Bootstrapping Your Dreams with Manuj Aggarwal

Wish you were one of those influencers with raving fans who binge on your every word, consume all your content, buy everything you have to sell, and demand even more. Then stay tuned while Authority Magazine columnist and buzzfeed contributor Tracy Hazzard shares strategies, tips and tactics from top videocasters, podcasters, authors and social influencers on creating that bingeable factor. Now let's join Tracy as she explores how to rise above all noise with the binge factor.

Hey everyone, welcome to Feed you'd brand center of Influence and I've been interviewing top podcasters. Tal's been still doing the regular feed your brand episodes, if you guys haven't noticed. So more of the tips and tools and tricks on becoming a podcaster. But I've been doing these great center of influence interviews with top podcasters. Some of them are newer, some of them have been podcasting for a really long time if you haven't noticed. But they all have interesting tips, interesting journeys, and Manoj Agarwal, who has bootstrapping your dreams is one of them. And I'm so excited to have him today because he's an entrepreneur and investor and a technology enthusiast. And Manuj started his career at 15 working in a factory, so he's 12 hours a day, six days a week, $2 a day. Like totally different life than many of us. That is so interesting. So he had no contacts, he was determined to make something of himself and he managed to get an education, become a technical leader and CTO in multiple startups. So he knows just how it is to be bootstrapping your life, let alone your dreams and your companies. So he's been interviewing interesting people who've also been bootstrapping their companies and talks about resilience, adaptability, bending the rules. I love that one. Serving the customer over your own desires and just want to build something cool. That happens way too often in the tech industry, so we're definitely going to mention that. So he's the principal consultant, architect and CTO of a software consulting company called Tetra Noodle based in Vancouver, Canada, and he has helped various startups founders bootstrap their dreams and bring innovative products to market quickly and efficiently. I love that. It's one of my favorite areas to talk about. We might just have to do another interview at some point and do an ink article on bootstrapping innovation, so we'll have to talk about that further. Manoosh, thank you so much for joining me today.

Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited and thank you for that Long introduction.

Well, hey, we got to make sure everybody knows who you are. You started your podcast earlier this year in February. What made you to start one?

It was interesting. You know, I've been listening to podcasts on and off for years, and I've been trying to expand my business. You know, I've bootstrapped it and trying to get more clients and all that. And through that journey, I've been trying to understand digital marketing, how things work. I've tried a lot of things, the sales funnels, SEO, email marketing, what have you, like, Facebook ads and everything. And one of my good friends, he suggested that I try podcasting. And I'm like, I don't know about that. I was kind of intimidated because putting your yourself out there in a live environment, it's not something that I've done before. And I didn't even know whether I'll be able to pull it off. But then, you know, I said, okay, let's give it a shot. And then I just think a couple of episodes together in the first month or so actually let me step back. You know, he gave me that advice and I was like, okay, let's put that in the back burner and see if I can do something around it. And then, you know, as they say, things sort of come together by sheer luck. And I ran into a person who is an expert in getting podcasts started and help podcasters set up the infrastructure and get started with the podcast. So, you know, I just took that chance and then produced a couple of episodes. It was really, really difficult to figure out how things will transpire. Like, what is happening. It was just total chaos initially, but then slowly I got a hang of.

It and now you're 30 something episodes in. Right? And, you know, it's starting to feel good, right?

Actually, we are episode 66 now, so.

Oh, wow. When you submitted to me, it was at 33, so I was like, I thought there was more because I thought that I'd listen to like episode 50 or something like that when I was listening. Okay, good.

I've been having so much fun. Like, you know, we were. We're doing on average one episode a day, so.

Oh, so you've been building up fast. I love it. So has anything really interesting or exciting happened to you already since you started the podcast?

A lot of interesting things, you know, like just being able to talk to so many experienced people, so many people with so much wisdom, and they are sharing it away freely. A lot of these people, like, if I just approach them one on one, they will not be able to give me any time whatsoever. And here we are talking to them one on one about their life, learning from them, getting mentorship. So that has been really interesting. And the other thing is just putting yourself out there. It has sort of opened up my own beliefs that I can do things, even if I initially think they are too difficult for me. If I take on the challenge and if I apply myself, I can do it. And that goes for everyone. I mean, that's one lesson that I want to share with everyone. Like, you know, if you sit down and actually decide to do something, doors open up, people show up to help. And I know it's a cliche, but it has actually happened to me in the past few months, so I'm sharing that as a firsthand experience.

What about something going really wrong? Funny things that might have happened to you when you were starting up?

I had this amazing guest. He has amazing podcast, award winning podcast. And I went through this interview with him. It was a very interesting conversation. And then, you know, towards the end, I'm telling him, okay, you know, this is when the podcast will publish and all. And I realized I did not turn on the recording. Oh, no, the whole interview, you know, it was just a casual conversation. And then he was nice enough to say, okay, it happens. It has happened to him as well. So him being a podcaster. So he actually came back next week. But that was quite funny.

You know what? That is, like, my biggest fear, as you said, that I'm, like, looking right into the corner to make sure it's. Even though I know I turned it on, but it's one of those things. But I now have my zoom automatically set to record, so it records all sorts of junk. But I have a production team, so, like, it's easier for me than other people. But a lot of times I'll turn it off and turn it back on to, you know, but at least it's always on. So, like, you know, I know it's not going to mess me up because that's my biggest fear is I'll just start talking and you won't get it, you know, And I can't repeat myself because it's like it comes out of my mouth. And I was like, what questions did I ask? I can't repeat that. So I know that, like, agonizing, like, oh, no, I have to do this over.

Yeah. The second interview was totally different. Like, you know, I mean, it was along the same lines, but the content was quite different, as you said. Like, the conversations we have we cannot always repeat them. So it just went in a different direction. I mean, the second episode was pretty good as well, but, you know, that was a funny thing. And I to your point, now I switch on recording by default so that I don't have to worry about that.

Yeah, exactly that. Let's please do that. So you got some advice from someone when you first started, but what advice? What would you do different if you started again today?

I think I will plan it a little bit better. I will think about what will be the format of the show. Who should we get, you know, come up with some sort of calendar according to which we will publish the episodes. When we started, basically we were just spamming other people to begging them to come to our show. And some people said yes and then they forgot and then we followed up. So there was like a hardly any process there. And slowly we improved. So it would have been better to learn a little bit about how to launch a podcast, plan it out. There is a certain science behind it. Like a lot of people, what expert podcasters, they have it down to certain steps. Like they have planned launch date and then you do some pre selling, pre marketing before the launch.

So maybe have a little strategy beforehand.

Exactly, exactly. So that's something that I would have done differently.

Well, let's talk a little bit about your show. So bootstrapping your dreams, I mean, that is very personal obviously to you, from the introduction that I gave you. So are you finding that it's resonating, that it's really hitting a note for the audience and for the guests that you're having?

I think so. I mean, I've been getting this direct feedback that these are the questions that are relevant to people. I listen to other podcasts as well. A lot of the podcasts have all these mega successful people, like billionaires and millionaires, and they talk about their life journey. But they are at a level where mere morals like us, we cannot really relate to that. When I talk to people, even though they are successful, I talk about their initial struggles. I talk about how they got through. Because at the end of the day, that is what I want to know. And I think a lot of people want to understand that as well.

I so agree. I mean, you know, I mentioned before that I have an Ink column. I have an Ink column on innovation. And the reason they gave me the column four years ago and they gave it to me from my podcast. So they heard me on a podcast and said, that's the kind of things we want. And it was because people Want to start from where they are. Like, it's great to be aspirational about it, but being able to start from where you are and figure out what that next step is, that is going to take you on that path. That's important to know. And so often we can't follow the same model as Elon Musk. It's just not going to happen. Right. But maybe we can follow the same model as Manoj and get ourselves where we need to go.

Right, so to your point, you are exactly right. Like, we may not be able to follow Elon Musk's model, but what I want to know is not about how do you sleep? You know, what kind of food do you eat? Like, you know, you are mega successful. But I want to know, okay, you know, how did you feel when your first rocket that you launched did not go well and the second one did not go well? How did you overcome that agony and how did you have the courage to keep on going? Because at some point, from what I know about Elon Musk story, he was actually just about out of money. He barely had a little bit of money left for the final launch, which was the success for his space company.

Yeah, yeah, we want to know those stories. Like, how do you keep moving? So has being a podcast host changed your ability to get invited to events and do speaking engagements and changed your, I'm going to call it, industry authority?

It's still in the works. I will say. I'm getting noticed, I will say. But it hasn't gotten to. I mean, it has only been six months, but it is going in the right direction. I can see it is going to have good effect. It's coming. It started to happen. I haven't booked any speaking assignments yet, but, yeah, I mean, it's happening.

Good, good. I'm so glad to hear that, because that should be what's working for you. So do you find that when you were planning out your show in the way that you did, and you said you're a podcast listener, did you plan for a uniqueness? Because you did an episode recently on being unique, and so did you plan for differentiation and for really setting yourself apart?

So here's the deal, right? I've worked with a lot of startup founders, entrepreneurs, and I know they have a certain mindset. Like, you know, they're always, you know, sort of adopting an image that is not their own image. That's not who they are. Like, they're always adopting, trying to emulate Apple, they're trying to emulate Amazon, or they're trying to emulate, you know, really successful people, yet they are not there yet. So I wanted to sort of remove the curtain and show the world that entrepreneurship is not about projecting this type of image. It's more about, you know, something real, something more grounded. It's more about customers. And so that opinion I did not really find in the real world while working with a lot of entrepreneurs. It existed or it was not apparent. So I wanted to bring that up now how popular that opinion is. I didn't know that it was just an experiment. And now I'm realizing a lot of people actually, in their minds, they think that way and they want to listen to these real stories rather than fictional sort of aspirational things that, as you mentioned, pretending to be something that they are not or how they say it. Take it till you make it.

Yeah, please stop doing that. Let's just make it where we are.

Exactly.

I love that. I love that. That's really great. You know, I did an interview with Jim beach, who is School for Startups Radio, and he has that same philosophy about being about being that taking in money isn't the answer, that sometimes we have to, that doing these bootstrapping things are learning experiences that we must go through. And that sometimes when they take the money, they didn't get this learning experience and then they aren't even able to apply it and achieve the success that they wanted to. So it can be a curse as well as a blessing as you get that. So I love that you're focusing on that. I think that's a really unique area and I'm sure it's going to continue to serve you well as it already has.

So let's tap into some of our tips because you're still early on, but you've got some lessons learned. I'm sure these are our best ways, too. So the best ways to book great.

Guests, I'll just speak about my journey and the lessons I learned. So when I started off, I used LinkedIn heavily. So I looked at people who are relevant and try to approach them. So use LinkedIn. Then there are some directories, online directories, where people who want to be guests, they list their name and their email address and whatnot. So try to contact them and obviously try to craft an email in such a way that actually tells them that you are inspired by the guests and you want to learn from them and they are open to sharing your story. So that's one. And then obviously, as you gain more success, you should capitalize on that. So my show hit the top 200 within three or four months. So after that, when I started to approach people, I did highlight that fact that, you know, It's a top 200 podcast. So that made it quite easy for people to say yes because, you know, they see that I'm committed and I'm doing something serious. So those are some of the things that I did. And I've been sort of successful in getting the guests. And now I have a huge backlog of guests and I have to figure out how I'm going to accommodate them.

Just keep doing the interviews. Right. I love it. Wonderful. Well, what about some ways to increase listeners?

So start with the friends and family. And again, LinkedIn has been really good because what I have been doing is repurposing the content. So when we do an interview, we also record video, we put it on YouTube, we transcribe the interview, we put it on our website, and we take small sort of content pieces, something important that the guests said. We take those slices of video and post them on LinkedIn as well. So that way it's basically spreading the awareness to the audience and asking them to just check it out. And once they listen to a few episodes, then they find value and then they stay wonderful.

Producing in a professional way. What are some best ways?

I'm still trying to figure it out. I mean, just before this interview, you gave me feedback about the mic and I changed it. So I'm still trying to figure it. Exactly, exactly. So thanks a lot for that. So, I mean, again, it's a work in progress. None of us are trained videographers or audio engineers or whatever. So it's just hit and trials. I use a webcam, Logitech webcam, and I had this Yeti mic, which apparently has some echo. So I also got a Laravel mic, so this is better. So it's still trying to figure it out. My room has echo, so I'm trying to figure out how to soundproof it and all that stuff. So that may come in a few months.

Yeah, you know what? You're falling into the same problem most people do. So I'm going to make sure, just because I can hear, we have links to and my team will insert them right here at this moment. Links to our best microphones and the environment fixes, as well as just ways to improve your sound. So there's a couple of episodes we've done on feed you'd brand and I'll make sure they relink them right here. But what I can tell everyone right now is get Rid of your yeti microphone unless you're in a sound studio because it's making it worse, because you have an echoey environment, the yeti picks up sound all over the place. It's a different type of mic. You want a dynamic microphone. And so that's why we recommend like these type, because you're only picking up sound right in the front. It's not picking up sound from around. And so it's picking up less of the bounce, which makes your production easier. So there you go. We've gotten tips going back and forth from both sides here, so. Yeah, well, wonderful. But you're right, producing is a work in progress. It gets better and better the more time, money, experience you have and seeing how that works. So I so agree with that. So how about encouraging engagement? Have you been able to engage with your audience?

So that's again, a work in progress. The first few episodes, I didn't know what to do about that. But as we made progress, so I've added call to action. In end of the episodes, I just actually just launched a Facebook group. So I'll add some call to action for people to join the Facebook group and create a community so that once they get some education from the podcast, they can actually get into a community, exchange ideas. If they have any problems in their professional lives, personal lives, we can help them out. So that's what I'm trying to do to build that community and actually not just have listeners, but actually have more engagement and in real life, you know, we are able to solve their problems, help them move forward.

Love that. What about some of the best ways to monetize your show? Are you thinking about that as you move into the future?

I'm not too sure. I've looked at certain models. You know, a lot of people say ads may be a way to go, but I don't know whether I feel really good about ads. What I may be able to do is look at certain products like which I'm passionate about and recommend them. So through that recommendation, it could be like, you know, it'll be a genuine recommendation. Through the recommendation, there may be some monetization opportunity that comes up. Otherwise, you know, I already have my consulting services, I have my IT professional training services. So just getting our name out there and telling people that these are options available, we have a lot of experience in these fields, and if we start to get some leads through that, that could be a good enough way to monetize it.

Wonderful. So I'm assuming, because you've already mentioned it, a Couple times that social media, that LinkedIn might be one of the best ways to reach you. It's one of the best ways to reach me as well. So I agree with you on there. But do you have your name or your show name everywhere on social media? What have you done there?

My name is there. I don't remember if I have added my show name on LinkedIn. There are links to the podcast for sure, but I haven't really advertised it in a way on my profile like, you know, I'm the host of Bootstraping your dreams show. Probably I should. But in my daily posts I do mention them once in a while that this guest came on and that's short snippet of audio and then I post the link to the podcast. So that's what I'm doing right now.

And you have your show notes and Everything is@Touchrenoodle.com, which is your website for core business. And you put your podcast there, which is a super smart strategy by the way, guys. So everyone out there and think about it. If you already have a core business and it's related to your podcast, unless it's truly unrelated, keeping them together can be very powerful. So good choice there.

What about some future great guests? Do you have some guests in mind that you just really. I mean, you're obviously full up on your schedule, but is there someone that you would drop everything for to interview?

You mentioned that name, Elon Musk. I admire him tremendously. Like what he's doing, he's pushing the boundaries of humanity. Like, you know, some of the core problems we are facing right now, nobody's doing it at the scale in the way that he's approaching it. So I'd love to get into his mind and see how he gets his inspiration from doing all these things. Other than that, anybody who has bootstrapped and whether they have been successful or unsuccessful, I'd love to know what were the factors that contributed to their success or what are the mistakes they made that led the failure. Because I always believe that mistakes are not actually failures or mistakes are not mistakes as we take it. They're just ways to learn and grow.

I so agree. We learn so much more from our failures than we do from our successes. It's unfortunately that way, but it is. We're tough learners. Right. We have to go through the hard knocks. Wonderful. So you have a five day week, right? That's so Monday through Friday then?

Yeah, sometimes, because some. Right now we have about 20, 25 recorded interviews. So I think over the next two or three we'll also post on over the weekend so that we can catch up.

And then you're touching into a point that can happen to people is like when you do have a backlog, it actually hurts your relationship building with your guests because they're like, why isn't this posted? It feels like a waste of time and that hurts that relationship you built in that rapport you built. So trying not to be that far ahead can be helpful. And so a great way to do this. Just post some extra episodes. Why not? So hopefully your audience will catch up. So bootstrapping your dreams five days a week, you can catch it pretty much anywhere. You're syndicated all over. I checked you out so I was listening on Google podcasts, but I saw that you were also on Stitcher and itunes so you're a little bit of everywhere. Are you on Spotify yet?

Yes. Yes.

All right, so see, you're everywhere already. So I really appreciate you coming on the show, Manuj. It's so wonderful to meet you in person and I'm so glad we could get this going and get to know someone who's up and coming but has a great strategy for their show in terms of its audience connection and its message. So I love that you've married the two. So thank you so much for being on the show. Really appreciate it. So Manoj Agrawal, bootstrapping your dreams five days a week out in the air in the podcast realm. Go check it out. I'm Tracy Hazard on Feed your brand and we're gonna bring you more center of influence. All the blog posts for this episode and all the links to Minouche will be at Feed yourbrand co. And of course we are on social media everywhere at FeedYourBrand and you can also find me on LinkedIn Tracy Hazzard with two z's so I would love to connect with you, hear more about it. We're also posting all of these are turning into articles on Authority magazine so be sure to connect and check out the follow up articles that are coming from this. If you have a podcast and you'd like to be featured just like Minouj, then you've got to reach out to us. You've got to apply feedyourbrand co prnow. Thanks everyone for listening. I'll be back again next week with a new episode of center of Influence on feed. You'd brand.

Listening to the Binge Factor podcast. For more information on podcasting and videocasting success tips and tactics, please go to thebingefactor.com and be sure to listen to our other show for podcasters called Feed you'd brand. If you'd like to be interviewed on this show as well as featured in Tracy's column, please go to thebingefactor.com guest and apply.

Damage.