In today’s podcast, we have with us, special guest Austin Craig. Austin got his start in YouTube by acting in a video for the brand Orabrush, which makes a special tongue cleaner that rids your mouth of bad breath. From this one YouTube video Austin has had opportunities to work with numerous brands and has helped them sell millions worth in product. We conclude the interview talking about his production company & how it has been recently hired by Brigham Young University to produce a series all about creatives.

We cover the following topics:

• What was it like when YouTube first released the ability to pay for advertisements?
• How can a company adapt to stay relevant with evolving social media platforms?
• Why you should consider the specific strengths and weaknesses of a platform before producing content on it?
• Why content is KING, but distribution is QUEEN?
• How to choose wisely team members and co-founders?
• And my personal favorite takeaway which was a formula to use when you want to win people’s attention and get them to act. Which is entertain, educate, organize and mobilize.

Watch Austin’s first big video with Orabrush here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFeb6YBftHE or watch when him and his wife decided to live the first 3 months of their married life entirely on bitcoin: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbH8Bfnki5l9fveNrxdMw6w

Feel free to reach out to Austin on Facebook www.facebook.com/austinmichaelcraig or at his website www.austinmcraig.com

For updates on show times and future guests connect with me on Instagram, Twitter or Snapchat all at the handle of CultOfStartup.

This episode is brought to you by Audible, which is a service I have used for years because I am not the fastest reader. In the time it usually takes an average person to complete a book, I take about twice as long. This is why I prefer to listen and digest great reads through audio.

And I have a book recommendation for you! One of the most eye opening audiobooks I’ve listened to is “The 22 immutable laws of marketing” by Al Ries and Jack Trout. Which left a huge impression on how I perceive marketing and what startups can do to avoid falling into the trap of a “me too product” along with a variety rules any business should be aware of.

All you have to do to get your free audiobook… and free 30 day trial is go to audibletrial.com/cultofstartup and you can choose from their selection of over 180,000 titles that range from books to magazines, you name it. Go to Audible and snag yourself a book! YOU LIVE!

Today’s guest is Chris Kelsey, a high school dropout who left school with only six months left to go during his senior year. Now almost 2 years later his company Appsitude.com is set to gross over 4.8 million in revenue for 2016.

His business has built 100 plus mobile applications amounting to over 50 million total downloads. They have grown from a small team to now nearly 50 employees located around the world. Can you believe he's still a teenager?

We go over some topics that a lot of young entrepreneurs come to terms with such as:

• What is the value of a college education?
• How to deal with parents when dropping out of school?
• Knowing who you will be and sticking to your gut feeling about the future.
• How do I network when I’m young?
• How to come over personal constraints we set on ourselves?
• And what resources are available to all entrepreneurs who are willing to do a simple google search?

We also talk a lot about of how the world and our inner ego will set limits on what we can achieve and ways to dismiss those thoughts and roll forward with where we wish to be.

I hope you all enjoy this journey I went on with Chris, it’s one hell of a ride.

We all love links and here the ones to find Chris on the inter-webs! Email Chris@appsitude.com or Instagram @itsapptime 

YOU LIVE!

How many times have you wished you were more environmentally conscious as a consumer? Brett Edwards aka Mr. Eco can teach you how through rap! While in college Brett started free style rapping for fun, under the rap identity of “Mystery E” and one day while at lunch with his sister and dad they suggested, he should start rapping about the environment. And thus, Mr. Eco was born!

Since that moment Mr. Eco has performed at 270+ elementary/middle school assemblies to 135,000+ children in The United States, St. Lucia, Taiwan and Hong Kong, his YouTube channel has over 730,000+ views, he funded his second album “Renewable Rap” via Kickstarter, and sailed from Bermuda to Iceland with 5 Gyres studying ocean plastic pollution. That’s what I love about Brett, he is a passionate individual with a mission to empower youth to make a change in the world.

Get ready to learn from the following topics and questions:

• What it means to empower an individual and not necessarily just inspire them
• Why is it so hard for us to make changes in our lives?
• What you can do right away to start contributing to the protection of our planet?
• How to handle the haters or hecklers while performing?
• Why you should start your business now and not waste any time thinking about it?
• Current events, such as the recent governmental ban on micro bead in face wash and tooth paste.
•  How you should approach running a successful Kickstarter campaign? Along with some strategies and tactics to use along the way.

Additionally Brett references a blog post by Tim Ferris on how to hack Kickstarter funding, here is a link: http://fourhourworkweek.com/2012/12/18/hacking-kickstarter-how-to-raise-100000-in-10-days-includes-successful-templates-e-mails-etc/

Here is a link to Mr. Eco’s Kickstarter campaign for his second album: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/74628798/renewable-rap-mr-ecos-worldwide-youth-album.

If you are looking to invite Mr. Eco to perform at your school, please reach out to him at MrEco@MrEco.org he can also be reach on Twitter or Instagram at the handle of @MrEco or better yet, watch his music videos on YouTube.com/MrEcoOffical, oh and his person website is MrEco.org

Deuces! 

Today’s guest is Jessica Santana, who is the co-founder of New York on Tech, a startup where it is there mission to prepare the next generation of technology leaders.

Jessica is a great example of leaving corporate to pursue a startup. And what makes her story so interesting is that her experiences working as a minority in corporate inspired her to develop New York on Tech. Not to mention her parents are immigrants that came here to help their family achieve the American dream.

We cover the topics such as:

• The gig economy and why parents should be paying more attention to it.
• How the education system is broken simply based on the fact they limit students by not offering enough hands on learning.
• The need for students to be exposed and inspired by potential opportunities that they have post graduation.
• In the long run, why skills matter the most over the theoretical learning?
• How to create a business model in ed tech?
• And much much more.

Give a shout out to Jessica on social media twitter: @JessWorldwide or her startup website: http://www.newyorkontech.org/

Thank you as always for listening, you guys are the best. Enjoy!

Craft wine is booming and today’s guest is in the thick of it! We welcome Sarah Kraft, co-founder of Hillersden Wine to kick off July with a bang. Hillersden has been able to accomplish some mind blowing results within a short period of time.

In this episode we cover topics that include:

• Why is it important to get involved in entrepreneurship at the college level?
• How jumping into a startup can be a way to discover your true passions?
• Doing vs planning?
• What is the difference between US and New Zealand wine?
• When a shopper picks up your product, what is the story you are telling them?
• How to execute marketing in niche locations that you might not normally think of?

If you’d like to contact Sarah Kraft you can find her on Twitter/Instagram @Hillersden/@Hillersden, Facebook facebook.com/Hillersden or order direct from them at www.hillersden.com