?
And in that.
Angst.
She felt like, amI a good Hindu?
Am I just like the worstHindu in the world?
Like, I don't understand,like I don't know how to
grieve my own grandmotheror grandfather in this case.

(38:00):
Um, and, uh, that is a proper

way.

Yeah.
And so then we then she wrote,she, the, the twist that the
sci-fi twist of, of our storyis that, um, uh, in the middle
of this, the Hindu raptureoccurs and every Hindu on the
face of the planet is takenaway except for her there
thereby proving that sheis the world's worst Hindu.
Uh, and it's like,what, what happens now?
Um, and I just, I fellin love with the script.

(38:24):
I was already like sortof in love with, with
Rica's comedic abilities.
And I was like, how, youknow, I just said yes with my
full being, uh, like how doI help you make this movie in
whatever way, shape, and form?
You know?
And I also knew I really wantedto direct the movie, but really
my first place of coming fromit was like, how do I just help

(38:44):
you get this into the world?
If my directing is whathelps that, then let's do it.
If not.
I'll help in whatever way I can.
Uh, it.
And then I did, I pitchedmyself as director eventually,
and, and she was like, yeah,let's, let's, let's do this.
Let's make this thing.
And then it became another,and then, and then you,
you got to crowdfund.
You put it together.

Yeah.
You put your communitytogether as part of it.
She has her community.
You have a community,you have some intertwined
members of that.
And then with that group,um, you guys put together
another Kickstarter campaign.
Mm-hmm.
And I thought this,this one you raised, you
blew out even faster.
You hit over $250,000 veryquickly, like almost no time.

(39:25):
Right?
Your initial limit was setat 50 and you blew that out.
And, but there was a wayin which you've launched
the campaign that gotyou more visibility.
Of course, as you know,I'm meant to go to market.
So there's ways in whichyou've launched it that
drove it even faster.
So maybe you could sharesome of those tips with us.

So what we did for this one that was
very different than DeyQuest is that we decided
to have like a launch show.
Um.
You know, a, a lotof us are performers.
We obviously have relationshipswith really great performers,
and we thought, Hey, let'ssee if we can call in that
one favor, get a kind ofbest of the best together,
and let's do a show.

(40:04):
Um, that a set effectively,it's a show format that pitches
the movie to the audience.
So it is an improv show that.
Is about Reka telling theworld, this is the movie
I want to make and thisis why I want to make it.
Um, and that's sort of the like,through line of the actual show.

(40:26):
But then we like gamify variouselements of that, uh, in improv
games throughout the show.
And we got toge.
We brought together a castthat if, again, if you were
in like our circles or ifyou were in the world of
TT Rrp G or in the world ofimprov comedy, you would be
like, this is a super group.
We essentially put togetherlike, oh, it was amazing.

(40:48):
I, I like the Temple of the dog.
Uh, for, for, I

I kind of fell into it for,
yeah, I fell into it.
I had the YouTube brunch.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I had this YouTube, I hadYouTube up and you know how
YouTube suggests things for you?
Um, it becomes part ofmy LinkedIn at night when
I'm just viewing stuff andmy wife's not up and we
watched our normal shows.
I'll put it on, and then thisone came up and I was like,
oh, I, I didn't know therewas a one hour show about.

(41:14):
About, uh, yeah, it waslike a one hour Yeah.
About, about Rick'sShs movie, which we

tried to make the pitch about our movie,
the most entertaining thingyou could possibly watch.
Yeah.
Um, and that ended up becomingsuch a powerful tool for us.
So first of all, welive streamed that on
the day of our launch.
Uh, so we, we had the show liveand we had a packed audience at
the Dynasty typewriter, whichis this really cool theater

(41:40):
in LA that is like one, one ofthe main hubs of, of, of like.
Hip comedy in LA these days.
We packed that house out.
Uh, we then had live streamtickets so that if you couldn't
make the show, uh, it wasavailable to everybody around
the world to watch live as well.
Um, and, and, and ourKickstarter went live that day.

(42:02):
So, um, in like during theshow, we are lit. It's almost
like a telethon at that point.
We're like, we raisedthis much at this point.
Like, can we get to thismuch while we're doing the
show, which is modernize

Jerry Lewis.
Telethon.

Yeah, I think we raised something like 15
grand or some, something likethat throughout the course
of the actual show itself.
Um, but really it was also thenhaving that video as a tool
for, uh, attention grabbingthroughout the entire campaign.
'cause now that video, uh,which was doing really well on
the YouTube algorithm, like youwere talking about, and we were

(42:36):
also cutting that up into clips,put posting that on TikTok,
YouTube and, and you know,Instagram and wherever else.
And so that was just drivinga bunch of awareness.
In, in a way, it, it was, itwas what replaced Twitter for
us from the DEI quest, becauseTwitter is a different vibe now.
Yeah.
To, to put it mildly.

(42:56):
Um, and so we knew weweren't gonna get that
same level of support.
A lot of those creators thatwere supporting us the last time
on Twitter were left Twitter.
Um, so that wasn'tgonna be what, what,
what was gonna do it.
Um, but yeah, we thought,hey, this is the most fun
way that we could tell.
Like, this is what we're good.
We, I've been out herefor 20 years doing improv.
Like, this is whatwe're best at.

(43:17):
Let's do an improv show.
And then we got, you know,this just incredible cast.
Bre, Brendan Lee Mulligan,Izzy Roland, Felicia Day, uh,
from the Guild and uh, uh,like Jordan Myrick, Sam Rice,
uh, I'm gonna forget peoplethrough, through sing who's
gonna be in the movie as well.
I, I could not stoplaughing at that.
All of these peoplehave hilarious.
Was hilarious.

(43:38):
So well done.
Like are just so, likesuch masters of improv.
Um, and uh, we were solucky to have them together.
It was great.

Yeah.
So it's, it's getting, so it'slike around your fundraise,
building a vehicle, using yourcommunity of super talented
improvs to get the message out.
One of the, of, of course youappeared early on, they came in,
it was like, it was super cle,a super clever way of promoting,
turning it into an event.
And, and I think that'spart of it, the momentum.

(44:07):
Now we have all these tools.
We can get in front ofpeople where we don't
need approval from anyone.
We can create it ourselvesand literally get it all out.
But then when we get it out,we have to make sure that
everything's aligned with it.
So it's like planned andunplanned and serendipitous
feeling all that comingtogether at once.

Yeah, I mean, I think that
you get, that's right.
You have to be superresponsive too, right?
You can't just, like,like there, there's a
world in which that, thatdidn't really take off.
There's, so there's other waysthat we have to drive attention
and, and so it wasn't, you know,we weren't like putting all our
eggs in that basket, per se.
Um, but it was, Hey, let'sjust try these various things.
See, you know, see whatis, uh, holding people's

(44:48):
attention and, and you know,because that, that's it.
Like I was just watchingthis like Instagram video
the other day from thiscreator that I love.
Um, and he did a thingon like, you know.
Just like, like a tip tipson how to, how to, how to
be a creator these days.
And one, one of them was, um,you, you can't just create
stuff, you know, cr the creationof the art is 40% of it.

(45:11):
Um, the, the, the, themarketing of it is 60%.
And he, and so then, you know,people are like, well, so what?
I gotta be an editor.
I gotta be a, uh,a cinematographer.
I gotta do all these things.
And he was like, no,you don't have to.
You just have to getpeople's attention.
And so whatever the hell way youwant to do that, but you, that,
that is part of the job of beingan artist is how do you get

(45:34):
people's attention to your art?
If that's what you want tosustain you and sustain the
life for your family, thenthat has to be a part, part and
parcel of the design of the art.
For you.
So no, you, you don't have tonecessarily be on Instagram
or any of these things.
If, if that's not how, how, if,if, if you can get attention
some other way that's moreefficient for you, do that.

(45:54):
Yeah.
Or more for that speaks to you.
Um, then, then do that.
But you, you must design someway to get attention when
you are creating your art.

I think it's brilliant and, and it's
a really helpful way foraspiring creators to understand
how to get this together.
So in your case, it's acombination of community,
people you take care ofin a genuine way and take
care of you over time.
And it all comes together.
Like if you look at, ifyou, if I, and if you know

(46:23):
Sandeep, you'll know, you'llsee many, uh, similar people
who've been in variousroles with him over time.
Right.
From whether it's producing or.
Uh, you know, above theline, below the line
kind of work, right?
Yeah.
They're coming with you and theycarry with you and they promote
with you and, and all theseconnections work with you, and

(46:45):
that's, it's a, it's a, that'sworking together as part of
getting, taking advantage ofthe mediums that are out there.

Totally.
I always say that like,whenever people who are new,
you know, or at, at, at, ata panel, they always ask,
you know, like, what's theadvice you give to somebody?
I always say like, listen,treat like the people that
you collaborate with early on,the people that are in your
level 1 0 1 improv class, thepeople that you meet as junior

(47:13):
executives or junior, like,you know, assistants or, or
people at the mail room of ca.
That is your graduating class.
All those guys, you guys areall freshmen together and you
know, you, you guys are goingto rise the ranks together.
And so if you create authenticrelationships with the most
talented people that you findthat are in that instead of

(47:35):
like striving to like, geta senior's attention, you
know, be like, I'm gonnadate a junior my first day.
No, no, no, no, no.
Like, like focus on thepeople that are around
you in your class.
Who are the most talented peoplethere that you really jive with?
Who are the people thatyou really connect with?
Like, what are theirhopes and dreams?
How can you guys worktogether and create a cool
class project together?
And 'cause those people aregoing to be the ones five

(47:57):
years from now that are goingto be the executives and that
are going to be a, a, youknow, a, a series regular.
Um, and, and you can sortof graduate together, uh,
if, if you really have thoseauthentic relationships
that you've created ata, at your, at the start.

In a way, I, I, uh, to, as an aside in a
way, you're going against thegrain of normal human thinking.
Uh, a lot of time.
I, I, I wouldn't say we, I,when I grew up, we, I would,
you'd find who was cooland who's not, who to pick
on, who to be friends with.
And it goes against that part ofwhat I thought was human nature.

(48:38):
Whereas you create thesegradations and you, you pick
and choose amongst them.
And what you're saying isamongst that group, consider
everyone to be interesting.
Maybe you attach yourselfmore to certain folks that
jive with you the most, butyou know, you don't need to
necessarily put down othersin this, in this quest.

(48:59):
Get like, 'cause all thosefolks, those folks will
be the one, you neverknow what will happen.
And those folks will bethe one that maybe out
of nowhere connect youwith all sorts of people.
And

Sandeep Parik (49:08):
then, or wanna be

part of that

tribe of yours, or you'll just have a great
time with them and you will, youwill like, at the very least,
even if you don't shoot to themoon, you will have an authentic
relationship with people thatyou really love working with.
Which is like in the end, youknow, kind of so much, it's
sort of becomes like the,like enjoy the process instead
of the result kinda thing.
Because I think wheneveryou're going like,

(49:31):
Hey, who's out there?
That's cool.
You're, what you're doingis you're like setting like.
There's like, there's likean extrinsic, uh, determinant
for what is good and, and thenyou are trying to measure them
up to that and then measureyourself up to that versus,
like, intrinsically feelingin your heart of hearts.
Like, who makes me laugh?

(49:52):
Who makes, who movesme when I see them?
Who am I always like, like,you know, riffing with at a
party and we just can't stopcoming up with gr crazy fun
ideas or, or joking with,you know, you know, or who is
like, who's reading my writing.
Um, just because they care aboutme and wanna see me succeed and
then gives me really great notesand really like, cares about it.

(50:15):
Like, that those are like,that's when you tap into like
what's intrinsically goingon with, with, with what your
own measurement for Cool.
Which should be as like,you know, like, yeah, I'd
say, who's impacting you?
I'd say

don't.
Yeah, don't underestimateyour own gut feel for
the kind of person.
That you, that that personthat could be your great
partner or great collaboratorwith go with your own.

I,

I would,

I would, I would even go so far as to
not, just don't underestimateit, nurture that gut feel,
connect with that gut feel,have conversations with
that, meditate with that gut.
Feel really under,go deep within you.
Understand yourself.
What are you tryingto do out here?
If you're coming out to LAand you just want to be the
next X, y, z or you just wannamake a bunch of money, like,

(51:03):
I, I think you're gonna havea lot, a, a lot harder of a
road than if you go, man, Ireally have this story to tell.
I really need to get this, thismessage out there, this, this
thing that happened to me, thatthis thing that's meaningful
to me out into the world.
Like, if that is yourmotivation, then like, and,
and, and by the way I say thisafter 20 years of, of doing it

(51:26):
the other way, truly, like, Idon't think I understood this.
For, for so long.
Really?
This, this is the advice thatI'm like giving to myself
or, or, you know, I, I thinkwe give ourselves that, that
I've advice earned every day.

Earned.
Yeah.
I think it, it's, yourealize much later, this
is what really works.
Um, not necessarily whatothers version of great is.
It's your own version.
Yeah.
So, hey, now let'sgo back a little bit.
Did, um, you were supposedto be, uh, a good, uh, Indian
son and when you went toBrown, you were supposed to

(51:59):
work in computer science.
That was your, that's whatyou got your degree in.
Yeah.
Right?
That's why, uh, mom and dadwere paying all that money to
go to, for you to go to thisamazing Ivy League school.
Indeed.
Um, but then youwent into the arts.
What got you sparked on?
Well, that's, that's

honestly interest, their fault,
fault for not knowing.
That's the, that's theirfault for not knowing
what Brown Universitywas or all of you or me.
Even I, none of us knew, Idon't think really understood.
We were just like, oh,is Ivy League school?
Yeah, it is.
Go to, of course,don't go there.
Go to Ivy League school.
Like there was no very good.
It was the only Ivy League I gotinto, and so it was just like
obvious that I was going there.
We, I, I mean, I didn't evenvisit the school beforehand.

(52:38):
Like, I don't know howthis, wait, wait, hold on.

Now that's not fair.
My, our parents talked me intogoing to the state school,
so to get a scholarship, so

right to school.
He's literally talking

to dad

about this yesterday and he still,
like, has this deeply heldbelief that you should go to
the cheapest undergrad andthe then go from the most
expensive graduate school.
Right.
So, yeah, you'reright, you're right.
He was, he was likeliterally just talking
about that yesterday.
Um, it was hilarious that,uh, no, but my, my point was,
is that, you know, brown.

(53:10):
Maybe unbeknownst to us wasthis like, is the most liberal
of the liberal arts, right?
So like they reallyencourage you to explore.
I mean, they encourage, it'slike, it is, it's so built on
like intrinsic motivations.
Like what do you want toexplore in, in our giant
curriculum offering?
You can take any classpass, fail you, you know,

(53:31):
they, you can drop outright before the final and
get, and get an incompleteinstead of a, a failure.
Like, they set it up sothat it's like, we are not
going to punish you fortrying something out of your
wheelhouse and re recognizingwhenever you do in that time,
uh, that it's not for you.
We're not going to,like, we want you to try

(53:51):
different things that isbuilt into the DNA of it.
And so I got there, I fell inwith these, with this wrong
crowd of, of wrong people.
These crowd of very badpeople, these, these very bad
improvisers and comedians and,and writers and artists and, you
know, these are people that wenton to be, you know, writers of
the Cobert report, writers onFallon, writer, you know, these

(54:12):
are like incredible people.
Um, and uh, yeah, Ijust started start.
It's actually kind of, itroots back to being your fault.
Rajiv.
I don't know if yourecognize this, but Okay,
I'll, I'll, I'll take it.
I went to HarvardSummer school one year.
Right.
So listen, I was the.
I was the, yeah, right.
I was the good Indian boy.
Right.
And why was I thegood Indian boy?
Because in fifth gradeI was getting b's.

(54:32):
I got like two B's orsomething like that.
And, and then you said tome, Hey, if you get straight
A's I'll get, you'll getbaseball card, you'll get
a set of baseball cards.
Knowing that, that wasall I wanted in the world
was a set of baseball,was was baseball cards.
And so then from thatpoint on, I was Mr. Like,
I'm getting straight A's.
I want baseball cards so badly.
So I was very extrinsicallymotivated by baseball cards.

Anyway, so, and I, and I only had to keep that
incentive for a couple years.
'cause once you got hooked

Yeah, you never got a beat again.
That's right.
Then, then I didn't get it.
But, but still, like, that'sfor whatever reason, you
went the other way when Iwent to Harvard Summer School
and you were like, Hey.
'cause I was like, I'mgonna take chemistry and
I'm gonna take physics.
And you're like, don't do that.
Take something weird.
Take, take creative writing.
And I was like, really?
Okay.
And so I did, I took creativewriting in at Harvard
Summer School, uh, my,my senior year or junior

(55:23):
year or whatever that was.
And then, um, I was like, it'sthat, that sort of started
the, the, the artist in me.
It sort of like litthe flame, I think.
And then, so then by the time Igot to Brown, it was like, yeah,
no, of course I'll get like apractical, pragmatic degree.
I'm not gonna, I'm not crazy,you know, or I'm not, I don't,
I don't wanna be disowned bymyself, Asian immigrant parents.
Um, I like, like.

(55:44):
So, but I am going to, youknow, try to join this improv
troop and see what that's about.
And by the time it got to senioryear, I really fell in love.
I made my first film over thesummer one year, and I really
fell in love with, to me how itlit up both sides of my brain.
Like I felt like for the firsttime really in my sort of
academic career, did I feellike the left side and right

(56:06):
side of my brain lit on fire.
As I produced a film, Ifelt like my logic side
was like problem solving,trying to figure out how
we're gonna get done in thisbudget and this timeline.
And then my creative sidewas just obviously, um, I.
I was like, how are wegonna tell this story?
Um, so yeah, that I just fell inlove with filmmaking and I told
mom and dad, uh, that I wannamove to LA and give it a go and

(56:28):
put my CS degree to the side.
And, uh, mom cried andyou gonna

Everyone (56:35):
make money?
Yeah.
That's okay.
We support you.
I still remember mom saying,okay, we support you.
She cried.
Jesus.
Something like that.

She's awesome.
Yeah.
Uh, she will cheer you on.
All right.
So that's, that was theorigin of the spark that
well, you never looked back.
Never went back and learned,uh, Python and Java.

Uh oh, I learned those things.
All those things.
Definitely.
Yeah.
I learned Python and Java.
Yeah.
So I learned all thatin, in retrospect, like
I almost wish I didn't.
I, I wish I saw CS as atool for art earlier on.
Yes.
And, and, and there are waysin which it has actually, like
you mentioned earlier, the,the interactive stuff that I,
that I did and, and my, I Iwas writing scripts and pseudo

(57:20):
coding, um, as I was creatingchoose your own adventure,
live action, um, story.
Uh, so that was, in a wayit did make use of my, I did
use my degree at some point.
Yeah.
I, I'd

say that in general, I think it's
really useful to learn,like being mathematic, to
understand the mathematicalside structured logic,
understand how to write code.
Um, I, you know, afterengineering, I, um, went
into, um, technology salesinstead of actually building
technology products.
And then later when I startedcompanies, I always saw it as

(57:53):
writing a set of procedures.
Um, you design your business to,as a set of almost code modules
where everything works together.
That's cool.
Um, where, where component,these are components that
need to flow together, right?
And so you wanna make itso that each organizational

(58:13):
unit or functional unitcan run on its own while
interacting with the others.

Mm-hmm.

So

I, and you want the, you want that code to be
extensible to a certain extent.
So if you scale, uh,that, you know Right.
You, you, you don't, youdon't break the, uh, the basic
infrastructure of, of, ofyour, you know, basic program.
Yeah.
So listen.
Yeah, that makes total sense.
You, you know, what I findwith, with my artistic
pursuit, and I wonder if youfeel the same way actually as
an entrepreneur, is that itsort of uses all parts of the

(58:40):
buffalo in the sense of like,all like I have, because of my
pursuit of being a filmmaker.
It, it, it is used everyexperience I've had growing
up and like nothing iswasted at some point.
Like, oh, someone's, you know,while I'm on set, people are
like, oh, you were a gymnast.

(59:01):
Can you do a back flip?
Yeah, sure.
Okay, great.
Let's put that in themusic video that we're
shooting, you know, likeeverything that I thought
was like, why did I do that?
You know, in my life,why did I waste my time?
No, it actually sort of cameback into the art in some,
some way, shape or form.
You sort of, you, you, you, youend up mining e every little
bit of your life experienceso that you can, you know,

(59:24):
pursue your dream of becominga filmmaker or, you know, tell
this interest story in the mostunique way or the most from you
point of view, way that you can.
I don't know if that's, that'strue of entrepreneurial.
I totally

feel that way.
I, um, I'm in growthmarketing, digital
marketing with a worldwideteam serving primarily.
Technology centric clients,even the dental clients or the,
even the more basic businessesare now technology centered.

(59:58):
And I find that in gettingto those clients, all the,
the sales skills I learnedwhen I was at NCR back in,
back in the day, national

Sandeep Parikh (01:00:10):
cash register, where I,

Rajiv Parikh (01:00:11):
where I went for a year of sales training.
Like they gave you a yearof graduate sales training.
Some of the most importantlessons I learned was not, not
just in, I was in that class andthen this amazing guy, uh, that
I should keep in touch with.
Rich Lutts, who taught me, uh,about major account selling.
And he taught me, he, he, oneof the great lessons he taught

(01:00:35):
me was, um, I was a salesperson.
I was running all overthe, the New England area.
Talking to all these bigcompanies, GTE, ge Pepsi,
trying to sell thesecomputing systems, right?
PCs and servers right there.
Mm-hmm.
The old Pentium PCs, four 80sixes and multi-unit servers.
And he sat down with meone day and he said, Rajiv,

(01:00:57):
lemme just teach you alittle bit about sales.
I've been at thisfor 20 plus years.
So say you're successful at,um, at, at Pepsi, and you
sell a bunch of machines.
You're sitting here inHartford, Connecticut, you sell
a bunch there, and then yousell a bunch here at, um, ITT

(01:01:18):
Hartford, which at the timewas, you know, har now the
Hartford Insurance Company.
What's gonna happento you next year?
I don't know, rich, I'lljust make a bunch of
money, hit my numbers.
He's like, no, Rajiv,um, they're gonna split
your territory in half.
And they're gonna get,you're gonna have to
choose which one you want.
So like I'm sitting, you'resitting here with the three

(01:01:39):
big insurance companiesthat are all it driven,
where you can work with me,I'll, I'll do the strategy.
You know, he's the seniorguy getting the strategy.
I'm this 20 old kid, somethingthat hardware, and he's
like, you can basically, wecan work together here where
you can literally focus onthese few places and nail it.
Or you can run aroundlike a chicken with your

(01:02:00):
head cut off all over thestate, all over the region.
What do you wanna do?
And it was like, wow.
You know, prioritize, pick a fewthings, go super deep in them.
Pick a community of folks.
I, I ended up, we've endedup building an account
team together that justwent after these insurance
companies, each one of uswith different competencies

(01:02:21):
and we made it work.
And so like tho those lessonsare with me to this day,

right?

Whenever I think of our folks where us running
around all the, we could takeon this client, that client,
this client this, that thing.
It's like, no, no, let's focuson particular areas where we
could be really awesome, right?
Because that you only have somuch time and you only have
so much energy to focus inone in, in a few places and
really differentiate yourself.
And even then, it's hard.

Yeah, exactly.
And that, yeah, that's whatI mean, I guess like, you
know, you never know whatlife experience is gonna
rear its head back into yourlife later and what sticks
with you and like yeah.
Everything that you think was,or something that you think was
totally a waste of time endsup being this useful thing.
I just feel like it's like yeah,using all parts of the buffalo
except that you're the buffalo.
Yeah.
No, I,

I, I agree.
I think you is, you need tobe able to go back, even if
you think something's wasted.
You never know when it'llpop up in your life, and you
have to be, I think part ofit is I dismissed many things
that I did and I don't, andnow I'm, as I get older, I'm
more open to those thingscoming back and serving as
lessons or good stories.

(01:03:27):
Yeah.
That inform where I'm going.
Um, okay.
We are, in terms ofself-improvement, what area of
your filmmaking craft are youtrying to work on right now?
Um,

so I'm, I'm trying to study.
Um, other independent filmthat's like roughly in our same
budget level to really get asense of what I find really
appealing about them, like whatthey do really well, you know,
with their limited resources.
How do they make, how does thismovie, let's take seven days

(01:04:07):
as an example of, of the moviethat I was just talking about,
you know, as a, it was a moviewhere two people had shot in
one location the entire time.
How did they make itnot feel claustrophobic?
You've at, at a certain pointin the movie, you kind of
lose yourself to the story.
And, and what I noticedwas it's like, wow, they
shot, they really shot thehell outta this apartment.
I mean, every angle youcould possibly imagine.

(01:04:28):
And it never feltstale visually.
And I thought that lent itselfto making the movie feel
like it had big scope, um,even though it was literally
shot in an apartment and.
You know, uh, part of thatwas actually, I watched that
movie with my community.
So I have this thing whereI have a Patreon that, uh,
if folks can, uh, sort of bewith me on the journey of,

(01:04:51):
of making this movie, if theycontribute to our Patreon,
and then they can watch thesemovies with me, and then
we have a little discussionafterwards and it's, it's,
and that's been so valuable tohave these conversations with.
The, the, the people that aregoing to, that have already,
many of them have also kicked,you know, kicked in for
the Kickstarter of course.
And so they're just like,like, it's like having constant

(01:05:11):
audience feedback of like,the, throughout the process.
Um, and that's beenjust genuinely so
inspiring and helpful.
'cause you're not getting,you know, notes and ideas
from executives who havelike, sort of the ulterior
motive of keeping their job.
Um, you, you're getting it fromthe, the fans that really love

(01:05:32):
and care about film or, or, andcare about your project too.
So they're really, like I,and I'm telling you that
they, the stuff that I hearfrom them is, is so, uh.
Valuable.
It's more valuable than,than, you know, a paramount
exec who's been, you know,or, or can be, um, you know,
just as valuable you is.
That's

the paramount exec that helps you
with your next movie.
No, no, of course not of course.
But your version of the, yourversion, the mohamad that's
coming out thing this a thing.
And

in fact, in fact, uh, you know, on
would say this too, whoworked at Paramount, which
is why I keep picking on it.
Um, but, uh, he would say like,you know, we're all in, in some
ways, we've all done the 10,000hours of watching content.
Yeah.
You know, so we have our ownsort of expertise around what
matters to us, what moves us.
We may not know thattechnicalities behind

(01:06:19):
how everything's producedper se, but we know
what is impactful to us.
So I'm constantly surveyingthat, um, with, with my
community, uh, uh, and theseagain, are the people that
are gonna be the loudestadvocates for it and the, and
the, the deepest supporters.
So.
I think it's, it's, it's,it's that, uh, I'm just trying
to really stretch myself.
Um, like really trying tounderstand my, sort of my, my

(01:06:45):
crutches and my go-tos, which,uh, tends to be goofy comedy,
uh, at times or, or sophomorecomedy or whatever it is.
And really try to getto something a little
bit deeper emotionally.
Um, and so, uh, yeah, justkind of just stretching
myself a little bit and,and, and, you know, making
myself a little uncomfortable.
'cause I think that'swhere the, the next sort

(01:07:07):
of iteration of, of, ofartistry will come for me.

I, I like that is in that dis discomfort.
Yeah, I like that.
That you're using, and I thinkyou're doing this even as you
are doing, uh, the movie, right?
Um, v's.
Guide for the afterlife.
You've documented.
For everyone that's supportedyou or hung your email list,
the process you've gone forthrough, uh, what you did to

(01:07:35):
get there, how much the net isafter you pay all the different
expenses for fundraising, right?
Um, they feel like they're onyour journey and they can then,
because you're transparent likethat, they can feed back to you.
I feel similarly about thecommunity I'm working with.
I think in many ways you'remore open than I am and, uh,
you just throw yourself outthere and I think your community

(01:07:55):
lifts you up and, and it's oneof the things we, I need to do
better, which is ask for help.

Um, it's very Brene Brown of me, you know?
Yeah.
Uh, just trying to be VAvulnerable, uh, warrior, uh,
leader through vulnerability.

Well, you know what we're gonna do now?
We're gonna go to the game.
Okay, great.
Are we still calling itthe Spark tank or you're
calling it the Spark Tank?
Welcome to theSpark Tank, right.
Today we're thrilled tohave our own very own
co-host, Sandeep Par.
Joining us in the hot seat,Sandeep has not read the script.
Sandeep your mind is afascinating landscape of

(01:08:40):
creativity from the cultphenomenon of the Guild to
directing web series andeven diving deep into the
world of tabletop RPGs.
With this se quest, you'reconstantly forging new paths.
This is the ultimate wordassociation challenge,
where every responseunlock a new dimension of
your creative process orreveal the colorful chaos.

(01:09:00):
When we open our brain ofa professional improviser,
this is where storytellingmeets spontaneous thought.
Where digital innovationcollides with the art of
human connection and we're asingle word, we'll unlock a
universe of unexpected ideas.
So here's how it works.
I start with a word.
Ep you respond with the firstword that comes to your mind.
Okay.

(01:09:21):
Okay.

I was like, okay, do I have to do a
monologue or something?
This is Okay.
No, just a word.
Okay, got it.
It's a lot of stuffthen, then I'll respond.
It was, and we'll keepthis, it was a monologue.
Got it.
To get to Word association.
Word association.

Okay.
And we'll go back and forth.
So, so Sandeep, are you ready tosee where your synopses take us?

Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay.
Let's see.
Oh, all right.
I'm gonna empty my mind.
This is gonna be,there is no speed.
There is no speed.
Really

big.
Really?

Uh,

unique New York.
Unique New York.
Okay.
Is that, is thatsomething I should learn
to, to speak better?
Okay.
Here we go.
Play

Everyone (01:10:00):
improv, acting emotion, authenticity,
vulnerability, depth, richness.
Richness.

Go there.
Why did you say richness?
Richness.
Why did I say richness?
Richness.
Uh, well, I guess I was tryingto dig deep and I think that
if you dig deep, it's wherethe, it's where the, the
juice, the juju is, it's wherethe good stuff is, right?
So you go to the depths of yourconscious brain or subconscious
brain to dig for story ideasand you'll find a rich, fertile
ground of, of, of unique

stuff.
That's where play is at itsgreatest when it's uncon,
when it's unsupervisedunconstructed on just play.
Yeah, I think, I thinkthat's beautiful.
Okay, next one.

Okay.
Character actor,craft macaroni and cheese.

Amy's.
Amy's Oh, oh, organic.
Oh, hippie, uh, mushrooms.

Colorful.
Oh, oh, okay.
Uh, spectrum wavy, uh,surfing aquamarine.
John

j Jason au What?
Alright, explain thatone J. Oh, Jason Mao.
He played Aquaman.
I like that.
Uh, it's, I don't know,

the first thing Did you really like,
did you like Aquaman?
Uh, uh, Aquaman.
That was for me.
That was an airplane movie.

It was, it was, it's exactly where I watched it.
And I love Jason Mi. Um,and uh, I like the first
one lot, so I enjoyed

it.
Second one's

cute.
I, that's the onlyone I've seen.
I I didn't see the rest of themand, um, yeah, it was great.
I, I think I'm on

longer

flights than you are, so that's why it is.
I did meet Jason Mihaat a convention You did?
Uh, and we had anincredible conversation.
He's such a lovely guy andhe was so easy to talk to.
We like just RIFed for forever.
Um, but I was taught, he's sotall and so when I was talking
to him, I literally, like, bythe end of our conversation,
I finally like, put my headdown for the first time and
I like this massive crick inmy neck and talking to him.

Okay.
This trigger something for me.
You've actually been on ashow with Robin Williams.
I have.
Who is probably to any improv orcomedian, one of the greatest of
all time, if not the greatest.
He's, he's Mozart.
He's Mozart.
How was that experience?
I mean, it was transformative.

Um, uh, he wa you know, I worked for,
I worked on the crazy ones,which was the, the, the
final show, um, uh, right,right before he, he passed.
And, um, I workedon it for four days.
I was like the main villaincharacter to his hero.
So we were like squaredoff, head to head.
It was really,really fun episode.

(01:13:08):
I got a bunch of sceneswith him, a bunch of scenes
with Sarah Michelle Geller,um, and it was just, uh,
he, he was, he taught meso much in those four days.
Um.
Was he always riffingthe whole time?
He, well, he, he was havingauthentic conversations
the whole time.
So like, you know, there wasa lot of times that we were

(01:13:29):
standing there getting, uh,you know, rehearsing and we'd
rehearse our scene and then,uh, you know, typically they'd
say, okay, second team on.
Um, and so that just meansafter we do our rehears
clocking rehearsal, usuallyour like, kind of body
doubles like second team.
It's like people that are sortof the same height and maybe
usually same skin color ishbecause you have the light

(01:13:50):
for, for, for us would step on.
But Robin.
Was was like, no, I'll stay.
And I was like, oh, if Robin'sgonna stay, I'm gonna stay.
Yeah.
You're not going anywhere.
Yeah.
So me and Robin werejust like, start chatting
about whatever it is.
And he just was he, he wasso, again, he was just so
authentic and he just liketalk about, he loved comics
and he talked, he loved Zelda.
So we talked about likeBL meal, all these things.
And so we had all these greatconversations and he knew

(01:14:13):
everybody's name on set.
He was like thankingeverybody by name to like
catching up with them.
And you just notice this, likethis real, I, you know, I don't
know how he was earlier inhis career, but it felt like
to me that, you know, whetherhe came to this or whether he
was always this way, there wasthis, I. Such level respect
for everyone around him,for everything that they do.
And this, this, this feelingwhere he just didn't take

(01:14:35):
an ounce of it for granted.
Like he just, he feltlike, it felt like he was
treasuring it the whole way.
Um, and he just was so cool.
Like there was one, there wasthis one moment where we're,
uh, uh, me and a bunch of theother Casper who were like day
players we're all sitting in a,in the room in like the break
room chatting and talking aboutlike, Hey, what were the movies
that he was nominated for?
And we were like, trying toremember all the movies that

(01:14:56):
he was nominated for, foran Oscar for, and as we were
like, we're like, was it this?
Was it that, um, we hear fromthe back, we hear from the back
like, who was Bicentennial Man?

And it was Robin Williams making
fun of himself as ifBicentennial Man was the one.
So he was listeningto the conversation all

time

and he

just like jumps in and it was just, he was such
a, such a delight of a human.
And just, yeah, I think justnever taking it for granted
was something that I, that,that I really, I really learned

from him.
That's amazing.
Um, I think our producerwill let us do one more, so

Okay.
Um, uh, gaming,uh, last of us, I don't know.

That's, yep.
Mm-hmm.
Last of us.
It's a video game

last of us.

That's a,

that's a t that's a TV show on HBO.
The last See I know.
So little by gamingmultiplayer game.
Is it a multiplayer gameor it's just a game?

Yeah, I was gonna say Mario

Kart.
It's okay.
Mario Kart Tortoise.
Uh, tortoise.
Shell flip, uh, of gymnastics.
Pommel horse champion nadia com.
Oh, perfect.
10. Simone Biles.
Hmm.

(01:16:20):
Uh, uh, struggles.
Okay.
Comeback story.
Uh,

Hoosiers.
Hoosiers.

What are your favorite comeback
stories of all time?
Uh, I should have said Rudy.
I was like, comeback.
I was like, Hoosiers was aHoosiers a comeback story.
Um, what are your,I mean, Simone Biles
has gotta be up there.
What are your Yeah.
Simone Biles, right?
Simone Biles hasgotta be up there.
Absolutely incredible.
I mean, talk about a chatalk about how, uh, s

(01:16:52):
someone who man led, ledthrough vulnerability, right?
Like Yeah.
She let it out there.
She let, low was low.
People know she was Yeah, Imean in, so, and the things
that were set about her, uh,after admitting that she was
having all these mental healthissues and struggling with
being in the limelight thatway and then just come back

(01:17:12):
and kick so, and winning itall so much ass and winning.
So, I mean, likethat is to me, I.
The what, what a triumph, what,what a way to, um, to, to,
to demonstrate resilience onthe largest stage imaginable.
That is, that's incredible.
Um, and so, and soand so inspiring.

(01:17:34):
That's awesome.

Yeah.
That's awesome.
Alright, I will, I'm gonnaask you one more question.
Okay.
And then we're gonna,we're gonna maybe even
act like co-host again.
We'll see.
Tell me the secondthing that you love.
Not the first thing,the second thing.

Hmm.

Say I guess I,

I, the first thing I would
say is being a dad.
Um, and so then forthe second thing that I
love, it's performance.
It, um, specifically.
Uh, man.
Do you love being on stage?
Is that fun for you?
That sweet, sweettaste of the audience?

(01:18:17):
Laughing at something you riffedup at the top of your head is,
is the most like, uh, dopamineinducing feeling on the planet.
Like, you just feel you, likeyou said something or you, you,
you created something in themoment through improv, even like
as you in standup or whatever.

(01:18:39):
And, and then the audience,it rips through the audience.
That feeling is, is unmatched.
I love that feeling.

It's incredible.
Compared So you primarilywere improv more recently
did the most Yeah.
Stand up.
Stand up.
I love sending yourclips to people.
Especially cool.
Especially your, your, someof the ones like sw thick.
I think Indians love that.
My American friend,all friends love that.
They think it's hilarious.
Um.
Would you, could you pickone over the other or are

(01:19:10):
they just two differentSi Two different kids?
Yeah.
They're two different kids.

They're, they're, they're just, they're
just two different kids.
I mean, I, I, you know,improv is my first love,
so like, I had to choose.
I would, I wouldn'tgive that up.
But, um, yeah, there's.
Like improv is like moreof the team sport, right?
It's like, it's more likeplaying on, on like on a
volleyball squad squad ora base or basketball squad

(01:19:35):
or something like that.
Like that's like when you're,you feel like you're, you're
in community as you likebuild this incredible thing.
And, and, and, and peoplelove it where standup is a
little bit more like, probablylike gymnastics or something.
You're like up there solo,you're like, alright, I hope
I land this flip perfectly.
And I pointed my toesthroughout, you know,
and I hope I don't fart.
Oh God, here we go.
I'm the

leotard.
Ready.
Yay.

You know?
So, uh, and so it's, it'svery vulnerable and the,
and those highs are very,very different, um, than
the, than the team highs,you know, but both wonderful

things.
Yeah, no, this was great.
Um, uh, I know we cookthis one up 'cause we just
haven't had a chance to doan episode in a long time.
And I think, yeah, I've misseda, you know, in many ways.
Yeah, in many waysI think people.
Or those who listen.
And I've gotten so much amazingfeedback from people, right?

(01:20:27):
And a lot of them werelike, Hey, where's that
guy that sounds like you?
That, that basically, you know,makes all that geeky stuff
interesting and comes in fromanother angle and all that.
And I was like, well,well, let's do this one
together and get you back.
So I, I'm really gladto have you here.
I

help all the budding entrepreneurs who want
to really like, dig deep ina go to market, cut literally
anything out of this episode.

Wait a minute, this is not
all about go to market.
This is about innovation.

Sandeep Parik (01:20:54):
About innovation,

and innovation has go to market in it.
And I think there are many,many lessons about how to
build yourself up, buildup a community, how, uh,
when there's establishedmechanisms for getting
something you want funded.
Funded, and then there'sunconventional ones.
And the unconventional onesreally make you, you have to

(01:21:18):
go out there in a way that you.
Probably you're takingeven more chances, right?
Yeah.
And I, and I think that'swhat's remarkable is that,
and let me say this about

the other of, about those un unconventional
ways too, real quick beforewe bounce, is that, at least
in the way that we did itwith crowdfunding, the major
difference between that andgetting funded by Comedy Central
and my prior shows stuff isthat I get to own it all.
We get to own the creators,get to own it all.
And I gotta tell you, afterhaving do a, doing a 10 year

(01:21:46):
battle to get back the legendof Neil from Comedy Central.
To so that, just so Icould put it on YouTube.
Oh, that's all, all, allI wanted was for people to
see it and not have it beburied and lost forever.
You're not even using it.
It's on the shelf.
You're not, you don't evencare about this project.
The website, it is dead.
The website thatthey have was dead.
I was like, I will giveyou whatever you want.
You can have all the revenue.

(01:22:06):
I don't care.
I just want people to see it.
The website's gone like,please let me see it.
Let's split the up.
Whatever.
That I, we don't have todo that for De Se Quest.
We don't have to do thatfor Vid DIA's Guide.
We get to be the owners ofour art, and that is, man,
it, it may not be as, youknow, much money or whatever.
I mean, in some ways it,it seems seemingly like it

(01:22:27):
might be, but, um, you know,it, it's, man, there's,
there's nothing like owning,owning your art that is,
or owning what you build.
I, I think that thatreally is meaningful.
Yeah.

I, I think in a way it is.
If I were to abstract it to thebusiness world, it is nowadays
how a lot of businesses aregetting themselves funded.
They're out there reaching,they're telling people about who
they are and what they're up to.
Yeah, they're not necessarily,they're stealth for a
little while, but then they,eventually, they put out
their technology and tellpeople about the journey and
people join in based on that.

(01:22:57):
So actually a lot of thedevelopment today is letting.
The world know about itand letting the world
decide upon it as you

go.
Yeah.
People who, who really care orwill be moved by your product
or service that really need it.
Like if those are the onesthat are contributing to it.
Oh my God.
I mean, you see all thisstuff on Kickstarter,
people funding their, theirproducts and stuff like that.
Oh, well, by the way, justto close the loop on the, the
legend and Neil story tookme 10 years to get that back.
You know who, you know, whowas the person that ended up.
Signing the deal fromthe, the Business Affairs

(01:23:27):
on Comedy Central.
It was a guy that, because itwas 10 years later, who was
a kid watching the Legend.
And Neil, he loved it somuch, he then, he then was
like, oh, I'm, I'm talkingof the legend deal guy.
And he goes, I'll get,I'll cut you a deal.
That's the only reasonwhy we got a deal.
Oh my God.
It was a fan that gotus a deal in the end.
Oh,

what a great guy.
That's awesome.
That's, that's agreat way to close the

loop.
Love your fans.

Love

your fans.

Joe loved your fans, and you still
keep emailing them.
So that's still out thereand they're still with
you and they're stillshowing up at events.
So, uh, that, that's atestament to, to building
great content, great material,and a passionate community.
So, uh, thanks Sandeepfor joining us.
So Sandeep usuallysays the show is.

(01:24:15):
I don't have itmemorized, but yeah.
The show is

produced by AAN Shah, uh, and, and Me.

Rajiv Parik (01:24:23):
Yeah, there you go.
Production assistance by TarnTalley and edited by who's
editing it these days is SeanMaher and Aiden to Sean Mar. And

Aiden.
And Aiden.
Great, great.

I'm your host, Rajiv Farik from Position
Squared a a, an awesome AIgrowth marketing company
based in Silicon Valley.
With all this agentic AI stuffcombined with people, come
visit us@positiontwo.com.
This has been an effingfunny production and
we'll catch you next time.
And remember, folks.

(01:24:58):
Be

ever curious.
Be ever curious.
I must said, be the changeyou want, be change.
Wanna be the changeyou wanna be.

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Bootstrapping a Community Wildfire Response/Sandeep Parikh - Altadena, Crowdfund, EffinFunny ~ Spark of Ages Ep 36

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Bootstrapping a Community Wildfire Response/Sandeep Parikh - Altadena, Crowdfund, EffinFunny ~ Spark of Ages Ep 36