Joshua Chin 4:35
That’s incredible, considering that Uncapped has only been in operation for three years.
Asher Ismail 4:42
Two years and a little bit, actually. Yeah, not even true in incredible growth trajectory, for sure. And I think I really attribute to that the fact that you know, when we started our first customers, were our friends. And so from the start, we really created a product that’s actually friendly. That’s like there Fast, transparent, you know, it’s the product I wish always existed. And so I think that meant that, you know, we just got a lot of positive word of mouth that other founders recommending us to other founders. And I think it’s kind of become realized that like, this is the way that companies should be raising capital. So we’re now in 22 countries, including the US, UK, Germany, and Poland, Spain, our business has grown exponentially. And you know, we actually now fund more businesses in a day than a typical VC will fund in a year.
Joshua Chin 5:28
That’s incredible. That’s incredible. And now your impact has multiplied many times over many times, in terms of the BIS, the number of number of jobs have been created as a result of the funds they’ve distributed, and the growth that have been generated as a result of that. What drives you, Asher? I mean, you’ve you’ve done like, by by any measure at all, you’re pretty successful, having sold a couple of businesses having built a couple of businesses, both as an employee and as a founder? What, what drives you today? And what keeps you going?
Asher Ismail 6:10
Well, you know, one of the biggest things I’ve always believed in is like building a business for purpose. So you know, all the all the companies that I’ve built and created, I’ve always had, like, a greater goal than just like making a profit. And, you know, my first company was like, a, you know, a marketplace for social projects. And, you know, it was really about trying to see like how, you know, in some way we can make some like positive dent in the world, or, you know, the other businesses that I’ve been on, where I haven’t been the founder, but I’ve been supporting the founders, like, when I was at Skype, with money supermarket, they were about, you know, connecting the world, or, you know, helping, you know, everyday people save more of their money. And so I think, you know, when you do that, it enables you to build a much better business, because you’re able to attract people and inspire them by something greater, but also know, in the day to day, it gives you a greater purpose that motivates you in those times when things aren’t going so well. And, you know, for Uncapped, like, this is a problem I personally faced. And, you know, was this challenge that, you know, we built the company, not necessarily to build a unicorn, but to basically think about how can we build something for our friends, and, you know, solve a real problem that they had? And I think that’s been a big part of what’s made it a success.
Joshua Chin 7:21
It’s fantastic. What What was it like for for you, in terms of what you’re experiencing right now, and the pace that you’re experiencing in terms of growth versus what, what, what it was like, when you first started your, your, your business, your first business ever? What what has changed in terms of your mindset, and what’s transferred, and what hasn’t transferred?
Asher Ismail 7:54
You know, what I think I changed most is having much more of a scaling mindset. I think what it were so many entrepreneurs struggle is that they have a big idea. But to make it even bigger, they have to actually adopt, like, new ways of thinking, they need to, you know, figure out how do they get the rest of the organization to be able to make decisions quickly, and to figure out how to, you know, share feedback, right, when others delegate things, and, you know, really not become the bottleneck of their own organizations. And I think when I was in my first business, I thought I had to do it all myself, right, you know, and you know, all the decisions would come back to me, and I’d be the person where I would like, figure out these things where people were waiting for me on that information. But of course, when you build a business like that, it just moves incredibly slow. And I think the transmission I’ve made over the years is realizing actually the way to build a huge business, is to figure out how do I empower everyone in my organization, so that it’s not my job as a founder to put out fires, but actually to build fire stations?
Joshua Chin 8:52
What does it translate into in terms of the tangibles? What do you actually build are the rituals, processes that
Asher Ismail 9:03
are that is about like ways of working. So one thing is first thing to do with every new person who joins our business, I sit down with them and have an hour long conversation with all of our new joiners, which now is like, you know, several people every week joining the company, I sit down with them and I talk about our ways of working and our culture and our values and sort of cement that in them. And, you know, one of the first principles is to be a leader, leader. And it’s like, the contrast of course, is the old model, which is like the leader follower model, where you know, there is that one designated person who makes the decision. And you know, we talked about how everyone at Uncapped everyone’s a leader and actually we behave are we are our best when we all behave like leaders, because who, who take orders run at half speed, and the very practical way that we apply that means that and Uncapped when you know you have a job to do, it won’t be that somebody tells you how to do it. We expect each person to come and proactively create a proposal to drive that task for it, driven by metrics, and like a manager or a founder, you know, if the if it’s a, you know, critical, irreversible decision, they might offer you more guidance. But ultimately, it’s like your decision to make. And that means that our company moves with incredible speed. And it means we attract the kind of people who, you know, in our world, we work as a fully remote company. So it really enables people to actually get the best of who they are, and, you know, deliver the kind of results that we need.
Joshua Chin 10:31
So you’re saying that anybody, regardless of where they’re at, in the totem pole, could come up with an idea, create a proposal set some metrics of what success looks like, and work on that project? Is that how?
Asher Ismail 10:46
Well the way we overall are working is that we use, you know, really strong goal and strategy setting process First off, right, so all we’re doing is we’re measuring outcomes, not hours. Yep. And so that first part is that we create alignment with everybody about what’s the outcome that we’re all looking for. And you know, what does that mean for every team, and now, that person has a goal to hit. Now, we’re not saying to them, this is how you should go and hit that goal. We’re saying you use your intelligence and brilliance. And the reason why we hired you is because we believe they’re incredibly smart. So now come up with what are the initiatives? What are the proposals that you’re going to do to drive for that metric? So it’s not like everyone’s going off and doing their own crazy thing. We’re all completely really aligned. And like, that’s actually the beauty of it, by having that, you know, taking that time upfront and having that conversation. And that means that people can now move at full speed. Sometimes you have to go slow to go fast.
Joshua Chin 11:42
I think it was, it’s a quote from the Marines were slow is what was that quote about going slow and slow, something along the lines of going slow is a sure way of success, and therefore going slow is good.
Asher Ismail 12:03
I don’t know about that. I’m not sure it startup world going slow ever is good. I would say it’s kind of the biggest competitive advantage, just start a pas is actually speed. And so have you able to, you know, deliver against that and get you know, 1% faster every day, by enabling people is how you maintain that advantage. But less than that,
Joshua Chin 12:27
the prerequisite to to being able to move really quickly as and as you scale is in I presume, having really, really strong talent throughout the organization. How does that happen? As especially as you scale you have over 120 employees now are based
Asher Ismail 12:50
out because it’s going faster and faster every day? You know, yeah, getting getting the right people in your business is 100%. You know, I think the most important thing to get right. And how do you do it is having I think, for me, it’s been about having a really great process. Like at the beginning, in the early days, it’s about their intuition. And you know, you as your founder might, you know, the founders might be, you know, individually interviewing people to really find out like core team, but then you have to be able to scale that, and, you know, be able to embed in those next set of hires, how do we find that next set of talent who’s going to keep delivering, and keep the organization from going into chaos? And, and yeah, for us, it’s just been building a really great process around hiring, to make sure we’re thinking about those right people.
Joshua Chin 13:40
That’s fascinating. It’s a personal fascination of mine. Because as as an organization that’s moving really quickly and growing very quickly. I feel the stress that comes with, you know, occasionally having people who are great in the first two years of a business but are not so great anymore, given the demands of the business and having to come level and bring in a boss over over employees who have been around for a long time. That those those are kind of the question marks in my, in my mind when I speak to founders and entrepreneurs with an extremely fast growing trajectory. It’s always a kind of a mystery to me as to how that what happens in the hiring process, and how do you deal with people who were outgrown by the organization?
Asher Ismail 14:35
Yeah, it’s a tricky one, because very often is that your organization is growing faster than you can scale your people. But one of the main pain points I’d say for companies is managers. And my belief has always been if you have like great managers, your people will actually be very happy. So investing in, you know, strong, strong managers initially and like really focusing on who you hire there, but also manager training and support. So they actually continue to build strong teams underneath them is one of those things. Another lesson on one of my mentors gave me was that, you know, whatever you think you should be doing in six months, do it now. And, you know, if with that frame of mind as you think about your organization, and how to scale it, I think that principle, you know, especially applies
Joshua Chin 15:27
there’s a lot to unpack there. But I do want to talk about the the approach that you take with Uncapped in capital and capital allocation. Just to kind of kick kick off the conversation there. How, how does it work from a business model standpoint for for you guys, in giving away money at a flat fee with essentially no collaterals? involved? How do you mitigate risk on your part?
Asher Ismail 16:00
Yeah, so you know, we, as you mentioned, like, you know, we give up to 5 million of capital without equity or interest, and yeah, which we charge this flat 6% fee?
Joshua Chin 16:09
And no, no, no personal guarantees,
Asher Ismail 16:11
no personal guarantees, no equity, no hidden fees, or other compounding interest. Yeah. And you basically only repay the capital, as you make revenue. So there’s no set repayment date. There’s also like, no pitching, there’s no business plan. There’s no like copies that you’d have like with VCs? Yeah. For me, it was always about like, okay, I can, like get back to like, growing my company. And yeah, like, I think when we first came up with this model, people thought we were crazy, like, how can you possibly give out funding like this, and, you know, especially at this rate, and really, the genius of it was that we’re extremely data driven. So, you know, unlike a traditional lender, you know, the, what we do is we connect to the data sources that the business already uses to run. So, you know, an ecommerce Store will connect your, say, your Amazon and your Shopify, your Google, your Facebook, your, you know, banking software, your accounting, and we have like 100, plus different ways that we can understand your business. And from that data, we have this 360 view, where, you know, within hours, we can make a decision about, you know, the capital that’s available to you, and, you know, make an unbiased data driven decision. And so because of that, it’s enabled us actually to find way more companies and a lot of companies that otherwise were overlooked globally, by, like traditional funders, and, you know, businesses that have struggled, because they just don’t get the ecommerce model, right. If you go to a traditional bank, they don’t get a business that wants to reinvest every pound into inventory and marketing, or a business that has incredible, you know, credibly challenging terms from suppliers, as well as you know, really strong seasonality. Like, those aren’t the businesses that are really excited about funding, whereas for us, those are our dream, we’re looking for those companies, because we see the potential, and we can see how they can scale.
Joshua Chin 18:05
What are some of the more interesting ways that you’ve seen people make use of capital from Uncapped? That’s typically not available through through traditional methods with bank so
Asher Ismail 18:17
yeah, like, more, one of our first customers was a sustainable fashion brand called Headwind. And, you know, they are like, I guess, just like so many entrepreneurs who are working in fashion, they had to basically juggle cash between inventory and marketing, right. So they have to wait for the current season to sell, so they can invest the returns in the next. And that just like limited their growth. And, you know, Alex, Nana are incredibly savvy founders, the founders of Edwin, and they both actually came from finance backgrounds. So they like, you know, scoured the market, they looked at every option from like VC to venture debt. But you know, they just wanted a more affordable option that would help them take it to the next level. And so, you know, they signed up for an advance with us at like, 50k at the at the end of last year, and then they use their funds to increase their inventory. And then Incredibly, in the first quarter, they saw their revenues, jump 11,000% Compared to the previous year. And like stories like that we love because it just shows like what happens when you take the right set of entrepreneurs. And now you’re able to, you know, give them you know, the capital that they need to unlock their business. And you can see, like, the potential that exists in ecommerce, and there’s so many ecommerce companies we know and what we find where, you know, they’re doing millions of sales, but they have like five people in their business, right. And that’s what’s so cool about ecommerce is that you can actually create a company that works like that, because once you find something that’s working, you can just scale it incredibly fast for the right digital marketing. And, and yeah, so that’s an example. I think, another really interesting one right now. It’s just about the current times we’re in you know, what we’re increasingly seeing is tremendous supply chain challenges. Like in the last period in the golden quarter, we had so many founders who were, you know, so upset because they had their shipments, you know, stuck on, you know, stuck in the ocean somewhere. And you know, there have customers who have, you know, more demand that they’ve ever had, but just can’t access the inventory that they need to supply them, you know, and now what we’ve started to see as entrepreneurs, turn that into an opportunity. So you know, one, one company we’re working with, for example, they, you know, went to their suppliers and said, Hey, I want to get out of this problem. And actually, I want to double my order of my inventory. If I did it, would you give me a 10% discount, so they negotiated this discount, and then they funded that additional inventory by using our capital? Right, so with our 6% fee, they ended up making a net return on getting this additional inventory. It’s fantastic. So you know, I think things like that, where entrepreneurs are actually being innovative about how to use on capital to really generate returns and your business is, I think, really what, what we also love to see, and we want to support, because you know, it’s those businesses that have this growth potential, and they’re just being held back. And that’s what I felt when I was an entrepreneur, I just felt like everything, I was just missing out on growth opportunities, because the right capital didn’t exist for me. So if we can solve that for other people, I think that’s like, really golden.
Joshua Chin 21:26
What about mistakes? What are some of the common painful mistakes I’ve seen people make in raising capital?
Asher Ismail 21:34
Oh, man, there’s so many deadly mistakes to make, I think, you know, you know, depending on what type of capital you’re raising, you know, the challenges are different. You know, very often, it’s about like raising your first money. And, you know, I think one key thing is about, like giving up after your first rejection, or, you know, asked another one be like, is asking too early, you know, before you really understand, how are you going to use the funds, or, you know, later on it becomes, you’re just being, you know, not not having a plan for scaling, and not having that story. Now, having clarity about how you’re going to use the funds, for example, is one of the common things like, you know, when when entrepreneurs sometimes say to me, Oh, my God, I, if I don’t get this money, my business is just not going to survive. And you’re like, well, but how are you actually going to apply these funds? How are you going to get a return? Because we want to be doing is not raising funds in a moment of desperation? Do you want to be going to investors and talking about, hey, here’s the opportunity in the return? Yeah. So I think like the the mistakes really just depends on, you know, what is the strategy that you’re going after? And, obviously, historically, so much of that has been about raising from individuals and angels and VCs. And like that game, it’s a really complex, challenging game. Of course, we’re trying to give people an alternative, where, you know, if you don’t actually, you know, don’t love that process of like losing capital. Maybe there’s other ways. And I think that’s the final thing I would say is the top mistake is not realizing how many options you have, there’s so many more options than ever before, raise funding as an ecommerce business. And so being aware of that, and really making sure you’re choosing the right one for you. That is like the biggest way to become more successful and ultimately build a profitable business.
Joshua Chin 22:25
In the, it’s, there’s a there’s a thing with with raising capital and raising money, where banks come to you when you need money, the least. Right? When you don’t need the money, there’s always money laying around when you need funding and capital for growth. No one’s willing to lend you any money. One of one of the things that’s, that’s on my mind right now, with what’s happening recently, with iOS 14, the updates around Facebook, in the marketplace, in Facebook, Google, Amazon, and now Apple influencing large part of what what’s happening in the ecommerce space? Do you see risk going up? In terms of funding ecommerce businesses today? Are you still as confident as you were before? has that shifted at all internally?
Asher Ismail 24:20
So I think if I’ve learned anything about you know, technology over the years is that, you know, there’s always been a shift. There’s always been a change in Google algorithms. There’s always been, you know, different models. And what happens is, entrepreneurs adapt, right? People still need these products. And so I think the channel mix might change the strategy of how people are investing, their marketing dollars might change. But ultimately, I think those businesses are going to survive because it’s a it’s a, you know, a problem that spends every entrepreneur and you know, everyone who’s trying to market to those folks. So, you know, I’m not I’m not personally super worried about that. I think some brands definitely have dealt with it better and like You know, set up their technology and gotten advanced, but I think they’re gonna catch up. And yeah, I think the bigger long term challenge probably is what’s happening in the macro economy right now. Yeah, we have a war in Russia and Ukraine happening. There’s potential risks to the overall global economy. We’re seeing interest rates rise in the US seven interest rate spikes. So you know, those things might change the landscape a little bit for entrepreneurs who are looking to raise money, I think more so than algorithm changes.
Joshua Chin 25:34
What’s your outlook? Given everything that’s happening between Russia and Ukraine with interest rate hikes? What’s your outlook in ecommerce in the next couple of years?
Asher Ismail 25:47
Well, I think generally is that you know, that increased interest rate is going to make some forms of capital more expensive than they were. So you know, if you’re relying on perhaps credit cards, or bank loans, you know, those rates are going to be passed on to businesses and businesses also, you know, in a in a downturn market, they are often you know, have more challenges, right and more challenges you’re paying. And so that’s like, reflected in probably the openness, that those kinds of lenders who are working with very limited data have to be able to give and make more loans. In our world, you know, for us, you know, the cost of the capital, relative to you know, the cost of acquisition is probably pretty small, because we’re focusing on a really particular set of, of types of businesses. So for us probably actually is going to open up more opportunities, because I think other folks who couldn’t get capital from other sources are probably more likely to come to us, yo, and you know, be exploring more options, because they’re frustrated with kind of the status quo of what they have. So for us, I think it’s, you know, gonna be overall a good opportunity, and, you know, I’m positive, I think, no matter what the right entrepreneurs are going to be able to access capital and find it because like, I’ll just give you like a little analogy, like, you know, I have sometimes entrepreneurs who were like, Oh, I’m not sure if I should pay the 6% fee. And they’re like, Well, what’s your return on adspend? And they’re like, Well, I’m doing, you know, at least three, three to 5x. And you’re like, Okay, well, so if you take a 6% fee, that still means you’re making at least 2.94. Yeah, and the alternative is that you make zero because you don’t have the capital buy the inventory is so you know, what the opportunity, you know, whether it changes just slightly by a couple basis points is still there, the most important thing is, can you access the capital on the terms that are right for your business? You know, can you access the capital in a way that you’re going to feel comfortable, and that you’re not putting you know, your house, and your personal assets at risk? Right? And if you can do that, if you have a bet, where you are getting that kind of return, know where you’re doing your, you know, 3x plus rho s, month in month out, that’s a bet you should take every time, right.
Joshua Chin 27:59
Yeah. That always makes sense. Now, what’s next for for Uncapped? What are you building? Next? What can people expect?
Asher Ismail 28:12
All the biggest shift that’s coming for us is that we really tried to expand the set of services that we provide. So we kind of realized that, you know, definitely capital is the top problem that’s like, on entrepreneurs mind. And like is, you know, every entrepreneur is thinking about how do you make sure that you know, they have the funding that they need. But also, so many of the entrepreneurs, we work with real estate, they don’t have a CFO in their business. And they typically have a bunch of other money challenges. And so what we want to do is actually start supporting them on this wider set of problems. And where we’ve started expand is like, is in the US, and we’ve launched our banking services, which is, you know, banking tailored for ecommerce, because our feeling was that, you know, ecommerce entrepreneurs have had this massive growth, right, especially in the pandemic, but currently, there’s no banking service that’s actually, you know, designed for their needs. And so, you know, we’ve launched the first one, and you know, what it does the provides, you know, not only modern digital banking services, from like, you know, virtual cards and accounts, but also gets them the funding that they need. On top of that, providing them like other tools and services that help them like scale their business. So, you know, for example, we have one really great tool called instant revenue, where if you have money that’s sitting in your Amazon, PayPal or Stripe, that you know, Amazon say is like holding your money for like for up to 30 days, you will actually give you that revenue instantly. So, seeing the opportunity of just giving entrepreneurs more access to liquidity, you think is a way to enable them so that they can grow bigger businesses, build a relationship with us and hopefully also then become a future customer when they need one. revenue based finance.
Joshua Chin 30:02
That’s fantastic. So it’s about cash flow. Ultimately, it’s about growth, true liquidity growth for cash flow for, for the ecommerce entrepreneur.
Asher Ismail 30:13
Yeah. But there’s also other things we’re doing. So we’re also working on like insights. So you know, we get all this incredible data, right when we analyze a company, because we connect to those data sources. And we’re able to spot opportunities and see where entrepreneurs could actually optimize their business having looked at, you know, hundreds of businesses. And so those same insights, as marks, I think benchmarks have a level of usefulness, you know, and a point of comparison, but benchmarks always have to be taken in context. There’s also just other opportunities, we see in terms of, you know, how people are utilizing their inventory, where they’re advertising what their mix is. And, you know, being able to help them spot those opportunities, as well, is also part of like, the services that we’re providing. So, you know, getting more and more into that. And I think, you know, hopefully helping more entrepreneurs build great ecommerce businesses.
Joshua Chin 31:05
What’s your personal dream? For for Uncapped? And what’s an ideal outcome that you’re working towards?
Asher Ismail 31:16
Well, you know, my personal dream is funny, like, I think a lot of people start a business because they want to be like, super rich. And, you know, I remember once like saying to my co founder, like, okay, like, you know, say, we, you know, you know, sell this company for like, billions, what we do with the money, and he turned to me said, well throw a party. And I was like, well, we could throw a party right now. So we don’t need to do it for that reason, right. And so actually, I think, like, it’s moved probably from actually being like a bigger cause. And I think, for me, the motivation always initially was two things. One was, you know, what I mentioned before about how it is the problem I faced, and my friends are faced, and like, I want to, I’m passionate about trying to solve this. But the other one was also just creating the workplace that I wanted to work at, you know, for me coming to work, I want to not feel like I’m going into work, but I want to be solving interesting problems with people I really like. And so if I can achieve that, and do that every day, to me, that is success.
Joshua Chin 32:16
I love that. When, when you face when you face new challenges and new obstacles that you possibly haven’t faced before, where do you first go to? For an answer? Or advice or clarity?
Asher Ismail 32:37
Well, you know, I think one of the biggest things I learned is to build as a founder, it can be a really lonely job sometimes, right? Because whenever you’re like, at the top of an organization, you have, you know, an extra set of challenges. And a, you know, and part of that comes because you’re privy to so much information, right, like as your job as a founder, you’re there connecting the dots for everyone else, but also means then you’re also taking in everyone else’s challenges and problems, from you know, your team, but also from your investors and like that broader market. And so what I’ve always found useful is having like a really strong support network of other founders, so I actually have a group of founders that I meet with, you know, every month, that we just, you know, sit around for we book this time, like, you know, two hours every month in our diary, where we just get together and talk about, like, what’s going on in our businesses and our lives. And, you know, think about how we can support each other. And for me, you know, that’s been going on for like many years. And that’s been like an incredible source of like, inspiration, just hearing about how other people overcame their challenges and helping them work things through, puts things puts things in perspective. But also, it’s been when I have had those dark moments, it’s been really helpful to have a group of people who I trust, who then I can, you know, get that feedback from. So that’s something I really encourage for other founders to find is to make that network of, of other entrepreneurs who maybe are going through some of the same challenges because their advice maybe better than any advice from investor you know, or really I think anyone else in your life can give you.
Joshua Chin 34:11
It’s interesting you say that, because I absolutely agree. Having a support network that isn’t built from an agenda, where in there isn’t conflict of business, there isn’t an intention to win one another’s business is incredibly powerful. I’ve been really lucky in my my journey to iPhone, EO as well, Entrepreneurs’ Organization, which creates some kind of a structure around meeting up every single month. We do it for four hours at a time with a meal at the end of it. And we dive really deep into the challenges the joys that we face that we typically don’t have I The outlet or opportunity to explore and process what we call 5% reflections. So kind of like the top 5% And bottom 5% of our journey in the month, which has been incredibly helpful because it uncovers issues and emotions that were previously kind of hidden and and unresolved. So I absolutely agree. But the question, then, Asher is that you’re on this trajectory of incredible growth. And it’s, I presume it’s really hard to find peers that have been through what you’ve been through? Has there been any instances where you have outpaced the growth of your peers? And you’ve had to find new sources of insights? And support?
Asher Ismail 35:59
Yeah, I mean, I think that has happened in some ways, I’m actually really lucky that you know, and in the group of founders that I’m with, you know, a couple of them have built, you know, very large businesses with like, hundreds of people and sold sold a few businesses as well. But, you know, I think, you know, there’s always a mixture, I think, within those audiences, and like, that’s also useful, because sometimes we think, Oh, you had to have built a big business to be able to advise somebody. And sometimes that’s true, sometimes there’s those cases. But I think so much of where we actually need help is much more just on a human level, is having somebody to talk through your problems with, and often the biggest challenges that I think we face in building businesses is that, you know, building a company, it’s not a technology problem, you know, it’s actually a people problem. And all of us, we can understand people and, you know, talk through, how would someone feel about a situation? How, what’s a different perspective, you’re seeing it this way, but actually, what if you’re seeing this other way? Right? And that, as you said, that, you know, opening yourself up to another perspective can massively change your solution set, and therefore, how successful you’re going to be? So I think that’s, you know, no matter what has always been a success, just speaking to people who have been in your shoes of being a founder and know those pressures, more so than whether they built a unicorn or not.
Joshua Chin 37:17
I love that. Asher, do you have any books or resources that you recommend? People want?
Asher Ismail 37:28
So many? Like, you know, when I think one of the best I think, recently I’ve been working on is like Five Dysfunctions of a Team. Because we’re on the topic of like building an organization, I think that is incredibly powerful in terms of getting your management team into a really strong place. Another one I love is Atomic Habits. Because for me, I kind of always prior to reading that book, I always thought, oh, no, having a goal. And having clarity about that is like, is what makes success. And I think what I learned from from James Clear was actually, you know, both people who are successful and not have goals, it’s more about the system that you built. And the people who have good systems are the ones who achieve their goals. And like, I think that really shifted my my thinking, and, you know, you know, when I’m making plans now, I think big, but when I’m making progress, no, I think small. And I think that’s due to James clear.
Joshua Chin 38:23
Love that. Definitely check those out. What else are you obsessed about?
Asher Ismail 38:29
Well, you know, my partner works in the entertainment like TV space. So I feel like you know, increasingly know so much for my outside passionate or like cat has become thinking about that. And you know, becoming a, it’s really hard to now like not go to any TV show or film and end up like criticizing every directorial choice and whatnot, that’s kind of like brainwashed me as well. But there’s been like, a real parallel with what he does, because kind of his job is almost like, being a VC for television, where he’ll like, wow, and end up, you know, reading a book that he thinks is interesting, or like watching a play, and then you know, trying to get the rights to be able to produce less and make it into something. So it’s funny that there’s like been this parallel because the world we’re in of course, is sort of similar where we’re like, seeing great businesses are great ideas and you know, wanting to give them the capital that they need to like, take that idea. So So yeah, we have this parallel world but I feel like now my my view my dreams are always filled with like thoughts about like, what’s happening in the in the world of entertainment.
Joshua Chin 39:35
You know what, I’ve never thought about VCs and just funding in general in the entertainment industry, but it makes it makes sense. Somebody has to come from somewhere. I always thought about funding just purely coming from production, houses or production studios. Never thought about VCs in the entertainment space.
Asher Ismail 39:57
Well they’re not VCs efficiently, so they would consider themselves They wouldn’t consider themselves a VC. But effectively, somebody has to say, Hey, I think this is a good idea and then pitch it to us. Yeah, exactly. Because often what people initially start with, right, it’s like the seed of an idea. It might be just like a short story. And then that actually evolves into an entire TV show. But somebody had to think about how do you commercialize that? How do you make it make sense? And how do you build that idea, just as the way like an entrepreneur would, where they would get this seed of like an opportunity, see something? And then, you know, make it real.
Joshua Chin 40:34
To make sense, Asher it’s been incredible, thank you for the opportunity to interview you and have to to have this conversation with you, for people interested to learn more about uncapped and potentially connect with you. Where should we go to?
Asher Ismail 40:51
Well, you know, one of the things is, LinkedIn is a great way to connect with me every week, I, you know, put up content about growing a business, creating a great culture, things are happening in ecommerce. So that’s one way to connect with me. But the other thing, I actually had a little bit of a special offer for your listeners, you know, I’ll say, you know, if you if you’re running an ecommerce Store, and you’re doing at least 10k per month of revenue, and you either want to scale your campaigns faster, or no purchase more inventory, we would love to help. And you know, last month I hired a bigger team, or hire a bigger team. Absolutely. And, you know, in the last month, we ran this really successful campaign where you funded hundreds of store owners, maybe just like some of your listeners, and we gave them up to 50k Absolutely free. So no fee, normally we charge a small fee. But last month, we did it for exactly zero. And you know, on our website, you won’t find mention of it anymore, it’s gone. Okay, for you know, listeners of the podcast, we’re like ready to make it happen again. So, reached out to me, at Asher@weareuncapped.com. So asher@weareuncapped.com with the subject line, secret 50k. And just like a bit about you to see if you qualify, and you know, do it now, you know, don’t wait, it takes like two minutes. And we’d be really excited to hear about your store and hopefully get you the funding that you deserve.
Joshua Chin 42:23
Perfect, thank you. That’s super generous of you. And I’ll have all of these details linked up and written up in our show notes as well for people listening. Go to chronos.agency/podcast for the latest show notes and latest episodes. Asher Oh, excuse me. Thank you so much. It’s been incredible. And hope to connect with you soon. And for people listening, tune in to the next one as per usual chronos.agency/podcast and thank you for listening in.
Outro 43:05
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