Sam Feldt On Hitting 2 BILLION Streams, Being REJECTED & Taking HUGE Risks

What's going on, guys? Marian here. And it's time for a new chapter for those that have been following me for a few years right now. You know that my content started as strictly fitness content since I was 19 years old. As I've developed over the years as a person, started gaining some success with the businesses that I built and then hit a point of burnout last year. It was time for a change. My mission is now to help you win at life one day at a time. Fitness is just one piece of that puzzle. Now with my new mission comes a new format. In this show, we're going to talk about what it takes to live an unconventional life, to make up your own rules, and how to achie a high performance lifestyle. We'll talk about mindset, entrepreneurship and all things personal development to help you grow and learn from real people who have been there and done that. So welcome to the Meringue show. I'm joined by my lovely co host, Marioline, AKA Lenny.

Hello.

Today we have a very special guest for this first episode. No one other than Sam Feld.

What's up? Happy to be here.

He is one of the biggest DJs on the planet. Multi platinum selling artist with over 1 billion total streams on Spotify, which is unbelievable. And next to being a DJ and producer, Sam is also an entrepreneur at heart. He owns a record label, Heartfelt Records radio show, the Heartfelt foundation, which is a nonprofit for sustainability. And he's one of the founders of the game changing platform Fangage, which I personally have used as well. And so we're going to talk about that today too. Sam, thank you so much for taking the time today. Happy to be here.

Well, happy to be here. Like I said, Almost 2 billion.

Almost 2 billion. That's ridiculous, man.

Wow.

Crazy.

Amazing. Congrats on everything, man. That's so amazing. And we've known each other for a couple of years. Yeah, it'll be cool catching up today because as I said, Sam is not just a dj, but he's a real entrepreneur and he's been doing this for a very long time. So we're going to dig into all.

The good stuff today and the bad.

Stuff and the bad stuff. So, Sam, I'm wondering to give the people kind of like an idea of what your life is like, what did this past week look like for you?

So it's Wednesday now. On Monday, I flew to Croatia, did a show at Palm Tree Festival, played just before Kygo. That was really awesome. We're part of the same management company, so it Was really fun to see everybody again. And then last weekend, I had a show in Arnhem, in the Netherlands. In between, I've been kind of running the acquisition of my company, Fangage. It's been acquired by Trellor, so we're doing this whole process around converting the investors, transferring the shares. So it's a lot of legal and notary work. So that's been going on. And of course, we're also working on. On releasing new music. So I've got two releases that we're now focusing on on Heartfelt Records.

Awesome.

From Seinfeld. And I just signed a new record deal, so it's all casual.

And I signed a new record.

Yeah, yeah. It's been a busy week.

Congrats. That's sick. And so this past year, like, how many countries have you been? Or like. Like, how many shows do you do?

I don't keep track, but, you know the app Bowler steps on your phone, which tracks where you go, and it's kind of like a traveling app. So I installed it. I don't have it anymore, but I had it installed. And in the first couple of years of touring, I used to travel at a speed of 65 km per hour at all times. So even while I was sleeping on my own bed, the average was still 60. So maybe that tells the story I used to do before COVID 150 shows abroad per year. So that kind of outlines the volume.

Wow. Yeah. That's a lot, man.

It is a lot. Yeah. Yeah.

Is that going to. Been going on for a couple years, or has it like. Obviously Covid was there.

Yeah.

So was it as many shows before COVID or is it even more now than before that time?

We're trying to be a little bit more selective now with the shows that I do and don't do and, you know, see if it makes sense logistically, you know, healthy financially, of course. So there's a couple of, you know, factors that we weigh a little bit heavier now than before COVID Of course, when you start as a dj, you need to do anything, everything and anything, because you simply want to get your name out there. So that was in 2015, 16. I was really running, running, running. And I feel like right now it's a little bit more of a strategic decision where I play and where I don't play. So it's a little bit less, but it's still up.

You're still running?

Yeah, yeah, still running. Yeah.

So I remember last time we were having dinner here, it was the COVID period.

Yeah.

And then you were like, had zero shows that was. It was already a couple months into the.

Couple months in. Yeah, I think it was the summer of 2020 or something when we met. Yeah.

Like, how did you feel afterwards, like finally being able to do shows again.

It's weird how quickly you adapt to, you know, going back to that, you know, like the first couple of months, of course it was special again. It was like being able to fly again, like doing these shows after two years, but, you know, after a couple of weekends you get back into that same groove, to be honest, and it starts to, you know, feel like normal again, which of course it is normal. It is normal to travel.

Yeah, we've been doing it for years.

Yeah. Yeah. So I'm happy to see that we've been able to adjust fairly quickly again after the pandemic.

Yeah, that's good, man.

Yeah.

So, yeah, I think it's good to go back to like where you all started because it's really cool to hear where you are now. And it's quite unrealistic for people also obviously, like this lifestyle that you live, like, where did it start? Like let's say your introduction with music, but also entrepreneurship, because I believe entrepreneurship actually came first for you.

All right. Well, I mean, it depends. I was always like, when I was, as a kid, I always was entrepreneurial in the sense that I even created my own company selling to my neighbors. So I was just. I would create this like broach brochure with like cutouts of products that I found, you know, somewhere else in another brochure. And then I would mark up the price and try to sell it. So that's always been in my, my heart. I started my first company when I was 13 years old, so I was still a minor. I had to drag my dad to the chamber of commerce to get registered. You can't just register a minor, you're a child. Yeah, yeah. But no music came a little bit earlier. I feel like I've been DJing since I was like 8, 9, had my own drive in show. So I just asked for like when my birthday happened, I asked for like money. Buy a new smoke machine, new stroboscope, like disco lights and I just play like parties with my friends. So that's how that kind of started. My first company was a E commerce business. So a drop shipping business even before it was cool. So I'm 29 now. I was 13 then. So that's over 15 years ago.

Wow, you're one of the pioneers.

Yeah.

You see everybody like Doing these ads now.

And I was drop shipping before it was cool.

Before it was cool.

So projectors and camcorders from China, we white labeled those and created a brand called Calium. Sold that company when I was 15. So two years later, learned a lot.

How much?

For almost as much as I spent. So it was a loss. Still.

Still cool.

So I learned a lot of lessons early on because I was still in school, so I couldn't manage the company properly because I was in class. So customer support people were calling me, hey, where's my delivery? While I was getting a class in German so I couldn't pick up the phones. I had to hire a call center, got too expensive, so I had to manage my costs, which I couldn't do. So there was a lot of things that were going wrong, but also a lot of learnings at a very young age.

Yeah, yeah. What are the main things that you learned there at that age?

You could say, well, don't spend more than you make or that you can reasonably spend. You know, like keep an eye on your burn rate, as you would say it in startup terms. Because you know, of course a company is there to make a profit, otherwise you launch a non profit, which I did as well. But it's a different story. So in the end you want to keep a close eye on your margin. And that's not something I was even taking into account. I was just running it.

And where did that first interest come from? Like why start a business at that age especially?

Yeah, it's a good question. I think I realized early on because my parents never had a lot of money. They had a job, but I was always quite restricted with what we could do because of the amount of income that they had. And I also saw friends and other members of my family. They had a lot more money and they could do more fun stuff. It was very. At a young age I realized that, you know, in order to do stuff that you like to do, you need to have a certain income. So I think that's something I realized when I was still a child. And that always, you know, kind of stuck with me and it led me to start my own business. Yeah.

How did your parents feel about you starting your business? And did they. Do you think they had an idea about how busy you were? You actually were like getting calls during your German class or.

I think they kind of knew. I think they've always been very supportive. Like my dad literally came with me to sign for this company and he was like, I trust you, but he's Also reliable for any costs or any losses that I would incur because I was a minor. So there's a lot of trust involved. So I think they always try to support me in any way. But, like, for example, for my mom, it's like, it's very hard for her to understand, like, what types of situations I was dealing with when I was 13, 14 years old, because she'd never been in those situations.

Also was obviously on the Internet a lot.

Yeah, on the Internet, something, you know, like, that was not very familiar. And then also, like, coming into situations where she would get very scared, like, are you sure? Are you sure you want to, you know, buy this supply or this, like, this product? Are you gonna be able to sell it again? What if you don't, like, do you have enough money, like, all that stuff? And it's. It's quite scary, I guess, for parents, when they're not entrepreneurs themselves, to see their kid at a young age doing all these crazy, crazy things. Yeah, yeah.

So your parents are more trying to avoid some risks and you're really trying to take more risks. Yeah, financially.

Yeah.

And I think maybe. Maybe that's also why I did it, is because I felt that, you know, what do you have to lose? So I know that there's always going to be a way to, you know, get a job and make a normal wage. And, like, there's. I mean, I finished my degree, so I mean, I can always go back to that. What did you study? I studied. It's now called Business Innovation, and when I finished it, it was called Advanced Business Creation. It was only.

That sounds cool.

Yeah, yeah. It was the second year that degree actually existed. So I was one of the. I was after the pilot class. They didn't even have the accreditation yet. And then while I was studying, they got the accreditation and. Yeah.

You feel like you learned anything there?

Oh, yeah.

What did you learn most? Yeah, also.

Yeah, because all of the teachers, they were actually people that were either entrepreneurs themselves or they worked at, like, high positions in companies. So that was a big difference from strictly theoretical book research to really doing projects. We did all the projects we did. There were actually four existing companies that had actual issues, and we actually had to present those solutions to those companies as well. So I learned quite a bit. And also the social aspect is just nice at that age.

And I get the part of risk because it's the same thing for me. I did not finish my study, but I dropped out of university when my business was already doing well and I was earning way more than I would ever with a 9 to 5, you know, not even if I became like a doctor or anything or a lawyer while I was doing like marketing and sales study. And so at some point I realized too, you know, what is really the risk for me to start its own business and to go for it because I was still living at my parents place, you know, so I had like. Now I realize like how lucky I was, you know, and how grateful you should be if you're in that position, if you're a student and you can just do a side job, side gig and start a side hustle while living with your parents. They cook for you, they do the laundry. Like you throw the risk down and it somehow ends up back in your closet, like magically and that magic goes away.

It's a free hotel and very little responsibilities.

Very little responsibilities, you know, so take those risks. And I'm not saying everybody that obviously quit something, quit university or anything for no reason, but for example, like start next to your study or next to the other things that you're doing. The biggest risk is just losing time, right? But we don't actually lose it because you learn all these valuable lessons that you would not have learned if you spend the time on something else, right?

No, I think you're gaining time, you know, if at a young age you start making those mistakes. Because it's better to make them when you're 13 than when you're 30 or 60, you know, because by then you might have kids, you might have, you know, a wife, you might have a mortgage. And then it's suddenly a lot more risky, you know, maybe there's a lot.

More at stake if you make a big financial mistake when you have a complete household that you have to manage.

Yeah, exactly. And I'm not saying you should take on multimillion dollar debt when you're 13, but you know, if it's small, if it's manageable, if it's a small business, go and go and do it and try and fail. Which is great because, you know, you don't have to make the same mistakes ever again.

Exactly. So how did you move from starting that first little drop shipping business to the next thing?

So I sold that when I was 15. I'd always been a big nerd, so a lot involved in web design, web development, all those, those type of things. So I was a web designer basically. So I, I did it for other people freelance, but I also launched some, some of my own concepts, had like some Internet properties and stuff like that. And then Launched a agency together with two other guys, which was more like a digital marketing agency where I did design, another guy did development, another guy did marketing, which lasts for three months because we weren't as good of a fit as we thought. Also a lot of lessons learned there. Like we signed a three year lease on an apartment. Oh, not like an office, like in an office building. And after three months we broke up and we stuck with the lease. So I had to take on a lot of student debt to pay for my office that I didn't use. So lots of lessons there. And then kind of moved from there into, well, the music business. That started when I was, you know, around 17, 18. Yeah.

How did that start?

As Dr. Papasov. That was my previous DJ name. So I have always been a DJ since, like I said, since I was 11. Like drive in shows and stuff like that. When I was on holiday with my friends in Portugal when I was 17, went to a club, a real club for the first time. Saw a DJ there, Billy de Clit, and I was like, wow, this is fucking cool. Like he's. He's able to show up like Alba Fair or something.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And he Kiss club. And he doesn't, he didn't, he didn't even have to carry his own stuff. So I was like, pull up with a USB stick and just plug it in and play and control like the room. I was like, wow, that. That's the type of DJ I want to be. So from that point I started taking it more serious.

What age was that?

17, 18. And then started producing as well. It sounded like shit, but I was doing it. And then it took me another four to five years, I think before I launched Seinfeld and got my first record signed to Spin in. So that was. So I'd been DJing since I was 11. Restarted it when I was 17. And then at 21, I think I got my first break, you know. Cool. Yeah. And before that it was just begging, like, can I please play in your club? Can I warm up?

Can you carry your own stuff to the club?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, carry my own stuff. Like even I spent a summer in Turkey where I had to literally promote the club in the streets, pull people in, and then when I had enough people in, then I could play. So I was both a promoter and a dj.

That's cool for people to hear because you wouldn't expect that.

And I did it for free. I did it for free. I paid my own flight.

Yeah, because you loved it. You wanted it so bad, you know.

Yeah, I think that's cool for people to hear because everyone's got to start somewhere. And also, you're not there, like, in a heartbeat. It takes years. Took you years, right?

Yeah, no, 100%. And people don't see those years. So that's. It's. I mean, it's cliche to say, but, like, keep pushing. Because there's plenty of times where I said to myself, sam, what the hell are you doing, man? Like, you've been trying to DJ for three, four years now. You're not getting booked. Nobody wants to pay you to dj. Maybe you're just not good enough, man, and get a normal job and call it. Call it quits. But then, you know.

Have you ever been on the verge of quitting?

Yeah, many times.

Yeah.

And the last deadline I set for myself was when I finished my degree at college or university. I said, okay, that's gonna be a point. Right aside, okay, after my degree, I'm gonna pursue music. I'm gonna pursue a normal career or maybe my web design business or whatever. And then I still remember, like, in May is when I graduated and amazed when I signed my publishing contract, which was the first recognition that I got externally. Like, hey, you're doing something right, and this could actually become your career. So that was just enough sparkle. It wasn't a lot. It was. I maybe signed a $2,000 deal and, like, it was. Yeah, but it was something. There's something there. Just enough to keep going. Yeah.

That's the first impression that you get. Like, wow, like a $2,000 deal. If I can do that, I can also do this times 10 at some stage. Because when you're an entrepreneur, there was no limit.

Exactly.

So I guess it gave you some confidence. Like, if I can do this.

Yeah.

We can also double it and double it again.

And you have to find, like, and celebrate those small successes, which is also a cliche, but it's very true, because at the beginning, they might be very small, and they need to give you enough confidence and enough of a boost to keep going. Yeah. And if you only think like, hey, okay, I want to go from 0 to 100k, you're going to be very. You're going to be very demotivated because it is a long road.

You're going to feel like you're failing every time.

Exactly.

Because you didn't reach that one big goal.

But, yeah, I mean, I still do.

So it's probably worse now than it was when I started. It's like, I was so happy with, like, let's say on social media with getting a couple of comments. Right?

Yeah.

And now when you get like 100, maybe it's not even that much now. Or when it comes to your income. Like I started with online coaching, so maybe my programs were like €200, but I also had a side job where I was making €8 an hour or less than 10.

Yeah.

So that was unreal for me. And so like how happy I was with my first sale. I will not be as happy. You know, when I hit like 100k, I was not as happy as the first sale. Which is, which is kind of crazy.

No, true.

But I think maybe you could tell like even like making multi millions.

It's like you're.

You're some stage. I don't think you're that same anymore.

I think there's a. You're constantly competing against yourself. So the bar is constantly set higher. Which also means that you have to work harder and reach bigger goals in order to get that same dopamine rush that you got. Exactly. Aren't your first, you know, when you saw your first course, which is why it's so addictive, you know. And it's also the trap. You know. I'm sure you're aware as well. I'm aware too that like if you, I mean you are an addict, you are an addict to success and it's. And it's. And it's the same with drugs. The more you take, the more you need. So it's. And you have to be aware of that because otherwise you end up a workaholic or a junkie or in burnout. Right.

So you're going to be very unhappy.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So. And I think that's, that's, that's something that you need to always get in imbalance or. And people say, hey, you don't need balance. I think you do need some sort of balance. Yeah. And I think the balance is for me is not about tempering my expectations or my ambitions. It's more about living in the future versus living in a moment that's like. And I used to always only live in the future, which led me to never live in the present. Which in the end, you know, if you die is a pretty miserable way of have lived. Right. Because you were never really there.

Yeah.

For it. And it sounds very. Well, I'm sure you cover meditation as well, which sounds mystical and spiritual. But in the end it's not. It's just living life and being here for it instead of not being here for it.

If you Think about the best moments when you're in this state of flow, as we can also call it. Those are the best moments, you know, and when you have a conversation with someone you're not thinking about, like in this podcast now, you're not thinking about, what am I going to say next? Like, am I going to say the next thing? You're, like, in a state of flow, and then you get a good experience with people. But I believe the same thing is for yourself. You can train yourself to constantly get back into that moment during the day, but it's tough because situations happen and things happen. So it's easy to fall into that trap of thinking about just the future. Then there's the other side of people who only think about the past.

Right.

Both sides of the spectrum. Now, last year, I did have a burnout, and this was actually something that I was doing a lot, like constantly worrying about the future. There were a lot of things involved as well, but this was definitely one of them, as you say. That has really helped me connect, you.

Know, and there's no. There's no. You can really go tunnel vision on it because there's no answer, because anything can happen. Right. So if you want to make yourself crazy, go down that route. That's the way to go. Because you're never going to find the answer because you never really know. And that's more maybe also the beauty of it is looking at it more as if your life's a movie that you're watching unfold, then you have to direct every scene of it. And that's also something that I had to let go of because I am a control freak in the sense that I love things like biohacking, which we spoke about. And that's, in a sense, also kind of like false hope. Right. Because who knows, I might die tomorrow. And then I've lived this great, healthy life, and I take all the right supplements, and I did, you know, cold plunges and all that.

And then I guess it was all optimal.

Yeah. And then I'm planning for the future. And then you get hit by a bus. Yeah. And of course, those things are all great.

There's a fine, fine line, fine balance of it.

And I think they're great for. As a tool to feel better in the present.

Yeah.

You know, but then make sure that you're there for it and not just looking at the future.

Yeah.

How did you learn all this? Because from what you're. What you're telling, it sounds like you didn't always live like this. So was There a certain moment that made you change your thinking or is it more gradually?

It's very gradual. Like it's. Well, there's a couple of moments I literally got hit by a car. So that then you're, you know, my. I broke my tibia. I couldn't walk or play shows for two weeks, two months. Was stuck in my mom's house because I couldn't even enter my own house anymore because I had the stairs. So that was, I mean, making a breaking point. Kind of literal break. But it made my mindset different. Covid definitely helped because it's also like this break, this emergency break. Right. But my standard mode is always going, going, going, going. So it will forever be a challenge or a battle against myself to keep, you know, staying in the present, not go too far, don't take on too many projects because that's not how I normally am. So it's. I'm not there yet, I'm never there.

You know, consciously remind yourself to live in the moment or to do your meditation practice or.

Yeah, yeah. And that is difficult because that's obviously one. One part of the puzzle. But then there is the other part that if you only live in the moment and you only focus on those things, then you don't achieve what you have achieved. Right?

True.

Because you also need to work friggin hard.

True.

So there's like two sides to the.

But you can only do that in the moment.

That's true.

So. So if, if you're worried about something in your business going wrong, the only thing you can do productively is in the moment. Fix it. Right. Worrying about it is not going to fix it. Right. So then you're still in the moment.

That's very taking care of business.

Right?

That's very.

Right, yeah.

Think a few steps ahead. But if you're thinking too too many steps ahead, you're gonna overthink everything because it's impossible to know what will happen.

And maybe take, take time, take 30 minutes for planning and then execute set goals. Instead of allowing yourself to think 24 hours per day about the future. Say, okay, I'm gonna spend an hour thinking about the future planning and then I'm gonna let go of that. And in the moment execute on those things.

Yeah.

Otherwise it can be very dreamlike and.

You never get into action. Execute. That part is really important.

Yeah, 100%. Yeah. Otherwise you're just dreaming. Yeah. Which is sometimes nice.

Which is also good. At some stage you need to do something to make the dream a reality.

True.

So like what Would you say are some of the most important things you've learned about or changes in your mindset that have helped you get to where you are? And obviously now you're in a more. That was kind of the point I was trying to make with the hard work. I feel like that's how it is for most successful people. They are now at a stage where they have sort of like a security or they made loads of money and they have a name for themselves. And then they can worry a bit more obviously about the perfect balance and about taking rest and all those things. But how was it for you starting out? Do you think that's also a good strategy when you're starting? Or is that how you started? Or were you like. Like, what would you say are the biggest things there?

Yeah, I think it's. It's a little. It might be a little different. Like, it depends. Like, if you're. Indeed, if you're 13 or 15 or 18 or 20 or, I don't know, like early 20s. Like, I'm now 29, so I already consider myself to be old, which maybe same.

Same age matters. I've been feeling it last few years.

Yeah, yeah. So, so, so. And I. I think those lessons count at any point.

Yeah.

Because. Because, you know, you can never work in the future, you can always work in the present, and you can always spend too much time dreaming or being stressed about a future you cannot control. So I think those lessons are valuable. But of course, I mean, if you're just starting off, you need to hustle, you need to put in the work, you need to make sure that, you know, stuff actually happens. And the other side of it is, like, if you never really get to executing or the first step. And I think a lot of people are stuck in that phase where they have a great idea and maybe they've started writing a business plan, but they haven't started the business. And I think especially if you're still young, why not just start and learn along the way? And I think that would be my main, type of. My main piece of advice is to just start it. Take the first step and take the second, and don't look at the end yet. You know, when you. When you have a business that is solid, you might look at an exit or whatever, and of course it's nice to dream about it, but just go register the company. Just go sell your first, I don't know, course or product, whatever, you. And then learn as you go. Yeah.

What would you say to people that are really afraid of failure?

Yeah, I think that's the main question is, like, what are you afraid of? And, of course, I mean, like I said, there's always a calculated risk. And I think that's also the game of entrepreneurship is taking risks that other people don't want to take, because that's where the magic kind of happens. And, of course, look into things like insurance. Look into things like. But don't do that before you start. Just start. If you start, there's very little to lose and a lot to gain. Right. Because you don't have anything yet. So unless you're going to take on a big loan, like 10 million, and you don't have any plan to pay it back, might be a little risky. So, look, definitely talk to your lawyer about that. But most people don't start like that. They start with, you know, buying $500 worth of stock and running your first Facebook campaign or selling your first. Getting your first coaching client or whatever.

That's very true. I agree with your point. Although there is this other fear of failure part that maybe you experience yourself a little bit more as well. It's maybe the fear of, like, what will other people think? That's a fear that I've had a lot as well.

Yeah, well, that's what external Sam said. Like, if you're afraid of failure, you got to ask yourself, what am I afraid of? I think that's one of the most important questions, because if people say, oh, don't be afraid. Just do it. That's good advice. But it doesn't work unless you have evaluated, like, what am I afraid of? And if you're afraid of huge debts, then it's easy.

Don't get into debt.

Yeah, yeah, don't get into debt. But if you're really afraid of.

How are.

What are people gonna think if I'm doing this? They might think I'm crazy or stupid. Then that's something that you can work around as well. But you cannot do it if you don't know what you're. What you're scared of.

Yeah. And maybe that's my own, like, my own vision on it, because I. For some reason. I don't know, maybe I'm crazy, but I've never had those thoughts. So I've always. I was just. I don't. Like, I've never cared to be honest. And I know, for example, Michelle, my wife, she's now launching a company. She's very considerate of what are people gonna think? And it's very hard for me to get into that mindset because I've never felt it. So for me, a risk is always like something concrete, like debt or a lawsuit or like a fight with your business partner. Maybe also a little bit more male versus female. I don't know. I think it's easier, I think, sometimes for a man to be very, you know, practical, switch off emotions for a little bit. But, you know, on the other side, like, if there's. If there are things in your mind that you need to deal with, those are more like blockers inside of yourself, and then it's good to question, okay, what am I afraid of? And so what? Right.

Very good. Ask yourself that question. If you're at home sitting now and, you know, I want to start something.

Yeah.

What is holding me back? You know, I mean, and it's difficult to fight. It's not that easy as asking yourself, and you know it directly, but you might probably think that pops up is probably the thing that's holding you.

Yeah, yeah. And if it's something external, I would always look at the alternative. Right. So the alternative is you play by everybody else's rules, you never get criticized. But, you know, if I don't take. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's. And I think then looking back at your life and maybe 50 years, you're gonna feel regret. And that's, I think, the last thing you want to feel when you're old and maybe too old to start. Right. So why not take the risk and fuck what people think?

Yeah, yeah. What works for me really well also is instead of thinking it as me, myself, I think, like, what if my friend wanted to do this, would I think that he. He or she was stupid? Because I don't know why, but certain values. Yeah, we're hard on. At least I can be hard on myself, and I can be so different when I'm talking to somebody else and really supportive, so.

Yeah, no, exactly. I think that's a really good way to look at it because that places you in the third party instead of, you know, like, the ego. And the ego's always very protective about itself, like, afraid of attack from other people. So if you. If you place it outside the ego and just ask the question, like, is this a stupid idea or not? No, it sounds. There might be some. Some merit in it. Okay, let's do it then. You know, and maybe sometimes it helps to get, like, a co founder. Right? Because like, a lot of businesses that are successful, they're usually not run by one person, and they can help each other, you know, push through when the times get tough. Or when they get insecure and, you know.

Yeah. If you know each other's weaknesses, then you can. You can act on it. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

That would maybe also be good. Good tip from my side is don't try to do everything yourself, which. Which counts in many ways, but also when it comes to founding the company, because especially if you're having issues taking those first steps, having, like a training buddy, like a workout buddy. Right. Pulling you to the gym, keeping you accountable.

Yeah.

And you both, you know, you both share something so big that you both want to really succeed at. So that brings me to my next point, and we've talked about this a couple times. For me, you've given me some great advice on growing my team over the years. A lot of other things that I've struggled with. Sam has always helped me out greatly. And I'm wondering for you, like, I should just say having a co founder is great. Having people that you work with, like, how do you find those people? Like, how did you find your first co founder or someone that you work with?

I think in the beginning, you just roll with it. Right. My first co founders were just people that I knew from where I grew up, and they were one of the few people that would actually were entrepreneurial in my small town of Boxall, where I'm from. So let's do something together. Because you just pick the best of the worst. You know, like, not saying they were the worst, but it's like you. You have a small group of people in your network and just say, hey, this guy wants to run a business and start a business, I want to do it too. Common interest. Let's do it. So, and then I think as you grow your network, you can get a little bit more picky and you come across people that are, you know, more complementary in skill set that, you know, might be in the same industry, might have more experience than you. I always. When you. When you want to. When you're launching, like, a tech thing, a tech startup or like a tech product, you always want to have somebody involved that knows tech. Right. If you don't know how to code, get someone that knows how to code. If you do know how to code, get somebody that knows how to sell or market, because those are the skills that you're gonna need, the product and the sales. Right. So I think as you kind of trial and error a little bit, you get better business partners and you make mistakes, too. I made mistakes as well.

Okay, what are some of those?

Well, the wrong co founder having to buy people out or realizing after the fact that, you know, like, you make a certain plan, but then they don't, they're not accountable or they're not putting in the same amount of work as you are. Things like communication issues, like different ways of communicating. I think those are all things that you kind of figure out as you go. And it's. I think it's impossible to not make those mistakes, because I think so too.

You gave me all the perfect advice back then, but I still made the mistakes.

Yeah, but I had to learn from.

It, and now I get it.

And I was like, it's the same as just happens when you hire somebody. Right. So you can take 10 job interviews, but you're never going to know until the first day or the first month if it's actually the person that you need. So you just need to try it out. And there's, of course, some things you can do to minimize those risks, definitely. Like work freelance first. Work together on a small project before you dive into the big one. Like work with the people that you worked in the past with, that you have good experiences with, with. So there's some, some things you can do definitely, to minimize your risk.

I think that's a very good point as well. Like, start small, you know, because when you're. Very often people start business together, and I've done this as well at like a younger age, when you're very excited, enthusiastic, maybe someone like, like a close friend or someone at your school or maybe even family, first start out small, you know, because you don't. It all sounds great on paper. And when you're, when you're friends with someone, you know, you get into the flow and you're like, wow, this is, this is amazing. It's gonna be it. But then reality kicks in of life, and I think that's, that's crucial.

Yeah, you see that also with the biggest companies in the world, like the PayPal mafia. Like, you see the guys from, like, Elon Musk, Keith Robos, like all these guys, they, they, they, they started and then they had success, and then they started another company with someone from that company, and then it was a success. And then you kind of build a record. Like you build like a paper trail, and you say, okay, these guys actually do their job and you run something else with them, and then the chance of success increase every time. Because you know what everybody's worth, you know.

And we want to say congratulations on your marriage.

Thank you.

That gives me a question. Growing a team, but also you work together with your Wife.

Yeah.

Any tips? It's my girlfriend.

Not my wife.

Not my wife yet. Like, I was looking at that. This looks like a fairy tale. Yeah, it's amazing, the wedding. So.

I don't know, like, I think it's the same. It's kind of. It goes against a lot of the advice that's out there. I've started businesses with all my friends, which they say you should never do. I started businesses well with my wife. You know, we run the label. She runs, like, marketing. And I think the same counts there. Like, start small. Like, we. Like Michelle, she started like, doing stuff for Fangage. And then I realized we could actually work together and communicate on a business level. So then she took over the whole operations there. And then once she figured out that was not the perfect fit, but she wanted to do more with music, you know, I knew that those qualities that she had within Fangage would be very beneficial in the label. So then you kind of build it up. And now we run the label, we run publishing. Like, we do a lot of stuff together, but it's only because you started somewhere, so. And I don't know, like, I think it's a lot of fun to work together as well. And I think it's a lot of fun to work together with your friends as well.

Yeah, true.

Like, I don't need to separate business from pleasure.

Because you love it so much.

Yeah, I love it. And it's. And it's also fun. Like, I think it's fun to talk with my. My friends or with Nick, my co founder in Fangage, about. About business and not just our business, but also like, his business is mine. Like, you can. You can go take your relationship a little bit deeper than just having fun with your friends, which is, of course important, but I always like to. Yeah. To take it one step further.

Yeah, that's interesting. I think we feel the same way. And we've been also, like, trying some different things because she's a photographer. Done a lot of photo and video things together. Together. And sometimes a little bit like. Like, should we do this together? Or then it's. Maybe you're together all the time, so then it becomes like, maybe too much.

I think that's. I think that makes. Makes it work for me as well. It's. It's also the fact that I'm still touring. Yeah.

So you just have a little bit of separation. Exactly. Yeah.

And that keeps it fun in business and privately as well. And you have stories to tell each other outside the stories that you already know because you're important. Yeah, that's true.

I find that important too. But it's a lot of fun doing it together. And you know each other so well that, you know, it really strengthens each other 100%. That's right.

It's impossible to keep it completely separate anyways because yeah, like you want to know what's happening in each other's lives and especially since you're both trying to. Yeah. You're both entrepreneurs. You're going to, you're going to talk about what's going on in your business as well.

So you're always busy with it in your head too. Like with your mission and what you want to do and your passion. And I think it's very passionate people.

So it's a lot easier to, to keep things separate when you have like a 9 to 5. I guess in the sense that because you can, you can literally close the book and then say, okay, now it's time for us. Right. Well, that's very challenging if you both run a business. Right. So you have to be able to communicate also on that level and understand like what it's like. Because I think otherwise there could be a lot of misunderstanding around the situations or the stress or maybe even the freedom to take a day off. That could also be like if you have a partner that works a nine to five, you decide, I'm gonna go to the beach today. Because it also has perks. Sometimes we talk about the stress and.

Like I wanted to ask you, like, has there ever been moments where you think like, I wish I would just have a 9 to 5 and I would just be done at the end of the day?

Yeah, I mean that thought comes up quite often.

Same.

But it never really materializes.

It's not a serious thought though. No, it's like a little imagination of.

And you've never actually had a 9 to 5. Right.

So no, I had a part time job before. So I know what it's like to work for someone.

Oh yeah.

But it's not like nine to five at all. And I think we always think that the grass is greener on the other side. Right. So if you're working a 9 to 5, you think that guy is running his own business and he's making a lot of money and he's like constantly on holiday and they don't see the stresses that come with that. But on the other side you can also like romanticize taking a full week off. When is the last thing you ever done that like, or maybe you did it recently?

I'm Embarrassed for her birthday. But that was a few weeks ago.

That was fine.

Five days.

Yeah, that was a lot.

A week.

Is not even. But let's say some people, like, they go on a holiday for four weeks.

I know, I know.

And like, oh. And they just don't work at all.

But I'm like, if I'm laying there, like, I just get ideas and I just want to, like, do something.

Well, then you're in the good profession, in the right angle.

Yeah, yeah, I am now. But there's also been times where, you know, that was different. Like, obviously before the burnout, when I was enjoying it all a little bit less, then I really wanted a vacation, you know.

Yeah.

And that's not a life that I want to live. So I was like, some. Something is going wrong here. Even though I was doing financially really well and everything to the outside world was perfect, I was like, you know, just stressed out all the time. And then it's. So I think for people that live in that life where you feel like you have a lot of obligations, you feel like, I need to do this, I need to do that, instead of follow just like your pure passion. Right. Then that can become really thing, like, looking forward to the next vacation and the next vacation while I'm looking for, like every morning I wake up right now and I'm like, hyped for another day, you know? And that's. That's. That's great to be there, but it's. Sometimes it goes like this a little bit, right?

100%. Yeah. And I think that it's important to catch those signals early.

Yeah, very.

Because they never lie. It's like, when you feel tired, you're most likely tired. When you feel stressed, you're most likely to stress. Yeah. And it's much harder, as you know, to fix it after the fact, then as you go and steer. And of course, I think everybody feels when they look at their calendar, like, or like, I'm excited for this day, but I'm not excited for this day. Right, true. And I'm not saying you should only do things that make you super excited, because that's not realistic. That's not realistic. But if you see that things are recurring that don't excite you, try and get somebody else to do them, you know, like, I mean, hire somebody or maybe just say, like, this is not my thing. Is anyone else available to pick this up or get an assistant or something like that?

Yeah, exactly, man.

Yeah.

So you talked a bit about biohacking before. We talked about that. A lot. And just like your strategies with like optimal performance and everything. You've had some gadgets. What was that letting me.

Yeah, we're always seeing on Instagram that you, you like to buy new gadgets, like health gadgets, like you get a.

New foot massager or you have the.

Ring now you have a real ring.

I traded it in for something better. And I have the infrared sauna. I've got like all these like the terra guns and stuff like that. I like gadgets and I always love to try things out. I also have the 8 sleeps mattress that has like, it has like a variable body temperature. Things that wake you up at your perfect body temperature. It's like I like those things 9 out of 10 times I end up not using them consistently because it's hard to push something like that into your schedule. And sometimes you can also overdo it. Right. You can make a morning routine that's so elaborate that you never have to work again. Right? Very true.

Very much popularized.

Yeah. So if you spend three hours getting ready, I mean, that's. I don't know if that's very productive. But yeah, there's a couple of things that I like to do and usually they're pretty basic. And I think as you live a lifestyle where you travel a lot, you tour a lot, the basics are even more important.

What are those basics for you?

Suffering? Sleep. Sleep is I think the most important thing because if you don't sleep well and then you stack training on top of that, you stack food on top of that.

Yeah, Studies just show like after one night of like half, half the amount of sleep that you normally get, you're like literally half as productive. So does that make sense?

Exactly. And then also your. The work you do in the gym, isn't that as productive? And you start making the wrong decisions when it comes to food. So for me, sleep is the most important thing.

How many hours?

I would say for me it's a little more because I've got a lot of sleep depth. So I like to like sleep eight to nine. Yeah, yeah.

So yeah.

And what else next to sleep? Like, what does your morning routine look like, for example?

So what I always like to do in the morning is, well, first get out of bed. I think a lot of people, they stay in bed too long and when I do it myself, I always feel like shit. So I'm not just talking about snoozing, but also like laying in bed looking at your phone, all that get up, scrolling. Yeah, I think.

Do you snooze? Or get out.

No, I don't snooze. But I, I, I, I, sometimes I don't get out of bed and then I'm there another 30 minutes or doing work in, in like on my phone. Like that's just the wrong start of the day. And it's so easy to, to do it because it's right there. And you're addicted. Because I mean, I'm an addict. Like I, I'm definitely addicted to my phone.

Hi, my name is Sam.

I'm an addict. So this is not perfect, but in my most ideal day, I get out of bed, take a shower, I do intermittent fasting, so I don't eat in the mornings, have a nice good cup of coffee. Cold exposure. So some sort of cold shower or cryo or something like that.

Yeah, I did that cryotherapy with you. That was crazy, man.

Yeah, and you can do it in your bathtub or in the shower as well. Sauna. So usually sauna and then something cold. So like a shower. So this morning I went to the gym, had a session there, Sauna, cold shower, and you're good to go. I mean, and that's, that's like how I like to start the day in the most ideal way. But you know, sometimes you don't sleep if you're on DJ, like you're DJing and you, you're on tour or only a few hours, you don't have time to do all that. So that's why I say sleep is first. Because if I can choose between sleeping six hours and having my full morning routine or eight hours and no morning routine, I can choose eight hours of sleep. Because you know, in the end that's, that's what matters for me the most.

How do you do it? Like while traveling, is it you just focus on sleep or is there anything else?

I think if you get that down, you're already doing pretty well. It's quite difficult to put all the right stuff in that weekend. So for example, like my, on Friday, I've got four shows this weekend, Friday to Monday, and I'm in the us so that means nine hours time difference, one long haul flight getting there and then another shorter one to get to the final destination. And that also means that by the time I finish my show and I want to go to bed, it's already the morning here, so I can't sleep. So there's a couple of things that like of course there are some supplements, there's some, some minerals, vitamins and stuff that I take while I'm on tour. And also some melatonin to help cope with the, with the, with the jet lag and stuff like that. But I think if you can get those eight hours in a weekend that has four shows and very minimal time in between, that's already good. I used to stress myself out and squeeze like two gym sessions in a busy weekend like that, and that only decreased my sleep.

And your energy, I guess.

Yeah, and increased my stress. And I wasn't taking into account that I already did four cardio sessions, which was my dj. Yeah, yeah. And that's what I realized when I started wearing the aura ring. I was burning a thousand calories during the DJ sets. So I was like, okay, that's fine. It's enough gym work for this weekend.

Yeah, that's a good point. Obviously, a lot of people that are listening, I'm watching, have been following me since the gym lifestyle. And very often you compare, like your routine to someone else's routine, but then someone who may be an artist like you, Jim and Rano State, obviously there's not that many people listening, but let's say you have a physical job, then it's a lot different for you to go to the gym six days a week than it is for me, if that's what I make a living off. And I sleep a lot, I rest a lot, and I have like a desk job or like I'm out filming or whatever. I'm not carrying heavy stuff.

Exactly.

So you have to make the fitness routine and the diets all very personal.

It is, it is. And it's. It's quite easy to strive for perfection. And, and that's something that I think a lot of people do. And therefore, then they, they stick to a routine for a week and then the discipline or the focus fades away and then you go back to zero instead. I think you should go for, you know, aim for 50% and keep it going, you know, because that's in the end gonna be a lot more efficient than doing everything right for a week and then stop it.

It's better to start with one new habit that will help you change. For instance, sleeping. And if that works out for you, you can add another one to it instead of trying to do everything perfect.

True.

Like what you said. You're going to have a morning routine. To have a morning routine instead of have a morning routine, because it's a means to your goal. So.

Yeah, yeah. And there's a lot of hype. And it's also, it's. It's so nice to read about all these fantastic, successful people and how they do it and try to copy it in your own life. While nine out of ten times it's completely made up. It's just a clickbait. And if it's. If there's some truth in it, I'm not sure they do it every morning. I'm not sure they do it while traveling, while working. Like it's the perfect world. And so I would say cherry pick what works for you.

And I've been reading a lot of books and I've always been in self improvements for so long. You as well, you know, like, you've read a lot of books that we shared. The thing is, like, I've tried out a lot of different morning routines as well. And sometimes a morning routine works for a while and then maybe it's like too much. Let's say the time when I was really stressed out and I was trying to get back on my feet with my business, then it really helped me to do this little, like, very overextensive morning routine, you know, where I would do, like, end journaling, like, writing down what I'm grateful for and the task for the day and like, all kinds of different stuff to also just make me feel better. And meditation. And I did them all at the same time. It's a bit much. You know, most people are not going to be able to sustain that is going to take too much time, as you say. And when I'm in a more of a grind phase that I may skip one of those steps, you know, or I will do like a shorter meditation.

Yeah.

And sometimes I don't do a meditation at all for a while. Like. Like, it's not that you have to do it in order to, you know, to produce results, but it's just it can go in phases. And whatever, you know, that you're currently dealing with will help you the most. That's the most important.

True. And I think keep an eye on. If your morning routine is not making you more stressed, that's the moment when you start to scale it down right after that. So I had like the. Especially during COVID I mean, I had a lot more time, but there was a period exactly where I did all those things that you should be doing. And in the end, I was getting more stressed because I would wake up and have this whole thing that I needed to complete before I could actually start doing what I wanted to do. So, like, yeah, I think, you know, if it works for you, it works for you. If it doesn't, or it's causing you stress. Drop it. Or drop at least some of it. Yeah, very good. But basics, I mean, exercise, food, sleep. Sleep first. Yeah, I guess that it's. That's it. Yeah.

Awesome. So wondering about your family and the influence they've had, you've talked about a little bit, Heard before that you've called your parents a bit like hippies in terms of the lifestyle back in the day. Like, what would you say are some beliefs that they had that you, you know, learned from them and that you've used in your life and maybe something different than what they had.

Well, maybe that's also. They helped me not be afraid because, like, I. I grew up. Like, we grew up living with very little. Right. So if I had to go back to that, I know I'd be fine because I'd been fine doing that for many years. They. They have a strong belief that, you know, you shouldn't take more than you need. So growing your own vegetables in the garden, stuff like that. And that's also what led me to inspire or let me to launch the Heartfelt foundation, which is, you know, kind of like my way of trying to continue to make people happy around the world with my music. But do we do it also in a way where it kind of lives up to the values that they shared with me and allows maybe my children to also enjoy it, you know? So I think that's. That's kind of the values that I grew up with.

That's amazing that you've been able to translate that into your business and your vision, too.

Yeah. Yeah. But I think that that's. Maybe that's also the reason why I've never been fearful about losing it all. Because you start with nothing, and then you're like, okay, well, now I've got this. Okay, what if it halves in value? Fine. You know, it doesn't matter, you know, and that's. That's maybe what leads you to make more impulsive or scary decisions. But also it helps.

You can also pay off. It's really the abundance mindset.

Right.

That you have.

Yeah. Yeah, true. And you can. I think abundance can be different way. Like, can be abundance. Like, there's enough for everybody, which I believe. You know, I don't believe that because you have a. I can have a. But it's also about, like, I think being able to live with yourself without anything, you know, again, going back to the shitty apartment. And we, like me and Michelle spoke about, like, if we lost all this. Yeah, fine. You know?

Yeah.

Would be. Yeah, it's and like, it's. It's not something that scares me to lose it. And I think that's also what makes you take bigger risks, I guess. Yeah.

And what are some of the things that maybe the values that were not necessarily values, but like, beliefs that were installed in you that you had to change? Maybe it has to do with money. Like, what was the money mindset of your parents and.

Yeah, well, my dad was very anti capitalist. Like, he literally wrote, like, protest songs against, you know, the government and big, big capitalist companies. So that was kind of how I was brought up. But I think I kind of countercultured that and looked at, okay, what is, what are the key ingredients to a happy life? And I think being able to have some sort of financial freedom is part of that. You know, like, and of course you don't have to be super rich, but you have to be rich enough to not worry about money. Right. And some people can become billionaires and never get that rich, you know what I mean?

So, yeah, a lot of rich people.

That, you know, still worry a lot.

About money and even like, commit suicide and all those things. Right?

Yeah. So I think that's, that's. And I think another belief is, well, they always let me very free in what I wanted to do. And one way I agree with that, and one way I think, you know, should maybe give your child some more boundaries. But, like, if I would, you know, raise a child myself, I would want him or her to be able to pursue their passion in the same way that I was allowed to do it, because I think, because they let me launch my company when I was 13, because they let me sit behind the computer for eight hours a day sometimes, sometimes I had to play outside. But I was able to become good at what I now do. And I think you can get an enormous advantage at a young age because then you're like, you can learn languages so easily when you're young, right? Like, if you put a child in an environment where they only speak Spanish, they will start to speak Spanish. And the same counts for any skill. So I think if your child has a passion for music and wants to play the piano for 10 hours a day, fucking go with it. I mean, it might be the next Mozart, right? So letting that restrictive environment loosen up a little bit, I think. And if my dad wouldn't have gone with me to the Chamber of Commerce, I would have done it another way.

You would have found a different way.

To do or just did it and not file taxes and be very illegal.

Yeah, so.

So I think, you know, you gotta kind of. I get, of course there has to be some sort of, you know, limit to it and, but I think, you know, I can be quite helpful in that sense, hopefully in letting them make their own mistakes, but also possibly teaching or mentoring a little bit if, if they want to, if that's what they're interested in.

Yeah.

Awesome. Yeah, we've talked a lot about mindset and different beliefs and all those things. Now I'm kind of like wondering about skill set because, you know, you've acquired a lot of skills over the years as well. And like, sometimes I wonder, especially with, you know, like a world famous dj, how much of it is talent and how much of it is skill. Now that's obviously impossible to measure, right? But I think you a little bit get the idea. And then like, how realistic is it that anyone can do anything? But with those thoughts come the question. It's like, what do you think are the three most important skills that like anyone can learn regardless of the talent that they have if they want to become an artist or an entrepreneur, want to do something different?

Oh yeah, I think it's communication. One, I think that's at the center of everything. And if you're a bad communicator and you don't know how to bring across a man message either commercially or within the company. Or music or. Yeah, or music. But that's a different way of communicating, I guess. I mean like basic writing and speaking skills in the sense that you know, you know how to, when you have an idea in your mind, you know how to bring that across, you know, briefly, you know, like. And so people understand what you mean. Yeah. Another skill I think is, you know, mindfulness in every field. I think it's super valuable because like what we spoke about, the only time you can do something is now. And the sooner you realize that and are able to cut off a lot of the distraction, a lot of the chattering your head, the sooner you get to that goal. And I think some financial skills, I think a lot of DJs, they are so focused on their craft, their creative craft, right? So making music and playing music that they have zero. And I'm not saying you should be a CFO or should like study finance at all, but like just basic stuff, basic business stuff. Because I see a lot of talent being wasted because they don't know the basics around like building a company or building a brand and then also the financial stuff behind it. So then they focus completely, they rely completely on their accountant and then the accountant screws them over and they don't even see it, or their manager screws them over and they don't see it. So being able to understand a statement, being able to understand what a yearly report looks like of a company and you know, those things, and I can help. And that counts for an artist, an entrepreneur, but also a painter, just by accepting.

Exactly. And you don't know how many years the run is going to be for. Right. If you gain all this traction all of a sudden.

Yeah, yeah. I think that that's a step further. But like financial planning, like investing your, your money that you've earned through your craft in the right way so that, you know, like a football player, like they have a limited lifespan.

Yeah.

I think DJs, while there are exceptions that are above 50 years old, like a lot of them, they. They kind of rise and fall. Right? So.

Yeah, yeah, that's great advice, man. Honestly, how did you use those skills, like, for your own businesses right now?

Yeah, so right now I run a couple of businesses. A lot of them are involved with the music side. So we've got Hartfeld, which is the umbrella brand of Seinfeld. So everything that's not touring and Seinfeld music related is under Heartfelt, which is my community that runs on Fangage, but we'll get to that in a little bit. We got a publishing company, a record label, events nonprofit. So those are like the Heartfelt, the Heartfelt, Heartfelt companies. I've got Always Bright, the performance supplements that I spoke with you about as well. And then I've got Fangage, which has been kind of like my main Opus One kind of project for the last couple of years. Launched in 2016 out of my own frustration of not having access to my own audience. I saw back then already that even though I had an X amount of followers, all these people weren't seeing my posts anymore. And it was getting worse and worse. Now it's a complete shit show.

Oh, yeah. Instagram is dying. Just a little percentage of the people that follow you will see your posts.

Exactly. So I thought to myself, okay, I'm playing this room with a thousand people. What if I could reach 100% of my audience? Can I maybe play a stadium? You know, because I have the fans, I have the listeners. They click the button, they said, hey, I like this guy. I literally, I like Sam Felt, and then I can reach them. So that was the idea behind Fengage, and we kind of grew that to where it is right now, which is, you know, basically an all in one system for creators.

Yeah. Yeah. Fangage, really cool platform. I've used it myself as well. We started maybe one and a half years ago, something like that. I really like the idea and there's a lot of improvements that you guys have made over all these years as well. The team has really started growing and there's a lot of amazing features that have been added to.

True.

But just the first idea, really revolutionary idea, by the way, in 2016, when, you know, things were still pretty good on social media.

That was before Patreon started, before Onlyfans started, before all these other platforms that allow you to grab kind of the ideal audience and monetize it.

Yeah.

So we were one of the first, luckily not the fastest, but still were able to make it into a cool platform that we're now able to sell also to Triller. So yeah, it's nice to have been able to be at the forefront of it.

Yeah. And I've used it personally for. And I would recommend this to anyone that's an influencer, probably above a certain level of followers. But even if you don't have that many followers, it's just really cool because you can do like a lead magnet in a much more like fun way, more accessible for people. For example, when you have people sign up to an email list or like a newsletter, that's really old school. It's very old school and it doesn't really work. People don't want that spam. And so now you get them on a platform which looks really cool. You can do like your own branding and all that. And it's quite fun because you can unlock certain content. So you put some content on there. For me, let's say I do a giveaway. I can do it there. I do it exclusive video. It'll not be an only fans type video. It'll be like actual, actual, actual valuable stuff to really connect with the fans. And then they have to unlock it by. You can decide a percentage and when you do a higher percentage, you have to leave like their phone number and the city they're from and something cool that you can do with that. Like, I haven't really done that, but I could do it with like meetups and stuff. You know exactly where those people are coming from. So I see like a map and I think they're like, I have like over like 100 or something countries that are like on my Fangage platform, which is really cool.

Yeah.

And then you can see exactly where those people are from. So let's say I want to Do a meetup in South Africa. When I'm in South Africa, I can send a text message because you can do it on platform too. I'll be like, yo, guys, I'm here. I have a meetup.

That's how I use it.

So cool.

I use it to sell out my shows because I know, like I can always reach like in New York, a thousand people.

Yeah.

That I know they're going to bring other people as well because they're, they're actual fans. Like they've signed up, they've went through the process. So I'm happy that you get some value from it as well. But there's. Yeah, like I said, if any creators are watching, I think it would be cool to check it out.

Yeah. Because just imagine like doing a post for me. Like, let's say I'm in South Africa doing a meetup. If I post on Instagram, the people from South Africa may not even see.

It, you know, and the people that are not there, you spam the wrong people. And they might see it. They're like, why is he sending, why is he showing me a photo like, about a South Africa meetup? I'm in New York and the people that are in South Africa, they might not even see it because of the algorithm. So it's a very way to, way to target the fans.

It's just so important to gather data. And I've said this like always since I started my YouTube journey. I may not be the biggest influencer, but I've done well in terms of my businesses. Especially when you look at other influencers over the years that have like, maybe died down a little bit in terms of likes or followers. And if that happens to me now, like I have my, my people on different platforms.

Right.

And whether that is Fangage, it can be, it can be an email list or it can be a CRM system, which Fangage also is like, there's a lot of different ways you can do it, but it's just really important to have your own data, own your audience. Own your audience. That's. That's a great way to put it. Yeah. Awesome, man. So what are the developments there with, with like the new, the new investors and all that? How did that go?

So we recently reached a deal with Triller to sell. Sell the company. We're still staying involved, becoming part of a bigger group where the vision is to create a creator hub. So for example, they have clicks, which is a SMS marketing service that allows two way communication. We only allow one way. So we're Building that into the product as a feature. Influencer deals, they acquired a deal engine, a deal search engine for influencer marketing. We're building that into Fangage. So in the end, the idea is for Fangage to become an all in one creator hub for any creator to own, engage, monetize their audience. So that's. That's the grand vision. So we're building that out.

Cool, man. Yeah, I believe in it. And I believe in you, Sam. Honestly, for the level where you're at in terms of all the things that you're doing, I found it, like, crazy how involved you still are in Fangage. You know, like, respect for the amount of work that you still put then.

Yeah, it's a. It's a passion project also. And I think that's. That comes out of the fact that I'm sure you've had it too, is that it comes out of a frustration that you just can't let go of. Right.

Yeah, those are the best ideas.

And injustice. You know, it almost feels like, you know, like we're part of a movement. I wrote a declaration of creator independence.com that's like. So it's like. Like a. Like a. Like. Yeah, basically in. Yeah, just an open letter to about everything that's wrong in the creator economy, where creators are fueling platforms that are not theirs, but they don't reap the benefits. And Mark Zuckerberg's getting crazy rich of it, you know.

Very good.

So that's like. That's something that, you know, when it comes from your heart, it's very hard to let go of.

Yeah. And that's directly a very good lesson for the people that are watching and listening as well. It's like, if you want to start a business, you gotta, you know, solve a problem, Right? So find a problem that's really, like, close to you that you want to solve, for example, this really big frustration that you have, and, you know, find a way to solve that and to tackle that. And then you have a really unique idea. And I think often that's where they really.

And you need it. You need a lot of passion. Exactly. Because it's gonna be very hard.

Yeah. And that's why, you know, you're, like I said, I wake up in the morning exciting. I'm not excited for every single thing that I have to do. But if the main vision is there, if you have a passion for what you're trying to accomplish, then you're willing to take all those steps that it takes, the difficult steps in order to make that Vision, a reality. Right. And then you can do the difficult stuff because you will know it will lead to the end result. So not every day is going to be easy and enjoyable and everything, but at the end of the day, you know that today I got one little step closer to what I'm trying to reach here.

Yeah.

Yeah, man.

Yeah.

So, Sam, I'm wondering, is there any, like, other things that you're currently working on, new music, anything you want to share?

Yeah, I got a couple things. Well, I'm, of course, always working on new music. So I've got a release coming up with Gavin James that's going to come out soon on my own record label, another one called Wing youn Love. There's, like I said, a new deal that I just signed that allows me to work with bigger artists and bigger featuring. So that's going to be super exciting. I have a new project with Jonas Blue called Endless Summer, which is a more underground alias of Sam Felt, where I can, you know, play the deeper stuff, the more techno stuff that I really enjoy myself, that I haven't been able to play in my Seinfeld sets because, you know, they're, they're, you know, they're specific songs that I kind of need to play as Sam Felt, that I don't need to play as Endless Summer, which is cool because it's, you know, a creative blank check, like blank slate. So that's all happening. Ades. Of course, Course. Coming up, lots of touring. So, yeah, exciting times.

Awesome, man. So it's time to wrap the show up. And how are we going to. How are we going to finish this?

We are going to finish it with the final five, which means we have five questions. Okay, they're quick questions. I'll start with the first one. If you had to choose, would you choose DJing or entrepreneurship?

Oh, wow, that's a difficult one. Not a heavy quickly.

Yeah, but it's not easy.

I would. I think I. I would choose. I would continue to dj. Yeah, nice. And I, I. One more sentence to add to it. And I. It's very complicated because I've always done both, so I don't see them separate. But like, DJing is what I get the most enjoyment from and I feel like express the most happiness as well. But you can't really DJ without, you know, having a brand and having the music and having all the other stuff.

It's like what you said. You have to. Have to have the knowledge of different parts of the.

Yeah, 100%.

Okay, next one. Never eat Korean food again. Or Korean food every day.

Oh, wow. I don't want to insult my fellow Korean. Koreans. I just did a song with Monsta X, one of the biggest K pop bands. I could definitely eat Korean food every day. It's very, very versatile.

Oh, it's amazing. We were in New York a couple months ago, then we met up and had Korean. That was our first time having Korean food with you guys. We enjoyed it so much.

I can eat Korean food every day.

Awesome.

Nice. Mornings or evenings?

Evenings. Yeah. I'm not a morning person. No, what you have, I don't have.

That's why we had to do the podcast an hour later today. Yeah, yeah.

No, I like to. I like to wake up, you know, like, by myself. I like to have an easy morning, have a cup of coffee slowly. Yeah. And in the evenings, when I have usually a lot of energy, it might also have something to do with my schedule.

Yeah, probably.

I feel like a lot of creatives. You are the same way. And Kieran is filming, and most of, like, the creative people that I know, they like the work in the evenings.

Yeah.

And I'm like, in the evening, I'm done. Like, I like to be. I would consider myself a big creative, but mostly productive guy. Yeah. I just like the mornings. You know, we go, go, go. Yeah. Yeah.

Good.

Now, if you had to pick one country, because you go to a lot of countries, if you had to pick one country, you had to stay for the rest of your life, you couldn't go anywhere else, which country would that be?

I'd stay here. Okay.

Yeah. Yeah.

No, I think Amsterdam is beautiful. I hate the winters here, but, you know, I think I'll cope. You know, look outside, it's. It's sunny now, and, I mean, do I have to stay there or live there for the rest of my life?

Stay there?

Yeah, stay there forever.

Stay forever. You cannot go anywhere else.

I was going to name, like, our airport as a big perk, but.

No, no, no, no. You can go to have food and come back.

That's all. Yeah, but we have. We have, I think, a great, great, great place here. Definitely.

Yeah. All right. The last one has to do a little bit with your biohacking. Would you rather take a supplement that boosts everyday productivity but takes 10 years of your life in total, or would you rather take a supplement that lets you live 10 years longer but takes one hour of productivity off every day?

I'd like to live longer if it's healthy. I don't think productivity is the main goal. I think it's it's useful to have that in your toolbox, but I think enjoyment is the goal.

Yeah.

So, yeah, fuck that. Fuck that. Hour of productivity. Give me 10 more years. Yeah.

Agree.

Well said. Yeah, like that.

Very good. So, Sam, thank you so much for being on the show, being our first guest. We hope that you guys are very excited for this show to continue. Make sure to give it a thumbs up if you are. Make sure to go follow Sam. All the links will be in the description box and sure to follow us as well. And we'll see you in the next one.