003: Ashkan Karbasfrooshan (Founder, WatchMojo)

Ashkan Karbasfrooshan on Innovation City

“I said to myself, ‘Now is the time.’ There’s no ideal time to take that kind of risk.” — Ashkan Karbasfrooshan

Created and produced by SLAM! Agency in conjunction with Venture Cafe St. Louis and Venture Cafe Miami, Innovation City gives you an inside look at how rapidly business and culture are changing thanks to increasing diversity and inclusion, heightened creativity, and a stronger and better-connected business community.

In this episode of Innovation City, Tyler and Michael talk to “content godfather” Ashkan Karbasfrooshan, CEO at WatchMojo, the 10th-largest YouTube channel in the world when measured by all-time views (10 Billion) and subscribers (16 Million).

Ashkan has a track record of launching, building and scaling content companies with advertising supported models. After his previous company, AskMen, sold to News Corp, he bootstrapped WatchMojo to profitability as a leader in the online video market. Ashkan is also the author of “The 10-Year Overnight Success, An Entrepreneur’s Manifesto: How WatchMojo Built The Most Successful Media Brand On YouTube.”

They discuss:

• The difference between your vision and your mission
• Building something sustainable
• Creating ‘a video on every topic’
• How interviews can help you establish rapports in different industries
• Top-10 Lists
• Starting horizontal, finding your footing, and going vertical
• Success is: relative, fluid, and subjective
• The first 6 keys to success: Vision, ambition, execution, persistence, luck, and timing
• The 7th and final key to success: focus
• Timely content vs. Evergreen content
• Becoming the best at video
• Licensing videos
• Casting a wide net and building bridges
• Putting yourself in a position to succeed
• YouTube vs. Facebook: The Walled Garden Problem
• Viacom, Vidcom, and YouTube Creators
• Building Relationships with Copyright Owners
• Copyright Law and Fair Use
• Finding Balance between personal life and work life
• No such thing as an overnight success
• Sacrifice

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