In this livestream‑style monologue, Colvay (Kaveh/Cauvay), an "Inspiration Engineer," argues that aspiring creators and entrepreneurs must first build a tangible brand asset—typically a mailing list, podcast audience, or CRM database—before seeking funding or fame. He critiques the common mistake of chasing money without a solid audience, explains how the asset is measured through engagement metrics, and emphasizes that investors fund the mastermind behind a product, not just the product itself. Using the example of venture capitalist Arlen Hamilton, he illustrates that relentless work ethic can compensate for a lack of pre‑existing assets. Colvay promotes "relationship acquisition"—viewing sales and marketing as relationship building—and advises focusing on direct channels like email and podcasts rather than social media. He also advertises a limited‑time training on organic marketing and asset building, urging viewers to engage via comments and hashtags.
Chapters
What up, what up, what up? It's your boy, Colvay, Inspiration Engineer. You already know what it is. I'm gonna get right into it. I'm gonna just make this thing short, sweet, to the point. Wasn't planning on doing this content today, but ran across this gentleman, his post, and I'm sitting here going through this conversation right now, and I'm seeing this problem show up so many times that I'm like, look, Kaveh, you gotta educate the people 'cause they just don't know. The problem is everybody wants to get money on the front end. The problem is everybody wants to create amazing content. The problem is they wanna be the asset, but they haven't figured out how to build the asset. So first and foremost, put, if you're here, if you're rocking, if you're watching, put in the comments, hashtag replay if you're watching the replay, put in the comments where you're from, where you're located, where you're based. We're about to get into this and I'm gonna just be 3,000% transparent. Blunt and raw and real. So if you want bluntness, you want rawness, you want realness, and you want truth, you about to get it. Because this is what I specialize in, is making sure that people that want to build what I call a legacy-driven brand, people that want to build a personal brand, can actually build a personal brand, which it does take money to build that, but you need to build an asset. And so I've been talking with a lot of podcasters and people that— this gentleman doing a radio show, I'm gonna read you what he said, and then you'll understand the principle and the philosophy of what is wrong with with a lot of people that don't understand how this whole thing works. So here's what it says. I have a friend with an internet radio business who's debating open it up. However, there's some wrinkles in the situation. The biggest wrinkle is that due to the situation, there's a small monthly fee. He's in the process of determining that fee and will reach out. And then he goes into it. How much would it be worth to you? Uh, the station has an award-winning blog and the station currently receives about 70,000 hits. Currently it's growing. So, then I said, "All right, I don't really understand the challenge." I was like, "Is he talking about hosting it? What is the challenge?" He says he's trying to find a way of funding it. Okay, funding it. So, what did he just say? He's got a 70,000-person blog asset, which is the mailing list, that can be leveraged. But what we need to know is out of that 70,000 log, how many people are engaged? How many people are opening the emails and reading the blogs? How many people are buying products? How many people are connected? How many people? We need that data. See, that's where your asset is. So either your mailing list, your podcast list, your blog list, so on and so forth is the asset, or, you ready? You become the asset. You say, well, can you give me an example of that? A musician, an influencer, a celebrity, he or she, a Kanye West, right? Has a crazy brand because people are connected to him. So now he is the magnet and the mailing list. Mm-hmm. Does that make sense? But it's the list that becomes the asset. So somebody would say, all right, Kaveh, so are you telling me that without the asset, are you saying I cannot get funding? It's a good question. I'm not saying that. And by the way, if you tuned in, make sure that you let me know where you tuned in from. Put in your country, say your name, say what's up. If something resonates, let me know it's resonating so I'm not just talking to myself, but I'm ranting because this is real and I've seen it so much. So the question then becomes, so, Kaveh, are you saying that I cannot get funded without the asset? No, that's not what I'm saying. I just finished a book about a woman named Arlen Hamilton. She's a— I use this loosely— self-made venture capitalist that comes from the music world, but she had a VC invest in her to launch her programming, Backstage Capital. But this woman put in the work. See, a lot of people are trying to get the— they're trying to get the money, they're trying to get the funds, but they ain't put in the work. They haven't done the work, and that is the problem. Got to put in the work. Facts. So I've been doing this for a long time. Terence Anderson, my God. Facts. I've been doing this for 21 years, and these are facts. So if you're not putting in the work— so this, this particular lady, Arlen Hamilton, shout out to Arlen, uh, Backstage Capital and and Founders Jam, if you're watching. But, you know, put in the work. Came from the music business, being a roadie, learning all these things about the business, and then took all that and said, "I wanna be a VC," learned VC, and just started hitting it hard. Her story is phenomenal. But my point of that is she did the work. So even though she didn't have the asset, she did have a successful blog and some other things, but even though she didn't have an actual asset to invest in, her brain became the asset. So they invested in her because of her work ethic and her grind. So then they did it. Now she will tell you she talked to thousands of people before it happened. So then you play the numbers game. Yeah, if you go talk to 3,000, 5,000 people, you might get one or two, maybe. But I'm trying to tell you, it's much easier. It's much easier to just build the asset, build the brand, and be the brand. So I put out a training. It's going to disappear at 3:00 PM Central, which is in about 2 hours and 15 minutes. Go watch it right now because I share with you organic marketing, what I call relationship acquisition, which is the mastery of building great relationships, aka sales. If you're asking somebody to take an action, go check out my link, go check out my music, go check out my book, whatever you got, you need to master relationships. Sales is relationships, marketing, relationships, business deals, relationships. You need to master it. Yeah. So a lot of people don't understand just this whole dynamic. They're like, man, I'm trying to get the funds. I'm trying to get the money. I'm trying to get the investment. Then you've got to be the asset or build it. Facts. It's just, I'm like so passionate about this right now because it's really frustrating and it doesn't frustrate me. It's just like, man, so many people don't know this. And to me, it's like, it's 101. It's just real and raw. It's just 101. Right? It's just Business 101. Build the asset. Build the asset. So let's talk about building the asset. Your passion, as you can hear, that's why he's talking about I love the energy because it's just I'm passionate about this. And the other thing now, now I want the one last thing and I gotta go and I gotta let y'all roll. But you know, the saying is solve a pain, solve a problem, solve a need. And that's great. Musicians, entertainers, artists, actors, Yeah, you don't really solve a pain. They'll say, well, like, well, people are bored. No, I don't go watch a movie 'cause I'm bored. I don't listen to music 'cause I'm bored. So if you are in entertainment, which Covey is in edutainment, if you're in entertainment, you provide a once in a lifetime experience. Does that make sense? Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. So again, that is your magnet. That's what you magnetize people to, which is your voice, which is your creative talent, which is your boom. But you need to put all the people that connect with you into some sort of, and I use this loosely, database or CRM to where now you can connect with them and talk with them on a regular basis. Podcast, email, not social media, not social media. Podcast, get the— like, if you have a podcast, you're regularly connecting with them. I do these lives till I like to connect with y'all. Uh, getting the email address means that now you have the access of the opportunity. We don't say lead, I don't like that word. We don't say like your lead, I just don't like that. An opportunity, it's an opportunity. So, getting people to connect with you and then communicate with them on a regular basis, okay? That is the asset, period. Make sense? Now, last thing I'll say, 'cause society got it wrong. They say venture capitalists and people invest in technology. They don't. That's a lie. They invest in the mastermind, which is the executives that built the technology. Does that make sense? Yeah. So, that's another example. They're not— they are funding the product, right? That is facts. In addition to that fact, in addition to what is real, they are funding the mastermind that created the product. That's the way it works. So that is another example of when you— like, if you're a startup, you don't necessarily have a following and an audience and all that. Maybe you've built the MVP, maybe you have not. So that's another example that came to my mind right now that I wanted to share. So somebody's like, well, what about an MVP, Kaveh? What about that where you're not fully monetized? You got investors and angel investors that invest in that. That is true. But again, you're putting in that work. You've got something of tangible value to say this is worth X. Does that make sense? So many people don't got that right. It's just facts. So anyway, with that said, hopefully that served you. Hopefully you're like, yeah, I'm rocking with that. I appreciate everybody for tuning in. If you're watching the replay, This will be up for 24 hours. Put hashtag replay, put in your country, your city, where you're tuning in from, and let me know. And until the next time, it's your boy, Cauvay. I love you. I appreciate you. Bye.
