๐๐พ Hi friends!
Well Iโm back in Italy to take in some air, some sun and a fair amount of heat.
Itโs been a tremendously trying 6 months on a lot of fronts and itโs always worth remembering to give yourself time to reflect, regroup and recharge.
And, letโs face it, with views like these, why wouldnโt you?
Whatever youโre doing this summer, whether watching the Olympics or building your business, I hope you get the opportunity to take a break and justโฆ Breathe!
As you know, Iโm well underway writing about all the things Iโve learned from the last couple of decades as founder, CFO and CEO, so sign up for early access to Off Balance – The Book and feel free to share with anyone else you think might enjoy it ๐. Iโm setting myself the target of getting through a large portion of it whilst Iโm away in Italy during August – wish me luck!
Now letโs get down to businessโฆ
๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐บ ๐๐ผ ๐ฑ๐ฌ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ด๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐น๐๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ข ๐ผ๐ป ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด
I’ve talked to a lot of VCs and venture backed founders on Nothing Ventured, but what about the success stories from folk who’ve taken a different path?
On our latest episode, I spoke to Amman Ahmed, founder of MusicForPets, a bootstrapped business producing relaxing music and TV for mans best friends to help with a range of anxiety issues, think of it as Netflix for your pets, or just Petflix!
MusicForPets exited to Create Music Group in 2023 and Amman remains as President for MusicForPets and VP Business Development.
Prior to founding MusicForPets, Amman founded rormix, an app to help you discover emerging music and roundwaves s network of YouTube channels that focus on making music to help you sleep, relax and concentrate.
What did his journey look like?
๐ฐ Took VC funding.
๐ญ His team told him he was useless.
โ๏ธ Quit and built side hustle of his side hustle, completely bootstrapped.
๐ Streamed to 50m pets globally having spent only FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS on marketing over 7 years.
๐คข Got courted by investment bankers who tried to sell him to pet food companies.
๐คฏ Found an email in his spam that led to an 8 figure exit to a globally renowned record label.
You. Could. Not. Make. This. S#it. Up.
โ Want to know what happened next…?
Check it out on YouTube!
Else listen on Spotify or Apple
If you have any feedback, or if thereโs something youโre desperate to see me include, just reply to this mail or ping me online – Iโm very open to conversations.
If you like what Iโm putting out, do give me a follow on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram.
(If you are trying to connect with me on LinkedIn, maybe read this post I wrote and make sure to start your request with โOff Balanceโ and, more importantly, tell me why youโd like to connect ๐ช๐พ)
Donโt forget to like, rate and subscribe to Nothing Ventured on Apple, Spotify or YouTube, it really helps more people see what weโre doing – you can find links to these (and more including my Office Hours) right here!
This edition of Nothing Ventured is brought to you by EmergeOne.
EmergeOne provides fractional CFO support to venture backed tech startups from Seed to Series B and beyond.
Join companies backed by Hoxton, Stride, Octopus, Founders Factory, Outlier, a16z and more, who trust us to help them get the most out of their capital, streamline financials, and manage investor relations so they can focus on scaling.
If youโre a CFO working with venture backed startups and want to join a team of incredible fractional talent, drop us your details here.
If youโre a growing startup that knows it needs that strategic financial knowhow, drop your details here to see how we can support you as you scale ๐
As always, my office hours are open, if youโd like to chat about anything finance, tech or venture releated, just grab some time ๐.
I hope you found Off Balance #46 valuable. As always, Iโd love to get your feedback and understand the sort of topics you would love to hear about.
Just hit reply to this mail or drop me a line at [email protected] and let me know ๐
๐And thatโs a wrap for this edition of Off Balance – Iโd appreciate your feedback so just reply to this email if youโve got something youโd like to say.
๐จ If you think someone else might love this, please forward it on to them,
๐ง Finally, if youโre a fan of the Nothing Ventured podcast, please donโt forget to like, rate and subscribe wherever you get your pods – it really helps us spread the word.
Thatโs it from me so until next timeโฆ
Stay liquid ๐
Aarish
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