Eddie Vaca. Eddie’s the founder of Amp Live, a company that can generate thousands of online viewers for your live event. Eddie worked for Youstream before deciding to take over the online live video space on his own. Listen in as Nathan and Eddie talk selling your first company, generating 300,000 viewers for a 20-minute show, and why live video is taking over the internet.
Famous 5
Favorite Book? – The Hard Thing About Hard Things
What CEO do you follow? — Jack Dorsey and Gary Vaynerchuk
What is your favorite online tool? — Grope bots
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No
If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? —You can’t do it by yourself. Surround yourself with great people.
Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:30 – Nathan’s introduction
01:48 – Welcoming Eddie to the show
02:08 – Eddie created his first digital publication aged 24: it was an action-sports lifestyle publication that was published via DVD
02:45 – AOL bought it for $25k
03:20 – Eddie’s embarrassed about the price now - but it was a small win that got him some momentum
03:45 – Got involved in a digital out-of-home screens business
05:12 – Moved to Youstream aged 30 to learn everything he could about digital online
06:08 – Youstream raised around $60 million and sold for around $120 million - why didn’t it sell for more?
07:30 – “Video is huge - it’s taking over the internet. And live is everywhere.”
08:04 – “The biggest problem people see today is that driving live channels outside of sport is really tough. Amp Live helps people move into those channels.”
09:10 - Amp Live is largely bootstrapped. Have raised a small friends-and-family round of $100k
09:40 - Revenue in 2015 was $1.3 million. Generates revenue by “selling eyeballs”
10:15 – Charges broadcasters to generate viewers for an event
10:50 – Customers include Martha Stewart, Microsoft, runways shows for New York Fashion Week…”If it’s live and it’s video, we want to be in there.”
11:58 – Generated 300k viewers for a 20-minute runway show
13:30 – Aiming to make every broadcaster a direct distribution partner
14:05 – Hoping to make around $3.9 million in 2016
14:44 – Connect with Eddie on Twitter or visit Amp Live
16:20 – Famous Five
3 Key Points:
Video is taking over the internet. Live video is going to be the next challenge.
Not everyone ends up on TechCrunch, selling their first company for millions. Be proud of the small steps you take and the gradual successes you build up.
Surround yourself with amazing people and help them to grow.
Resources Mentioned:
Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts.
Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible.
Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+
Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives
